Modified: July 14 2024

I finished The Road a few days ago and I’ve reflected fondly on the experience. Slow burn isn’t the word I’d use; perhaps a slow agonizing death. Because by the end, I was emotionally exhausted. It asks a lot of you. Sit through the gray, dim world that the story takes place in. Hope to some God the end is worth it. In my opinion, I think it was.

Part of what drove me to wanting to finish it despite the opening and middle of this book almost being too boring to comply with, was the background lore between the father and son. Neither being given a name, keeping you far and as unattached as you can; you still develop feelings and connections to their struggle. You feel for the child as his innocence dies and fades. You feel for the father as he physically is dying, until his actual untimely death.

The moment of his loss, where they said goodbye, drove me to tears. Even though I wasn’t able to fully immerse myself in the world, even though I wasn’t fully head over heels in love with the pacing, I was emotionally invested enough to feel something. Solid 4 out of 5.