The Road

I sat here trying to decide whether to give this book 2 stars or 3. This is the 2nd book in a row where I wished I could give 1/2 stars. While I appreciate McCarthy's decision to use a different type of set up, in the end it was too dis-jointed for me. There were moments that were touching, that I felt connected to - the scene where the father found the underground stockpile - most of the time the questions that kept popping into my head overpowered anything emotional. Fungus grows but nothing else does? Fires are started but everything is already burned? It's snowing all the time but hey look, the beach is all sand? The son was born at the “beginning” of the nuclear winter but he was now old enough to have real conversations (in completely formed sentences) so how long after the incident does the story take place? How long have they been traveling? And after all those years why hasn't any green life returned anywhere?

Then there was the grammar issue. Or should I say lack of grammar. Is McCarthy allergic to apostrophes? It's don'tdont.