"The Road"

Finishing that book was like waking up from a bad dream. I'm not saying the book was bad, but quite the opposite. The writing style was very different than anything I've read before, even the lack of apostrophes and chapters. For whatever reason it sucked me in as if I was "the man" and I saw my own son was "the boy". Maybe that is way McCarthy left them unnamed; so that we could more easily see ourselves in their place.

Back in my high school wrestling days, I would often go three days without food and very little water to "make weight". During those days I remember my mind and body going into a catatonic state. I went through the motions of life, but I felt I had no life in me. I remember one winter night after practice sitting on our living room coach wrapped up in blankets zoned out in front of the TV. I was so cold, with no fat or calories to burn and dry cotton-mouth was my every day reality. That night a Sprite commercial came on and I watched as the cool refreshing beverage was poured over that delicious crystal ice. I was just about ready to give up everything in life just to have a sip of that. Anyway...this book brought me back into those same feelings.

I read the entire book in one sitting working my uneventful flooring customer service part-time job at RC Willey. I was compelled to eat my dinner early while reading because I couldn't bear to "go without" again. Maybe that's why I'm getting more and more on the hefty side. I just have a hard time going into that mental state of being without food and water, especially without a spiritual purpose to support me through it.

I enjoyed the father and son relationship shown in this book. I loved the goodness of the boy shown in his tenderness with with the man who called himself "Ely" and for the mercy he showed toward the thief at the beach. I sensed the boy's frustration with his father's apparent hypocrisy. The father told stories of good deeds, but when it came down to it, the man was more concerned with protecting his son's life than extending the kindnesses he preached.

The harsh possibilities of human nature are portrayed in horrific imagery...the suicide of the man's wife rather than face the futile struggle to live in such a world...the pregnant woman seen and then shortly after the headless baby cooking over the fire...the imprisoned people in the basement being cannibalized one body part at a time.

What it comes down to is the basic good versus evil. How would I be in this same situation? I would I carry the fire of goodness and hope or would I devour my fellow human beings and long for death.