33 review for Articles on Novels by Cormac McCarthy, Including: Blood Meridian, All the Pretty Horses (Novel), the Orchard Keeper, Outer Dark, Child of God, Suttree, the Crossing (Novel), Cities of the Plain, No Country for Old Men, the Road

1. 

   5 out of 5

   Joann – Dec 18, 2013

   The Road was one of the most bleak, relentless marches toward death that I might have read since the section of Banyan when Raami was digging out the mountain for what seemed like years, hope gone, even relationships with others so distant that just staying alive was everything, finding a bug to eat, without hope of change for the better...the difference being that I knew that the little girl would survive to write the book and I knew that she now laughed and was healthy and beautiful. I totally The Road was one of the most bleak, relentless marches toward death that I might have read since the section of Banyan when Raami was digging out the mountain for what seemed like years, hope gone, even relationships with others so distant that just staying alive was everything, finding a bug to eat, without hope of change for the better...the difference being that I knew that the little girl would survive to write the book and I knew that she now laughed and was healthy and beautiful. I totally understand why it was recommended to me by an author who found a kindred soul in McCarthy, someone who could begin to understand and describe a world without hope. The Road is a short book that the reader wants to end, so the suffering described will end, yet also wants more explanation, a longer tale of how things came to be so bleak in the whole known world. If we are at all in touch with global warming, war, poverty, cruelty, oppression in today’s world (Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, African countries where strongmen kill indiscriminately), we know that the world described in the Road is possible - burned out cities, charred bodies everywhere, plunder, the roasting of newborn babies for food, a grey world without clear skies, always cold and raining, no real shelter, danger from marauders who eat children. In this world, the father protects his little boy, tells him that the bravest thing he’s ever done is get up that morning, keep going on. Their love for one another is strong and real. Even through the fear, the hopelessness and despair, they talk honestly to one another. The father knows he is dying of the cough that brings up blood, weakens him, will kill him soon, tells his boy the truth. The son cries when a man who steals their cart with all their canned food, blankets and tarp is punished by the father making him remove his clothing and shoes. The boy convinces the father to return the clothes and shoes or the man will die. They rarely see other humans, most of whom are dangerous. They have only one another on the road and the bits of food they can find in abandoned homes along the way, daily survival, a place to sleep before the total darkness overtakes them, the relentless cold. It is a bleak book, compared by some to the book of Job, without much of a God to rail against or blame. Yet I’m grateful for it, glad I read it, will probably re-read the stark language, the masterful choice of words (“Ten thousand dreams ensepulchred within their crozzled hearts.”), the choppy dialogue, re-feel the fear, the despair. I wouldn’t recommend it to sensitive souls who are on the edge of despair in their lives at the moment, but it might give them solace to know that another heart and mind has been there. Thank you for authors who have the courage to write the truth. We who live such privileged lives need to look, to feel.

2. 

   5 out of 5

   Andria – Feb 01, 2013

   The Road was a very good novel, though realistically grim and in some parts just plain sad, I loved the feel of how real it was, how you got sucked into the characters and worried just as they worried. "The Road" is one of my new favorite novels, and I'm looking forward to owning a copy for myself. The Road was a very good novel, though realistically grim and in some parts just plain sad, I loved the feel of how real it was, how you got sucked into the characters and worried just as they worried. "The Road" is one of my new favorite novels, and I'm looking forward to owning a copy for myself.

3. 

   5 out of 5

   Julie Kell – Oct 31, 2012

   Amazingly authentic writing. I am in awe of this author's matter-of-fact style, simple and brilliant. Amazingly authentic writing. I am in awe of this author's matter-of-fact style, simple and brilliant.

4. 

   4 out of 5

   Kathryn –

5. 

   4 out of 5

   Jonathan Marcellus –

6. 

   4 out of 5

   Gordclements –

7. 

   5 out of 5

   Sarajoyce –

8. 

   4 out of 5

   Pam –

9. 

   4 out of 5

   Julie –

10. 

    5 out of 5

    Chris –

11. 

    4 out of 5

    Vicki –

12. 

    4 out of 5

    Patricia –

13. 

    5 out of 5

    Barbara Ellen Ellen –

14. 

    5 out of 5

    Milly Silver –

15. 

    4 out of 5

    Lenka –

16. 

    4 out of 5

    Mel –

17. 

    4 out of 5

    Linda –

18. 

    4 out of 5

    Gabs –

19. 

    4 out of 5

    Eric Caine –

20. 

    4 out of 5

    Michael –

21. 

    4 out of 5

    Don –

22. 

    4 out of 5

    Emelie –

23. 

    5 out of 5

    Paul –

24. 

    4 out of 5

    Jenna –

25. 

    5 out of 5

    Irina –

26. 

    5 out of 5

    Jessica Neff –

27. 

    4 out of 5

    Elysia Retzlaff –

28. 

    5 out of 5

    Kimx –

29. 

    4 out of 5

    Mark –

30. 

    4 out of 5

    Vaishali Bansal –

31. 

    4 out of 5

    Arunas –

32. 

    5 out of 5

    Shelagh –

33. 

    4 out of 5

    Mary –