The Road

So, I already hate hate hate 2008 because I'm ONE DAY into the New Year and I've already read a stunner of a novel. How in the hell did I *not* read this last year? And now how do I get through the next 365 days knowing that it's gonna take a hell of a novel to compare? UGH!!

Sparse, dense, deeply moving -- let's remember that they don't just hand out Pulitzer Prizes to everyone under the moon, okay?

And Cormac McCarthy's THE ROAD is a must-read, okay? A "if you don't read this I don't know why you read at all" book. I'm already thinking about how I get this post-apocalyptic novel into the EWHS canon. It's as dark and moving as Saramago's BLINDNESS, but there is something purely American about this book, which already has numerous reviewers using the words "brilliant" and "classic" and phrases like "best of the century."

Set somewhere in the future, in the wake of a civilization-ending catastrophe, THE ROAD follows a father and son as they search for the truth of their lives. Somehow, McCarthy's world is simultaneously hopeful and desperately hopeless and, as a father, I found myself just clutching at the images and moments of desperation.

I must read this again soon. And it is RECOMMENDED with an exclamation point!

http://www.amazon.com/Road-Oprahs-Book-Club/dp/0307387895/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199247252&sr=8-2