WORD: The Official Blog of READ and WRITING magazines

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

I finished reading An Arsonist's Guide To Writers Homes In New England. It was good. I wasn't thrilled with the ending though. You know how no matter how much you dislike a protagonist, you still have to root for him/her? Well this is one of those books that really pushes your likability limit. I kept wanting to grab the main character and shake him, screaming, "What's wrong with you? Why don't you just tell your wife the truth?"

Well ok then, so now what? The great War & Peace challenge doesn't start til February 1. Seeing that I can't wait that long to read another book, I started reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy last night. So far it's about a post-apocalyptic world. A boy and his father are walking down a road. Woo Hoo. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2007. After reading the first 50 pages, I can't for the life of me see why. I'm hoping it gets better. I think I heard somewhere that there are cannibals in it.

Shrug. I'll have to get back to you.

Word.

Posted by
Bryon
on 1/23/2008
12:14 PM

1/24/2008 10:27:16 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Though I do not think that The Road is McCarthy's best work, it's worthwhile. I think the trick with him is sort of to settle in for the ride. I found his style to be really challenging but once I get into it, I really enjoy his work. I'm actually reading McCarthy's The Crossing right now (the second in his Border Trilogy).

By the way, a few friends had a similar experience as you. They told me that it took them at least 50 pages to get into The Road. But once you do, the story destroys you--in a good way.

Good luck!

Alicia

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