The Road
by Cormac McCarthy · first published 2006
52% recommend41% neutral7% critical
Why HN recommends it
Bleak post-apocalyptic story with stark, brutal prose that readers find haunting and beautifully written. Hits harder for parents, and rewards rereading; suits readers who can handle very dark material.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Cormac McCarthy's tenth novel, The Road, is his most harrowing yet deeply personal work. Some unnamed catastrophe has scourged the world to a burnt-out cinder, inhabited by the last remnants of mankind and a very few surviving dogs and fungi. The sky is perpetually shrouded by dust and toxic particulates; the seasons are merely varied intensities of cold and dampness. Bands of cannibals roam the roads and inhabit what few dwellings remain intact in the woods. Through this nightmarish residue of America a haggard father and his young son attempt to flee the oncoming Appalachian winter and he
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Try some fiction, instead. It's a vacation. I just finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy a couple of weeks ago. It's really good. That said, if you're going to read programming books, you might want narrative texts rather than "practical" books, since the practical ones…
on “Ask HN: Programming books to read while on vacation?” ↗…Science: - A brief history of time - Stephen Hawking (space, time) - The Blind Watchmaker - Richard Dawkins (evolution) - Le cerveau intime - Marc Jeannerod (in french only) Science-fiction: - The Road - Cormack Mc Carthy - City - Clifford D. Simack - Time is the simplest thing - Clifford D. Simack - Ringworld - Larry Niven
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books? I'm bored” ↗Since we are talking about books I’d like to add “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy to the reading list. It’s almost unimaginably bleak but just completely incredible.
on “Disaster planning for regular folks (2015)” ↗…new books later this year. It's been so long since he wrote a new book, and statistically these are almost certain to be his final novels given his age (88). I found the prose of Blood Meridian and The Road absolutely extraordinary, so I'm eager for more of it. I haven't read his other past novels yet, don't ask why. Maybe because I saw the movie of No Country For Old Men, and I wasn't sure if the horses…
on “Cormac McCarthy’s tips on how to write a great science paper (2019)” ↗…didn't bother me too much because I don't feel like it takes away from the story at all. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson - cheap fun and suspenseful The Road by Cormac McCarthy - I don't think much needs to be said about this book White Tiger by Aravind Adiga - extremely interesting and gripping novel about a side of the world most of us Westerners never…
on “Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?” ↗Read "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy and sit back while your mind gets blown--more true if you have children.
on “How can I keep learning on my 1.5 hr commute?” ↗…is my favorite fiction, but IMO most of it is broken by being fundamentally implausible. Other fiction I consider great in other genres include Memoirs of a Geisha, Cold Mountain, REAMDE, The Son, The Road, the lighter but still version of that post-apocalyptic concept The Dog Stars, City of Thieves, and All the Pretty Horses and its sequels. It's probably symptomatic of a major flaw in my character that…
on “Ask HN: What literature do you read?” ↗One of my favourite books is The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Three reads and counting... A friend of mine recently became a father and says that he reread the book and saw it in a completely different light as a result of having a son of his…
on “Why reading a book 100 times is a great idea” ↗The Road by Cormac McCarthy. He passed away in June 2023 and I read this shortly after for the first time. A powerful work that, despite the world building, focuses on the love between a father and son. It's a…
on “Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?” ↗The Road - Cormac McCarthy
on “Ask HN: What is one book you would recommend everyone to read?” ↗…Read The Prophet twice. One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez The Problem Of Pain by C S Lewis Disgrace by J M Coetzee The Road by Cormac McCarthy Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek On Writing by Stephen King Atonement by Ian McEwan Dictionary Of The Khazars by Milorad Pavic Candide by…
on “Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?” ↗I recently reread Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses. I was prompted to do so by another book discussion. Not his best book - I think Blood Meridian and The Road are better - but McCarthy is a great writer. For nerd non-fiction, I just read Jim Lovell's Lost Moon which though not a great book, is a good solid book about greatness.
on “Ask HN: Great book that you read recently?” ↗…http://www.amazon.com/Burmese-Days-Novel-George-Orwell/dp/01... The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway - http://www.amazon.com/Sun-Also-Rises-Ernest-Hemingway/dp/074... Catch 22 - Joe Heller - http://www.amazon.com/Catch-22-50th-Anniversary-Joseph-Helle... The Road - Cormac McCarthy - http://www.amazon.com/Road-Oprahs-Book-Club/dp/0307387895 To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee - http://www.amazon.com/Kill-Mockingbird-Harper-Lee/dp/0446310... The Catcher In The…
on “Ask HN: Book recommendations?” ↗Here are the first books that crossed my mind. The Road. Daily Rituals: How Artists Work. How to Read a Modern Painting: Lessons from the Modern Masters. The Sun Also Rises. The Wind Up Bird Chronicles. Reamde: A Novel. 1984.
on “Ask HN: Book recommendations?” ↗I think many would agree that The Road movie isn't good, which is why I highly recommend reading the book. McCarthy's unique writing style lends itself to the material in a way movies can't capture.
on “Why a Post-Nuclear World Would Look Nothing Like “Mad Max”” ↗