8 ms·

I read "The Road" in a single sitting one night while my wife was working a late shift. I laid in bed staring at the ceiling all night.

Xenoamorphous 3y ago
Is that where the movie with Viggo Mortensen came from? I didn’t know it was based on a book, the movie was soul crushing.
- ewjt 3y ago
  It is the only book I wish I could forget completely. Serious advice: think twice before reading The Road if you’re susceptible to doom and gloom about the human race.
  - bamfly 3y ago
    Damn. I must have exceptionally dark taste in media, because I've definitely got a few "well, that was good, but I kinda wish I hadn't read/watched it" things in my history, and The Road wasn't even close to qualifying. I'd say the film Threads hit me harder, to pick something with similar setting and circumstances, though that's still not quite in that category. (It Comes at Night is probably my #1 in that category for film, and I guess Watts' Blindsight in books—both messed me up for days after, the former with some depressive nihilism, the latter with days of fairly intense derealization that weren't too fun—and I'm not normally especially prone to either of those, I don't think)
    - dreamcompiler 3y ago
      Blindsight is a masterpiece about intelligence without consciousness. De-linking those ideas can be seriously jarring for humans, because we usually consider them two sides of the same coin. Plus one of the more normal characters investigating the phenomenon just happens to be a vampire who--surprisingly enough--is neither formulaic nor boring.
      - bamfly 3y ago
        > Plus one of the more normal characters investigating the phenomenon just happens to be a vampire who--surprisingly enough--is neither formulaic nor boring. The writing-guide-esque "OK, now write down ten wild elements or characters that certainly do not fit in your world... flip page ... and now add one of them, finding a way to connect it to some other element you've already established" was almost comically transparent, but also so damn effective that I've added it to the ol' toolbox. (I mean, I don't know that Watts literally did that sort of exercise, exactly, and even doubt that he did, but in my head that's definitely how that part got in there)
        digging 3y ago
        I feel pretty certain that the vampires were included in quite the opposite way - especially if you read the sequel, which features their story more heavily. To me, the existence of vampires in the Blindsight setting seems essential.
    - MikeBVaughn 3y ago
      I found Echopraxia a disappointing follow-up to Blindsight, because the thematic core was much harder to grok, and it felt diffuse and attenuated. It's very hard to write a novel that explores what it means for scientists to encounter the limits of scientific rationality as we understand it. Interestingly, (and apropos) McCarthy's last, Stella Maris, I think, did a much more eloquent job of exploring the same themes. Stella Maris is astounding, it's cosmic horror without the 'supernatural.' Instead there's only Gödel and Metzinger.
      - digging 3y ago
        My impression is that Watts is best at first books in a series. Both Blindsight and Starfish were (and are) absolutely incredible to me, but both of their sequels fall short of the original promise. However, from reading his blog, this is not unexpected. He doesn't write sequels to further explore the same ideas, but to move background ideas into the forefront and explore those. This would naturally lead to disappointment if the reader wants more of the original premise. That said, I think Echopraxia is a better sequel than Maelstrom and a pretty good book on its own. He is working on a final book in the Blindopraxia trilogy and I expect it to move even further from the wonder of the original book, but now that my expectations are set I am looking forward to it all the same.
    - echelon 3y ago
      It Comes at Night didn't have anything come at night. It was derivative of everything else in the genre to the point of being a snore. I was so disappointed. One of my least favorite A24 films. I suppose I was expecting peak Shyamalan, but A24.
