Thursday, April 17, 2008

The Road


Okay, here is my 1st science fiction book I have EVER read, but I have to say that I really liked this book. It was a book about the innocence and simplicity of a little boy who loves and trusts his father unconditionally. A simple but profound love they share in the most horrible of circumstances. The father in the story has no reason to believe that their situation will get any better, yet makes his son believe that every tomorrow can be better if you have hope. The end broke my heart and it is a book that I will think of often, as I think about the beautiful relationship between a father and his son.

Synopsis:
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, “each the other’s world entire,” are sustained by love.

Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.

4 comments:

Andrea said...

Wow Emily, that looks awesome...you are reading some great ones! Thanks for all the good recommendations!

lynsey said...

this sounds like a really good book & i'm not a sci-fi fan. thanks for the review!

Anonymous said...

I have to be honest - I started reading this one last November and it was so unbelievably depressing to me. I only got about a third of the way through before I just couldn't take it anymore. It is well-written and very interesting, but be warned: If you are going through a rough time in your life (which I was when I was reading it) you might want to indulge in "Shopaholic" or the likes and save "The Road" for a bright, sunny summer afternoon.
At any rate, I'm really glad to hear a good review of it. Great job on the challenge!

Lindsay Jane said...

This is a great book. I read it a few summers ago, but Lauren you are right...it is a bit of a downer. I did laugh at one part in the book where they find someone's food storage because you know it was a Mormon family that had food storage. :)