"The Road" (book review)

...by Cormac McCarthy, 2007.

A bleak, powerful, compulsive, tragic and beautiful novel.
Its power lies in its simplicity - of structure, language, expression.
It reminds me of one of those delicate, understated Japanese line paintings.
It relates strongly to the Ballard "Drought" and Atwood "Year of the Flood" novels.
Unlike Ballard or Atwood, however, McCarthy's art lies in the space created between the words, not in the detail that fills in the nooks and crannies.
It is a novel about apocalypse, death, fear, trust, history (in the broad sense of remembering), survival and yes, some magic moments too.
The road - a timeless metaphor for relentless journeying, destiny, pathways to and from nowhere...
I wonder how well the recently released movie will capture the atmosphere of the book?
A lot will depend on the soundtrack, and also the acting of the 2 leads - father and son.
After one page I wasn't sure I had the courage to continue with the book - by the end of it, even though the sense of loss increases and causes greater pain, the beauty of the relationhip, and the inevitability of the journey, had successfully dragged me through 300 pages in 3 days.
Don't read this book if you're in the mood to be entertained!

10/10.