      - bamfly 3y ago
        Yeah, it was mostly just a slow-burn misery-fest. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I'd put it in the "good, but also horrible" category, exactly. Like, I don't think there's actually much to it other than the misery. Not like a Funny Games, say, that's thoroughly miserable but also doing some other, interesting things that both justify and require the misery.
    - digging 3y ago
      I know this won't apply to everyone, but Blindsight is one of the few pieces of media that noticeably changed my life. Here be profound ideas, although your mileage may vary, especially if you're neurotypical or already very well read in concepts of truly alien intelligence. (The space probe chapter was one of the most life-changing passages I've ever read, so that may tell the reader something about my autism.) I read the entire thing in HTML on my phone on the author's web site over a week or so. After the first few days of catching bits during breaks, I found myself sitting at home on the porch just reading from my phone - not typical for me. (I did later buy a copy.)
  - ali_m 3y ago
    No, you have to carry the fire
  - prawn 3y ago
    I like that you can play through both The Last of Us games and think "What a grim existence, scraping together things to cobble a defence against relentless threats. Horrific." And compare it to The Road, whose environment would have you begging for a holiday to The Last of Us. Not just the lack of food, but the lack of ability to grow new food, to rest, to warm, to heal. The constant, dogged, thinking, scheming threats. And your kid isn't pushing ladders down to you nearly enough.
- dfxm12 3y ago
  Yes. If you enjoyed it, a film adaptation for another of McCarthy's novels, Blood Meridian was recently green lit. https://deadline.com/2023/04/new-regency-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian-john-hillcoat-1235340998/ https://deadline.com/2023/04/new-regency-cormac-mccarthys-bl...
  - jebarker 3y ago
    I cannot imagine how this is going to work.
  - suction 3y ago
    [dead]
  - runevault 3y ago
    The fact Cormac was working on the screenplay himself... I wonder how that impacts this effort.
celticninja 3y ago
It's a very good book that I will never read again.
- jfengel 3y ago
  It was, I'm told, a very good book that I noped out of about ten pages in. I made it that far before becoming incredibly annoyed at the way literature critics were praising his new invention of post-apocalyptic stories which nobody had ever read before ever. Also, if I remember correctly, he felt that the rules of punctuation didn't apply to him. Maybe that paid off if I'd read more than ten pages. I don't doubt that he was a true giant. But even setting aside these purely meta-textual gripes, it's just not a story I want to hear. If I want to be depressed and angry, I'll read Hacker News.
  - tehnub 3y ago
    I haven't read it myself, but I've seen many report that it was uplifting to them. Amid the utter horror and hopeless bleakness a parent does everything they can to protect their child.
    - oilchange 3y ago
      > I haven't read it myself, but I've seen many report that it was uplifting to them. Uplifting? There was nothing uplifting about The Road. It's a world without hope. From the description of the forests, seas, societies and families, cormac builds a truly hopeless apocalypse with no hope for redemption or salvation. A world where hope cannot exist. > Amid the utter horror and hopeless bleakness a parent does everything they can to protect their child. A father tries to do everything he can to save his son, but ultimately, he fails. It's a world without hope after all. The father dies and a bunch of cannibals "take in" the boy. It's one of the rare books that I finished in one sitting and then read again a few days later.
      - tehnub 3y ago
