LXXXVI. The Road

Thanks to my darling Eileen (and after my brother's recommendation), I was able to read The Road and just finished it. It was a good day to read it too. The sky was gray and cloudy for most of the day, a heavy rain dropping sporadically. When I arrived home after work, I opened the windows to let the perfect breeze cool down my apartment. Then, with a sandwich in one hand and book in another, I curled up and began reading. How you read a book is so important, right? Anyways, it was perfect.

So, on to the book...

I thought it was fantastic. It's definitely the ultimate men's coming of age book, with McCarthy's candid, cut-throat style of writing and the two main characters being a father and son. Some people thought it was slow, but I loved how he explained the details of living. It was like a post-apocalyptic Robinson Crusoe. I could sense a deeper thread than just two individuals trudging through the wasteland, but since I just finished it, I can't judge yet what I think it was or meant. All I know is that it made me think about the weight of life and how fragile but at the same time resilient it is. Especially since I find myself in a foreign country, my own wasteland of sorts, fighting for life, I connected with the characters and really did see them as heros. They maintained their integrity and morality, though the world seemed to abandon everything. Any of you living in a city will agree that once someone is rude to you, it's so easy to be rude back. I guess this book inspires me to overcome the "eye-for-an-eye" mentality. At least, I hope it does...

My co-worker, Madigan, just started reading it. I need her to hurry so we can discuss the ending :]