THE ROAD

 Cormac McCarthy

 (Reviewed:  Jim Abbott, 12-06)

 

Whether or not you like it, there are always two redeeming features of an apocalypse or post apocalypse story.  One, there is an awakening to the reality of such a possibility actually happening—promoting (hopefully) the generating of effort to prevent it. And two, it is kind of a twisted salve to any current depressions.  If you think times are tough or that you’ve got it bad now, well, read this.

 The Road is a post apocalypse story and Cormac McCarthy is a good writer. He has received top critical reviews for earlier books, including All the Pretty Horses, Blood Meridian, and The Crossing.  A NY Times reviewer says McCarthy “puts most other writers to shame” and has the above books containing “finely wrought craftsmanship and ferocious energy.” The Globe portrays All The Pretty Horses as “written with a passion most writers either couldn’t muster or wouldn’t dare.”  And The Road is book-jacket advertised as “destined to become McCarthy’s pinnacle achievement.”

 That might be a little much-- a bit of publisher’s book-sell tactics.

 The Road is unique. It is mostly made up of short sentence dialogue between a father and his ten-year-old son as they traverse post apocalyptic America. The cause of the apocalypse is never detailed, but a massive, life devastating--almost certainly global and nuclear—occurrence can be assumed. The essential focus for remaining humans is survival. How this is done puts into one of two groups: The good guys or the bad guys.

 Agreement of how accurate this portrayal is, or how enjoyable is the style of the book, will certainly vary from reader to reader. What this reviewer hopes, is that there is a common wake-up reaction to warnings of our planet’s destruction.  A Kurt Vonnegut message had large letters on the wall of the Grand Canyon WE COULD HAVE SAVED IT.  Al Gore is currently global warming campaigning with his film An Inconvenient Truth.  Whether or not The Road is McCarthy’s best work, it does take you to a devastating place in an easy-to-read style. A good wake-up maybe.  We could use one.