#1: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Wow, this one was a doozie. It had been a while since I teared up in a book, but this did it to me. The Road takes place after some unknown apocalypse and tells the story of a father and son simply trying to survive. It’s not clear what happened or for how long they have been in this world of desolation, but that not the most important aspect of the story. The real story is one of survival and the length of time that love and hope will keep you alive. It makes the reader question their values while at the same time asking them to decide who and what holds the most importance in their lives. McCarthy’s style of writing is short, often deleting un/necessary apostrophes, but being involved in the story makes the difficult syntax disappear. I started out this book thinking that it would simply be a long tale of desperation and I’m glad that changed. 

Just a side note if anyone cares: Michael K. Williams (Omar, from The Wire) will be in the movie version of The Road. So look out for that.