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Cormac McCarthy


muggle not

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Wow, has anyone read "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. It is a masterpiece IMO. I loved previous books by McCarthy including his Border Trilogy and Blood Meridian. The Road however is a powerful book that will stay with me showing the worst in people and at the same time showing the love that some people are capable of holding onto through the most depressing of conditions.

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Wow, has anyone read "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. It is a masterpiece IMO. I loved previous books by McCarthy including his Border Trilogy and Blood Meridian. The Road however is a powerful book that will stay with me showing the worst in people and at the same time showing the love that some people are capable of holding onto through the most depressing of conditions.

 

Funny you should mention this. I just read that McCarthy has won a Pulitzer Prize for this book.

 

I've never read any of his works before. When and where is 'The Road' set?

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Funny you should mention this. I just read that McCarthy has won a Pulitzer Prize for this book.

 

I've never read any of his works before. When and where is 'The Road' set?

I also read in this morning's paper that McCarthy has received a Pulitzer Prize for his book, well deserved. The book omits on purpose "when" The Road takes place and the "cause" of it. This is from Amazon.com:

 

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.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I finished reading The Road and thought that the Pulitzer Cormac McCarthy received was well deserved. My wife also read the book and thought it was depressing. i really thought it was a powerful book.

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I finished reading The Road and thought that the Pulitzer Cormac McCarthy received was well deserved. My wife also read the book and thought it was depressing. i really thought it was a powerful book.

muggle,

Just from the synopsis, it looks awfully depressing to me, and another one he wrote...can't remember the name though..about the U.S./Mexican border? I think. Sounded bloody and mean to me. :D

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muggle,

Just from the synopsis, it looks awfully depressing to me, and another one he wrote...can't remember the name though..about the U.S./Mexican border? I think. Sounded bloody and mean to me. :D

There were 3 books called the Border Trilogy (hmmm, guess trilogy does mean 3). The first one of the 3 was titled All The Pretty Horses. I guess the Border Trilogy was my favorite of all his books. His writing does get brutal sometime and depressing at times, but the writing is brilliant, IMO.

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  • 5 months later...

The Road is a great book. Not at all depressing. It is a tale of enduring hope in a post apocalypse world. It is the boy who has never seen the world pre disaster that embodies the best qualities of humanity. It is also a tremendous read. I was convincing that the man and the boy were doomed but found myself gripped by the narrative and desperately willing things to work out for them, for them not to be caught, not to starve.

It is a brilliant book and I would encourage anyone to read it.

Child Of God is also really good.

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I read this book in the summer and I loved it. He painted such a beautiful picture with words. It is an amazing read. I was lost in this book. It captivated me. He makes you feel as if you are taking the journey with them. It took me two days to read and when it was done I was sad. The ending was good and I am glad he chose to end it the way he did. Very good book and I highly recomend it. I love this author very much.

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  • 4 weeks later...
I read All the Pretty Horses recently. I thought it wasgreat. I've got the third in the trilogy, but obviously I won't read it until I've tracked down a copy of the second one. I did put something about it in my reading blog. Some of the horsey stuff went over my head though.

 

This is supposed to be a really great trilogy. I keep meaning to buy these.

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Here's my problem: I had a blind date with a guy who went on and on and on about All the Pretty Horses. I ended up not being able to stand this guy, after just this one date (he was so insufferable), and now I can't read any of McCarthy's books as a result.

 

Weird, huh?

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Here's my problem: I had a blind date with a guy who went on and on and on about All the Pretty Horses. I ended up not being able to stand this guy, after just this one date (he was so insufferable), and now I can't read any of McCarthy's books as a result.

 

Weird, huh?

 

LOL, sounds like a date from hell :lol:

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Here's my problem: I had a blind date with a guy who went on and on and on about All the Pretty Horses. I ended up not being able to stand this guy, after just this one date (he was so insufferable), and now I can't read any of McCarthy's books as a result.

 

Weird, huh?

Why not take the oposite view and go ahead and read "All The "Pretty Horses" and see why he was raving so much about it. You will be missing out on one of the great authors otherwise. Of course, that is just my humble opinion. :censored:

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  • 2 weeks later...

