Review of The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Trapped in a post-apocalyptic world, a boy and his father travel through the barren wasteland that was once the world we know today. They travel down ‘the road’ knowing it will eventually bring them to the coast, and hoping it will bring them to a better place. The clothes on their back, a shopping cart filled with blankets and food, and a pistol for protection are the only things they carry. They live in a perpetual fear of running out of food, freezing to death, and being found by the cannibalistic people that now roam the ruined world. Struggling to beat the oncoming winter and stay alive, they pillage through the half burned homes of the dead. On their journey, they encounter other survivors, some good, and some bad. Fighting to keep alive they do “what the good guys do. They keep trying. They don’t give up” (McCarthy 116). Will the coast hold a brighter future for them? 

I have to say I was disappointed with this book. I had only heard good things about this book, and I found it to be not as enticing as I had hoped it would be. There were so many questions I had about the book. I was really curious about what had happened to bring the world to the wasteland it was. Very little is revealed about what brought the world to this current state, there were some allusions to disease and vast fires, but no blatant explanation. The way the book was written also lead to some confusion; no quotation marks were used and the dialogue was not followed by who said it. Overall I found the story very slow-moving, repetitive, and confusing. 

I would give this book a 6 out of 10. Like I mentioned, I had high hopes for the book when I started and I was left with disappointment and a lot of questions. I would recommend this book for those who enjoy reading about post-apocalyptic worlds and journey stories. However, this book is not for the faint of heart, there are many highly disturbing scenes throughout the novel. I did like this book though because it of its simple themes. More than anything this is a story about survival and human nature.