Fantastic book. Go for it.

loved this book, and it is topical for me in certain way. not literally of course, but i have a young son and have gone through a quasi-apocalyptic scenario in recent years, in which his mom has given up and external forces have presented to me how easily and happily i would give my life for him.

That book reminded me of every time I took a really long walk by myself and I was really hungry and thirsty and that sucked balls.

Shit is fuckin' real, yo.

The Road is great. I highly recommend you read everything by Cormac McCarthy.

dhizzo said:

I don't read fiction for that very reason, I like to spend my precious time on something more than entertainment. Like philosophy, Bhagavad Gita style religious texts, science, history.

I think you may be missing something re: fiction. I actually know you are because I used to say this very thing. But fiction is much more than entertainment....fiction is where mythology is born.

Just watch Roadhouse.

this is a rare case where ill say, just watch the movie. the movie is that good. very dark/depressing, but like any masterful work of art that feeling is there for a reason

I read it a few months ago. It didn't do a thing for me.

In some respects, it's similar to Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck's book has George looking out for the survival of his mentally challenged friend Lennie during the gloom and doom of the depression. The Road has the father looking out for his son during the gloom and doom of an unspecified apocalpyse, probably involving nuclear bombs.

I used to worship Steinbeck's writing ability but too many of his books are meh. But I still think Of Mice and Men is a perfectly crafted jewel. By contrast, I don't see anything about The Road that makes the writing at all well crafted or memorable. I think it's a book that came along at the right time, tapping into the same enviroeconomic preapocalyspse fears that have made zombie books and movies so hot.

If you want a fix of doom and gloom, watch Chris Martenson's "Crash Course" on YouTube. As fiction goes, I think your time is better spent reading a more talented writer. Ken Kesey, Tom Wolfe, and the essays of David Foster Wallace are right at the top of my list.

If you were to only read one Cormac McCarthy book, it should be Blood Meridian.

dhizzo said:

I don't read fiction for that very reason, I like to spend my precious time on something more than entertainment. Like philosophy, Bhagavad Gita style religious texts, science, history.

I could spend weeks freaking out about this quote

but I will only say i find it odious. fiction is plenty worth reading and certainly more than entertainment! ! !

*throws hands up in air and storms off*

Why should they have to explain themselves here? If you don't read fiction because it's 'odious' or 'depressing', then a vast majority of the great literature is out of your purview. Literature works the same way that philosophy does but does so with metaphor simply because language fails to describe a great swath of felt experience. If you say, "I cannot read this book because it is depressing," then you have effectively closed yourself from a tremendous portion of the collected knowledge of our species. Don't be silly-billies!