        But the love between the father and his son persists to the very end. Here are some people using the word uplift in their review on Amazon: [0]. There are some negations though ("this book is not uplifting"). [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Road-Vintage-International-Cormac-McCarthy-ebook/product-reviews/B000OI0G1Q/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_viewopt_kywd?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=1&filterByKeyword=uplifting https://www.amazon.com/Road-Vintage-International-Cormac-McC...
kjs3 3y ago
I didn't read it in one go. I had to put it down a couple of times. Haunting doesn't cover it.
leokennis 3y ago
I read this book when my second son was just born. I cannot recommend reading a book so bleak and soul crushing and unforgiving as The Road while your mind is at its softest and most protective. To feel so hopeless and inadequate as a father…I would not wish it on even the foulest villain in the world.
- wigster 3y ago
  i started it just as my first child was born. i quickly stopped and never wanted to go back.
bena 3y ago
I've only watched the movie. But after having watched it, I facetiously recommend that you only watch it if you are currently happy. Because damn, is it just the biggest fucking downer. It will make you more depressed after having watched it. So if you watch it while already depressed, I can't imagine the depths it will bring you to. It's a good movie, and I'm sure a good book (consider it thrown on the backlog), but damn, so effectively bleak.
- bmj 3y ago
  The movie does away with the ambiguity at the end of the book, in an effort to have a vaguely "happy ending." The best adaption of McCarthy's work to the screen is No Country For Old Men. The Coen brothers seem to "get" McCarthy better than others.
  - drawkbox 3y ago
    Interestingly Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men looks alot like Cormac McCarthy around the same age. [1][2][3] Coen brothers still make movies with real people and brought this world to life in an authentic way. [Anton vs the "We can't give out no information" lady](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WLA81q9ok0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WLA81q9ok0) I love Coen movies with regular people like this. The lady is hilarious and it is one of the only people that Anton didn't take out. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormac_McCarthy#/media/File:Cormac_McCarthy_(Child_of_God_author_portrait_-_high-res).jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormac_McCarthy#/media/File:Co... [2] https://www.slashfilm.com/img/gallery/how-quentin-tarantino-helped-josh-brolin-land-his-no-country-for-old-men-role/l-intro-1643733740.jpg https://www.slashfilm.com/img/gallery/how-quentin-tarantino-... [3] https://twitter.com/mdbell79/status/1263644096385564673 https://twitter.com/mdbell79/status/1263644096385564673
  - bena 3y ago
    I've watched that one too. That one has a sort of resigned feeling to it. Situations are over, but nothing is really resolved. It's kind of like a serious version of Burn After Reading. Here are these various lives and stories and the situation that has intertwined them. Once the situation is has passed, everyone is affected in different ways, but nothing really ends.
The_Colonel 3y ago
I did the same, read it in one (or maybe two) days. In retrospect, I'm conflicted. In some way, it seems too straightforward ("The Road" title fits well) dystopia. Distilled, masterfully executed, but somehow ... trivial? Maybe it's the "Seinfeld is unfunny" trope where it can become obvious only after experiencing it.
teh_klev 3y ago
I also read The Road in a single sitting but over night. It was also a stormy night in late November which just added to the atmosphere of the book. The next day felt pretty bleak and grey, just like the weather and my mood. I love it when a book can do that to you.
prawn 3y ago
I'd read it multiple times previously, but recently picked it up after having not read a book in a year or two. Got through 160 pages without realising. Felt like I'd blinked and it happened. My son is now a bit older than the boy would be. I feel like the book would either build your resolve or beat it down, so just go in forewarned.

