The Road
First edition hardcover
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| Author | Cormac McCarthy |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Post-apocalyptic fiction |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
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Publication date
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September 26, 2006 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 287 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 70630525 |
The Road is a 2006 novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy. It is a post-apocalyptic tale of a journey of a father and his young son over a period of several months, across a landscape blasted by an unspecified cataclysm that has destroyed most of civilization and, in the intervening years, almost all life on Earth. The novel was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 2006. The book was adapted to a film of the same name in 2009, directed by John Hillcoat.
A father and his young son journey across post-apocalyptic America some years after an extinction event. The land is covered with ash and devoid of life. The boy's mother, pregnant with him at the time of the disaster, committed suicide shortly after giving birth.
Realizing they cannot survive the winter, the man takes the boy south along empty roads towards the sea, carrying their meager possessions in their knapsacks and a supermarket cart. The man is suffering from a serious cough and knows he is dying. He assures his son that they are "good guys" who are "carrying the fire". The pair have a revolver, but only two rounds. The father has taught the boy to use the gun on himself if necessary, to avoid falling into the hands of cannibals.
The father uses one of the rounds to kill a marauder who discovers them, disturbing the boy. They flee the marauder's companions, abandoning most of their possessions. When they search a house for supplies, they discover a locked cellar containing captives whom cannibal gangs have been eating limb by limb and flee.
As they are near starvation, the pair discover a concealed bunker filled with food, clothes, and other supplies. They stay there for several days, regaining their strength, and move on. They encounter an elderly man with whom the boy insists they share food. Further along the road, they evade a group whose members include a pregnant woman, and soon after they discover a newborn infant roasted on a spit. They come to a house where they find more food and a wheelbarrow they use to carry their supplies, but the man's condition is worsening.
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