I liked the story. It was gripping and entertaining. Having said that, it was disappointing. I expected complete brilliance but I got bad grammar and completely jumbled writing. The story, not the style, was enjoyable. I couldn't even relate to the characters, I found myself so uncaring of them and really annoyed with the repetition of the dialogue. ( )

Set in a post-apocalyptic world of ashes, a father and son follow The Road south, trying to outrun winter. They’re clad in rags, carrying knapsacks and pushing a shopping cart of their few prized and necessary possessions. They’re cautious and alone, hoping for other pilgrims like themselves, but mostly encountering thieves and cannibals.

Utterly dark in tone and description, the characters yet carry within something that the man and boy refer to as the fire. The landscape is burned and ashen; the sun does not penetrate. Food is only to be found by scavenging scraps from the old, forgotten world. The relationship between the two, McCarthy’s dazzling, often-dizzying language, and the ever-present dread of starvation or worse–all kept me reading quickly through the book, and loath to put it down.

I felt it profound, moving, terrifying, and terrifically sad. I was impressed by McCarthy’s skill with words, the relentless momentum of the story, and by the empathy he generated with two characters, lightly sketched with a sure hand. Quite wonderful, I thought. I have no wish to see the movie; I think it could only diminish the experience of the book. ( )

I was very excited to read The Road. I had heard such great things. I wanted to love it. I did not get what I wanted. The Road had a great premise, real emotional pull and some very appalling cannibalism scenarios. You really cared about the unnamed characters and what was happening around them. Unfortunately, it was also slow, had no regard for proper punctuation and the ending was without fulfilling resolution. The lack of quotation marks and the inconsistent use of apostrophes in contractions distracted me from being fully submerged in the story. For me, it was just okay. ( )

It's dark and depressing, but impossible to put down. McCarthy draws you into the story of two survivors of what seems like the end of the world. It is believable, it hurts to read because you care so much for the nameless man and his son. The dialogue is bare and asks for interpretation by the reader. Despite its depressive style, this is a deeply humane book, it leaves you with hope, not despair. Excellently written, this is a must-read. ( )

In a post-apocalyptic world, McCarthy really pares down his style and story to the essentials. His style mirrors the plight of the two main characters (father and son): surviving on the barest of needs. The overall tone is very dark, but there are enough small, yet timely, triumphs to infuse hope to both characters and readers. It exposes a basic view of humanity that is both frightening yet fascinating.
It's my first reading of McCarthy. It definitely draws me to read more of his works.