First let me say that I am not a person who gives up on books I don't like. I rarely don't finish a book. Having said that, there is no way in H E double hockey sticks that I could finish this book. No way. I made it to page 50.I guess all parents have terror, that story that fills you with dread when something wakes you up at 2 a.m. and you can't go back to sleep? My nightmare is thinking about something bad happening to our country and being left to care for my children without money, food or medicine. I just can't bear the thought of it. I want to jump out of my skin.
Plus, my oldest boy must be about the age of the child in this book. I could totally see my boy asking the same questions the boy in the book was asking, having the same sweet confusion. I started reading it after the kids went to bed tonight. By the time I got to page 50, sitting in the bath, I was getting pretty crazily emotional and felt like I was going to hyperventilate.
I did read the last few pages. I just wanted to see what happened. I know, it's against all book-reading rules, but I wanted to confirm that my decision to quit was a good one....I just felt that there was no way there could possibly be a satisfactory conclusion to this saga. I was right. I'm glad I quit.
I nod to Cormac McCarthy. I know he's a gifted writer, and he probably deserves all the accolades he's gotten. But he'll have to get them from someone other than me.
4 comments:
No, I just can't even look at this book. Sometimes the subject matter is just too gut-wrenching to read. Maybe in a few years, when our children are much older...
BTW, thank you for the lovely comment (I couldn't find an email address for you). I'll definitely be back.
Gulp, I have this book lined up for my "new in the stacks" May reading.
I know what you mean, though; Blood Meridian was quite violent and difficult for me to get through...
Hi Lisa!
Nice blog you have here, and it is delightfully pink. I agree - the world is scary enough - we don't need to read things that will fuel our fear even more. Recreational reading should be filled with hope and redemption: that's what I like in a novel.
Hi Lisa, I came over from the "Something About Me" site to see what you were saying about books. How interesting that you and I must have started this book about the same time. I, however, finished it. My children are adults and I have 7 grandkids. Nevertheless, your opinion of the book was right on. Here's a link to MY review, which confirms YOUR insights, but I have also offered a BETTER book in this category.
http://bonniesbooks.blogspot
.com/2007/04/road.html
(Put this URL back together with no spaces. The line extended too far beyond the edge and you'd have had a hard time reading it.)
I didn't pan The Road too badly, mostly because it seems to do what the author set out to do. But it was NOT my cup of tea, thank you very much!
LK, it isn't the violence that makes this one hard to get through. More like the lack of hope the main characters were feeling. Plus sentence fragments. Like these. Gets old.
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