Book of the Day: "The Road" — a novel that makes you want to hug your loved ones and never let go

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This isn't entertainment, not a distraction, not an adventure. A book that begins with the end of the world, but ends with hope.

After some catastrophe — unnamed but total — the USA became a country of ghosts. No sun, no plants, no birds. Only ash, hunger, and fear.

Through this ashen hell, two figures walk toward the distant sea — a father and his young son. They have no names, no past, no future. They have only the road. And fragments of humanity they cling to — through sickness, cannibals, despair.

How "The Road" Was Created

McCarthy, according to Wikipedia, wrote the novel in six weeks. But that doesn't mean it appeared by accident.
Writer Cormac McCarthy in a checkered shirt sits at a table, next to a book cover with black ink blots on it
Cormac McCarthy and the cover of the novel "The Road"
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The idea was born in 2003, when the writer found himself in El Paso with his son. Looking at the city, he suddenly imagined what it would become in 50 years — empty, with fires on the hills.

The author's son, John Francis, became his co-author: he influenced many of the dialogues — with childlike intonations, questions, anxieties. That's exactly why the father-son relationship in "The Road" feels so real.

McCarthy dedicated the book to John — and it's one of the most personal things he's ever written.

Why This Matters

"The Road" is frightening, yes. But not because of the world's destruction. It's terrifying because of what remains inside people when the world falls apart.

The father isn't a hero, isn't a knight. He steals too, he doesn't spare enemies, he gets scared, he makes mistakes. But he's the last boundary between good, evil, and reawakened primitive instincts.

What Critics Say

The novel won the Pulitzer Prize. BBC included it in their list of 100 most inspiring books, and The Guardian put it on their list of best climate change novels.
Actor Viggo Mortensen in a gray sweater sits next to a child, nearby is a movie poster showing the actor walking down the street with a child
Poster and frame from the film "The Road"
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Though there's not a word about climate or politics here. Only the road, a cart with food, a boy learning to survive, and the soft, almost prayer-like rhythm of McCarthy's prose.

Adaptations

In 2009, a film came out with Viggo Mortensen as the father — strong, restrained, just like the novel itself. It received fairly high critical ratings. On IMDb, for example, it scores 7.2 out of 10.

And in 2024, "The Road" was adapted as a graphic novel.

McCarthy wrote a book that's impossible to forget. And you shouldn't. Because it reminds us of what matters most — when the world falls apart, only love remains. Earlier on zoomboola.com, we told you about "The Book Thief" — a novel for those who enjoyed "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas."