Book 2 for Cramlington Book Club was The Road. It was suggested by me as my auntie had just read it and had said it was a really good book but not one to read if you were feeling depressed. Nobody had really heard of it before and I wasn't able to provide much details other than 'it's by the guy who wrote No Country for Old Men and its about a father and son walking, presumably on a road, through America'. I wasn't feeling depressed and had in my mind some sort of Road to Perdition esk book (well they both had Road in the title!) so it seemed like a good idea - Ah the benefit of hindsight....
Its basically about a father and son in post apocalyptic America. It was an Oprah Winfrey book club book by Cormac McCarthy responsible for the aforementioned Oscar winning film No Country. Its a relatively thin book with short paragraphs so doesn't take long to read. That's the good news.
The bad news is its very very grim. Not gory grim just depressing. Father and son are virtually the only survivors of what I presumed was an atomic bomb. The reader is never told exactly what caused the devastation they find themselves in. They have to hide from strangers who are either scavengers or cannibals, they are constantly at risk from starvation and the father starts coughing up blood with alarming regularity. The funny thing is that nothing actually really happens in the book, there is no beginning, middle or end. No solutions are given or questions answered and I realised pretty early on that it wasn't going to end happily.
I read it with a sense of dread that nobody would turn up to the next meeting due to them thinking the book was rubbish. The tone never changes the complete sense of desperation never lets up and some of the things they witness and indeed do are heartbreaking (the baby, the blind man, the man who steals their things at the beach).
I put extra signs up around Cramlington and did extra visits to Sainsburys to ensure prime position on notice board. It must have worked as we actually had one new member!
Everyone agreed that the book was a stinker. Nobody enjoyed it although it was commented that it was well written to keep up that level of intensity throughout the whole book. We all seemed to be disappointed with the ending of the book. For a book that was so lacking in happiness it felt as though McCarthy was trying to give it a happy ending. It felt a bit of a cop out. Its saving grace for most was that it was so thin and quick to read.
What I would say however is that this book was one that kept coming back to me after I had read it. My initial thought when reading about the wife/mother leaving to commit suicide was how selfish, how on earth could she leave them to fend on their own, a mother. However after reading it I began to think how it wasn't the mother who was selfish it was the father. On the face of it he was protecting his son, trying to provide for him and keep him safe. However the world was dying, all trees were dead, the sea was black with ash winter was setting in. There was no food, they faced death daily from either starvation or the 'bad people' they had to avoid but most of all the man was dying, and he knew it. He knew he was going to leave his son in the hell on earth he had lead him to. For me keeping his son alive was selfish and cowardly. He didn't want to be alone. Surely killing his son whilst he was in his sleep would have been the bravest thing to do. There is just no way I could have left my child in that hell hole without me there to protect her. Its one thing trying to keep them safe, to guide them and hope there is something better for them but to leave him a small boy, afraid and alone was for me unforgivable.
I'm sure that others would disagree with my view point, thinking him noble to fight against all odds for survival and your comments are welcome if you do! Although I wouldn't recommend this book it certainly got me thinking and probably stayed with me for longer than most.
Next book is a 1000 Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I'm going to ask everyone to mark it out of 10 to provide a more rounded opinion rather than just me prattling on.
Happy reading :)
Its basically about a father and son in post apocalyptic America. It was an Oprah Winfrey book club book by Cormac McCarthy responsible for the aforementioned Oscar winning film No Country. Its a relatively thin book with short paragraphs so doesn't take long to read. That's the good news.
The bad news is its very very grim. Not gory grim just depressing. Father and son are virtually the only survivors of what I presumed was an atomic bomb. The reader is never told exactly what caused the devastation they find themselves in. They have to hide from strangers who are either scavengers or cannibals, they are constantly at risk from starvation and the father starts coughing up blood with alarming regularity. The funny thing is that nothing actually really happens in the book, there is no beginning, middle or end. No solutions are given or questions answered and I realised pretty early on that it wasn't going to end happily.
I read it with a sense of dread that nobody would turn up to the next meeting due to them thinking the book was rubbish. The tone never changes the complete sense of desperation never lets up and some of the things they witness and indeed do are heartbreaking (the baby, the blind man, the man who steals their things at the beach).
I put extra signs up around Cramlington and did extra visits to Sainsburys to ensure prime position on notice board. It must have worked as we actually had one new member!
Everyone agreed that the book was a stinker. Nobody enjoyed it although it was commented that it was well written to keep up that level of intensity throughout the whole book. We all seemed to be disappointed with the ending of the book. For a book that was so lacking in happiness it felt as though McCarthy was trying to give it a happy ending. It felt a bit of a cop out. Its saving grace for most was that it was so thin and quick to read.
What I would say however is that this book was one that kept coming back to me after I had read it. My initial thought when reading about the wife/mother leaving to commit suicide was how selfish, how on earth could she leave them to fend on their own, a mother. However after reading it I began to think how it wasn't the mother who was selfish it was the father. On the face of it he was protecting his son, trying to provide for him and keep him safe. However the world was dying, all trees were dead, the sea was black with ash winter was setting in. There was no food, they faced death daily from either starvation or the 'bad people' they had to avoid but most of all the man was dying, and he knew it. He knew he was going to leave his son in the hell on earth he had lead him to. For me keeping his son alive was selfish and cowardly. He didn't want to be alone. Surely killing his son whilst he was in his sleep would have been the bravest thing to do. There is just no way I could have left my child in that hell hole without me there to protect her. Its one thing trying to keep them safe, to guide them and hope there is something better for them but to leave him a small boy, afraid and alone was for me unforgivable.
I'm sure that others would disagree with my view point, thinking him noble to fight against all odds for survival and your comments are welcome if you do! Although I wouldn't recommend this book it certainly got me thinking and probably stayed with me for longer than most.
Next book is a 1000 Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I'm going to ask everyone to mark it out of 10 to provide a more rounded opinion rather than just me prattling on.
Happy reading :)
Well what can i say about the road. Not a lot really as nothing happens in it, luckily it was a short book. As you might guess that i didn't enjoy the book, so i'm now looking forward to the next one hopefully this book is happier. Well til next time. Keep reading.
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