I just finished reading Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, and I’m mentally exhausted.¬† I’d had the book for months, picking it up in an airport bookstore and then never quite getting to it.

The Coen Bros’ movie “No Country For Old Men” led me to read McCarthy’s book of the same name, and I was, I guess the word is, impressed.¬† Throw in some awed.¬† Also a little intimidated.¬† It’s a fantastic book, and I’m glad I read it before seeing the movie.

The Road is something else entirely.¬† It has the same, taut, shattering use of English that I should be so fortunate to command for a single paragraph in all my writing endeavors.¬† It’s bleak and unflinching, and having read No Country I was under no illusions as to the likely fate of the main characters, the father and son.¬† Still, I could not stop turning the pages, hoping some ray of sunshine would hit these two nameless figures.¬† Their world is cold and cruel, but they have each other.¬† That is everything.

I’ve been warned that Blood Meridian is a difficult read, but I think I will have to work my way through the rest of this titles.¬† I’ll just have to pace them out a bit.

I cannot recommend The Road enough.¬† It’s not easy to read, but if you have a love of good writing and a willingness to go into some of the most hopeless and hopeful corners of our world, you will find it impossible to forget.