The Road [ by Cormac McCarthy ]

I think I'm becoming a big fan of Mr. McCarthy.

     I really liked No Country For Old Men - it was an expertly written book, and it had some excellent points to make about human morality. I noticed that his most recent book, The Road, has received glowing reviews from critics, and there is an upcoming movie adaptation. My interest was piqued, so I got a copy from the library.

     Cormac McCarthy has an intriguing style of writing - he recalls James Joyce in several aspects, most obviously with his somewhat relaxed use of punctuation. Conversations go back and forth with very little grammatical indication of who is talking. However, very rarely does this become noticeable - in fact, it only serves to increase the reader's immersion.

    Another notable trademark of McCarthy's is his pacing. To some it may seem boring, but he keeps a consistent pace throughout the entire book. Because of this, it's practically impossible to find a 'climax' in the story. McCarthy uses this to his advantage, and instead of keeping you focused only on the moving plot (which, incidentally, is completely focus-worthy,) he creates a landscape. This landscape is detailed enough to give the reader a vivid mental picture of what the world looks like, but the descriptions are also free enough that readers can put in small details according to their own imaginations. This landscape has the same amount of attention given to it throughout the entire book.

    However, while a reader would be satisfied reading this book just for the scenery, it usually is just a background to the relationship between the main characters. This relationship is portrayed in a way that feels more honest and more realistic than almost every other piece of literature. The methodical story centers completely around this connection.

    Many people would say that Cormac McCarthy is quickly proving himself to be one of the greatest living authors. Only time will tell for sure whether or not he deserves to be remembered, but for now I have yet to be disappointed with his writing.

j

[ p.s. The last paragraph of the book was my favorite. ]

nude

You may have seen this on my facebook, but I can't let anyone miss this, radiohead fan or otherwise.

Big Ideas (Don't get any) from 1030 on Vimeo.

testing the water

How many of you would be interested in participating in a short story contest?

I don't know who I would get to judge it... (maybe make a public poll?) but right now I'm imagining that a bunch of people would submit stories, with illustrations if they like, and we could gather them all on one website so people could see them. Then we could even have seperate award categories, like most original, best illustrations, best overall, etc.

Would you be interested in that sort of thing? You could even submit music to go along with it.

I think it would be sweet. Post in the comments below if you want to be notified if/when I start it.

j

question:

If you're of the opinion that a person is the product of their environment, then can any idea be truly labelled "original"?

On a separate note, I'm reading my first Pynchon novel - Against the Day - and I like it so far. Considering the author's reputation, it's surprisingly approachable.

eh

April fool's joke removed because it wasn't funny.

A note of clarification.

you're ≠ your.

thank you for your time.

everyone seems so much happier now

we finally built a weather machine

but then it was taken over by fifth-grade boys

nobody can get to work or school any more

i don't think anyone's tried to stop them yet