The average user rating for this Book is 8.2 out of 10 (based on 260 Votes).
Sarah M. gave it a2: This book stunk! At the time I was reading it, I never knew and was always hoping on the next page McCarthy would "reminisce" and let me know why the world was in such devestation, how it all began... The ending was cut short.... I didn't think the whole book would be "I'm cold, should we go in? okay, you never talk, blah, blah, blah, won't read one of his books again
Bill L. gave it a3: This is an example of the dumbing down of our society. Best read and loved by the downtrodden and negative thinkers, typical of the leftovers of the 1960's and 70's.
Tom D. gave it a9: I didnt read it, i listened to it on a 600 mile trip. It was riviting, the gray tone descriptions as apposed to the lush green farm land glued us to the story and at time, we actually had to stop the cd player and catch our breaths. Im tring to read or listen to all the Pulitizers and this one met all expectations. I am so thankful to be living our easy lifestyle.
Steve C. gave it a4: A depressing book, really shocked at all the positive reviews by the critics, Lucifer's Hammer was a MUCH better book about the same subject. There just wasn't much in the book that was interesting or worth reading, just non-stop downers.
[Anonymous] gave it a10: Emotionally raw is where McCarthy left me. It doesn't get better than this.
Chris B. gave it a4: This book is well written, and it does have a message. Although 90% of it reads like some sort of a survival manual. Overwhelming amount of things described with a lot of detail. This may be the book to have in the world after the final disaster. Characters are well portrayed especially the boy. Read it if you want to get deeply depressed though. It is definitely a good work but the one that takes you way down.
CHRIS J. gave it a5: the book just explained too much on the setting its 150 pages in and still talking about the gray snow and cold weather i already know the conditions characters arent elaborated enough and it is confusing at times when the story shifts from 3rd person to 1st and back to 3rd
Joe B. gave it a5: Predictable. The dad was, as they say in monty python, coughing up blood... in the first few pages. The dialogue was spartan if not one worded, what the hell was this book about?
Manny F. gave it a10: amazing, memorable, thought-provoking, haunting, gut-wrenching novel, period. one of the best i have ever read. why? because everything about it rings so true... this IS a very possible future, that feels so close it was as if it was already upon me. this book doesn't take you to it's world, it creates it around you through your mind's eye and it lasts long after you put the book down. reading some of the bad reviews, in some way, confirms the cause of the apocolyptic events eluded to in this book. apathy, cynicism, coldness. we're losing our hearts and eventually what's inside of us will be a representation of the world mccarthy describes. if you didn't get this book... read it again and if you get nothing from it, you should be worried that other people don't feel like you do, because "the road" will soon be approaching.
Karen M. gave it a7: I liked the stark prose and thought it an effective way to convey the desolation he was describing. It was way too bleak for me though. The sadness just went on and on and was exhausting after awhile. Plus, there was no plot, really, although, it was nicely written for a book with no plot.
Pedro C. gave it an8: Maybe not as good as the perfect Blood Meridian, but an excellent read - anyone who likes this should look out for The Purple Cloud - do a search on google and you should be able to download the ebook for free
Emily N. gave it a9: This is simply a story of love. One so seldom told so poeticly. The prose alone is enough to mesmerize the reader but the story itself keeps you turning the page.
L H gave it a9: Captivating, lovely and, eventually, rejuvenating.
Andy C. gave it a10: This book literally had me in tears. Equally as heart-stopping as it is moving, it probably helps if you are a father yourself with a young boy to add an extra bond to the characters. I can understand that people may not chose to read the book for fear of being upset. I implore them to have a go. Yes it is unflinchingly hard, but everyone can understand the sacrifices the man makes for his son and it is that relationship that is at the heart of this book and takes it so far beyond being a depressing drudge.
Kim S. gave it a4: My book club chose this book to read and we were somewhat divided in our opinions. Most of us agreed that we were waiting for something to happen and nothing ever did! Yawn!!!
Laura W. gave it a9: I read it many months ago and it stays with me still.
Michael Y. gave it a4: This book serves no purpose other than to showcase the writer's adeptness at sharing his dismal world view through elaborate prose. Although he did a masterful job of describing the post-apocalyptic human condition (and I don't doubt that things will flesh out exactly as he describes [pun intended]), after finishing the book I wasn't thinking about how artistically he described the charred landscape. Rather, I wanted to sit in a corner, put in a Bergman film, and pick at my own flesh.
