The Road - Cormac McCarthy

Hello, my name is Jason Isbell and I am not a book reader. I hope to become one someday, but keeping that admission in mind deciding to 'review' a book like The Road has the potential to be a fairly embarrassing endeavor. However this book is too incredible for me not to comment on. This book is one of the most compelling, audacious, and deeply moving pieces of literature I have ever read. Almost all of the many facets that make up who I am (father, human being, spouse, believer, etc) were challenged as I read The Road. Here's an excerpt:

"They squatted in the road and ate cold rice and cold beans that they'd cooked days ago. Already beginning to ferment. No place to make a fire that would not be seen. They slept huddled together in the rank quilts in the dark and the cold. He held the boy close to him. So thin. My heart, he said. My heart. But he knew that if he were a good father still it might well be as she had said. That the boy was all that stood between him and death."

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, pg. 29

There are so many things to takeaway from this book, but ultimately in my mind the book deals with two fundamental questions:

1. In a world saturated with evil and darkness, does being good matter?
2. In the midst of such evil what are the lengths a parent will (or should) go through in order to ensure a child's protection, survival, and moral education?

If you are looking for a good, albeit slightly off kilter, Father's day 'side gift' (from a spouse, parent, or other non-child relative) this book would be a great one. However you should know that after getting thirty pages into the book I seriously thought about putting it down and not picking it up again. McCarthy's ability to articulate the danger, isolation, violence, and panic inducing fear that would accompany living in an apocalyptic world with a child is unmatched. I thought at one point, "I have a two year old son, I can't read this...it's too close to home." But I pressed on, and have been richly rewarded for it ever since. It impacted me in a deep and profound way.

The quote above was my favorite from the book, and is a perfect example of Cormac's style. In these few sentences you see into the deepest thoughts of a father who is wrestling with the fear, guilt, and love he has for his son. The book is a short read, but it's sparse prose should not be underestimated. Cormac can convey complex emotions and heart thumping 'stakes' on one page that other writers would take an entire chapter to illuminate.

I highly recommend this book for both book and non-book readers alike. If you have any thoughts please comment, but no spoilers.