Man, McCarthy’s ‘The Road’ is not striking a chord here. Just to offer a counter opinion, I’m fairly sure its the best book I’ve read in the last two or three years. I’ve read classics in that time that were superior, but can think of nothing contemporary that has been quite as good. I’ve read all of McCarthy, and was worried that he might be past it after ‘No country for old men’ which was by far his weakest novel for me. The Road is a spell-binding return to form.
Not trying to change anyone’s mind about it, and can see where most criticisms come from. Exapno’s description is far-fetched though, ‘not a single line, page, scene, or description I thought worth reading’ is not what one usually hears applied to one of the greatest prose stylists in American literature.
I agree. I found it to be mystical chick lit drivel.
I just finished The Road, and I thought it was great. I really like McCarthy’s literary style. I found the story to be completely compelling, and now I know what to do after the apocalypse. Excuse me while I go and bury a case of MRE’s in the backyard.
The worst Hugo-winning book I’ve read, Starship Troopers.
A series of wonky, half-serious sociopolitical lectures, interspersed with mindless, war-glorifyng violence, written by a man whose military career consisted mainly of floating in a pool in the Canal Zone during peacetime.
After I read Haldeman’s The Forever War, I could never read Starship Troopers again.
Add me to the list of people who are very puzzled by the acclaim accorded to *The Road. * I found it bleak, tedious, and annoying (especially the ending).
I beg to disagree. There is a major shift more or less halfway through the book, but I still find it to be one of my favorite Pulitzer winners. A great book from start to finish for me.
And I gotta say - A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
I understand all the hype and mystique turns some people off. But if you can put that out of your mind I still think it is an amazing read.
I’m a big fan of these two books myself.
[shallow thoughts]Although I’ve just about given up hope of ever seeing CoD being made into a movie, I still have hopes for an adaptation of K&C (I see Adrian Brody as Kavalier). I would hope that whoever does bring this book to film has the same faithfulness to the sourse as the makers of To Kill a Mockingbird did. That has to be the most perfect adaptation I’ve ever seen.[/shallow thoughts]
I couldn’t get through the first chapter of Cold Mountain. Then I saw the movie and realized, “This is a Mary Sue story” (at least in the earliest definition of the term). So I never bothered to try again.
It’s when the author inserts an idealized version of his or herself into a work if fanfiction, who outdoes the canonical characters and steals the spotlight. It’s named after a character from a Star Trek fanfic (which was parodying the concept) where Ensign Mary Sue shows herself to be more logical than Spock and steals Kirk’s heart.
The term’s since devolved into “any character which I think is overpowered or that the writer likes too much”.
I had to read that for a class last year. It sucked. I’m convinced that the only reason it won the Pulitzer is because it contains a black slaveowner. There is nothing good about that book except the satisfying “thud” when it hits the back wall.
