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Book Review of The Road

The Road
The Road
Author: Cormac McCarthy
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
jonnylongball avatar reviewed Terrifically Depressing on + 43 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5


This is the saddest book ever written. The father figure is in the most hopeless situation of all time. There has been some kind of nuclear catastrophe. The air is largely unbreathable. His wife has comitted suicide. There are no more animals or plant life. And the remaining humans are either banded into cannibalistic hoardes or pitiful wanderers. The father and the son survive day to day on whatever canned food they can gather from hidden stores in vacant households. All the while moving toward the unknown seashore. The father carries a gun to kill himself and his son should they be captured by cannibals. Did I mention that the situation was hopeless? The brilliance in this book is in describing the relationship between the father and son. I have never read anything like it. As the father of an 8 year old boy, this book affected me.