June Discussion, The Road By Cormac McCarthy

.

More thoughts-

was the novel written to tug on heart strings or to dizzy the reader, or was it a genuine gift to his son, from someplace deep down in a man that can only be devastatingly honest?

What is the value of this fiction tale? What is the tale, first? Is it about the end of the world written to make the reader feel something, or is it an artist's rendition of dealing metaphysically with a worst dread?

Clevenger penned best the essence of the craft [of this novel] that Dan Brown uses a full page to describe a character's entire wardrobe ensemble where as Cormac can show you the end of the world in two lines:

The clocks stopped at 1:17. A long sheer of light and then a series of low concussions.

Are there any thoughts on the writerly device of nameless characters> Did that appropriately draw the reader in?

A simple plot. Is this novel a concise and simpler version of The Stand? Or does it simply show the story on a more internal level.

Brilliant book, or a slight of hand?

-kabol

..

i'd like to post more now, i'll return with more later.

for now i'll leave a personal note that the novel breaks me every time i read it, due to my own fractured relationship with my own father.

this is the novel i intend to read first after the birth of my first child; it's the only way i can imagine it would gain more raw, midnight train at full-speed power.

..to be continued.

I disliked this novel immensely. Maybe it's the amount of time that this is what is presented to us:

Are you hungry, asks the man.
No, says the boy.
You didn't eat today, says the man.
Neither did you, says the boy.
Eat this, says the man.
Etc.

I just don't get the acclaim surrounding the novel. I bought it because it was McCarthy and the Pulitzer and all that and I was endlessly, endlessly bored while reading it. I wish I hadn't read this book.

Once again, I tried reading past the third chapter (or were there even any chapters? They weren't numbered) and once again, I couldn't for this very reason. How about next we read the Raw Shark Texts? I've been wanting to get into that, for some reason.

I'm not sure how deep I'd wanna delve into this book. I enjoyed it, but thought it may have been too effective...the pages give you the feeling of dreary desperation that you don't really care to have. I like my artistically-motivated emotions, good or bad, to have a romantic element to them. Most of The Road I felt too 'this sucks, I don't wanna live there'-ish. Maybe it was too 'focused'? I think it's perfect for what it is, but just not what I want. Still an incredible book.

Truth be told, the rugged individualist in me doesn't want my dystopia to be a sad father-and-son story, I want a conquer-and-raise-victorious-fist story...okay, I'm thinking I want Anthem.

Please divert the discussion to the below link. I've reposted everybody's responses above there. That is where the discussion is supposed to be taking place - on the group page. Thanks!

http://chuckpalahniuk.net/group/official-cult-book-club/june-09-discussi...

I don't have access to that page. Apparently, only premium members can discuss books.

i think you just have to join the group, guy. or girl.

edit: i moved mine, sorry...

Yeah - you just have to join the Book Club!

Done, especially for this book !

Well, I generally don't have time to order american books and read them on time for the designated month.

Good thing I can see into the future.

Next time I'll just tell you what everyone is going to vote for then you'll have plenty of time to order it.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

OK I can't really see the future... so you're out of luck. Sorry...

But we still would love you to participate as much as you can!