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The Road

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The Road

By: Cormac McCarthy
Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
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About this listen

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2007


An Oprah Winfrey Book Club Selection

America is a barren landscape of smoldering ashes, devoid of life except for those people still struggling to scratch out some type of existence. Amidst this destruction, a father and his young son walk, always toward the coast, but with no real understanding that circumstances will improve once they arrive. Still, they persevere, and their relationship comes to represent goodness in a world of utter devastation.

Bleak but brilliant, with glimmers of hope and humor, The Road is a stunning allegory and perhaps Cormac McCarthy's finest novel to date. This remarkable departure from his previous works has been hailed by Kirkus Reviews as a "novel of horrific beauty, where death is the only truth".

McCarthy, a New York Times best-selling author, is a past recipient of the National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award. He is widely considered one of America's greatest writers.

Click here to see all the titles in our Radio & TV Book Clubs collection.©2006 M-71, Ltd. (P)2006 Recorded Books LLC Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Science Fiction Dystopian Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Scary Thought-Provoking Witty

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Critic reviews

"McCarthy's prose retains its ability to seduce...and there are nods to the gentler aspects of the human spirit." ( The New Yorker)
"One of McCarthy's best novels, probably his most moving and perhaps his most personal...Every moment of The Road is rich with dilemmas that are as shattering as they are unspoken...McCarthy is so accomplished that the reader senses the mysterious and intuitive changes between father and son that can't be articulated, let alone dramatized...Both lyric and savage, both desperate and transcendent, although transcendence is singed around the edges...Tag McCarthy one of the four or five great American novelists of his generation." ( Los Angeles Times Book Review)
"...For all the harrowing hopelessness, the bond between father and son shines through."( The Guardian)
All stars
Most relevant

What made the experience of listening to The Road the most enjoyable?

The story painted a picture of a future so bleak it defines the apocalypse genre... The reader did a great job defining the characters and emotions.

What did you like best about this story?

Great story, short running time and engaging characters.

Have you listened to any of Tom Stechschulte’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No, but I will be looking at his other books

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Pretty much!

So Desolate, So Miserable, But So Good!

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Enjoyed, but the encounters in the book got a little same same. I cried, so that's always a good indicator of an author who has really pulled me into the book and characters. would recommend.

I cried....

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Wow. I thought I was feeling down before starting this book. By the end I want to curl up into the foetus position in bed and cry.
The story is good and it's narrated really well but the events and what happens throughout just make you want to weep.

Want to be utterly depressed? Read this book.

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One of the very few books that have bought me to tears. Makes me want to hug my son forever.

Incredible.

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Great performance and builds up (or down depending how you looking at it) to one of the most meaningful but heart-wrenching endings you could experience. Incredible.

Incredible

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