Wow. Wow. Okay. Alright. Are you seeing this? Are you seeing this right now? No? Alright. Okay. Cool. Cool, cool. So I’m going to have to talk about this. We all need to be on the same page because Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” is some peak reading material.
Following a father and his son across an unspecified amount of months, journeying over an incalculable distance after a devastating yet unknown apocalypse, audiences are confronted with the horrors of crumbling personhood that inhabits the carcass of what was once society. At times, the world-building is so hopeless that it calls into question: how could this even be Earth? But that isn’t a question that McCarthy is concerned with — he is only interested in the father and son, and the sliver of hope and humanity that is preserved between them.
Like “Blood Meridian,” the protagonists have no name. They are defined by their actions and words to one another, often showcased through the father’s love for his son. The world is harsh and uncaring, and the son must learn to survive in it no matter what — even if he must do so alone one day. Nothing else is as paramount to the father as his son’s safety.
The prose of McCarthy is once again unconventional and unique, lacking most forms of punctuation that would help format sentences and dialogue; but unlike “Blood Meridian,” I feel it really works here. The world is a shell of its former self, and the characters are surviving hand-to-mouth — having the prose reflect this bare-bones survival helps characterize everything contained between the book’s covers, bringing audiences closer to the mental and emotional headspace of the protagonists.
“The Road” is not long, and it won’t demand much from the reader, but in the same way, it would be unwise for a reader to demand much from “The Road.” There is hardly any clear plot other than one need: survival. Don’t come in expecting a grandiose narrative of good and evil; there is only the father and his son, and what that means at the end of the world.
Is it any wonder that I can recommend this book?
“Under the (Hard) Covers is an opinion column by Ethan Reisler — a published author, satirist, and journalist — reviewing modern and classic novels alike for their craft, storytelling, and general enjoyability.”