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Synopsis:

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE

The searing, post-apocalyptic novel about a father and son's fight to survive.

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food-and each other.

The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.

A New York Times Notable Book

One of the Best Books of the Year

The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, The Denver Post, The Kansas City Star, Los Angeles Times, New York, People, Rocky Mountain News, Time, The Village Voice, The Washington Post

Excerpt:

When he woke in the woods in the dark and the cold of the night he'd reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him. Nights dark beyond darkness and the days more gray each one than what had gone be...

About the Author:

Cormac McCarthy is an American novelist, screenwriter, and playwright who has won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Ratings (90):

Incredible (22)
Loved It (33)
Liked It (20)
It Was OK (7)
Did Not Like (5)
Hated It (3)

Reader Stats (147):

Read It (83)
Want To Read (49)
Did Not Finish (1)
Not Interested (14)

Reviews:

Tags:
disturbing books, alternate history, literary fiction

The road follows a single father and his son’s journey through the aftermath. Our story in comparison ties in the interaction between friends who must build alliances, face threats beyond that of a nuclear war alone.

6/17/2023 10:24:21 PM
lavpal
Loved It
Tags:
bleak

In a world where everything is dead or dying, with nowhere to go in the end, this is the bleakest book I have ever read. It was still fascinating, but in a chillingly foreboding and dreary kind of way.

10/5/2022 2:56:56 PM
lbrowl
Loved It
Tags:
great writing, dystopian, post-apocalytic

Father and son travel around a post-apocalyptic world and share their experiences. I saw the movie first and it seems faithful to the book. Not too long, but good.

10/6/2022 4:52:34 PM
hcobud
Loved It
Tags:
dark and depressing

This was my first novel by Cormac McCarthy, and it was riveting yet bleak. That I was left with questions and thoughts after reading the last page. Strongly recommend

10/6/2022 11:05:09 AM
ccaowl
Liked It
Tags:
gripping but depressing

The finale of this book truly sucked, and the whole thing just left me feeling down. It left me wanting more.

10/7/2022 7:52:35 AM
abetup
Loved It
Tags:
somber and depressing

The Road is one of the saddest novels I've read, terrible and powerful. It's probably imprinted permanently in my brain.

10/8/2022 10:48:33 AM
ahemos
Incredible
Tags:
excellent

I can't get this story out of my head. It was unsettling, but it made you think. Although I like all of his works, this one is exceptional.

10/8/2022 8:10:05 PM

What can you read after
The Road?