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[talon]

The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a post-apocalyptic tale of a widdowed ailing father leading his young boy across the country trying to survive harsh terain, avoid remaining survivors whom have become cannibals with ill regard for the lives of man, woman, and child, and all the while struggle with a sence of worth and drive to continue with his young child amidst a grimm reality of what the world has become. the story is very heart felt and an exciting and easy read, read it in two days... couldn't put it down. McCarthy is a modern author so the style and feel is somewhat unorthodox but it does not hurt the story in any way, if anything the style makes it hard to put down. apparently there's a movie in the works, hope they don't screw it up. i don't read often but this book got me into reading again.

great book

I fixed up the topic title. I know, pedantic, but it was bothering me a bit. -JC

[tomselleck69]

People have feelings about popularity by the Oprah vector, but I think it was a good thing. Housewives all across America finally bought a decent novel, and she even managed an interview with him (awkward and full of low-ball questions as it was, I enjoyed it). I've read four or five of his books over the last few years, the next one up is Suttree. Can't waaaaaait to start it.

[Tom]

Oprah once promoted The Corrections, it was her devotees who put it on the bestseller list.

[KvP]

The movie rights have already been sold. So far Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron and the guy who plays Omar in the Wire are all attached.

[Johnny C]

Oprah once promoted The Corrections, it was her devotees who put it on the bestseller list.

Then there was a big hubbub and Franzen wound up becoming an enemy of the Oprah Nation.

I still love him though.

[TheFuriousWombat]

The movie rights have already been sold. So far Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron and the guy who plays Omar in the Wire are all attached.

  this keeps getting worse and worse.

[KvP]

I don't know, Omar's pretty badass. And how many actors can you say have had public ballsacks? Not many.

[Tom]

Oprah once promoted The Corrections, it was her devotees who put it on the bestseller list.

Then there was a big hubbub and Franzen wound up becoming an enemy of the Oprah Nation.

I still love him though.

That is in fact one of the reasons I like him

[RedLion]

The book left me rather underwhelmed. As much as I love No Country for Old Men and Blood Meridian, McCarthy's writing style has always struck me as lack luster. I guess that's just because I'm used to--and enjoy--long, drawn out, expository prose.

[Shadows Collide]

The descriptions of desolation are very uninspired and predictable, the tiresome plot leaves you utterly depressed (in no meaningful way), the book is fucking terrible and, well, the book is fucking terrible.

[TheFuriousWombat]

Thanks for contributing.

[tomselleck69]

The descriptions of desolation are very uninspired and predictable, the tiresome plot leaves you utterly depressed (in no meaningful way), the book is fucking terrible and, well, the book is fucking terrible.

yeah well we hate stuff you like.

how bout that.

[Shadows Collide]

Always glad to contribute, and well I am very hurt, sir, by your opposition to what I like. Have some respect! 

[TheFuriousWombat]

Sort of like your respect for the McCarthy? There are plenty of constructive and intelligent ways to express your dislike of something. Saying something is "fucking terrible" does nothing but hurt your credibility as a commentator, especially when it comes to literature.

[Shadows Collide]

Well, I just thought this was an internet discussion thread, so I abandoned all intellectual formalities. And basically McCarthy is one of those authors whose fans could never handle real criticism, because they've finally found a book they like and they will defend it to the death.

[tomselleck69]

Well, I just thought this was an internet discussion thread, so I abandoned all intellectual formalities. And basically McCarthy is one of those authors whose fans could never handle real criticism, because they've finally found a book they like and they will defend it to the death.

For a time I was one of these people. I once read an LJ entry that claimed Blood Meridian was not all that and a bag of chips, and it made me SO DAMNED ANGRY. I caught myself halfway through typing out a response that was all sarcasm/no rebuttal, realizing that it is awful to be that offended by what books people like or dislike... I think I have been okay since.

Alternate ending: I am absolute shit at defending things I like, so ambivalence is much easier to maintain than self-righteousness (as good as it may feel).

[Johnny C]

That is in fact one of the reasons I like him

Have you read his non-fiction collection? Some fantastic pieces in there, but the best one deals with the Oprah debacle. Great read.

McCarthy's prose is spartan and electric, and I can see why people wouldn't like it. His style is tremendously polarizing.

I haven't read The Road yet, but I've read Child of God and about half of Blood Meridian, both of which are fantastic. The despair serves a purpose in those books, underpinning certain elements of the human condition. Child of God, for example, cleverly references gentrification, how dehumanizing that process is and how it can drive already dangerous people to unspeakable things.

[Inlander]

That is in fact one of the reasons I like him

Funny, because it's one of the reasons why I think he might just be an unbearably pretentious wanker. Whatever you think of Oprah, she seems to genuinely delight in foisting books she loves upon her audience. She did it with the Corrections, and Franzen kicked up some almighty fuss about it. Basically, it seemed to me that his argument boiled down to saying that Oprah viewers were beneath him and his writing. Fuck that. Reading is not and should never be an elite activity reserved for the chosen few in the "right" audience.

[Shadows Collide]

I got pretty heated there; the Road just disappointed me, maybe I was expecting too much of it. To tell you the truth, I don't read heaps of books, so when I do I get very passionate about them.

I don't want to make any enemies here! 

[Johnny C]

Harry, his issue stemmed from two things. One, they wanted to print the Oprah's Book Club logo right on the cover instead of as a sticker; as a result, he'd be permanently identified with Oprah. Starry-eyed though it may be, he wanted the book to succeed on its own merits, not because it had Oprah's name on it. Secondly, his experience as an Oprah author felt hollow and forced. They were making him out to be something he wasn't and having him do and say things that built a false image of himself. I don't think it's about the Oprah audience being beneath him, it's about wanting the book to speak for itself.

[Tom]

Johnny, once again, hit the nail on the head here but I can see where you coming from Harry.

People should  be allowed to be read almost everything from sacred religious texts and political treatises to poorly written children's novels. Reading is a form of self-expression and discovery. There are things you can learn from reading that you can't learn from life and vice versa. Things like elitism and on a larger scale, political and religious bans shouldn't viciously ignore this in favour of being indignantly self-righteous. Reading is for everyone.

[RedLion]

Reading is for everyone.

Awww!

By the way, having gone to a Catholic school for 8 years awhile ago, despite being an Agnostic, I can say--if your read the bible as just a book, it's atrocious. I mean, the characterizations, dialogue and plot are pretty terrible.

[TheFuriousWombat]

I'm excited! I get to re-read The Road (for the third time) for my Narratives of Suffering class. Can't wait (even though it's not until the end of the semester).

[Inlander]

By the way, having gone to a Catholic school for 8 years awhile ago, despite being an Agnostic, I can say--if your read the bible as just a book, it's atrocious. I mean, the characterizations, dialogue and plot are pretty terrible.

Man, tell me about it. I finally finished ploughing my way through the Old Testament this week. Only the Apocrypha and the New Testament to go!

[Shadows Collide]

SPOILER ALERT!! The earth is destroyed by satan at the very end. Metal nerds will note that the most kickass verses are included on the Satyricon album "Nemesis Divina". Oh, as an angry teen at a Catholic school, such imagery filled me with incredible joy and malice: I suggest you skip to Revelations. God really redeems himself with the novel's conclusion, as the tedious prose of the previous books showed a first-time author struggling with his style.

[Tom]

Revelations is the only part that I find readable. Oh, I'll one up you all, I'm still at a Catholic School. To graduate I have to do a fair bit of community service and I'm required to do 1 unit of religion for my HSC.

Reading is for everyone.

Awww!

That's why I teach kids to read good.