One morning at work, I was
visiting with one of my co-workers about good books. My coworker is not a
sci-fi fan, but we were discussing one of my favorite post-apocalyptic books.
She asked me if I had ever read The Road, and I said I hadn't. She just told me
I needed to read it and left it at that.
I bought it for the Kindle and
started reading and was hooked from the first line, and I read the entire book
in a day. It is one of the best books I have ever opened, and I will read it
again.
It took me several pages to get
into it because I was temporarily distracted by the writing style. There were
no quotation marks to set the dialog apart from the prose, and no apostrophe in
the contractions. The punctuation was absolutely minimalist. After a few pages,
I got used to that and the text flowed well. As I think back, this aspect of
the writing added to the way the story felt.
I enjoyed this take of
post-apocalyptic adventure and survival. It was terrifying, triumphant,
depressing, and intense all at the same time. The relationship between the man
and the boy was great and so well written. Their feelings for each other were
always at the surface of the story.
A man and his young son take to
the road on a journey of survival in a world that has gone all wrong. It is
cold, and they follow the roads to find a more habitable place. Along the way,
they run into various things that can either help or harm them. Unfortunately,
there is far more that can harm them, mostly the other people, or as the boy
thinks of them, the "bad guys," who will not only take what little
they have for survival but will also take their lives.
The principal characters are
the man and the boy. We never get their names because names are no longer
important in the world of The Road. The thing that keeps them going is they are
carrying "the fire," which I took as meaning the living spirit. The
man is knowledgeable of the ways of survival, which he teaches to his son as
they move along. The man is sick and tries to get the boy to understand they
must do whatever it takes to continue living, but the boy will not set his
innocence aside. He holds on to his compassion and caring for others. When the
pair encounter those less fortunate than they are, the boy wants to share what
they have, even when they are faced with having almost nothing for themselves.
This creates a compelling dynamic between the two characters to create tension
between the two.
My favorite point of the plot
is how this tale unfolds with almost no background given on the characters or
what created the situation they live in. One can guess what it might have
been given the described conditions, but there aren't many clues how widespread
the catastrophe is. Assuming this story is set in the US, there are hints that,
at least, our country has been hit hard. Background on the characters is sparse
and mostly as flashback scenes of the man's life before his and the boy's time
on the road.
While the overall theme of the
story is survival against impossible odds, there are other supporting themes.
One is how one must be as ruthless as one's enemies to ensure their own
survival. Another theme is how one needs to hold on to their compassion to
remain human. Therein is my takeaway from The Road - no matter how bad the
situation is, one should never let go of one's humanity lest we degenerate to
the level of being subhuman.
I recommend The Road as one of
the best stories I have ever read. As a matter of fact, I downloaded the
audiobook to listen to as I drove back and forth from work, enjoying it a
second time. Were I to rate all the books I have read, I would number this in
at least the top ten, if not the top five greatest modern stories I have ever
read.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
