The Road (was Homer & Langley )

[Carvill, John]

Years ago, I picked up a copy of 'All the Pretty Horses' somewhere, maybe my parents' house, I dunno, but anyway I hated it, I was yearning for something to happen, all that riding horses and occasionally stopping to roll a cigarette really got on my nerves. Thereafter, I wrote McCarthy off, as one does. But then I joined the Pynchon list.... and saw how many people really rated him, or, as you say, rated some of him.

My wife's cousin gave me his copy of 'The Road' while I was in Chicago, and I started reading it on the flight home. It's such a deceptive book, at first you think it's written in really spare, plain language, but you gradually realize that it isn't at all. It also works on a number of levels - it's a hugely serious book but also a page-turner, and most surprisingly, for me, it works as a tense and exciting thriller, in parts. Yes, it is dark, and there are a few quite grisly scenes, some of which threaten to take up unwelcome long-term residence in your head. But ultimately it does carry - at least I *think* it is intended to carry - a positive message about humanity, and the writing is really extraordinary.

I would unhesitatingly recommend 'The Road' to pretty much anyone, except anyone with delicate sensibilities. I don't think I'll bother with the film, even if they've done it well I would expect that the film would deliver all of the horror and none (or not enough) of the beauty.



-----Original Message-----
From: David Morris [mailto:fqmorris at gmail.com] 
Sent: 16 July 2010 14:21
To: Carvill, John
Cc: alice wellintown; pynchon -l
Subject: Re: Homer & Langley // Adams in V.?

I haven't read the book nor seen the movie.  I have the book at home,
and my wife's read it (having become a great fan of McCarthy after
reading Blood Meridian at my behest (But she didn't clamor to see the
Road movie)).  I guess I'm just avoiding all that drear, and I know
(after reading No Country for Old Men) that McCarthy is not without
his own duds.

On Fri, Jul 16, 2010 at 8:00 AM, Carvill, John <john.carvill at sap.com> wrote:
> Total tangent: what did you think of 'The Road', by the way? I went back through the archives a bit but didn't find as much as I expected.