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The Road

By: Cormac McCarthy
Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
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Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2007

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.

©2006 M-71, Ltd. (P)2006 Recorded Books LLC

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)

Editorial Review

I hadn't cried in years before I heard this book. Cormac McCarthy's vocabulary is truly unparalleled, but you can tell he spends even more time crafting his characters and their stories than he does with words—which is really saying something.Michael D., Audible Editor

What listeners say about The Road

Average customer ratings
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Awesome read!

I loved the father son love displayed throughout the book! I won’t say more else spoil the story!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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bleak, realistic

never knew their names, where they were, what happened... one of the best books I've come across, ever, in its simplicity, giving worlds of information without words. bleak and terrible, yet, a ray of hope...

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Heartbreaking

Love the book. Very heartbreaking though. A man and his boy trying to navigate the apocalypse.

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  • Overall
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hope or despair?

beautiful cadence, well matched to story. listening to it made me believe it was about hope, not despair.

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A reality of life, death, love and struggle.

I like books that make me feel and this one does. I have nothing else to add to this review.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great story

Another great McCarthy book. I love listening to these. I have now listened to two and I will listen to the rest of his work.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A litany of suffering

Great reading. Mysterious story. An anti communitarian survivalist drags his kid south. Amazingly after a separation, kid meets someone else nice. It’s maybe your dad’s fault it was like that, kid.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Bumpy Road

Very middle of the road. Not bad but not great. Hearing him do the kid voice can be hit and miss.

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Creative narrative and prose- brilliant use of the child as a literary device

I disliked how true it is. The story is like a memoir from the future

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The man’s patience

I felt like it was a tiny bit longer than necessary. It would have probably worked better as a novella or a short story.

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