Xenoamorphous 3y ago

Is that where the movie with Viggo Mortensen came from? I didn’t know it was based on a book, the movie was soul crushing.

ewjt 3y ago
It is the only book I wish I could forget completely. Serious advice: think twice before reading The Road if you’re susceptible to doom and gloom about the human race.
- bamfly 3y ago
  Damn. I must have exceptionally dark taste in media, because I've definitely got a few "well, that was good, but I kinda wish I hadn't read/watched it" things in my history, and The Road wasn't even close to qualifying. I'd say the film Threads hit me harder, to pick something with similar setting and circumstances, though that's still not quite in that category. (It Comes at Night is probably my #1 in that category for film, and I guess Watts' Blindsight in books—both messed me up for days after, the former with some depressive nihilism, the latter with days of fairly intense derealization that weren't too fun—and I'm not normally especially prone to either of those, I don't think)
  - dreamcompiler 3y ago
    Blindsight is a masterpiece about intelligence without consciousness. De-linking those ideas can be seriously jarring for humans, because we usually consider them two sides of the same coin. Plus one of the more normal characters investigating the phenomenon just happens to be a vampire who--surprisingly enough--is neither formulaic nor boring.
    - bamfly 3y ago
      > Plus one of the more normal characters investigating the phenomenon just happens to be a vampire who--surprisingly enough--is neither formulaic nor boring. The writing-guide-esque "OK, now write down ten wild elements or characters that certainly do not fit in your world... flip page ... and now add one of them, finding a way to connect it to some other element you've already established" was almost comically transparent, but also so damn effective that I've added it to the ol' toolbox. (I mean, I don't know that Watts literally did that sort of exercise, exactly, and even doubt that he did, but in my head that's definitely how that part got in there)
      - digging 3y ago
        I feel pretty certain that the vampires were included in quite the opposite way - especially if you read the sequel, which features their story more heavily. To me, the existence of vampires in the Blindsight setting seems essential.
  - MikeBVaughn 3y ago
    I found Echopraxia a disappointing follow-up to Blindsight, because the thematic core was much harder to grok, and it felt diffuse and attenuated. It's very hard to write a novel that explores what it means for scientists to encounter the limits of scientific rationality as we understand it. Interestingly, (and apropos) McCarthy's last, Stella Maris, I think, did a much more eloquent job of exploring the same themes. Stella Maris is astounding, it's cosmic horror without the 'supernatural.' Instead there's only Gödel and Metzinger.
    - digging 3y ago
      My impression is that Watts is best at first books in a series. Both Blindsight and Starfish were (and are) absolutely incredible to me, but both of their sequels fall short of the original promise. However, from reading his blog, this is not unexpected. He doesn't write sequels to further explore the same ideas, but to move background ideas into the forefront and explore those. This would naturally lead to disappointment if the reader wants more of the original premise. That said, I think Echopraxia is a better sequel than Maelstrom and a pretty good book on its own. He is working on a final book in the Blindopraxia trilogy and I expect it to move even further from the wonder of the original book, but now that my expectations are set I am looking forward to it all the same.
  - echelon 3y ago
    It Comes at Night didn't have anything come at night. It was derivative of everything else in the genre to the point of being a snore. I was so disappointed. One of my least favorite A24 films. I suppose I was expecting peak Shyamalan, but A24.
    - bamfly 3y ago
      Yeah, it was mostly just a slow-burn misery-fest. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I'd put it in the "good, but also horrible" category, exactly. Like, I don't think there's actually much to it other than the misery. Not like a Funny Games, say, that's thoroughly miserable but also doing some other, interesting things that both justify and require the misery.
  - digging 3y ago
    I know this won't apply to everyone, but Blindsight is one of the few pieces of media that noticeably changed my life. Here be profound ideas, although your mileage may vary, especially if you're neurotypical or already very well read in concepts of truly alien intelligence. (The space probe chapter was one of the most life-changing passages I've ever read, so that may tell the reader something about my autism.) I read the entire thing in HTML on my phone on the author's web site over a week or so. After the first few days of catching bits during breaks, I found myself sitting at home on the porch just reading from my phone - not typical for me. (I did later buy a copy.)
- ali_m 3y ago
  No, you have to carry the fire
- prawn 3y ago
  I like that you can play through both The Last of Us games and think "What a grim existence, scraping together things to cobble a defence against relentless threats. Horrific." And compare it to The Road, whose environment would have you begging for a holiday to The Last of Us. Not just the lack of food, but the lack of ability to grow new food, to rest, to warm, to heal. The constant, dogged, thinking, scheming threats. And your kid isn't pushing ladders down to you nearly enough.
dfxm12 3y ago
Yes. If you enjoyed it, a film adaptation for another of McCarthy's novels, Blood Meridian was recently green lit. https://deadline.com/2023/04/new-regency-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian-john-hillcoat-1235340998/ https://deadline.com/2023/04/new-regency-cormac-mccarthys-bl...
- jebarker 3y ago
  I cannot imagine how this is going to work.
- suction 3y ago
  [dead]
- runevault 3y ago
  The fact Cormac was working on the screenplay himself... I wonder how that impacts this effort.

celticninja 3y ago

It's a very good book that I will never read again.

