Book Review - 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy

2020 EDIT: Yeah, screw university required reading, I didn't like this book at all. I won't feign confusion and ambiguity anymore. 'The Road' is pretentiously written, full of "clever" words never used by anyone, and it's clearly meant to win awards. The main characters are unnamed (I don't think anyone is named, period), and they have little to no personality, which is frustrating and cinches the deal for me.

'The Road' - an interesting post-apocalyptic premise, and themes. But characters and a plot are more important in a story. An unengaging mess that's hard to follow

Final Score: 1/5





I was assigned to read 'The Road' for my university course to get an idea of various writing styles and narratives. I read it - a bit slowly as I was going through a tough time and didn't want to be depressed by a depressing book - I absorbed it, I finished it. I was relieved to have finished it. It's not only harrowing but very, very wordy, with not a lot of memorable things happening in it. The coincidences weren't very believable either. But it kept my attention; I wanted to know how the author concludes this (I think) environmental tale about the good and bad of humanity and the end of civilization.

Here was the problem: I couldn't decide whether I liked or disliked this novel.

So after reading I had thought that only time will tell, and I'll see if I'll look back on 'The Road' as either an exceptional experience or as another forgettable assignment.

But low and behold, over a year later and I still can't decide if I like 'The Road' or not.

This has never happened to me before. Usually I know when I like something, that despite its flaws I see something special in it. And I know when I dislike something, and don't care for its message - for well-intentioned or not, if I don't like the story or characters I won't like what the piece of work is saying, period.

But with 'The Road', I feel torn. I do like its ambiguity in how the world ended. And the flashbacks. It's not too preachy, and I can tell that some passion was written into it. The details and emotion packed in are good, if overwhelming. On the other hand, I don't care much for the man and the boy (nameless to show they can be anyone; which is not the reason I'm indifferent to them). The man is the quiet but hopeful and struggling type, while the boy is the innocent child (despite being born when the world exploded and turned cannibalistic) - that's it. Not much more to add to their personalities, other than the man's ill health. The writing is at times difficult to read through. I don't mind there being no speech marks, but seeing words I've never heard of before in my life, and too much description, takes me out of the book. There isn't much of a story, just two innocent people walking around finding places never clear to us and trying to survive.

I feel bad because I know that this is a good book, and I can see why many people like it. But I still found it to be rather forgettable and too convenient in places. And because of this I feel I cannot rate it. It would be wrong to give it two or even three stars, since I believe that people should read it and decide for themselves on its merits.

I know this hasn't really been a helpful review. I'm just typing what I though of 'The Road', and trying to suss out why it left me so conflicted. I recommend it nevertheless; you may love it, hate it, or be indifferent to it. Everyone sees stories differently.

So due to my many emotional and intellectual tastes battling each other for over a year, I feel I can't give 'The Road' a score.

Read it. Judge for yourself.