Two in a row!

I'm not a particularly fast reader. People are surprised when they hear the librarian say that. I think they expect me to read a book a day, or at least every few days. Nope, sorry. But it is true that the more I enjoy a book, the faster I read it. When I sat down with The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, I had no expectations of whether I would enjoy this book, or how long it would take me to finish. But just a few pages in and I was hooked. Six hours later, I had finished the book, and immediately wanted to turn to page one and start all over again.

The Road is now the second book I have read this year that I would rate an A+. In fact, I think it should be on our required reading list for English. There is so much to discuss, and the story really gives you pause and makes you think about your own life in a way that few other books can.

Without giving too much away, the gist of the story is a man and his young son trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic U.S.A. Mostly everyone has perished. In fact, in one scene, the father mentions that they have gone an entire year without seeing or speaking to another human being. When they do encounter other people, father and son have reason to fear. With food and water scarce, practically nonexistent, scavengers resort to cannibalism in order to stay alive.

Despite all of the horrors that McCarthy describes in this hellish setting, it was the love of father for son that resonated the most. Throughout their journey, he risked his life to keep his son alive, and was intent on keeping the boy sane and stable in their chaotic world. While the reader's head is trying to grasp the larger picture of what happened, when it happened, and what's going to happen, in the mind of the young character, it just boils down to good guys vs. bad guys. He seeks assurance from his Papa that they're the good guys, and when his father concurs, there is a sense that the boy accepts his fate, with resignation, as long as he believes they're on the side of good.

I'm not the only one who thinks this book is amazing. Oprah chose it as her Book Club pick in the Spring; and more importantly, the Pulitzer Prize Board awarded it the best fiction prize in 2007.

Read it for yourself, and let me know.