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)

Unrelentingly Bleak...A Masterpiece

Is up there with the best dystopian fiction...if not the best. What stands it apart from the others is Cormac’s sparse writing. It is a short, concise, and yet interesting novel. The writer’s style brings out the overwhelming emotional punch of the book. Because, The Road is also a coming of age story and a story about the bonds between a son and his father. These themes are explored in a world gone dead with little hope. There is not much objectionable material, but just the dark tone may turn some readers off.

Tom Stechschulte is great

Tom Stechschulte, the narrator of this book, proves himself to be the best interpreter of McCarthy's prose. Reading McCarthy's texts can be difficult at times, which make his achievement all the more impressive. This book isn't for everyone -- McCarthy's bleak view of human nature has NO resolution or happy endings. But, it's an impressive work and will rank high in the canon of "Doomsday" literature.

With a world like this, pray for an early death.

Was such a dreary, hopeless world McCarthy created -- had me thinking about it for days after finishing. Was the first McCarthy novel I had read. I've since been back for all of his other available audio books. There IS some hope to be found in this story; I was just amazed at how little of it there was to go around.

give it a chance

took me alittle bit to get into it, butit was worth it.

beautifully written and narrated

This is a very bleak and depressing story of the relationship between a father and son in a post-apocalytptic world. At first I found it difficult to get into, but after a while I became quite engrossed. A beautifully written and narrated work.

The struggle of survival for a man and his son

I hated "The Blood Meridian" by McCarthy. That book had no point except dispaire and helplessness and hopelessness and the low end of humanity by murder and madness.
Sorry to prefece this book that way but I was afraid it was going to be like the last one I read by this author. McCarthy has a thing about not giving his main characters names. Yup...you never learn their names. They are referred to as "the man"...." or " the boy". It is a very odd style and maybe a little disturbing and depersonalizing....but that is his style. He writes of the darker side of humanity and makes Steven King look like a Choirboy.
This book, "The Road", has a point and speaks of the struggle for life and continuing to the end. Good read. Now I will watch the movie and probably be disappointed. We will see......Read the book. Try not to get depressed. There is a good ending.

Poetry in Motion!!!

This is one of those books that is more a feeling and a flow of the words across the page rather than an overwhelming plot. You won't regret picking this up and having a good afternoon listen.

Dark and Disturbing Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fiction

Although this book is an exceptional work of literary fiction by one of the best American authors of our time, Cormac McCarthy and the narration by Tom Stechschulte was also marvelously well done, I just couldn't give it a five star rating.

I love science fiction, especially post-apocalyptic science fiction, but I feel that this book isn't for everyone. I found it extremely dark, depressing and disturbing. I seriously doubt I'll ever listen to this Audible book again - there are images far too grim and yet horribly plausible that I just can't get out of my head.

Highly Recommended for Lovers of Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction but definitely not for everyone!

Very enjoyable

I enjoyed The Road as I'm a fan of the genre. It was a concise book that built a lot of suspense and drew the listener in emotionally. The ending (not the very end, but rather the tail end of the book) was a little disappointing. Well worth the time and money though.

Great book

I just finished listening to this book, and I have to say, it's one of the better books i've come across in a long time. This book is mainly about the relationship between father and son and what they must do to survive. If you have children you can't help but imagine what it would be like to be in the situation of the characters and the lengths you would go to, to keep your child safe. It made me sad, it made me think, and it made me cry. Overall it was an emotional read for me, but it was a wonderful story.