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demeter918The Road by Cormac McCarthy is becoming a movie; just found this out yesterday and Viggo Mortensen will play the father.
I am now excited; this is one of my favorite books I've read this year. I'm still feeling ambivalent by the ending, but I think that's actually a strength and results a point for the book. It made me wonder and think, gave me little things to consider.
I agree with a lot of people who felt that the ending felt a little too convenient, a little too contrived. It does feel a bit off-balance, but thinking back on the overall arc of the book, I have to wonder if giving the Boy that particular ending was supposed to give the reader a chance to see the Boy without his Father. Throughout the whole novel, the Man is always remembering the past. Whether about the Boy's mother or friends and family, past events or food from better days, the Man remembers. Both the Boy and the memories keep him going.
That his son will always remember him (for however long he lives), it makes for a poignant ending that ties the dad and him together in an intangible way. It seems bleak, that the kid would have to live on in a dead world without few people and less support, but the bleakness seems to translate into a sort of hope. Yes, it could be contrived, and I can definitely see where people might feel that way. But for me, I felt like it was actually a very hopeful ending. That amid all tha carnage, there are people who can resist the baser parts of human nature.
It looks like a 2009 release, though it's still in post-production.
I am now excited; this is one of my favorite books I've read this year. I'm still feeling ambivalent by the ending, but I think that's actually a strength and results a point for the book. It made me wonder and think, gave me little things to consider.
I agree with a lot of people who felt that the ending felt a little too convenient, a little too contrived. It does feel a bit off-balance, but thinking back on the overall arc of the book, I have to wonder if giving the Boy that particular ending was supposed to give the reader a chance to see the Boy without his Father. Throughout the whole novel, the Man is always remembering the past. Whether about the Boy's mother or friends and family, past events or food from better days, the Man remembers. Both the Boy and the memories keep him going.
That his son will always remember him (for however long he lives), it makes for a poignant ending that ties the dad and him together in an intangible way. It seems bleak, that the kid would have to live on in a dead world without few people and less support, but the bleakness seems to translate into a sort of hope. Yes, it could be contrived, and I can definitely see where people might feel that way. But for me, I felt like it was actually a very hopeful ending. That amid all tha carnage, there are people who can resist the baser parts of human nature.
It looks like a 2009 release, though it's still in post-production.
