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The Road, finally
Last evening I scanned through my digital pile of books on my Kindle to see which one I might be in the mood to read. I was thinking along the lines of light-hearted, but somehow my finger clicked on Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. I took it to bed with me, thinking I might plow through one chapter before my eyelids drooped.
Well, not quite. After several chapters, I had to put it aside or I’d have read all night. What a magnificant book.
The Road is about the bleakest book I can remember reading. The story is bleak. The landscape is bleak. The colors are cold and bleak. But the language is oh-so-rich. He paints detailed pictures with words. And yet, the sentence structure is quite spare—except for the similes that pepper every page. One would think that might distract, but they are just so exquisite and they flow so naturally. It’s a work of art.
I have never read anything else by Cormac McCarthy, so I am unfamiliar with his style of writing. I wonder if the spare style in this book was intentional to mirror the bleakness of the story. If so, it works beautifully. It that is his usual style, well, it still works beautifully.
There is not a single word in the book, so far, that could be removed nor one that needs to be added. It is about as perfect as anything I have ever read. And I don’t recall having ever thought that about a book. I wish I’d tucked into it sooner. And yet, I’m in no rush to finish it. Savoring each page slowly is the only way to go.
Oh I love me some Cormac! I have read some of his older stuff. I haven’t read The Road yet tho!
That was pretty much my experience with the book too. I’m not sure if the movie will be up to the same standard or not.
Sometimes a movie can improve on a flawed book. In this case, I have my doubts. Might be better to see the movie before reading the book. Not an option for many of us, though.
I don’t remember where or how I first heard of Cormac McCarthy, but a couple of years ago I picked up Child of God to read and thought it to be a truly bizarre book. Shortly thereafter I read Blood Meridian and swore that I would never again read a McCarthy book. Child of God was merely a bit demented, but Blood Meridian, true to its title, was probably the most bloodthirsty book I have ever read!
I was carrying on an e-mail conversation with GK at Whistle and Fish and he convinced me to give Cormac McCarthy another try so I picked up No Country For Old Men and I consider it to be one of the best books I have ever read. I subsequently read The Road with similar feelings and I am just now finishing up The Crossing which is also an excellent book.
I am glad I took GK’s advice and gave McCarthy’s writing another chance!