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I read The Road while doing a lengthy daily commute via train, leading through a kind of lush rural area in western Germany. I vividly remember the stark contra
by krylon 3y ago
I read The Road while doing a lengthy daily commute via train, leading through a kind of lush rural area in western Germany. I vividly remember the stark contrast between the bleak world described in the novel and the vibrant, colorful abundance of life outside the window when I came up for air. It was a very unreal experience, switching back and forth between these two realities.
Blood Meridian was another monstrosity that lured me into a very dark inner space. I think it expresses the USA's relationship to violence better than anything else I have read, fiction or non-fiction. But there is a lot more going on at the same time, and I don't think I ever fully explored that. It didn't help that for a relatively short novel, it's so exhausting to read, both intellectually and emotionally.
- SemioticStandrd 3y agoAbsolutely. His books are like slabs of lead (in the best way). Sitting down to read Cormac is a decision
- vector_rotcev 3y agoI read The Road under similar circumstances (though the commute was more like ~30+ minutes on a stifling and oppressively densely packed underground train) - I felt numerous times that my vision, or my perception, or my perception of my vision, went from greyscale to vibrantly full colour when I looked away from my kindle to get ready to alight the train, and even in the grimy setting with the exhausted dejection of the commuters stuck where they didn't want to be, everything and everyone looked so optimistic and joyful and it all felt so, so happy to be in, compared to where I had been moments before.