The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Just finished it .It was it was good. What do you think happened to the Earth??? Couldnt have been nuclear could it?? Solar??? This is bugging me.It dosent really say. No country for old man left me going Huh? after seeing the movie. Any ideas??

I read that book also and thought it was pretty thought provoking.

The setting is post apocalypse but they don't really ever say what exactly happened. All the trees and plants are dead and there is ash covering everything.

That could have been from a massive fire (think after a big meteor strike) or after a nuclear war. The event took place in the past, from the perspective of the characters in the book.

The move is supposed to be coming out this year. The father will be played by Viggo Mortensen.

I'm looking forward to it.

Didnt know there was going to be a movie.Thats great! Keep me informed to its realease Wildbob!!

reply to post by fromtheheart66


It's been in post production for awhile. Last I heard was a scheduled release this October.

I watched the trailer on You Tube.Looks like it follows the book. Looks good!

This is one of the best books I've read lately...

I work in a bookshop, and had my eye on this one for a while, and thought hey, screw it, take the plunge.

I devoured this book in a couple of hours, I was with the father and son all the way..

I found it to be a little like Hemingway, McCarthy writes not too little, not too much, but just the right amount of detail to keep you wondering for days afterwards...

I've read this book 4 times. The first time I sobbed like a baby near the end. It's been years since I've been this impacted by a work of fiction.

McCarthy's use of language is pure genius, IMHO. Just when you think he's going to run out of adjectives to describe grayness and bleakness, he pulls another string of a dozen or so from his sleeve, and every page is fresh.

As to what happened to the earth to make it the way McCarthy describes, I'm pretty sure he left it ambiguious on purpose. In a way, there is a point to that: so many possible things could wipe us out, and I think he wanted to provoke thought about them all\, and how fragile civilization is on so many fronts. The only point in the book where he describes what happened was a brief passage about seeing a "shear of light" and hearing some "dull thuds" in the distance. It could be anything...nuclear, a comet/meteor strike or a massive volcanic caldera eruption, for example. There are signs of a great release of heat everywhere...I would say nuclear is a good possibility...and yet there is no talk of radiation anywhere in the book. In the end, it doesn't really matter. "Ten thousand dreams ensepulchred within their crozzled hearts..."

Regarding the movie: I think it will fall far short of the book and be a big disappointment. The genius of the book is in its use of language and vocabulary, the inner thoughts of the characters, the silent mental state of the father and son...none of this will translate well to the silver screen. There is little dialogue and few plot twists, which are generally what drive good movies.

Here's the trailer for "The Road" ....



.... I have to admit, it certainly does look good but, once again, it would seem that Hollywood has taken liberties with the book. Of course, that's what Hollywood does best. I'll go see it when it comes out. I found that the book was really moving and impactful when I read it.

I tried reading it, but couldnt get over the childish dialogue, and has the author ever heard of quotation marks.

I keep hearing nothing but good things about this book but after reading the first few pages, I just couldnt get over the dialogue. But maybe Ill give it another try...