George S. gave it a1: Spellbinding, riveting, moving are just some of the adjectives that are used to describe this book. Have you all lost your minds? There is no plot development, the character development is absent, the grammar and syntax is abominable, and to top things off the author/ editor allows a fabricated word to appear in the text "crozzled". What are you afraid of? Let me be the first to say that the emperor has NO clothes. I don't care what the so called critics or Oprah has to say, this book is pathetic. I have read better attempts by junior high students.
Tom H. gave it a10: I had the great fortune of welcoming my first-born son a few months before reading this. The influence of those two events upon each other was indescribable. Every night I would hold my son a little tighter and be thankful for the choices I don't have to make.
Joe F. gave it a10: I found the road to be a poetic abstraction and deeply moving though experiment. What if love for your child is all that matters and yet the world inspires no hope for the future? With spare prose that detail the characters and blur the background, McCarthy's stark story illustrates the problem that all good parents face in a world that can daily give less reason for optimism. Maybe The Road resonated so strongly within me because I read it while returning from 10 days away from my two small children. But more likely its strength comes from being a rare book that draws out readers' feelings by saying something true about the way humans are.
Morgan C gave it a10: Without question one of the finest books I have ever read. I highly recommend it.
Sue D. gave it a10: One of the most affecting novels I've ever read. When I finished reading it, I turned it over and started again at page one--not because I needed to relive the gut-wrenching journey, but because I wasn't ready to part with the father and son and the remarkable prose.
Beth C. gave it a6: I agree with those who didn't get why everyone is raving about this book. McCarthy is a great prose stylist, and he does make his post-apocalyptic world come alive. However, there is very little plot, no background, and very little description of the two main characters. The novel has an unrelenting grim tone. I preferred his other novels, and couldn't bring myself to care for the father and son since I didn't really come to know them as well-rounded characters. He seems to be going for a mythic quality here, but it didn't work for me.
Roland G. gave it a10: Minimalistic zen-like tale that strips human nature to its bones. Although presented as a post-apocalyptic thriller, this novel is more about the present, than the future. Once the veneer of civilization is burned away, this is what we are, pure and simple. Profoundly moving. Compelling. Moving. And ultimately as beautiful as Annie Dillard's crumpling frog in "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek."
Sam A gave it a4: I really didn't get what all the fuss was about. This is not, repeat: NOT, a great novel. The prose may be well crafted but the plot is oh-so-light and the characters are thin. The real 'Apocalypse' here is what has happened to the so-called 'great American novel'
hal b gave it a9: It is a cynical heart indeed that can rate this small masterpiece at 5 or lower. Initially I struggled to accept the premise, the utterly lost world that McCarthy has created. But one is quickly compelled to follow the father and son down this terrible road. Pure poetry, nearly impossible to turn away from.
Chris M gave it a6: I don't understand what all the hype is about. I read this book in a single sitting and all I could think of was how much more I enjoyed his other works. I opened it at the airport and after seeing the Big Chief print and the 2x line spacing immediately thought, "he must have had to meet a contract obligation." The idea that this work won a Pulitzer is either a testament to the dumbing down of all things american, or equivalent to Martin Scorsese winning an Oscar for The Departed. I prefer to think the latter was the case. Good, easy read, but not Pulitzer material by any stretch of the imagination.
Michael K gave it a5: Hemingway famously wrote that there is no symbolism in The Old Man in the Sea; the man is just a man, the boy is just a boy, and the fish is just a fish. Would that it could be so for The Road, in which Coke symbolizes civilization (already been done before in E.T. The Extraterrestrial) and a line of dogcollared catamites trailing behind the maurading gang's gasoline tanker symbolizes the enslavement of future generations by our dependency on foreign oil (a direct cop from Mad Max and the Road Warrior movies). Gee, I wonder if the trout symbolizes hope? The movie version should be a product placement gold mine: Del Monte, Green Giant, Progresso, etc. But such are the vagaries of the easy-to-read McNovel in the global age, when The Road can sell 142,000 copies in hardback followed by a first paperback printing of 950,000 copies. The most simplistic and least challenging book I have ever read.
Randy C gave it a10: I listened to the audio as I drove. It was hard to tuern off the igniition and leave the story and sometimes I lingered longer than I should have. Spell binding.
