OcUK Book Club #3: Cormac McCarthy - The Road

Good stuff, I'm actually in the mood for reading some more sci-fi type stuff, been reading some in the more dystopian style recently, eg. Brave New World, Farenheit 451 and The Iron Heel.
 
I really liked the novel, I found it's desolation and hopelessness was an excellent counterpoint to the Father/Son relationship dynamic.

I woudn't call it Science Fiction as someone mentioned earlier either, more speculative fiction.

I liked the way the Father and Son never gave their names, as if to say that their bond surpassed the need for them. As a father myself, I can identify with the Father and the way in which the love for his Son over-rode his own instinct to survive at any cost, like those around him as if the Boy was the only tenuous link he has left of his own humanity.

The falsely optimistic outlook the Father gives the Boy belies his true feeling of hopelessness especially when they reach the coast although the final snippet of true hope colours everything you have read previous and as such I found this book depressing and oppressive as I was reading it, yet with that hint of real optimism at the end gave a me different experience in hindsight.
 
I read this a few months back, and in all honesty, i didn't enjoy it very much. His style of writing really did not mix with me too well. I was quite disappointed after hearing so many good things about it.

The film was pretty well realised, though ultimately didn't work well with me either :(
 
I've just remembered what the writing style reminded me somewhat of; DBC Pierre's Vernon God Little, also critically lauded for the eccentric writing style and that book actually irritated me. I think I might be better not knowing what critics think before reading because I find myself so frequently disagreeing with them and I can't tell if it is just my contrary streak or not.

I too cant get to grips with his writing style, im part way through the book, enjoying the content but am annoyed by his use of grammar. His sentences contains phrases such as 'He continued to walk, and then looked to the right and then stopped and then walked over there...' , he writes like I used to at primary school describing my trip to the zoo!

I know my grammar isn't always of the highest order, but then again im not a published author. :p
 
I too cant get to grips with his writing style, im part way through the book, enjoying the content but am annoyed by his use of grammar. His sentences contains phrases such as 'He continued to walk, and then looked to the right and then stopped and then walked over there...' , he writes like I used to at primary school describing my trip to the zoo!

I know my grammar isn't always of the highest order, but then again im not a published author. :p

He does play with writing styles and grammar in most of his works. The border triology does not contain any grammar apart from fullstops.
 
He does play with writing styles and grammar in most of his works. The border triology does not contain any grammar apart from fullstops.

What is the need for him to do it though? Many readers read entire volumes of work by single authors because they liked their writing style, and changing it can put off a lot of fans from previous works. But I suppose it could work the opposite by gaining a lot of new fans from a change.

Swings and roundabouts I guess... still don't like it though. :)
 
What is the need for him to do it though? Many readers read entire volumes of work by single authors because they liked their writing style, and changing it can put off a lot of fans from previous works. But I suppose it could work the opposite by gaining a lot of new fans from a change.

Swings and roundabouts I guess... still don't like it though. :)

Hard to say why - he does not do publicity and doesn't talk about his writing. The border triology reads similar to some of Hemingway's books so maybe it is a tribute, or maybe he is too lazy to do punctuation. I always felt he wrote for himself rather than for fans.
 
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