The Road

Last week I finished reading Cormac McCarthy's novel The Road. When I bought the book at my local bookstore, the clerk got very excited and told me the book was "brutal" but excellent. I agree with the brutal part, but I had mixed feelings about the excellence of the book.

Without doubt, this book is Fine Literature. It is creative, moving, and rich with symbolism. Yet I did not have a feeling of overwhelming admiration for it. The story was not exactly inspirational, and in some ways it felt manipulative to me. The extreme post-armageddon setting and the tender father-son relationship at the center of the story feel too easy to me, too much in service to the Big Themes the book ultimately conveys. Although I can understand why the book is so highly praised, I frankly would only recommend it to bookworms and English majors. I have nothing against "parables" or stories heavy with symbolism, but I prefer novels that are also rich and entertaining on the simple level of story and character.