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The Road

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The Road

By: Cormac McCarthy
Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
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The searing, postapocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy's masterpiece. A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food-and each other. The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.©2006 Cormac McCarthy (P)2006 Recorded Books Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Science Fiction Dystopian Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Scary Thought-Provoking Witty
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McCarthy's book makes outstanding listening. I was fearful before buying this having read some of his previous books, which are occasionally tough going in their style. But The Road is brilliantly sparse - clipped, original and vivid imagery and a compelling narrative which never explans itself and just keeps you following. McCarthy is a master at avoiding the cliched descriptions of some (many, most) authors and this is the finest example of this, in my humble opinion.
The narration is even and atmospheric, with a compelling delivery - just like the story itself.
Superb!

Perfect for the road - or anywhere else

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Forget the recent film, this is the real deal. A father and his son travel a road leading towards the South - and a respite from the winter cold.
However, this is a post-apocalyptic world they traverse; the atmosphere full of ash, no plants growing and all animals and most humans dead. Most of the people who remain have turned into savages - a real state of nature where human life is 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.'
This book makes you ask questions about yourself - could you survive in such an environment? How would you behave towards others?
McCarthy's spare writing style is well suited to this type of narrative and it is superbly read by Tom Stechschulte.

An Excellent Audiobook

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Wonderfully written, incredibly descriptive, emotionally compelling, as a male in his mid-40s I am not easily drawn into the emotional side of characters, this book made me feel I was living the man's journey and his love for his child.
This book is the first to bring me to tears since Watership Down over 35 yrs ago!
Highly Recommended

Compelling

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Bleak and sparse this narrative is wonderfully affecting and Tom Stechschulte gives an excellent performance as the archetypal man and boy in this post-apocalyptic wasteland.

On the Road Again

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A very bleak novel told with beautiful prose. This has the very essence of what made McCarthy the truly great author he was. The narration is superb and does the story justice. If you are a fan of post apocalyptic fiction, this rates as one of, if not the very best. A haunting story that stays with you long after its conclusion.

Mcarthy at his best.

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