Book Price Comparisons
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 Fantastic, read this one too! Go buy Detained Differences by J. Robert Rowe as a great follow up to this book. A Morbid and Disturbing Trip This father's road trip with his son is more morbid and disturbing than any other apocalyptic fiction that I've read. Yet, I couldn't put it down. It's a stunning story about parental love and sacrifice that overrides the overwhelming violence, and a destroyed environment that the protagonists did not create and cannot control. The story pushes further the theme of hope, which is embodied in the small, brave man-child. That the man and boy are never named served to make the story more intimate, more personal to this reader. In the telling, McCarthy is repetitive, but never boring. Best of all, he knew when and how to end the story. The book doesn't bear a second reading to uncover its beauty. You will either love it or hate it with the first reading.  A Father's Love in a Shifting Moral Landscape While not my favorite Cormac McCarthy book I enjoyed it very much. Rather than simply a nihilistic story I think this book is focused on a father's love and desire to raise his child with good solid moral values when he is challenged to live up to those values in isolation from others who support these values. As the pair journey through a burnt and desolate landscape that clearly looks like the end of the world (you never know what happened), the boy constantly seeks reassurance that he and his father are the good guys. The father does not live up to the pure and innocent principles this term and often does not live up to this standard in our civilized sense. But against a background of killing, cannibalism, and desperation, we are sympathetic to the father's plight as he strives to keep alive and raise his son in an impossible situation. The father puts his love for his son and his son's survival ahead of all other things. The son represents more than just a son but also the future of humanity (if there is one). The fact we know nothing about how or why the world is ending only forces us to focus on the relationship of the father and the son. The lack of complex dialogue emphasizes that in a world where survival is unlikely, there is no time for lofty thoughts. Like so many Cormac McCarthy books, the ending settles nothing but it is powerful. There is more "tenderness" in this book than usual for Cormac McCarthy. I enjoyed the book, it reads fast and is accessible to readers new to this author.  meh Boring. Where's the narrative? narrative. Beatnik. on they went. snow. on they went. cold. so cold with all this ash. Will we live? live...if only to live...snow. (This is kinda how the book is written) | |||||||||||||