Books on the Nightstand discussion

Ok, I took everyone's recommendation and started reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I'm only about 120 pages in but I'm already completely taken by the boy.
Do we get an explanation of what exactly happened or is it just assumed that there has been some apocalyptic event?
I can't wait to continue reading tonight....

no explanation is ever given. I think it's more haunting that way. We all imagine our worst nightmares.

***** SPOILER ALERT *****
I finished the Road last night, and I must be a glass half full type of person because I took the ending to be a positive one -- the man was able to make it to the intended destination so that he could make sure the boy was passed to fellow "good guys" -- of course it's not happily ever after but I was expecting a much much worse ending.
Am I way off base?
It was a wonderful book, I'm glad I picked it up.

Suzanne, you're not off base at all. I felt exactly the same. There is hope at the end. Glad you enjoyed it!

I am in the minority, but I did not like this book at all. Neither did my English teacher buddies, and we normally eat stuff like this up.

Yeah, the book depressed me so much that after a while I was just reading it because I really cared about the little boy and wanted a happy ending for him. I wasn't dissapointed. I was so happy that the man didn't shoot the boy, and that the boy found some good people.

Kathy wrote: "Yeah, the book depressed me so much that after a while I was just reading it because I really cared about the little boy and wanted a happy ending for him. I wasn't dissapointed. I was so happy t..."
The boy kept me reading as well, Kathy.
I felt like I was watching a car crash -- I was horrified by what I saw yet couldn't look away.

Stephanie wrote: "I am in the minority, but I did not like this book at all. Neither did my English teacher buddies, and we normally eat stuff like this up. "

Welcome to my minority.

AHHH!!! Me, too!! I mean it was ok, but I'm not one of those "The Road is the BEST book you should all read it" people. Whew! So glad someone said something! :)

My book group is going to read this for our next selection. I tried not to read too much of the posts above to keep my perspective fresh. I'm really curious which camp I'll fall in tho.

I know how some of you feel. I found The English Patient (the movie) to be slow torture. The only person who agreed with me at the time seemed to be Elaine on Seinfeld.

I didn't go see that movie on purpose JUST because Elaine didn't like it!! :)

Heather in KS

LOL, I thought that if The English Patient were any longer and SEMMP (see BOTN blog post about Literary Kryptonite), it would have qualified as a Swedish/Ingmar Bergman film!

As for Cormac McCarthy, I haven't felt compelled to read any more of him since I read "The Crossing" (wow! has it really been 15 years?!) It was too nihilistic for my taste. Every time I get anywhere near CMcC in my stacks (my husband's books are now infiltrating my camps), I find myself reshuffling and reading around him!

I tried Blood Meridian a couple of years ago, and I had to give up. I couldn't make sense of the inexplicable, horrific violence. I read The Road and I loved it. I could understand the father's fierce love for his son. His love and their duty to one another contrasted with the savagery of the other survivors. It was a stark picture of both the heights and the depths of the human heart. I may give Blood Meridian another try.

Here's another vote for this book. I loved it and thought the writing was perfect.