Search - The Road

Wow, I don't even know how to describe the way I feel about this book. For the first 50 pages or so, I just couldn't get into it and kept thinking I was going to quit reading it, I just couldn't get used to the type of dialect that was being used in a "futuristic" book. To me the dialect was elegant, but definately more suited for a more historical type of book. Then the further involved in this book that I got, the harder it was to put down and I ended up finishing in one evening. I honestly don't know if I loved it or hated it. There were times that I felt it was just plodding along and at other times I felt so involved that I could feel their pain. However, I was somewhat disappointed when I finished reading it because I never did figure out what the plot really was, yeah, they were trying to get to the coast, but why, and all the stuff about the "fire inside", what was that? It just felt incomplete to me at the end. It was definately an experience...just not sure yet weather or not it was one I want to remember or one I want to forget! Yet, maybe that is what makes a true classic....

I found this story to be dull and slow-moving. I was disappointed with the lack of character development and the back story of the cataclysmic event. I also found I could skim large paragraphs without missing any part of the story. There are no chapters and the dialogue is without punctuation, so it would get confusing on who was doing the speaking. All and all I was bored.

I was really, really excited to read this book and, honestly, was really, really disappointed by it in the end. The author never names his characters - they are simply "the man" and "the boy", a faceless father and his faceless son. They have no past, they have no future. A good idea, but only in theory (at least with this author's writing style). The fact that they could be just about anyone is interesting; however, it's really difficult to connect with these two characters when you know absolutely nothing about them. And their characters don't become any clearer, either. (I challenge anyone who read this book to name three solid traits for either character. I found it absolutely impossible.) There's a lot more I could say, but I'll just make one more important point. I was distracted all of the way through the story with questions about the disaster. There is no disaster, in my mind, that could have caused the situation described by McCarthy. And if there is one that I've missed, I wish he would have just come out with it. It's important. I hate being in a story where I spend the whole time trying to figure out the basics. And that's what The Road was all about. You end almost just where you start.

Brilliant, mesmerizing and terrifying. This was, for me, the ultimate "couldn't put it down" book.

When the author talked about "cold" and "dark" I found myself imagining the world with no sun to warm it, with no lights, moon or stars to brighten it....it would, indeed be a cold, dark place. The only warmth in this story was the shared love between a father and son.

I'm glad I read this one!

Great story of the will to survive.

Hopeless, beautiful, utterly depressing.

I've never before gotten through a Cormac McCarthy novel. His writing style doesn't appeal to me; it feels a bit self-indulgent. In spite of this, I could not put down 'The Road' once I started reading it. Is it bleak? Yes: it's McCarthy, after all, and a post-apocalyptic setting to boot. Particularly impressive, though: it's a page-turner in which very little actually happens. And the characterization of the son is pitch-perfect. I am glad that I read it.