Upon its release, The Road received high praise from critics, many of whom regarded it as Cormac McCarthy's masterpiece. Indeed it certainly takes a master of imagination and words to create a piece as mesmerising as The Road.
Equal in its beauty and its grim surroundings, McCarthy remoulds the modern world into a harsh, grey, post-apocalyptic nightmare. Gone are the gadgets, skyscrapers and technology, to be replaced by rations, rags and rivals. The father and son, the central characters of this story, travel towards the coast in hope that they will reach safer conditions. Along the way they face a devastated environment and torturous weather with nothing to protect them but the clothes on their backs, the tarpaulin they carry in their shopping cart, a few tins of scavenged food and a pistol loaded with just two bullets. The father is sick and dying, but we learn of the love and devotion he has for his son as the story progresses, especially in the tense instances where they meet other survivors. Each encounter leaves us waiting with bated breath for what might possibly unfold. Cannibalistic killers, kidnappers, thieves and the injured all pose a threat. We also learn of the father's painful story in flashbacks to the last moments shared with his wife, who took her own life.
McCarthy not only diminishes the world to a dying speck of its former self but also takes away the very essence of humanity: compassion for our fellow man. It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, 'every man for himself.' The novel will stay with you long after you finish reading, and will provide plenty of food for thought. McCarthy wrote the book with his own young son in mind, which explains the passion poured into every word. It is no surprise that the novel won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
Other Reviews
The Guardian: "The Road affirms belief in the tender pricelessness of the here and now. In creating an exquisite nightmare, it does not add to the cruelty and ugliness of our times; it warns us now how much we have to lose."
The Observer: "Part of the achievement of The Road is its poetic description of landscapes from which the possibility of poetry would seem to have been stripped, along with their ability to support life."
The New York Times: "This is an exquisitely bleak incantation — pure poetic brimstone. Mr. McCarthy has summoned his fiercest visions to invoke the devastation. He gives voice to the unspeakable in a terse cautionary tale that is too potent to be numbing, despite the stupefying ravages it describes. Mr. McCarthy brings an almost biblical fury as he bears witness to sights man was never meant to see."