The Road [Perfect Paperback]

A work of such terrible beauty that you will struggle to look away -- --Tom Gatti, The Times<br /><br />I could only take short bursts of it in Degas's rasping, downbeat delivery, but I had to keep going back to it. The completeness of this vision of post-apocalyptic desolation is brilliantly imagined --Karen Robinson, The Sunday Times<br /><br />You will read on, absolutely convinced, thrilled, mesmerised. --Alan Warner, The Guardian<br /><br />The conspiratorial, undramatic narration heightens the impact of this powerful and chilling vision of a post-apocalyptic America. Father and son struggle to survive in a ruined environment by feeding off the leavings of the dead. Sounds depressing, but is compelling and strangely beautiful. --Rachel Redford, The Observer<br /><br />Rupert Degas is the most versatile of narrators: he excels in Haruki Murakami and was Pantalaimon in Philip Pullman's multivoiced Northern Lights. Chill menace is his forte, so when you turn on his narration of Cormac McCarthy's The Road get ready to turn into a hypnotised rabbit. --Christina Hardyment, The Times

This gripping, suspenseful novel will be hard to turn off - even by listeners with no or very little interest in the sci-fi genre. The Road begins in the late fall sometime in the future after catastrophe of horrible proportions has struck the continent. Two survivors, a man and his son, are traveling in a southerly direction. Are they seeking a warmer climate? Are they escaping from marauding bandits? Are they trying to locate other survivors? The pair carry their possessions in a grocery cart. The abandoned towns and cities are covered with a coating of gray ash. The forests contain the charred remains of bushes and trees. They subsist on what they can glean from abandoned houses, barns, and fields. Due to past experiences, they purposely avoid any contact with other people. Were they concerned about deadly contagious disease? robbery? murder? some kind of communicable radiation sickness? As the story progresses, the man becomes seriously ill and finally dies. The boy, of undetermined age, is left alone. Does he survive? Violence is minimal but a sense of doom pervades the story. Narrator Rupert Degas is superb. His deep, whispery, almost ominous tone further enhances this riveting tale of survival in the face of utter hopelessness. He gives each character a distinct voice that is appropriate for the situation. The abridging editor also deserves high marks for maintaining the storyline yet forcing the listener to fill in the blanks, all of which made this a step above a run-of-the-mill sci-fi novel experience. Violence is minimal but a sense of doom pervades the story. --Soundcommentary.com

Rupert Degas is the most versatile of narrators: he excels in Haruki Murakami and was Pantalaimon in Philip Pullman's multivoiced Northern Lights. Chill menace is his forte, so when you turn on his narration of Cormac McCarthy's The Road get ready to turn into a hypnotised rabbit. --Christina Hardyment, The Times --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

‘The first great masterpiece of the globally warmed generation. Here is an American classic which, at a stroke, makes McCarthy a contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature’ Andrew O’Hagan A father and his young son walk alone through burned America, heading slowly for the coast. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. They have nothing but a pistol to defend themselves against the men who stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food – and each other. ‘McCarthy conjures from this pitiless flight the miracle of unswerving humanity. Gripping beyond belief’ Chris Cleave, Sunday Telegraph ‘One of the most shocking and harrowing but ultimately redemptive books I have read. It is an intensely intimate story. It is also a warning’ Kirsty Wark, Observer Books of the Year ‘So good that it will devour you. It is incandescent’ Daily Telegraph ‘You will read on, absolutely convinced, thrilled, mesmerized. All the modern novel can do is done here’ Alan Warner, Guardian ‘A masterpiece that will soon be considered a classic’ Herald --This text refers to the Paperback edition.