The Road is an amazing story. Though at times somewhat depressing it also had a strong sense of hope each step of the way. Trekking through the country where bleak is not a strong enough adjective, the father walks his son through the trials of maturity and responsibility. We are forced to learn to face our fears, to tread lightly, to deal with issues in a manner that sometimes make us uncomfortable, but also to see that life has it joys.

I loved it!

I agree. This book is sometimes heartwrenching and utterly scary, however the relationship between the father and the son is the shining light in the novel. The desire for the father to protect the son with all that he has (which is absolutely nothing) breaks your heart but also shows how deep love can run. McCarthy´s writing makes you not one to put it down. The quickness of the writing, the lack of any backstory, and the quick descriptions of scenery makes the book much more horrifying at times and actually might make your stomach turn. You ar begging for answers and desperate to find out what will happen, but much like the characters, you are lost as well. The story is amazing, the writing is amazing, and even though it has a untraditional style I can guarantee that you will want to finish.

I felt that his writing style was effective, but to a point. It was full of fantastic and disturbing imagery, but there were several instances where he pontificated to a point where the characters and story were jerked out of context. Particularly in describing the Father's thought processes, it seems to me that the emphasis was how fear magnifies basic human emotion and negates all need for complexities. McCormac used sophisticated words and excessive adjectives when narrating the Fathers thoughts, and it seemed like the stream of consciousness would have been more efficient, without the nice adjectives.

This is not saying that I disliked the book, on the contrary, I enjoyed this book immensely. I think it brought up countless important questions, particularly about the boy. The boy would not have a normal adolescence, nor would he know any past except the fear he currently lived in. What effect would that have on him later in life? And also, what decisions would we make, if we had to chose between life and morality?

You said that the father has to walk his son through his maturity, which I can agree with, for the most part. Of course, the son definitely had maturity beyond his years, he was still naive. He was naive in the sense that he wasn't putting himself in front. He constantly wanted to help strangers, which is admirable and shows that his child-like innocence is still intact, but at the same time it's condemning himself because he's lowering his own number of supplies that he and his father need to keep themselves alive.

On the same note, the son had a level of understanding about their situation that was almost philosophical. He continually evoked quotes and concepts that he'd most likely never heard before, given that most everything was in ruins. He understood their plight and understood the troubles they were in and understood what they had to do to survive. However, the boy's humanity is keeping him from putting himself absolutely first and foremost. He is selfless, which is a double-edged sword, but also impressive how he persists through the hardships.

I was greatly pleased with the novel as a whole.

A haunting read. It stayed with me for a long time after finishing it!

I have recommended this book to many people and they all love me/hate me for it. It sticks with you for a long time and you just want more. Beautiful writing, the pacing was outstanding, and the topic horrid and beautiful. 5 stars plus.