In a post-apocalyptic world, a man and his son walk across a country covered in gray ash and rubble. The novel, The Road, offers a compelling story of love and hope. Winning a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Cormac McCarthy has written a masterpiece. That is pretty well done, considering McCarthy never graduated college. In fact, the novel was considered exceptional by so many readers, that it was made into a film, directed by John Hillcoat.

The Road starts out as a slow novel, full of very descriptive words that in the end make the novel more confusing. This means that the book is a higher level reading novel. This should not discourage people from reading this truly impressive story.

McCarthy, known for writing darker stories, continues this writing style throughout the book. The novel keeps the reader guessing with many twists and unexpected turns. The Road was written in a style in which characters were given no names. One will find that this style allows for a connection between characters unlike any novel they have read.

I felt like the ending was the only part that could have been changed throughout the novel. However, McCarthy again continued to feed off the reader’s imagination. The ending offers hope for the entire ash covered world. Overall, this was a good novel. The only negative about the novel is that it starts out slow. I would recommend this to a friend that loves to use their imagination.