The Road - A Study of Human Relationships by Cormac McCarthy

The Road - A Study of Human Relationships by Cormac McCarthyCormac McCarthy's The Road is a very good novel, a work of staggering strength and skill. It is part fantasy, part travelogue, part study of relationships. For all its wonderful achievements, The Road does not possess the qualities of greatness that other authors have successfully produced.The novel was first published in 1993 as part of the collection Suttree. It is based on an account written by Cormac in the years between his son's birth and his own death, in 1919. It was originally published as two volumes in hardback. In 2020, The Road was published in paperback.There is a character in The Road who is referred to by Cormac McCarthy as 'the myth'. This character is a character who exists outside the story, but whose existence can be inferred from the author's description of the surroundings and the personality of the main characters. It is these observations that make the character of the myth so convincing.Cormac McCart hy is known for his lyrical writing style. The Road is no exception. We find detailed descriptions of rural life, of weather, of attitudes towards women, of the ways in which Irish people feel about themselves. All this is interspersed with wonderfully vivid descriptions of the landscapes that describe what life is like in places such as Longford and Pontardawe.As I read the book, I began to wonder whether I had, on my final look, caught glimpses of something other than what the writer is describing. I realized that it was my imagination running riot, and that it was only later that I started to realise that what I was seeing were not some strange and fantastic places, but the real things that were there in these places.So, Cormac McCarthy has succeeded in his task. He has given us something that is recognisable, but is also unique. The thing that makes the book, for me, a masterpiece is the fact that he has captured the spirit of the real world in the text, and the author has playe d off it brilliantly. His writing is rich and clear, and I found myself often thinking that the feeling of reality I was imagining was the true one.There are a few areas where I think that the book could have been improved upon, but I think this is mostly down to the fact that I did not feel that the writer knew exactly how to use his writing style. Some people may find this disappointing, but I felt that this was a book that was very well written and that I was very grateful for every time I returned to it again.So, is the Road your kind of thing? If so, then I would strongly recommend that you read it.