If I had to describe The Road in one word, it would be "bleak." This relatively short novel follows a man in his young son as they try to survive in a post-apocalyptic world destroyed by nuclear holocaust. Human civilization has disintegrated, the landscape is covered with ash, and no plants can grow. The few survivors of the fall-out either scavenge for food or join together in violent, cannibalistic gangs. This would be an excruciating book to read if it weren't so sublimely written. Cormac McCarthy's prose is as gray and spare as the landscape he describes. The story is so grim that I wanted to detach myself emotionally from the characters, but I was still wracked as the father internally debated whether it would be better to keep going or to accept death on their own terms.
The Road is undoubtedly the best book I read in 2009. I cannot recommend it highly enough. But I'm not interested in seeing the recent film adaptation, even though it stars the excellent Viggo Mortensen. I felt on edge the whole time I was reading the book, and some of the imagery was disturbing. To see it all on film would be too horrific.
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