Geek vs Life

So I just finished Cormac McCarthy’s The Road on my way to Spokane. All in all it’s a heck of a book, very well written and a lot of interesting side stories. It made Oprah’s book club after all, though I don’t know if maybe I’m just a pessimist but I don’t know if I’d give it that kind of accolades.

The basic synopsis of the book is that a father and son are stuck in post-apocalyptic America. The whole world is covered in ashes and crazy people who are just trying to survive. For the most part, it’s a pretty good book. Like I mentioned before, it’s well written and it does keep you interested, but there is one big problem that I really have trouble getting past. The writer has this way of drawing you in where he references things that you should know about. In his book No Country For Old Men he refers to “good ol’ boys” and the like that most people our age know about. However in this book he references to some of the other factions existing in the world but unfortunately, it’s left up to the reader to figure out how they connect. Luckily I think I caught it, but I’m still just weirded out and not sure. Honestly, the book lacks direction all around.

All in all the story is neat because the father and son are never named, which adds a certain strangeness to the whole story, I feel like I can even connect better because I can almost find myself in that situation without names. And the scenes with the group of Mad Max-ish people and the cannibals running around are pretty intense. Unfortunately, there are at least 200 other pages where, despite good writing, you are waiting for a bus. All in all, read it if you’ve got nothing else to pick up and you’ll be entertained. Don’t waste your time if you’ve got a few old classics you’ve been neglecting. 6.5 out of 10 for all those interested in things like that.