The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

A father struggles to protect his son in a physical and moral apocalypse, while still attempting to keep alight the flame of hope for the goodness of humanity.

The man and his son travel through an apocalyptic wasteland devoid of any but leftover canned food and filled with roving bands of people who have turned to cannibalism for survival. As the pair attempt to outrun cold weather in their trek south so that every day they can survive one more day, the boy's compassion clashes with his father's protective instincts. The father is forced to murder and steal to protect his son, all the while telling him stories about helping others and promising him that they are the “good guys.” They see the depths of human depravity as they abandon a cellar full of prisoners to, ostensibly, be eaten, leave a thief without shoes, clothing, or food to survive in the quickly falling winter, and murder or maim in their efforts at self-defense. Through it all, the man suffers from his own sickness and must confront the equally horrifying prospects of taking his son with him into death or abandoning him to life alone in what has become a hell on earth. McCarthy's plot is meandering, and his imagery is often obscured behind walls of despair, but the questions he asks are poignant and difficult. The flame motif holds on from the opening dream to the final question that the boy asks his new companions: "Are you carrying the flame?"

The Road is a grim look into humanity's potential for despair.

Verdict: Worth reading once.