The Road

By: Cormac McCarthy

Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte

Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2007

America is a barren landscape of smoldering ashes, devoid of life except for those people still struggling to scratch out some type of existence. Amidst this destruction, a father and his young son walk, always toward the coast, but with no real understanding that circumstances will improve once they arrive. Still, they persevere, and their relationship comes to represent goodness in a world of utter devastation.

Bleak but brilliant, with glimmers of hope and humor, The Road is a stunning allegory and perhaps Cormac McCarthy's finest novel to date. This remarkable departure from his previous works has been hailed by Kirkus Reviews as a "novel of horrific beauty, where death is the only truth".

McCarthy, a New York Times best-selling author, is a past recipient of the National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award. He is widely considered one of America's greatest writers.

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Critic reviews

"McCarthy's prose retains its ability to seduce...and there are nods to the gentler aspects of the human spirit." (The New Yorker)
"One of McCarthy's best novels, probably his most moving and perhaps his most personal...Every moment of The Road is rich with dilemmas that are as shattering as they are unspoken...McCarthy is so accomplished that the reader senses the mysterious and intuitive changes between father and son that can't be articulated, let alone dramatized...Both lyric and savage, both desperate and transcendent, although transcendence is singed around the edges...Tag McCarthy one of the four or five great American novelists of his generation." (Los Angeles Times Book Review)

Great

I loved the simplicity of the dialog and relationship between The Man and his son while surrounded by endless danger and uncertainty. This book is all about the characters and how they relate to each other and to their world. I love character-driven stories.

A Story about sacrifice and love

I liked this story because it could happen. It shows the devotion of a father, and the sacrifices that he is willing to make for his beloved son. The Father’s patience is to be admired. He did his best, as most parents do, to prepare his son for life without him. It also shows the innate goodness in children before they become jaded and spoiled. It is a simple barebones story about survival, creativity, patience, respect, and love.

Fell short of the hype

The story keeps the reader/listener in a state of unrest as the character's constant strife provides they themselves no rest. That, in itself, illustrates a talent for creating a setting, but the circumstances just go from bad, to bad, to more bad with no direction and in the end, no real philosophy, triumph, tragedy or meaningful conclusion. Ultimately, it is one of those books that could translate to a movie you might stumble on later, but like J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in The Rye, there's no there there.

Awesome read!

I loved the father son love displayed throughout the book! I won’t say more else spoil the story!

Very depressing

I liked the compassion and commitment of the boy and dad. Overall sad depiction of humanity after a disaster.

bleak, realistic

never knew their names, where they were, what happened... one of the best books I've come across, ever, in its simplicity, giving worlds of information without words. bleak and terrible, yet, a ray of hope...

hope or despair?

beautiful cadence, well matched to story. listening to it made me believe it was about hope, not despair.

A litany of suffering

Great reading. Mysterious story. An anti communitarian survivalist drags his kid south. Amazingly after a separation, kid meets someone else nice. It’s maybe your dad’s fault it was like that, kid.

A reality of life, death, love and struggle.

I like books that make me feel and this one does. I have nothing else to add to this review.

Heartbreaking

Love the book. Very heartbreaking though. A man and his boy trying to navigate the apocalypse.