Discussion - The Road (ebook, bookstore, author, top)

[ontheroad]

Has anyone read Cormac McCarthy's book "The Road." And if so, what do you think of it?

I must say that it was perhaps the first book I had to put aside for a few days before I could finish reading it. It says a great deal of the book's impact because I generally read fast and without pause!

[colorado native]

Originally Posted by ontheroad

Has anyone read Cormac McCarthy's book "The Road." And if so, what do you think of it?

I must say that it was perhaps the first book I had to put aside for a few days before I could finish reading it. It says a great deal of the book's impact because I generally read fast and without pause!

It was brilliant. Here's my favorite Kafka quote to illustrate what you just experienced:

If the book we are reading does not wake us, as with a fist hammering on our skulls, then why do we read it? Good God, we also would be happy if we had no books and such books that make us happy we could, if need be, write ourselves. What we must have are those books that come on us like ill fortune, like the death of one we love better than ourselves, like suicide. A book must be an ice axe to break the sea frozen inside us.

[Marlow]

I haven't read it because I've read several other McCarthy books and they affect me for days afterward, not always in a good way, and I haven't wanted to go there recently. But my husband read it and I've NEVER seen him so affected by a book and I think he would say the same thing. He couldn't stop thinking about it and talking about it and he said he sobbed when it was over. All this from a man I've haven't seen cry in almost 12 years. When he refers to it now, he calls it "That damn book." And says he wants me to read it.

[GCSTroop]

I can't believe I have never heard of it. I just added it to my Amazon wish list. As a matter of fact, I don't know why I do that, I usually just end up coughing the money up in a matter of minutes after I put it on the wish list. Wishful thinking list is what they called it.

Anyway, it has been a long time since I have read a book that completely enthralled me. It seems lately that every time I read a book it's the same old story. I'm looking forward to this read to both enlighten me and at the same time entertain me. I haven't heard a negative review yet, I can't wait to read this. I just don't know if I feel like being depressed for days after I read it.

[Marlow]

I just added it to my Amazon wish list. As a matter of fact, I don't know why I do that, I usually just end up coughing the money up in a matter of minutes after I put it on the wish list. Wishful thinking list is what they called it.

Do you ever shop for books at abebooks dot com? It's great, especially for older books.

Also, if you haven't read any Cormac McCarthy, he's an amazing author. I can never understand how words on a page can evoke such strong emotions. I think I'm going to read The Road when I finish what I'm reading now, but I know it will be a trip. Pun intended, har har.

[colorado native]

Originally Posted by Marlow

[i]I just added it to my Amazon wish list.


Do you ever shop for books at abebooks dot com? It's great, especially for older books.

I gotta say, if you love and care about books, ya gotta shop local independant book stores. Imagine for a second what would happen to the book industry if there were no bookstores...


As far as McCarthy goes, The Road is fantastic, but Blood Meridian is his masterpiece. I read paragraphs, or even sentences, over and over. It's a genius disturbed mind that can make violence that beautiful and haunting.

[Marlow]

Are you my brother???? He read Blood Meridian and then turned right back to the first page and started over. It's another one I haven't worked up the courage to read yet. I'm telling ya, The Crossing really took it out of me.

Abebooks is an online gathering of local independent bookstores. You can shop without guilt, except for the fact that you're not shopping in your very own community.

[colorado native]

Originally Posted by Marlow

Are you my brother???? .

Maybe... I'll admit nothing before a blood test.

Abebooks is an online gathering of local independent bookstores. You can shop without guilt, except for the fact that you're not shopping in your very own community.

Ah, but you see, an online gathering of anything is by definition not local, and the moral imperative really is to spend one's dollars within one's own community.

[Marlow]

Ah, but you see, an online gathering of anything is by definition not local, and the moral imperative really is to spend one's dollars within one's own community.

Hmmmm. What if you're on vacation and happen upon a wonderful book store and buy something there? Isn't that morally superior than buying from a book superstore? That's how I feel when I'm ordering a book from an independent book store in another community.

Sorry about being off-topic.

[colorado native]

Originally Posted by Marlow

Hmmmm. What if you're on vacation and happen upon a wonderful book store and buy something there? Isn't that morally superior than buying from a book superstore?

Of course it is... Being on vacation is kind of an exception, though, is it not?

If you're able to see the morality behind buying independant versus box, then surely you can see the difference between buying local versus online.


Anyway. Did you guys know that Blood Meridian's gonna be a movie in '09? And No Country For Old Men in November...

Not sure about a movie version of meridian, but I think a movie version of old men might be able to top the book, frankly.