The world is a burned out wasteland when a man and his son are making their way south. The man knows that they will not survive another harsh winter in the north. He has a feeling that if they can make it to the coast, things will be better. The boy is young, but he knows the dangers of The Road. Not only do the boy and his papa have to deal with the bad people that are roaming the countryside, but they have to deal with the cold and constant hunger, they have to deal with the constant fear. All of their belongings fit into one shopping cart, but one thing remains true, as long as they have each other, they will never be alone on The Road.
I know that I am about ten years behind the rest of the world with reading The Road. I own the book in every form, paperback, e-book, and audiobook, but it was this weekend on a six-hour road trip that my husband and I finally "read" the book. I was riveted. My husband less so. He was frustrated by the lack of details - what caused this apocalyptic world? What is the age of the boy? What happened to the boy in the end? Me? I loved how the author left that to my imagination. I loved how much the book has stuck with me. How much I have been thinking about it today. The thing that I loved about listening to the book from Audible is that the narrator does an amazing job at conveying papa's patience and; at times, annoyance with his son. The narrator's tone just added to the whole experience. The endless questions and the genuine fear of the unknown led me to believe that the boy was 8-10 years old. In the end, sad things happen. You can't expect a happy ending in a post-apocalyptic novel, but that didn't stop me from hoping.
Bottom Line - You know that I am a fan of post-apocalyptic novels. I love to see how different people would react to the situations they encounter at the end of the world. The Road was perfect. The author set the scene and provided the characters, but he trusted the readers to come up with their own reasons why the world fell apart. I know that almost everybody else in the world has already read this winner of the Pulitzer Prize, but if you have not, do so. You won't regret it.
Details:
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- Time: 6 Hrs. 39 minutes
- Release Date: 3/15/2007
- Publisher: Recorded Books
- Buy it Here!
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