I picked up The Road on a whim (and the recommendations here) on Friday because it was in a 3-for-2 deal. I read it in two sittings on Sunday, because it is so gripping. What an incredibly fantastic book. It is bleak and dark and depressing, but as everyone says, it is also incredibly redemptive. The underlying core of the book is still upbeat, despite living in an evil world full of death. I love that the son is so much more naive than his dad and therefore so much more positive, and that it's only through experience that the man has become cynical. With the implication that the natural state is to be much more open and positive and trusting.

 

The fact that you learn nothing - no times, no places, no names, makes it all the more absorbing.

 

Really, one of the best things I've read all year. And I'd never read anything by McCarthy before.

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I picked up The Road on a whim (and the recommendations here) on Friday because it was in a 3-for-2 deal. I read it in two sittings on Sunday, because it is so gripping. What an incredibly fantastic book. It is bleak and dark and depressing, but as everyone says, it is also incredibly redemptive. The underlying core of the book is still upbeat, despite living in an evil world full of death. I love that the son is so much more naive than his dad and therefore so much more positive, and that it's only through experience that the man has become cynical. With the implication that the natural state is to be much more open and positive and trusting.

 

The fact that you learn nothing - no times, no places, no names, makes it all the more absorbing.

 

Really, one of the best things I've read all year. And I'd never read anything by McCarthy before.

 

I couldn't agree more. I loved this book. I have to say it is one of my all-time favorites :D

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Now I'm looking forward even more to reading it. I'll be getting to it in a week or so (hopefully); it sounds like a very promising read. :D

As I stated previously, The Road is a very hard hitting book and one that I enjoyed tremendously. The Border Trilogy is also great reading. I believe that I have read all of Cormac's work and enjoyed them all. He is one heck of a great author.

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I have just read a review in today's Times which made my blood run cold. I dont know whether it would be called Science Fiction. The book in question is called The Road written by Cormac McCarthy. Here is a sample of the review to give you a taste (and taste is the word!!)

 

"With The Road Cormac McCarthy ignores what other writers make the core of their work - he does not tell us how the world was damaged, but plunges us straight in the post-apocalyptic crisis. There are no explosions, fire ridden skies or hurtling asteroids. All is quiet and bleak, the hungry survivors are divided into two classes - those who eat other people and those who do not.:welcome:.

"But there is probably as much suspense as in any work contemplating the Earth's destruction. The father and son who trudge along the road are surrounded by death and think about it always. The father sinks into despair occasionally and cannot remember the names of colours or birds or things to eat. The odds are against them, but if mankind has any hope they have to survive. "Are we still the good guys?" the boy asks. If not, then all is lost.

"At times the tension is unbearable. The boy is nervous about the derelict houses that they search for food and shelter. Will they find a precious tin of peaches or a cellar full of people waiting to be slaughtered for meat?..................":hide:

 

I am sort of fascinated, but would need to screw up a certain amount of courage to read this I think.

 

Has anyone heard of this book, read it, or any of Cormac McCarthy's books??

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I have just read a review in today's Times which made my blood run cold. I dont know whether it would be called Science Fiction. The book in question is called The Road written by Cormac McCarthy. Here is a sample of the review to give you a taste (and taste is the word!!)

 

"With The Road Cormac McCarthy ignores what other writers make the core of their work - he does not tell us how the world was damaged, but plunges us straight in the post-apocalyptic crisis. There are no explosions, fire ridden skies or hurtling asteroids. All is quiet and bleak, the hungry survivors are divided into two classes - those who eat other people and those who do not.:welcome:.

"But there is probably as much suspense as in any work contemplating the Earth's destruction. The father and son who trudge along the road are surrounded by death and think about it always. The father sinks into despair occasionally and cannot remember the names of colours or birds or things to eat. The odds are against them, but if mankind has any hope they have to survive. "Are we still the good guys?" the boy asks. If not, then all is lost.

"At times the tension is unbearable. The boy is nervous about the derelict houses that they search for food and shelter. Will they find a precious tin of peaches or a cellar full of people waiting to be slaughtered for meat?..................":hide:

 

I am sort of fascinated, but would need to screw up a certain amount of courage to read this I think.

 

Has anyone heard of this book, read it, or any of Cormac McCarthy's books??

 

That is the great thing about this book and author. He does not waste time with details. He plundges you into this world of destruction and you feel like your the one trying to survive.

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