The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, is an intense post apocalyptic novel about the journey of a boy and his father. I read this book over a span of two to three hours, which is quite fast at my reading pace. It was fast moving, descriptive, emotional an interesting. This book depicts the true horrors of human nature, to the point where cannibalism is a general day-to-day fear. McCarthy uses vivid descriptions to set the tone of the book, which extremely grim. His writing style is quite peculiar, making it extremely unique. His descriptions of the father-son relationship seem quite bland, but through the use of diction he paints scenes between the lines that portrays the underlying message of their relationship. Their short, one-word answer conversations has to much depth, demonstrating exceptional use of diction on McCarthy’s part. Overall this book was a quick, face-paced read with excellent writing skills by Cormac McCarthy.
However, in all honesty I have to say that I hated this novel. Yes, I did read it much faster than I would any other novel, and yes McCarthy’s writing still was excellent. But, I still felt that the plot line and overall story was relatively dull. The plot line was extremely predictable, and it seemed to repeat itself. There was a constant rollercoaster of good and bad events: they would nearly get eaten- they would run away, the father would get sick – then he’d get better, the boy would get sick – then he’d get better, they’d nearly starve – and then they’d find a house full of canned goods. There seemed to be several climaxes in the story, with extremely predictable outcomes. With such a story line, the death of the father at the end of the novel was inevitable, an event I predicted would occur when I was merely halfway through the novel. Additionally, although this story is supposed to be about the loving relationship a father and son have, I saw simply a fragment of their relationship. I’ll admit that McCarthy was adept with his use of language; however, I feel that it is impossible to depict the true father-son relationship in such isolated circumstances. Their only relationship was the love they shared to keep one another alive; apart from this factor there were no other psychological connections that could have been depicted in this book.
Adding on to this idea of isolation, I feel that I did not enjoy this book because it seemed – for lack of a better word – too lonely. I find it interesting to read and analyze books with several characters being developed, and with interestingly developed plotlines. Normally, a character faces many hardships that help develop the kind of persona they carry. In The Road, the only goal they had was survival. I did not enjoy reading a book that was solely based on the survival instinct of human nature, for I prefer to read about the psychological and political tendencies of human beings when placed in a society. This is why I think I enjoyed reading dystopian novels more, for they provided a warning rather than a depiction of how it will be when everything fails. I don’t see the point in writing about a failed society, with no development, where the only goal is survival.
Hi Pooja! I loved reading your response to The Road mostly because firstly, we share a similar opinion about the book. I also hated this book because of the very emotional ending and difficulties both the father and son had to face. I hate sad endings and I think after all those battles they faced, this is not what they deserved. However, I must say that I agree with you about the easy predictions that could be made. Like you, I also knew the father's death was bound to happen.
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple of points that I do disagree on though. You said that "His descriptions of the father-son relationship seem quite bland, but through the use of diction he paints scenes between the lines that portrays the underlying message of their relationship."
Firstly, I think that although he used simple diction, the relationship between the father and son were extremely powerful. Sometimes even when there are not a lot of words used, the short and sweet sentences are very impactful. Don't you think? Secondly, I think the descriptions of the setting were very vivid and did not need to seen through "reading between the lines".
Overall though, this was excellent! :)
Although you do bring up some valid points I feel that this novel may not be one that you pick up for leisurely reading but it does depict quite a bit about humanity. With such powerful images like the one of the infant being eaten it portrays what society will do to survive about how we as a society put survival over our principles and if put in the situation people will disregard everything to survive. The way Cormac McCarthy portrays this is through a very simple structure and diction illustrating the simplicity of their life and what it has come down to. It is very much like the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne, although he uses such simple diction and structure his underlying message is so powerful.
ReplyDeleteYes Saumya I'm glad you feel the same way I do! Simple diction can convey such powerful messages sometimes and I feel that they have the potential to be more effective then long sentences.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes I agree with you about that vivid event of the boy being eaten. The extent that humans could go to to survive is simply amazing. They lose all of their humanity it stuns me.
However I do not quite agree with you when you state that "The way Cormac McCarthy portrays this is through a very simple structure and diction illustrating the simplicity of their life and what it has come down to." I believe that the simple structure and diction in this case is used because the father and the son are at a loss of words to describe the completely inhumane world they are now living in. What do you mean by "simplicity of life"?