I recently read The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It is easily one of the most gripping and intense books I have ever read. I highly recommend it.
The basic story of the novel is that in some post-apocalyptic land, a father and son engage in a harrowing cross-country trek to what they hope will be a better life. Though exactly what has happened to the world is never explained, there is no food, no vegetation, no sun, no fuel, and certainly no order. Armed and evil bandits roam the highways, robbing, killing, and even eating anyone they come across. It's literally every man for himself.
In explaining it, I feel like I'm retelling the story of Mad Max or every other "The Day After" story you've ever read or seen, but this book was really different. The focus of the story is not so much on what has happened, but on the relationship between the father and his young son and how the man is trying desperately to keep him safe in a terribly scary and dangerous world. There's one scene where the man goes over exactly how the boy should kill himself in the event that something happens to the father and the boy is alone and in danger. It was so hard to read and to consider having the same conversation with my own young sons.
I don't want to say too much, but I couldn't read this book fast enough. You tear through it to see if these very real characters will survive. You read it to keep them alive.
The basic story of the novel is that in some post-apocalyptic land, a father and son engage in a harrowing cross-country trek to what they hope will be a better life. Though exactly what has happened to the world is never explained, there is no food, no vegetation, no sun, no fuel, and certainly no order. Armed and evil bandits roam the highways, robbing, killing, and even eating anyone they come across. It's literally every man for himself.
In explaining it, I feel like I'm retelling the story of Mad Max or every other "The Day After" story you've ever read or seen, but this book was really different. The focus of the story is not so much on what has happened, but on the relationship between the father and his young son and how the man is trying desperately to keep him safe in a terribly scary and dangerous world. There's one scene where the man goes over exactly how the boy should kill himself in the event that something happens to the father and the boy is alone and in danger. It was so hard to read and to consider having the same conversation with my own young sons.
I don't want to say too much, but I couldn't read this book fast enough. You tear through it to see if these very real characters will survive. You read it to keep them alive.
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