I just want to know if there are any Cormac McCarthy fans out there. I believe that he is the greatest living American author. Any thoughts on his books, style, or the movies based on his books?

I remember seeing this scene in the theater. A woman said, "Well that sucked." One or two people laughed. I saw an older man with a few tears on his face. Most people were dead silent. It was like we were all kicked in the stomach. It's a rare way for a movie to end.



This scene is the most disturbing in The Road. The Road doesn't describe a specific apocalypse. The specific apocalypse is unimportant. Few details are provided. Parallels between this story and others (i.e. The Decameron) are numerous. The situations provided here would've been experienced in past disasters.

Why would you use movie scenes when talking about an author's work?

"the Road" was bleak as hell as both book and movie.

"no country for old men" made me want to throw something through my tv. Never read the book.

Both movies were true to the books. No Country for Old Men left out some scenes with Moss and a younger woman, but aside from that, the movie stayed true to the book in a remarkable way. In any case, the movies and the books are all worth considring. They're all masterpieces.

I have seen both of the movie versions of these books, i stopped watching the road because i felt really depressed watching it. As for No country for old men, i loved it, brilliant movie.

The Road was actually one of McCarthy's more optimistic stories...

While both movies were true to teh books, even if you hated No Country for Old Men the movie, it's still worth reading as a book. Cormac McCarthy is that good.

It really didnt seem that way. Perhaps the book is better

Don't get me wrong. "No country for old men" was an excellent movie. But that ending . . .

I've seen No Country for Old Men and The Road. I thoroughly enjoyed both films and I also enjoyed the book, The Road. The Road was released 2 December and I read the book late November. I have to say it was the best possible timing and worst possible timing. Best because that time of year the sky matches perfectly the book/movie and worst because it is pretty depressing. I suppose that's not a bad thing, after all one of my favorite quotes from any author is from Kafka who said.



As for the style of The Road, I was pleasantly surprised. Usually I don't like non-standard format (stream of consciousness least of all) but I enjoyed The Road. I also like how McCarthy doesn't waste time or energy making some sort of political statement in explaining the apocalypse. The story is about the Man and his Son, and that's all it needed to be.

The book is also very dark. I do think it is better than the movie, but the movie is very loyal to the book it is based on.

Just my opinion, but I think The Road is one of the best "happy ending" books out there, and the movie is true to the tone the depth of the happiness that comes at the end. Its an old story but in the hands of Cormac, it becomes magic. Both ruthlessly secular but beautifully religious at the same time. The man is our past, the boy our future, and I'll leave it to each of us to figure out the redeemer(s) in the story. The bottom line is whatever you think the stability of your status quo is, you ain't sitting still.

A much lesser (but pretty damn good) work that comes to mind on the "happy ending" theme is the movie Children of Men. Anybody know that one? What good is a happy ending story for humans without some (really) pretty dark stuff leading up to it?

For anybody wanting to explore more Cormac McCarthy, go through Dan's Amazon search window to check out Blood Meridian, a MUCH darker story than The Road, but IMHO his best work. Listening to Dan's recent HH episodes about the Mongols, Goths, barbarians, Charlemagne, et al, reminds me of McCarthy's unrelenting take on how violent human life really (in a historical sense) is. There have been some runs at making a Blood Meridian movie, but nobody's carried through to date. If true to the book, it would make The Road look like something whipped up by Adam Sandler (no offense to Adam Sandler).

Loved No Country For Old Men. Anton Chigurr is one of my favorite on screen villians.

The ending did't bother me as much as everybody else that saw it. It wasn't an action movie, but a lot of people wanted it to be. I'd have been disappointed if it spoon fed me the answers and finished with a hokey happy ending.

I don't demand a happy ending. I just kind of like closure.

But I bought the movie AFTER I saw it, and I recommend it to those I think will like the style.

Thank goodness the Coen bros made the movie. Maybe some people would have preferred seeing Bell and Chigurh shoot it out with AK-47s and rocket launchers, but that's what we have John Woo and JJ Abrams for.

Most people do, and it didn't offer much in most people's opinion. The movie had closure for me, though. It wasn't what you wanted it to be, but that was the point. The kid bit off more than he could chew and Tommy Lee Jones wasn't the hero he needed to be anymore to save the day. It was kind of an Empire Strikes Back ending.