The Road – Cormac McCarthy
I’ve seen lots of people suggest this, so was looking forward to reading it. I’m not very far in to it at all but really struggling with the writing style. My issue is, that I think a lot of the things I don’t like are intentional to immerse you in the story. No chapters, no speech marks, very little happening except they walked to a city and no one was there, it’s dusty, it’s cold, it’s dark, they went to a city no one was there…
For those who have read it and found the same, did you persevere and was it worth it? Do you just get used to it?
by Straight_Persimmon16
4 Comments
I personally didn’t for those same reasons. That’s not to say it isn’t well written, it’s a bleak world with dire characters and powerful descriptions. I was just too used to the conventional methods of storytelling to push through without getting annoyed.
McCarthy has a distinct style and those of us who love his writing either are fine with the style or learn to be fine with it. It’s modelled to some degree on the writing style of Juan Rulfo, the great Mexican novelist of the mid-century.
I’m not sure what you were expecting but it’s probably time to adjust those expectations. Were you expecting an apocalyptic action novel? It’s literary fiction.
It may not be your thing. You may have picked it up expecting something very different than what you’re getting, and that’s fine.
I slogged through it and absolutely hated it. It was one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read and it took me weeks to recover from it.
Enjoyed the audio book.