Book Review: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

A father, whose name we don't know, and his young son, whose name we don't know, travel the road in a post-apocolyptic America where nearly everything is burned and dead.  They are looking for the coast, with the simple hope that it might not be as cold there and that there might be something more-- but exactly what they aren't sure.  The only food comes from what is left from before the cities melted and civilization ended; no animals are left to hunt, and no crops grow due to the lack of sunlight and the ash storms that blow nearly constantly.  The stark simplicity of the prose allows the harrowing reality of the subject to stand out even more.  Despite the constant reminders of death and near-impossible odds, the book has a hint of hope and renewal-- and perhaps one of the best closing paragraphs of any book I've read.  A fantastic read, and a central part of a library display on life after the end of the world.  Also included: Oryx and Crake, as well as Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood, Not the end of the world by Kate Atkinson, Life as we knew it (and sequels) by Susan Beth Pfeffer, a few Stephen King titles (The Stand, The Dark Tower series,) The Passage by Justin Cronin, the Eleventh Plague, and quite a few others.  But of those, Cormac McCarthy's The Road and Atwood's Oryx and Crake are the best and most moving works.