Cormac McCarthy's The Road

[Punisher84]

For those here interested the trailer for the movie is up here...

The Road trailers and video clips on Yahoo! Movies

Just to state this as well. The opening stuff (weather/disaster footage) will NOT be in the movie according to Harvey Weinstein and John Hillcoat. According to Hillcoat he was allowed to make the movie exactly as he wanted, which was faithful to the novel. He stated they chose the trailer to bring in a wider audience to enjoy the film, as well as satisfy fans that were rabid for a trailer to come out.

[Guest Grout]

I hope so.The trailer makes it look like an action/adventure film which would ruin it IMO.I started reading Blood Meridian and...meh.I stand by my statement that The Road and No Country are McCarthy's best works

[Oh Shoot]

I hope so.The trailer makes it look like an action/adventure film which would ruin it IMO.I started reading Blood Meridian and...meh.I stand by my statement that The Road and No Country are McCarthy's best works

Well, they are the most "accessible"...you need an OED handy to read Blood Meridian.

Even though The Road is the "simplest" book he's written, there was an index card of words I was hazy about or didn't know at all (and I have an English degree).

Happen to have the card here, some examples:

gryke, discalced, sconce, meconium, rachitic, catamites, patterans, palladian, isocline, crozzled (which is still a mystery), and more...

- OS

[Guest Grout]

Well, they are the most "accessible"...you need an OED handy to read Blood Meridian.

Hardly . The book reads like a Richard Laymon novel only with a more elegant prose.

[DRM]

I'm surprised there hasn't been more said about the spiritual aspects of the book.

[Punisher84]

I'm surprised there hasn't been more said about the spiritual aspects of the book.

I'm open for it. What are your thoughts?

I, personally, didn't find alot of religious or spiritual allegory or sub-text in it. I viewed really as a life lesson. A father struggling to teach his son to be normal in a not normal world.

[Guest SUNTZU]

Worship the long pig.

[G27]

I, personally, didn't find alot of religious or spiritual allegory or sub-text in it.

<snip>

A father struggling to teach his son to be normal in a not normal world.

Seriously?

You're smarter than that.

[Oh Shoot]

Well, they are the most "accessible"...you need an OED handy to read Blood Meridian....

Hardly . The book reads like a Richard Laymon novel only with a more elegant prose.

Hmmm, would like to pick a hundred words or so from it and put you to the test!

When I read novels, I generally jot down words I'm hazy on or totally unfamiliar with, and Cormac's stuff gets more than most - and I'm not totally illiterate, even though I do have an English degree!

- OS

[Oh Shoot]

I, personally, didn't find alot of religious or spiritual allegory or sub-text in it....

One of my comments re The Road on another forum:

I think it's important to realize that The Road doesn't really relate to "prepping" or "survivalism" in any conventional sense.

There is NO real future for humans even suggested in the scenario. With no possibility of agriculture or animal breeding or even "re-domestication" of such, it's only a matter of time and luck until the last person on earth disappears.

Probably as valid as any other scenario if large enough comet or asteroid(s) were to strike, or possible results of nuclear winter.

There's always a chance that the atmosphere could clear enough for photosynthesis to reestablish and survival made possible from existing seed stores somewhere, but even that is not even hinted at, and without other forms of life existing, even that probably wouldn't be enough to continue homo sapiens.

I actually see the work as more of a philosophical essay on the ultimate isolation of the individual within the cosmos, alone as we each ultimately are at our demise, the mystery of the overall WHY.

- OS

[Punisher84]

Seriously?

You're smarter than that.

Thanks for the vote of confidence LOL I read through it quick and honestly was so overtaken with the brutal, hoping beyond hope, nature of the book I probably missed alot. I had planned on re-reading it and I will have to look deeper into it.

I read an interview that was done with Cormac about The Road and he said that it was written after he had a son so late in life and it was about his fears of having so little time to pass on lessons of life to his son.

I attached so much to the father/son aspect of the book I may very well have missed subtler spiritual tones just because of my own life experiences with my Father.

[Guest Revelator]

Based on the trailer it looks like the wife has a little bit bigger role than in the book. I'm all for more Charlize Theron.

[G27]

Worth noting the trailer shows scenes that aren't in the movie, like the weather scenes and such (according to an interview I read)...

[Ninja9]

Just finished The Road. Thought it was a great read. Powerful stuff... Reminded me of Stephen King's Gunslinger (another quick read) in some way. It's worth a look if you liked The Road, and don't mind some scifi/fantasy mixed in... I have only read the first two books in the series, but thinking about starting on the third now.

[Punisher84]

Just finished The Road. Thought it was a great read. Powerful stuff... Reminded me of Stephen King's Gunslinger (another quick read) in some way. It's worth a look if you liked The Road, and don't mind some scifi/fantasy mixed in... I have only read the first two books in the series, but thinking about starting on the third now.

Do it. That series is fantastic start to finish.

[Guest TurboniumOxide]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, brothers and sisters.

I have read "The Road" recently and I identify. It is a perfect read. How do you teach a boy to be a man? It is a problem I face daily.

Gunslinger. Roland reminds me of a splinter of myself. Probably of all of us; here.

Read the entire dark tower series.

Meanwhile I am shopping for twin colt 45s with sandalwood stocks.

[Punisher84]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, brothers and sisters.

I have read "The Road" recently and I identify. It is a perfect read. How do you teach a boy to be a man? It is a problem I face daily.

Gunslinger. Roland reminds me of a splinter of myself. Probably of all of us; here.

Read the entire dark tower series.

Meanwhile I am shopping for twin colt 45s with sandalwood stocks.

I think every man can see himself in "the father" kids or not and I always thought Roland from Dark Tower was a beautiful character in the sense that he embodies so many things that we are, what we wish to be, and what we wish we weren't.

[Garufa]

I think every man can see himself in "the father" kids or not and I always thought Roland from Dark Tower was a beautiful character in the sense that he embodies so many things that we are, what we wish to be, and what we wish we weren't.

Roland personified Honor. The word itself should be enough to explain, but many may not understand in this day and age. With Honor comes a heavy burden...doing what's right.

[pitt2magic]

I am about half way through it and hope to finish today flying back from Boston to Atlanta. Great book so far.

[Guest TurboniumOxide]

Roland, I am on the second pass through, do it please you. Say Thanks, sai King.