"THE ROAD"

"THE ROAD" by Cormac McCarthy

I had not intended to purchase or read "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. I do not like post-apocalyptic stories. That's why I do not read Revelations in the Bible. I did not like Mel Gibson's Mad Max movies. And as much as I like the actor Skeet Ulrich, I did not like the TV series Jericho.

Yet, I somehow felt as if I were missing out on something. "The Road" won the Pulitzer Prize. It was on the Bestsellers List. It was made into a movie starring another very good actor, Viggo Mortensen.

So, having a gift card in hand and a passel of books to choose from, I ended up buying it. I had chosen two other books but didn't have enough money to buy a third trade paperback. However, I had just enough to buy a mass market paperback.

So: "The Road". The story of two people traveling through a ravaged world (probably a nuclear holocaust, although this is not made clear.) They are constantly on the move, forever on The Road.

Sun blotted out. Falling ash, permanently gray skies, dirty snow, bone-chilling rain. No living trees, no plants. No birds, no fish. No animals except dogs. No fresh food. 

Burned-out cities. Utter desolation. Dust. Barrenness. Devastation. Anarchy. Humans reverting to savages.

Bad people. Very bad people. Murderers. Cannibals. Barbecued babies on a spit.

Freezing cold. Starvation. Nightmares. Fatigue. Loneliness. Mistrust. Sickness. Paralyzing, constant fear.

No future. No hope. No reason to go on putting one foot in front of another on The Road. No Nothing.

Nothing. Nothing. Except:

The love that passes between a man and his young son.

Is it enough? Is it enough in the end?