The Road

The Road tells a simple yet harrowing story: a man and his son are making their way across a scorched countryside. It is a post-apocalyptic America, and the man is intent on keeping himself and his boy alive, one day at a time. There are very few people, but some of them are not friendly, as due to the lack of available food, cannibalism has set in. The man and boy refer to themselves as "the good guys," and the man tells us son that they must "carry the fire." He wants to move south, as the winters have become too difficult to deal with.

Cormac McCarthy has written several books, most of them about the South or Southwest. I've read a few of them, but have never been caught up in one as much as I was with The Road. The writing is very spare, and the dialogue is almost Beckettian. Yet it is easy to get caught up in the simple struggle for survival. Occasionally the pair stumble upon a cache of food, and they can rest easy for a few days. But at other times you can get a real sense of their hunger and desperation.

There is very little flashback. The event that started this is simply referred to as "a shearing light, followed by a series of low concussions." Presumably, a nuclear war. Then nuclear winter has descended upon the land, as the sun never shines, and ashes are everywhere. The pair come across dead bodies, burned into the asphalt. The boy's mother committed suicide, not able to cope with the state of the world, but the man and boy shoulder on.

In addition to finding food and avoiding the "bad guys," the man and boy struggle with their humanity. The boy wants to help the less fortunate they come across, and constantly seeks reassurance from their father that they would never steal, or eat people. He also mentions God, which gives him a bit of the halo of spirituality.

The Road is a very short book, it could be read in one long sitting, but I wouldn't recommend doing so before turning in for the night, as it is a very long nightmare.