Mr.+Allred

Mr. Allred's Book Review


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Imagine, a world where it's always dark, always cold, and your constantly running from cannibalistic people while trying to keep your son alive. That is Cormac McCarthy's The Road. The Road is a depressing yet exciting book. This book is about a man and his son, who are traveling on a single road trying to find the coast before they are killed, or eaten. Once you start reading it, you won't be able to put the book down. One of the things that made me love this book, was that there wasn’t any little, unnecessary details that we all skim through in most books. If you like books where nothing bad happens, and there's always a happy ending, The Road is not for you. In my opinion, this is one of the greatest books I have ever read.

What makes The Road such a great book Another factor in this book that makes want to keep on reading, is the whole story to it. It’s a world where some type of apocalyptic event happened. But, you don’t find out what had happened. McCarthy made a wise choice in not telling the readers how the whole story came to be. It keeps you guessing, and allows you to use your own imagination. The entire story though, is quite depressing. The man and his son have been traveling for years trying to find the coast, or any sign of people that aren’t cannibals. All the man has is his son, a shopping cart with blankets and food, and a single pistol. But with so little, the man manages to keep him and his son alive. The love the man has for his son, almost makes up for the depressing story. While on their journey to the coast they hide from, and encounter, people who harvest other human beings for food. In this world people do whatever they can to survive, including eating the unborn. At the end of the book, the father dies of sickness and the boy is left on his own. That is until another family takes him and cares for him. But you have to wonder, will the boy endure the same fate his father did, or a much worse fate.

What makes up for the dark, bleak, and depressing story is the love that the father has for his son. Though he has little, the man manages to keep him, and his son alive. The man knows that eventually he will die, so he does the best he can for his son. It seems though, that the son doesn’t want to be alive anymore, witch adds to the depressing story line. But his father continues to tell him that everything will be alright and that they will live a happy life when they reach the coast. It’s just amazing how someone could care for their child that much, and do so much to make sure he’s okay. The love that the man has for his son makes the book that much more better.

Another factor in this book that makes want to keep on reading, is its dark, bleak imagery. In Fact most of the book is imagery. Everywhere in the book its dark, cold, and either snowing raining black water. The imagery in this book is so detailed, that it makes you feel bad for the fictional characters in the book. When I read The Road, the imagery would send chills down my spine. The imagery that McCarthy uses in this book is just amazing. It’s like your there in the book watching the entire story. Most books can’t do that. The Road has to be one of the greatest books in recent years. It’s one of those books that keeps you reading without wanting to stop. The imagery in this book is just amazing. I would recommend this book to anyone who can handle it. Even though it’s depressing and sometimes sickening, I would say Cormac McCarthy deserves nothing but praise for this great piece of literature.