This is the first Cormac McCarthy book I've read and decided to read it based on people here saying they liked his work and I think Ed saying he liked this book. I also liked the movie No Country For Old Men and figured if he wrote that he must be worth checking out. I read about half the book today and I have to say the first thing I was reminded of was Kerouac's On the Road. The thing is other than being road trip novels the books are quite literally night and day. In On the Road Sal and Dean are young men heading out to experience a big country filled with promise. There is booze, drugs, women, music, dancing, harvests, honest work and people to meet everywhere. In The Road this same country has been stripped bare and holds only the promise of danger, hunger, and death. The two travelers in The Road don't have long wild conversations that last deep into the night or that go on for days. Instead they barely speak at all and when they do it's with great economy and with specific purpose. They dread what may come next whereas Sal and Dean could not wait to see what might be next. These travelers don't want to meet other people on the road and go out of their way to avoid them. Fear is their constant companion. In this way I'd say this really is a book for these days we are living in.

I do admit I like the way McCarthy writes, his prose is fairly hypnotic at times and I like the rhythm he creates. I quite enjoyed the scene he created at a waterfall and then later the section where they discover a cistern. I love road stories I guess because On the Road has been the mother of all books for me since I read it as a kid but maybe also because I like a story that takes you somewhere and lets you feel the motion of a journey. That said, while I pretty much tore through the first half of the book today because the story really pulls you along, this thing is depressing the shit out of me at the same time. When I read something I often think about what the author had to go through to write it. What sort of self exploration he needed to make and where he needed to let his mind wander and I gotta say I think Mr. McCarthy has done quite a job here.

I can't say yet that I like the book because I have not finished it but I can say halfway through I'm not sure if I want to thank you guys for getting me to read this book or punch you in the mouth for putting me through it. I'm not sure I'd recommend this book to anybody that is a father...and for me the guy that harbors a (not so) secret fear of fatherhood this book is a real kick in the balls.

Maybe I'll just finish the book then punch Ed in the mouth to see if it makes me feel better.

PS it's been turned into a film due out later this year.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb52/The_Playlist/movies_music/the-road-viggo- mortensen.jpg