Thursday, August 21, 2008

Literary Angioplasty

Once or twice a year, if I'm lucky, I'll read something so profoundly moving and heart breaking that I'll recommend it without reservation.

Cormac McCarthy's Pullitzer Prize winning novel, The Road, is that book.

This haunting work of literary genius blew my heart open.

Not since Anne Michaels' Fugitive Pieces have I been so moved by words.

The Road follows the journey of a father and son -- "each the other's world entire -- across a devastated North American landscape after an unnamed apocalypse.

If it sounds bleak, it is. But it's also a love letter between a father and his child and an elegy to the indomitability of the human spirit.

The novel tenderly explores hopefulness in the face of utter despair and perseverance in the face of complete devastation.

And it asks you to consider the question -- not easily answered: Would you be good if you knew no one was watching?

4 comments:

Joe said...

You read more books than anyone I know. Don't you have cable?

I am getting the book. Sounds depressing. I need to be uplifted.

Blodwynn said...

I kid you not..I picked this up about a month ago, went to purchase it but the line up was too long and I didn't have time to wait.

wendywalnut said...

yes, i think i would put you up there with the most prolific readers i know. do you keep a book diary or even just a list?!

PTR said...

It's a great book!

I just randomly stumbled across your blog - I like it!