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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©2006 M-71, Ltd. (P)2006 Recorded Books LLC

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)

Easy Listening

Good Performance,,,Easy Listening,,,Spins the Story Out At a Good Pace,,A Somewhat Tough Style in Writing But after the First Chapter the Story Flows Pretty Well

oh my god I cries so many tears I'm gonna die

so ducking sad I can't take it. please ima die I wanna know the boy is okay

Good, but....

Where does The Road rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I thought it derivative of Grapes of Wrath (which I loved). The road, the misery of the man and his son, and especially the language. The way McCarthy will use the same noun twice in the same sentence just like John Steinbeck. But I liked it just the same and am glad I purchased it. The reader was brilliant.

Quiet, sad, adventure story

Great reading. Stechschulte handles the terse dialogue well enough, and the rest of the narrative brilliantly. This is a quiet book, with simple stripped language, very rhythmic, and it's a deeply sad book. But it's also an episodic adventure story, and it's hard to stop listening.

Chilling, yet Touching

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes: It is one of the post apocalyptic stories, which actually features humanity over violence and gore. Yes there is ample conflict in the story but in the main, it deals with adjustments in the lives of the characters, which gives one a feel for what could be.
Worthy as an audio-book. The movie is just as good.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The son; because he retains his youth despite crushing influences, which could have destroyed or jaded him to life. He exhibits a healthy balance from the influence from his mother, while he learns the hard life of being a man in an unforgiving world laden with challenges and surprises.

Have you listened to any of Tom Stechschulte’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No; don't know.

Who was the most memorable character of The Road and why?

Same as "favorite character" and same reasons.

Any additional comments?

Well done. I will read more from this author, without a doubt

Amazing author with an outstanding narrator

What did you love best about The Road?

I really enjoyed McCarthy's descriptions of everything. He incorporates so much detail into his writing that it makes the listener/reader feel as if he or she was there at that moment.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the interaction between the father and son, especially the father because of the gentle way he brings a calm to every situation. He's very patient, and embodies what I feel a father should be.

What does Tom Stechschulte bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Stechschulte's ability to vocalize many different characters made the book really easy to follow. He does a great job with this in No Country For Old Men as well! He's just an excellent narrator, plain and simple.

If you could rename The Road, what would you call it?

The Road to Nowhere!

Fantastic

One of the best books I’ve ever listened to. Everything was preformed perfectly. I recommend this to everyone.

Ending too abrupt for my tastes

Wasn't a fan of the ending. Too abrupt. Overall story was engaging just did not like how it ended. Would still recommend the book overall.

Very good all around

Definitely worth a listen, narrator was great, story was great, one of my favorites so far.

Depressing and good

Well written and read. Depressing with hope around every corner. A bit of last from the past about nuclear winter. I had forgotten those old day of it being an option that is now replaced with global warming I guess, which is not quite as hopeless.