jfengel 3y ago
It was, I'm told, a very good book that I noped out of about ten pages in. I made it that far before becoming incredibly annoyed at the way literature critics were praising his new invention of post-apocalyptic stories which nobody had ever read before ever. Also, if I remember correctly, he felt that the rules of punctuation didn't apply to him. Maybe that paid off if I'd read more than ten pages. I don't doubt that he was a true giant. But even setting aside these purely meta-textual gripes, it's just not a story I want to hear. If I want to be depressed and angry, I'll read Hacker News.
- tehnub 3y ago
  I haven't read it myself, but I've seen many report that it was uplifting to them. Amid the utter horror and hopeless bleakness a parent does everything they can to protect their child.
  - oilchange 3y ago
    > I haven't read it myself, but I've seen many report that it was uplifting to them. Uplifting? There was nothing uplifting about The Road. It's a world without hope. From the description of the forests, seas, societies and families, cormac builds a truly hopeless apocalypse with no hope for redemption or salvation. A world where hope cannot exist. > Amid the utter horror and hopeless bleakness a parent does everything they can to protect their child. A father tries to do everything he can to save his son, but ultimately, he fails. It's a world without hope after all. The father dies and a bunch of cannibals "take in" the boy. It's one of the rare books that I finished in one sitting and then read again a few days later.
    - tehnub 3y ago
      But the love between the father and his son persists to the very end. Here are some people using the word uplift in their review on Amazon: [0]. There are some negations though ("this book is not uplifting"). [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Road-Vintage-International-Cormac-McCarthy-ebook/product-reviews/B000OI0G1Q/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_viewopt_kywd?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=1&filterByKeyword=uplifting https://www.amazon.com/Road-Vintage-International-Cormac-McC...

kjs3 3y ago

I didn't read it in one go. I had to put it down a couple of times. Haunting doesn't cover it.

leokennis 3y ago

I read this book when my second son was just born. I cannot recommend reading a book so bleak and soul crushing and unforgiving as The Road while your mind is at its softest and most protective. To feel so hopeless and inadequate as a father…I would not wish it on even the foulest villain in the world.

wigster 3y ago
i started it just as my first child was born. i quickly stopped and never wanted to go back.

bena 3y ago

I've only watched the movie. But after having watched it, I facetiously recommend that you only watch it if you are currently happy. Because damn, is it just the biggest fucking downer. It will make you more depressed after having watched it. So if you watch it while already depressed, I can't imagine the depths it will bring you to. It's a good movie, and I'm sure a good book (consider it thrown on the backlog), but damn, so effectively bleak.

bmj 3y ago
The movie does away with the ambiguity at the end of the book, in an effort to have a vaguely "happy ending." The best adaption of McCarthy's work to the screen is No Country For Old Men. The Coen brothers seem to "get" McCarthy better than others.
- drawkbox 3y ago
  Interestingly Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men looks alot like Cormac McCarthy around the same age. [1][2][3] Coen brothers still make movies with real people and brought this world to life in an authentic way. [Anton vs the "We can't give out no information" lady](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WLA81q9ok0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WLA81q9ok0) I love Coen movies with regular people like this. The lady is hilarious and it is one of the only people that Anton didn't take out. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormac_McCarthy#/media/File:Cormac_McCarthy_(Child_of_God_author_portrait_-_high-res).jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormac_McCarthy#/media/File:Co... [2] https://www.slashfilm.com/img/gallery/how-quentin-tarantino-helped-josh-brolin-land-his-no-country-for-old-men-role/l-intro-1643733740.jpg https://www.slashfilm.com/img/gallery/how-quentin-tarantino-... [3] https://twitter.com/mdbell79/status/1263644096385564673 https://twitter.com/mdbell79/status/1263644096385564673
- bena 3y ago
  I've watched that one too. That one has a sort of resigned feeling to it. Situations are over, but nothing is really resolved. It's kind of like a serious version of Burn After Reading. Here are these various lives and stories and the situation that has intertwined them. Once the situation is has passed, everyone is affected in different ways, but nothing really ends.

The_Colonel 3y ago

I did the same, read it in one (or maybe two) days. In retrospect, I'm conflicted. In some way, it seems too straightforward ("The Road" title fits well) dystopia. Distilled, masterfully executed, but somehow ... trivial? Maybe it's the "Seinfeld is unfunny" trope where it can become obvious only after experiencing it.

teh_klev 3y ago

I also read The Road in a single sitting but over night. It was also a stormy night in late November which just added to the atmosphere of the book. The next day felt pretty bleak and grey, just like the weather and my mood. I love it when a book can do that to you.

prawn 3y ago

I'd read it multiple times previously, but recently picked it up after having not read a book in a year or two. Got through 160 pages without realising. Felt like I'd blinked and it happened. My son is now a bit older than the boy would be. I feel like the book would either build your resolve or beat it down, so just go in forewarned.