Jᴀᴄᴜʀᴜᴛᴜ - Tʜᴇ Cᴀsᴛ Oᴜᴛ

Has anyone read this book or any other books by this author? I’ve seen clips of the movie and it looks awesome, so I thought I might read the book before watching it.

Read this book a few years ago, and enjoyed it very much. Have since read some more McCarthy but The Road for me was the best so far. It's very different from the typical post-apocolyptic literature as the entire tale focuses on a father and his son trying to survive. They do encounter a few secondary characters on their journey but the book is very much their story. The reasons for the world's demise, for example, are only briefly hinted at it leaving us to decide for ourselves if it's been nuclear war, climate change, etc. There are some very gruesome scenes, a McCarthy trademark, but balanced with some moving ones. At first the relationship between the boy and father seems shallow and perhaps a little forced but I think that's intentional and more depth and emotion is revealed continually as the story proceeds. It also servers to highlight the drudgery of what their lives have become and the difficult daily chore of simply staying alive. I definately recommend you read it. It's a short book and you'll probably get through in a day. I dunno, it's one of those books that is hard to describe easily and reading it is your best bet I reckon. I took a chance on the author and the book and was pleasantly surprised. It can be grim reading at times and there is no Hollywood happily ever after ending but it's a powerful and enagaging story. It's thoroughly depressing but gripping in a 1984 kind of way. That's about all I can think of for now without spoilers. if you do read it let us know what you thought.

Edit: Oh yeah, the movie! I very much wanted to see it but it wasn't distributed to our local flicks and just didn't get the time to go see it elsewhere. Seems movies like this always get pushed out in favour of the latest formulaic CGI blockbuster or crappy period romance. Definately getting it on DVD / BR when it arrives. I've only seen the trailers but I have a feeling that Mortensen could have been a good choice for the lead role.

I agree the movie looks freaking nice - I much prefer such movies over (like you say yourself) blockbusters (Avatar etc.). I still think "the Road" WILL sell tickets, Mortensen is a class actor (atleast I think so).

I'll look into the McCarthy's other work - any recomendations?

The obvious one is No Country for Old Men which made it to the big screen recently. I'm actually reading Blood Meridian at the moment and enjoying so far. I read Child of God recently too. Bought it at the airport and finished it before the wheels touched down on the other end. That was...twisted! Do be warned, his stuff can be pretty graphic. Not in any schlock for cheap thrills fashion but he does not pull any punches when it comes to portraying violence, and quite often it is the casual nature of these events that is the real shock, and there is a definate sense of realism to his violent scenes. His writing style is very unique also. I think that for a first time reader The Road is probably more accessible and IMO his best work. It did win a Pulitzer afterall. Another one of those "critical darlings" I guess.

Thanks mate! The whole post apocalyptic theme is real a "turn-on" for me - and some of his other books looks very interesting and "sick".

I enjoy that sub-genre myself and The Road really stands out from the crowd. Many are a rehash of previous works, some better and some worse, but McCarthy's offering is pretty special I think. It's different and and as a consequence, refreshing in that respect. In many ways the setting is incidental to what is a good character study. Sorry if I sound vague here but diffcult to give a more in depth review without spoiling the story for you. The Road has actually become one of my favourite books of recent times. I only read it a couple of years ago but it had gathered dust or quite a while. I bought it when it was first published (in 2006 IIRC) as part of a book spending spree one time and just got caught up in other books / things. One day I'd run out of reading material and remembered I hadn't read this one yet. Glad that I did!

Hope you enjoy it and look forward to hearing your own thoughts on it.

I'll let you know Ziggy - now it's the torment of waiting, I think I'll order a couple more this weekend, so I'll have them at hand when I'm done with the road, got to order "Ink" aswell - perhaps I should have them delivery at another adress so the wife wont notice.

The UK release date was 8th Jan, it's still showing a fair bit at my local multiplex. It ain't bad - it is faithful, but I did think it does accentuated the flaws of the book and fluffed some of the stuff that made the book amazing.

So much better than the trailer though - because that trailer, an all the other promotional stuff, is shite.

No Country for Old Men was a pretty good book & a decent movie, the movie saved mainly
by Tommy Lee Jones. Both were a little too full of not-quite-on-the-mark West Texas bullshit,
but some of the ideas about the motherfucking full-scale War that continues in Northern
Mexico & South Texas were not far off. edit - (Not sure where this McCarthy is from - doesn't seem
to be a Native Texan, but a researcher who spent some time Out Here and meet and bunch
of Characters ...)(somebody Bing! that for granpa - I'm interested, but not enough to bother
any more w/ it - and asides, it's a-rainin' like all get-out right now, and I got to go walk around
in it, singing the Praises of the Baby Jesus...)

Ah'd lissen to ol' T.L. read a phonebook, tho; that boy's got a melodious voice ...

as to The Road, there's a thread on T(A)U about it, started back when the movie
was first being talked about.

The book was one of the best genre-related books of 2006. I wrote a review of it about three years ago, but just re-read it in December. Here is an update of my review:

http://www.omphalosbookreviews.com/inde ... ws/info/22" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks Omphalos - I'm gonna read it tomorrow over a cup coffee (when I get to work) - I just ordered Blood Meridian and Outer Dark, along with Ink. Can't wait for the books to arrive, until then Dune will suffice

Excellent book.