Sandy A gave it a9: One of the best reads this year
Alisa G gave it a10: One of the best books I've ever read. People who don't like this book just don't get it. The last paragraph is absolute poetry.
Sol B gave it a10: Just inexplicable enough not to be labeled as Science Fiction, which along with the incredible use of language is what enabled McCarthy to win the Pulitzer. In lesser hands this could have just been another post-apocalyptic horror story, albeit a good one. Well worth the read, particularly in paperback. Leaves you feeling a bit like "The Giver" did, except with the added baggage of some indelibly soul-crushing images.
James L gave it a3: Can Cormac actually write English???
Ron K gave it a10: I expected a good read, I got an incredible experience. Literally did not put it down. A literary masterpiece- disturbing and haunting and impossible to forget.
Joanna D gave it a6: Fast, entertaining read, but, having read Grapes of Wrath for the first time this year, I see the desolation in The Road as almost trite compared to the starvation and bleakness the Joads had to face. The whole "hope" for the human spirit thing was done by John Steinbeck and no one has done it better to date. I was hoping for better.
James D gave it a10: A magnificent, beautiful, and poetic novel that above all things delivers the never-more-timely message that the ultimate act of heroism and courage is to remain human when surrounded by inhumanity.
Hugh D gave it a10: Like Shakespeare, McCarthy puts the lens on human nature and asks all the big questions while telling a hell of a good story. Absolutely amazing.
Charlie S gave it an8: Bleak, yet completely immersive and compelling. Creates a vision that can be all too real and not far away. Very disturbing and impossible to forget,
Tom D gave it a9: An existential sucker punch; this book affected me more deeply than anything I have read in some time. I am still trying to get my head right, and I finished it a couple of weeks ago.
Joseph T gave it a10: One of the best books I have ever read. The story haunts you long after you finish.
Elizabeth S gave it a10: By far, his best book (and he's had many great ones). Haunting tale within the realm of possibility. Sad, but beautifully told. I couldn't put it down.
Jeanne M gave it a10: One of the most moving, beautifully written and profuondly disturbing books I have read. A milestone in 21st century writing.
Nicky G gave it a10: Mc Carthy uses the bleak, grey setting in The Road to show how terrible this world can seem to be. He also uses it to provide a stark contrast between the setting and the protagonists of the novel. The man and his son's relationship shines like a beautiful torch of hope in a dull and dreary landscape. In this touching novel, McCarthy shows how love is so powerful that it can bring joy to a man who has lost nearly everything, and allow people to overcome the greatest of obstacles.
Kevin S gave it a10: Sparse and tense. An intense and thought provoking tome.
Maureen R gave it a10: A stunning book - it got under my skin and into my dreams for days after finishing it. Beautiful, terrifying, and desperately moving.
Peter J gave it a10: The only negative critique I could give this book is that it feels like a farewell from one of our greatest writers. McCarthy's renderings of simple tasks performed by father and son evoke the power of Blood Meridian in an imaginary landscape. A must- read.
Bob B gave it a10: Thought pjrovoking; riveting; sensitive and utterly amazing piece of literature.
Travis K gave it a9: This book is simply amazing. It will stay with you long after you read it and is a quick read. If you cannot feel for the man and his son that make up the main characters in this book - then you have no emotions at all. I am hoping this becomes a movie soon (how can it not after its success) - I picture Hugh Laurie from House as the Man and Freddy Highmore (Finding Neverland) as his son. Overall a great read and well worth the time.
Mark E gave it a9: Finished this a few weeks ago, and still find cause to think about it now. Never going to be a 'bundle of laughs' but if you can handle the darkness it is compelling and well written.
steve b gave it a10: This book still haunts my dreams even a month after reading it.
Griff C gave it a10: A guided meditation on care in the face of utterly unconcerned silence. Terrifying and heart rending. Amazing.
Jackie B gave it a10: stark, frightening and totally riveting...
Michael J gave it a5: Read At The Beach. Same premise, but MUCH more powerful. Do not believe the hype regarding this book.
Mr. Hankey gave it a10: Cormac McCarthy has gained my respect. This is the first book that I've ever read by him and I can honestly say is one of the best books that I have ever read. This perilous journey taken by a father and son is one that you will never forget as many reviewers have stated. Best Book of '06!
Karen R gave it a10: Never in my life have I been so consumed by a book.
David T gave it a5: Was this book dry and devoid of emotion Papa? The boy asked. Yes. The man said Really? Yes. Okay.
