The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

You’ve probably heard of The Road.

It not only snagged the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, it was adapted into a fantastic movie. It also regularly appears on lists of most disturbing books.

Personally, I love unsettling books (that’s just me) but don’t let that description put you off. The Road is gloriously readable, thrilling, and moving. Cormac McCarthy’s prose is staccato, boldly quotation mark-less, and gorgeous – it’s like poetry carved into granite.

The Road follows the journey of an unnamed father and son, making their way through the treacherous landscape of a world blackened by an unspeakable disaster. In true McCarthy style, he only tells us what we need to know – our imagination does the rest.

The Road really asks, in an environment of unspeakable horror, where hope is all but extinguished, can love really endure? This book is ultimately a story about the sacrifices we make for the people we truly love.

Yes, it’s bleak. Yes, it’s disturbing. But it’s also gorgeously written, incredibly worthy, and ultimately uplifting. This read is also a great introduction to the work of a truly masterful writer.