We're going on a trip down a road less traveled. A road we've never explored into a world not of this world. This is the kind of book that separates mice from men. We'll read a post-apocalyptic tale from a current author. The novel won him a Pulitzer Prize. Critics argued it is too dark and depressing. The short novel (200 or so pages) has all the ingredients for men blessed with larger than life codpieces as we know. This story will test our emotional bedrock. I anticipate this adventure will exploit our beliefs as we try to calibrate the uncertainty posed in this epic journey of two. The Road will take us to places we don't want to go. Treat it like a gun in your home under lock.
The author is highly regarded in literary circles. To his additional credit this book was made into a movie. Another clue, his previous book was also made into a movie in 2007. A movie I saw and found to be depressing, without merit or a plot, and no redeeming value. It went on to win many academy awards haha.
Bottom line I'm not trying to justify this book selection. I am warning you it won't be a pretty read. This book could open sores by steering us on a walk to places we would never venture on our own.
For now I'll leave you alone on The Road.
Pompous
P.S. Plan to have a meeting in May
2 comments:
Excellent selection Pompous. I look forward to traveling along this dark road you speak of - in the hope of finding a light at the end of the tunnel. I go forth with my codpiece in hand.
Book review - The Road and MOP meeting
May 27, 2017
Everyone arrived at the farmhouse at 6:30 save for Den Store Rode who was with family in big woods of northern tier of our fine state. The story line of The Road does not lend itself well to associated food or cocktail. Anything on hand would be a close fit.
The evening began with an introductory cocktail called the Vesper. Claiming its fame from James Bond the martini is a measured blend of three alcohols with a lemon twist for color. Moving to the farm table Pompous served a Pa Dutch low brow dinner called hog-maw. The pig stomach was firmly stuffed with potatoes, onions, celery, sausage and hot sauce. When pulled from the oven there was no mistake the nicely browned centerpiece was an internal organ. Red cabbage and beats and crusty bread provided a colorful balance to the entree. A variety pack of ale was a reasonable choice to complement the meal.
After dinner we migrated to the patio as dusk was leaving another day to memory. The chiminea was roaring as Pompous opened the 35th book review of the MOP. Readie tossed his fully grown horse nurtured in water onto the fire. After symbiotic humming and budda rubbing the striking of matches provided competition for the fireflys. Brake light ends of 4 cigars offered a clear signal final adjustments were complete. The Road was in our hands now. Not anticipating Divine Intervention to aid us in our search to understand the Man and Boy Pompous relied on his liquor cabinet. The mystical power of absinthe was called upon. Armed with 4 Sazeracs our minds were tilled to discuss this gloomy story of two with codpiece in hand.
Deep and dark; that is the unmistakable portrait etched in my mind after reading this novel. That being said, the book has an underlying current of tender qualities muddled in the tortuous sojourn of a father and son. The Man and Boy are wondering along The Road searching for signs of life after a cataclysmic event of unknown origin. There are no signs of life except a few "unlucky" survivors. While the book elicits a constant barrage of unimaginable situations begging for dramatic overreactions, surprisingly there is little dialogue between the Man and Boy. But what is communicated has a maternal quality that makes the reader feel like applauding at times.
Travel along The Road is tedious, made more arduous by the prosthetic like shopping cart filled with blankets and whatever items to be found along their desperate journey. The Road forces readers to abandon the comfort of a societal moral high ground. This is a book where the human experience of man devolves into animal like behavior in order to survive. The boy of perhaps 10 is naive. He does not understand how his father can not feel compassion. The boy is weighing moral value while the father is taking actions so they can survive in the moment. The Boy signs off in most conversations with a simple Okay to his father.
Fear is their constant companion. The Road is their only hope. The Road highlights their biggest fear and puts them at risk from the army of "bad people" who wonder the road exploiting anyone who has survived. The journey along The Road sensitizes the reader to consider moral conflicts from a generational perspective. Only gifted men with an unfair girth of rationality could be expected to balance the fulcrum of moral dilemmas. Their daily plight in desperation is chambered in a pistol with two remaining bullets. The Man's internal debate of self preservation entrusted by hope is weighed down by the reality of hopelessness and fear of capture by the bad people. In a way the book ends as it began but not without a gut wrenching dialogue between the Man and Boy. The MOP discussion illustrated the unharnessed power of a gifted few to tame an acknowledged stringent literary post-apocalyptic adventure. The meeting was hammered to a close as we concluded with a glass of port.
I remain Pompous
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