Perry N gave it a9: I couldn't put this book down; it is totally engrossing. Until the end, I thought some of the really dark scenes (it is easy to visualize the movie) were teetering on being gratuitous. There are shades of Samuel Beckett, but without a trace of humor.
Megan C gave it a10: I'm still moved by this book two months after reading it. No book I've read since then has reduced the effect 'The Road' had on me...it is fresher in my mind than everything I've read since. I am still as concerned for the characters as I would be for close family or friends.
Chad D gave it a10: The best book I've ever read. It made me weep aloud.
Dennis L gave it a10: A Masterpiece!
patrick s gave it a10: I wept reading the final pages - can't remember when I last did that over a book. Many critics have called 'The Road' depressing. I don't think it is. The fire is carried on by the boy...
Ben G gave it a10: I haven't stopped thinking about this book since I put it down a few weeks ago.
Hugh D gave it a10: It's been a week since I read The Road. I'm still haunted by thoughts of it throughout the day. I'm still, too, given some hope by its ending.
Ryan F gave it a10: Absolutely execellent book. McCarthy uses great imagery to tell a story in a time of despair. Some parts of the books are forever in my mind
Jason M gave it an8: Although it doesn't reach the heights of a Blood Meridian or Suttree, this certainly ranks among McCarthy's best. Although the world of The Road is sheer unimaginable horror, McCarthy imagines it for us; the language and imagery are sheer poetry - perhaps it is the beauty of the writing that pulls us through. Not for the lighthearted, this novel has stayed with me for weeks.
Ron P gave it a10: Totally blown away......
C Archer gave it a10: A brilliantly written bleak vision of post apocalyptic life. The poignancy of a father's love for his son in a world without hope shows McCarthy at his best.
Darrell N gave it an8: This was an enjoyable, engrossing story. However, I didn’t give it my highest rating. I was put off by too many scenes describing searches for food and provisions, and too much dull dialogue (especially “Is it O.K.? Yes it’s O.K.”). Nevertheless, I’m glad I read it and would recommend it to anyone.
celeste n gave it a10: This is one of the most beautiful and haunting books I have ever read. Outstanding.
Chris J gave it a10: Wow! Perhaps the best writing since Heart of Darkness!
Thaddeus S gave it a10: A truly incredible novel. Three weeks after finishing it, I continue to have its world in my mind. There are images that I think (and fear) may never leave my imagination. I picture my own son in the world Mr. McCarthy creates, and I feel an overpowering sadness. Yet, in this bleakness, there are significant touches of humanity that feel real and true, among them the father's ability to maintain a sense of morality in hell. I have strongly recommended this work to friends, with the caveat that they should be prepared to feel a profound sense of sorrow.
Zoltan T gave it an8: While I felt The Road was potent and beautifully structured, for me, it wasn't in the same league as some of his earlier works. I especially love Blood Meridian, but also feel his first couple of novels are masterful and complex. For the Road, it was essential to include a hopeful ending after such a powerfully bleak story. He is a remarkable writer for all that he's willing to leave out. He forces you to deal with the story on his terms and he has absolute command over those terms.
Jean D gave it a10: It should be a call to all countries to lay down their nuclear weapons, beginning with us.
Don C gave it a10: Possibly the most emotional and powerful book I've read. McCarthy is our finest living writer and with The Road, he shows he is in a league by himself like other masters of their craft such as Akira Kurosawa and Django Rhinehart. This book stands right next Blood Meridan and Heart of Darkness, and, like those masterpieces, desrves to be read over and over.
Mark W gave it a10: A powerful novel by a writer of exceptional talent. All of McCarthy's novels are well worth reading and rereading. Even in the wake of a devestating catastrophy, McCarthy reveals a glimmer of hope kept alive by our often neglected capacity for love and decency. Highly recommended.
Biff D gave it a10: Our best writer, folks. Really no bleaker than any of his early works. The romance in "All The Pretty Horses" was pretty much a red herring in his work. The setting of "The Road", where all vestiges of civilization have been stripped away, lays bare his dour view of mankind
Jeff T gave it a10: In The Road, McCarthy juxtaposes all the bleakness of Blood Meridian with the more compassionate elements of the Border Trilogy. It's a stunning piece of work--masterfully composed, beautifully distilled, and every bit as terrifying as it is heartbreaking. I loved it and would recommended it highly.
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