A father and his son are the only characters who really matter in this novel. The world has ended in some unexplained fire, and the two travel along a road toward the sea through ash-covered land, trying to find food and avoid dangerous people. The man pushes a shopping cart, carries a revolver and tells the boy that they are "good guys" who "carry the fire." McCarthy's sentences are short and bare, and the descriptions of the landscape are as bleak as the events.
For readers prepared for a harsh setting and a story about the tenderness between parent and child. It is short and can be read in an evening, though its images stay for much longer.
Deep, contemplative, open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Wisdom Collector. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2006
- Language
- EN
