- Ask a friend (preferably a person of impeccable taste, and definitely not someone who might have an axe to grind) to choose a book that you will, in their opinion, like
This book, by American writer Cormac McCarthy was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer prize for Fiction so this made me twice as happy to read it - having in mind my wish to read as many Pulitzer books as possible. Well...to be true to myself I didn't enjoy reading it. I hated reading it, I felt guilty for the comfort of my house, the beauty of my world, the food I was eating, everything I had and they didn't. Father and son in an apocalyptic world, with people turned into animals, people eating babies,cannibals with no trace of compassion, humanity, nothing at all. I felt it was all an enumeration of all the awful, dreadful things that could happen. And I couldn't help myself but feeling optimistic, that things will change at the end of the book and they will reach the coast. A hint of positivity was left with me once I was done. And I am thankful for that. I will not read it again too soon, but I am going to read it again, a bit masochistic, I know. Don't read it if you feel down, don't read it if you are happy, excited or in a good place in your life. Read it when it's quiet and warm and it's snowing outside and read it all at once, like a bitter pill you have to swallow to feel stronger.
I've tried to see the movie, but it was too much for me. Half way through I said enough. Sorry.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI'm in the challenge too.
I've taken The Road in hand several times in bookstores and each time I put it down thinking I couldn't read that, no matter how good it was supposed to be. Seems I was right.
I got luckier than you with the friend's choice.
I think you should give it a try, no matter how painful it is. It makes you think.
ReplyDeleteHi Lumi. I have just picked up a Pulitzer winner too, (The Shipping News - Annie Proulx) but it will be a more enjoyable read than The Road. I loved The Road and went on to read everything by McCarthy (bar his latest) but you are absolutely right: it is not a book you enjoy. The enjoyment comes from McCarthy's beautiful writing which is why I, also, did not like the film.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had read it in one sitting... as you say, it should be read that way.
I am enjoying your challenge and thinking about the next books to choose :) Now I am reading The Grapes of Wrath, I got it from a friend who worked in the US for a month, it's in English so it's going to take me some time to finish it.I loved East of Eden and I am looking forward to reading this one. About The Road, I will read it again but this time I will not pay so much attention to the "action", but to the writing. Not this year though.
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