Cormac McCarthy's 10th novel is 'œthe bleakest book he's ever written,' said Allen Barra in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Set in an ash-gray post-apocalyptic landscape, it follows an unnamed man and his young son as they try to survive a long journey on foot toward whatever is left of an unnamed sea. 'œWritten in terse, flat English sporadically punctuated by exotic words,' it aims to be biblical and stumbles. The result is something more akin to a George Romero movie. No zombie movie, though, has ever managed to be so 'œexquisitely bleak,' said Janet Maslin in The New York Times. In the nightmarish world of The Road, questions of survival jockey with questions about why anyone would bother, and the past itself has been so obliterated that 'œkeeping memory alive is difficult.' At the same time, an 'œextraordinary tenderness' marks the story's central relationship. 'œThis is art that both frightens and inspires,' and McCarthy finds an ending that's truly wise, not just reassuring. Some critics may complain that this sparsely populated novel is further proof that McCarthy simply can't do women well, said Jennifer Reese in Entertainment Weekly. 'œThen again, neither did Michelangelo.' The Road is a 'œmasterpiece.'
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