Re: The Road coming in 2008...
Finished, and I caught up on the thread. I rarely like to see a film before I read the book, so I ordered this (along with Blood Meridian) a few weeks back. Finally committed to it two nights ago, and here I am finished with it.
Many of my thoughts are covered by other members within this thread, but I'll add my own two cents.
The story itself is sparse and stripped to the very literal core. I agree that it is written in a style only a master could make work (and he absolutely does). This isn't a great analogy, but I'll use it. I know Mike Mignola can draw because he can do it with so few lines...no clutter, no confusion. Same with McCarthy. There are no wasted words. It's extraordinarily evocative, painfully bleak, and devastating in it's completeness. It honestly reminded me of a videogame I played a while back called Shadow of the Colossus - the conceit was to strip everything away except for the basics. And see if that made the experience more pure or emotional. And it does. Both for that game, and a hundredfold more here.
I do think the world as it is presented is the result of a complete nuclear attack, for the same reasons mentioned above. The constant ash, the references to heat damage (or deformation), the way the sky looks...those are all confirmed after effects of a nuclear blast.
I loved the purity of the theme. It's both the most hopeless and most hopeful book I've ever read. The former from the crushing desperation and impossibility of the situation, and the latter from simply
facing that. As a father of a 5 year old boy, certain scenes resonated pretty deeply. I think any parent or child can relate though. The genders are irrelevant, although the ages are pretty important. It distills down the core fears of being a parent to their prime constituent.
It's one of the best books I've ever read, but it took a bit out of me, so maybe I'll hit a beach read up next
I almost felt lost just reading the thing.
Anyways, it'll be a challenging film for the audience. But I'll there opening day. Looking at the pictures now, I'm very impressed with the casting, especially of the child.
)