Incredibly bleak, and each sliver of hope is then dashed upon the rocks and pissed on just to make sure you don't start to actually think things will be ok.

Still waiting for the books to arrive. Hopefully they'll be here within the weekend - if not (and that is possible - postal services sucks due to the snow) I'll just entertain myself with Dune. An ok substitution though.

Started out back east in Tennessee I believe it was. Moved out west way back and hermits about in New Mexico. I know he has property and a small cabin somewhere "around" Las Cruces and a place up north. From a New Mexico viewpoint, he nailed that West Texas bullshit pretty damn good

Check out All the Pretty Horses. One of the manliest books you will ever read.

Edit: Moved to the El Paso area since 1976. Lives around Santa Fe now, comes down south to write a lot.
My info came from my southwest lit professor.

Rob

SandRider wrote:No Country for Old Men was a pretty good book & a decent movie, the movie saved mainly
by Tommy Lee Jones. Both were a little too full of not-quite-on-the-mark West Texas bullshit,
but some of the ideas about the motherfucking full-scale War that continues in Northern
Mexico & South Texas were not far off. edit - (Not sure where this McCarthy is from - doesn't seem
to be a Native Texan, but a researcher who spent some time Out Here and meet and bunch
of Characters ...)(somebody Bing! that for granpa - I'm interested, but not enough to bother
any more w/ it - and asides, it's a-rainin' like all get-out right now, and I got to go walk around
in it, singing the Praises of the Baby Jesus...)

Ah'd lissen to ol' T.L. read a phonebook, tho; that boy's got a melodious voice ...

as to The Road, there's a thread on T(A)U about it, started back when the movie
was first being talked about.

so the book has just arrived...so I guess Dune will be on stand by for a few days ^^

Good to hear you got it eventually. Looking forward to hearing your own review.

Until now I’m rather pleased with it – I love the “setting & feeling”! not that it’s world I dream of, but I like the whole post-apocalyptic theme. I’ve only read 35 pages (I’m a slow reader – I only read at night, after sex just before I fall asleep) but I really like the way he writes, it took a few pages of getting used to though.

I just found out that it actually WILL show in the city’s cinema – only for one week, but that should be enough I guess, and I should be able to finish it before it shows in week 8.

"if he is not the spoken word of God, God never spoke"

So I finished yesterday – hate it – to finish a book that is, I always feel empty inside afterwards.

FANTASTIC book. At first– I kept thinking to myself, who is the bad parent of the two. Is it the father or the mother? The mother’s decision made perfect sense to me, as selfish as it was. But as it progressed I started to feel sympathy towards the father and his decision. And see the “rightness” in it. They DID carry the flame – they lived – and kept living even though the future was bleak. I loved the ending of it

"What's the bravest thing you ever did?
He spat in the road a bloody phlegm. Getting up this morning, he said."

Next I’ll read Outer Dark – and hopefully when I finish that I’ll have Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. But there’s no doubt I’ll buy more of Cormac McCarthy’s books.

nampigai wrote:So I finished yesterday – hate it – to finish a book that is, I always feel empty inside afterwards.

me too.

I really liked the Road but have yet to pick anything else of his for myself. I bought my Dad All the Pretty Horses for xmas on year and I don't think he's even cracked it open. I may have to steal it from him when he's not looking.

FANTASTIC book.

Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I liked the ending too even though it was a bittersweet one. I just felt right and in keeping with the mood and theme of the book as a whole. I might even be tempted to re-read this one. Either that or the single lonely copy of Winds of Dune that has been gathering dust for months at my local bookstore... JOKING! *runs away dodging the flames*

Don't you dare buy that Winds without getting a massive discount!

No worries. After Paul of Dung, I'm done with KJA's hackery. In fact I don't know why I even bothered reading them this far. Morbid curiosity I suppose. I got everything after the House series 2nd hand so at least I'm not giving KJA any more money. If I really want to read a tale about circus clowns I could probably find a better written effort in the children's section anyway. They'd probably be more consistent with FH's Dune than the KJA stuff!

Harq al Ada wrote: I really liked the Road but have yet to pick anything else of his for myself. I bought my Dad All the Pretty Horses for xmas on year and I don't think he's even cracked it open. I may have to steal it from him when he's not looking.

I will get that book aswell - I love Cormac's style.

Ziggy wrote:

FANTASTIC book.

Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I liked the ending too even though it was a bittersweet one. I just felt right and in keeping with the mood and theme of the book as a whole. I might even be tempted to re-read this one. Either that or the single lonely copy of Winds of Dune that has been gathering dust for months at my local bookstore... JOKING! *runs away dodging the flames*

I allready want to re-read "the road" it'll have to wait though - there's too many other books I want to read as well and too little time. I'm gonna watch the movie tonight though.

Be good to know what you think of the movie. Need to be the DVD for me as I missed the very brief window that it was on in the cinema over here.

Well Ziggy – I think the movie did a decent job depicting the book. All in all I liked it – but that’s it. It’s not the best film in the world of man or anything. I think I need to re-watch it when it gets out on DVD. If you plan on re-reading the book, then I suggest you wait until you’ve seen the movie otherwise I think you might get disappointed.

Sorry but I wish I had more to say, I think they had a great opportunity to make a great film but only succeeded in making an “ok” movie. I should have waited a bit longer before watching it perhaps I would have felt different about it.