TIL that reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy in one sitting is a terrible idea

I picked it up at a used bookstore in Ann Arbor last Saturday. Thought I'd just read a few chapters before bed. Four hours later I was just sitting in the dark staring at the wall. That book doesn't give you any relief. Has anyone else found a book that just leaves you hollow for days after?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencer_bell11h ago

Wait, are we really acting like The Road is some soul-crushing experience that ruins your whole week? I mean yeah it's bleak and the writing is stripped down and all that. But it's a book man, not a real tragedy. The dad and son are basically archetypes, they're not actual people you know. I think people just like to exaggerate how much a sad story affects them so they sound deep. I read it in two sittings and felt kinda bummed for maybe an afternoon then went and got tacos. It's well written but let's not pretend it's the same as losing a loved one or something.

benbrown19h ago

Wait you read The Road in one sitting? Dude that's brutal. I can barely handle that book in small doses over a week. The whole can of Coke scene still messes with me when I think about it too much. I remember finishing it on a Tuesday night and calling my dad the next morning just to hear his voice. That book is like being punched in the soul for 200 pages straight and then left on the sidewalk. The way he writes about the dad trying to keep his son hopeful while everything is literally ash and death just wrecked me for like a week afterward.