The Road by Cormac McCarthy (4)

The Road 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.

Opening sentence ... 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.

I didn't really know what to expect with this book as I didn't really know alot about it ... But I have to say that I couldn't really put it down ... Even though the subject matter was disturbing in some parts I just wanted to keep reading ...

It is a story of a father and a son on a journey to find safely in a world that has been destroyed and where other survivors track and hunt you ....

It does raise alot of questions on if you where faced with the dilemma of only having 1 bullet left could you use it on your child in order to save him ?? The whole way through the book you are just wishing them to find some joy or happiness ... And one of my favourite bits is when they come across a coca cola can and the father sits back and lets his son drink it for the first time ... It was a very touching scene ..

It is interesting to note that we are never told the name of the boy or the father and we are never told on how the earth got into the state that it is in ... It could be war, it could be natural disaster, disease or just God’s intervention.

If the world suddenly came to an end and you where alone wanting to survive what would you do ... The father is a God fearing man and is put into situations where out of necessity he has to do things he would have never dreamed of doing ... He kills and even steals and beats up other men to survive the road BUT as he assures THE BOY - they are the good guys - and we believe him given the state of the world and what demons and monsters now exists out there. He’s a good guy !!!

This book has many lessons that we can learn and Staying on the Road is one of them ...

This book may not be pretty but it is a great read and one that I will re-read again ..

I rate this book 4 stars ****

This book is being made into a movie which is coming out later next year and I have also included a rare interview with the author Cormac McCarthy ....