The Road

Just watched this movie and all I can say is that I am now considering stockpiling food, weapons, ammo, water and all the kit needed to survive without eating people. Cormac McCartneys book and now the movie will scare the bejesus outta you.

I read the book, the movie dissapeared from theaters within a week. I am planning to rent it soon. I've been almost afraid to watch the movie. I can't imagine how bleak the movie would have to look to capture the hopelessness of the book.

It definitely ain't Mad Max....

Revvy said:

I can't imagine how bleak the movie would have to look to capture the hopelessness of the book.

Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. I read the book in almost one sitting. Bleak and hopeless are exactly the right words. Loved the book, but I planned to skip the movie. Too depressing.

I'm here to tell you they capture the bleakness and hopelessness of the book to the tee.

shamrockdoc said:

I'm here to tell you they capture the bleakness and hopelessness of the book to the tee.

Click to expand...

I've seen a few of the clips on youtube. I think you're right. I'm honestly afraid to watch it alone. I know my girlfriend won't watch it. I know if I watch it alone, I'll have freaky a$$ed nightmares.

We need a group view, where there is plenty of brew present, and enough wisecracks to keep it light.

If you want more scary, read the book World War Z.

It's a book about the Zombie outbreak -- cheesy as it may sound, the books goes through how governments approach, deal, and cover the outbreak. it is spooky how much you can actually see governments covering up as much as they do.

sethful said:

If you want more scary, read the book World War Z.

It's a book about the Zombie outbreak -- cheesy as it may sound, the books goes through how governments approach, deal, and cover the outbreak. it is spooky how much you can actually see governments covering up as much as they do.

Click to expand...

Meh, I love world war z, and don't find it scary at all. I think if you've grown up on Zombie Kitsch Movies, it's hard to totally get freaked out. Plus it reads pretty dispassionatley in a lot of places, like a Studs Terkle book, or a book of WWII recollections. It's a great book, very well written. But it's still about Zombies.

The Road novel, is like a Hitchcock movie. It's really sparse, and tense. I was constantly on edge from page to page, just the the father in it. Always excepting something terrible to happen.

And it lingers long after you finish the book.

BTW, if you liked WWZ, this website is great. http://www.talesofworldwarz.com/

It's a contest website, where folks upload stories, and they award prizes every few months. There are some well written and scary stories in it. Many better I think that those in Brook's book.

The Road might be the most depressing book I've ever read. As a dad with a young son, I really identified with the characters. It just got into my head. I might watch the movie, but it will be hard to handle. Cormac McCarthy is my favorite author of late, though. It's not easy finding the time to read a novel, but when I can, I read one of his novels.

bosunbrew said:

The Road might be the most depressing book I've ever read. As a dad with a young son, I really identified with the characters. It just got into my head. I might watch the movie, but it will be hard to handle. Cormac McCarthy is my favorite author of late, though. It's not easy finding the time to read a novel, but when I can, I read one of his novels.

Click to expand...

That's why I think we need a group view, where there's a bunch of people. It would help break the intensity of the story.

What other McCarthy novels can you recommend?

Revvy said:

What other McCarthy novels can you recommend?

Click to expand...

I've had Blood Meridian sitting on my nightstand for a year. I've read the first 20 pages a few times and it sounds pretty good

No Country for Old Men was a great novel by him as well. I thought the movie was excellent, but I couldn't put that book down.

The Road was one of my favorite (if you can use that word to describe it) books in a long time. The movie just came "On Demand" and I can't wait to see it. When I saw that it was a movie, I was pretty excited to see how Viggo Mortensen would play the man.

Revvy said:

That's why I think we need a group view, where there's a bunch of people. It would help break the intensity of the story.

What other McCarthy novels can you recommend?

Click to expand...

I really liked No Country For Old Men. I read the book a few months after seeing the movie. The book is great, and I think the movie did it justice. I've also read "All The Pretty Horses", which, despite the title, is fairly bad-ass. It's set in Mexico, during the 1950s (I guess)... story about two Texans that find themselves in some trouble south of the border. It's the first novel in a trilogy, and I will read the second book in the series next. I find it real easy to get into his writing style: it's very sparse for the most part, but then he knocks you over with his descriptions... also, there are some heavy, Biblical elements and themes in his writing. I'd recommend "No Country", first, and go from there.

Revvy said:

That's why I think we need a group view, where there's a bunch of people. It would help break the intensity of the story.

Click to expand...

There has to be a interwebz savvy fella on here that can rip it then stream it for us all.

I read the book first and recently saw the movie. In my opinion, the book was excellent and the movie only slightly less so. I say that because had the movie a longer running time, and thereby be able show more of the story portrayed in the book, it would have been on par.

I think Viggo and the kid both did great jobs on this work. And of course, there's always a spot in my . . . um . . . heart for Charlize.

Regarding No Country for Old Men, I've seen the movie and am now convinced that I need to read the book.

Out of curiosity, has anyone read American Gods? That's an interesting book that I'd like to see made into a movie.

Chudz said:

Out of curiosity, has anyone read American Gods? That's an interesting book that I'd like to see made into a movie.

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, both American Gods and the sequel Anansi Boys would make great movies.

If you like those, have you read Good Omens that he co-wrote with Terry Pratchett? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Omens it's the same vein as those two but more in a Christian Vein (a demon and the Angel that guarded Paradise after Adam and Eve got kicked out, who have taken a liking to humans decide to stop God and the Devil's plan for Armageddon,) except it is more of a screwball British comedy like Hitchiker's Guide.

That one there has been talk of movies for a decade but it got optioned, and then like so many books, fell through the cracks and a movie is in limbo.

I've read the book and thought it was a great read. I plowed through the book like most of you as I couldn't put it down. I was planning on seeing the movie as soon as it was in theaters but the initial reviews scared me away. It was hyped up to be an Oscar contender and failed greatly in that respect. The movie really didn't live up to the hype. I want in on the group viewing though, I don't think I can watch it alone and the SWMBO doesn't do sad or scary movies.

shamrockdoc said:

Just watched this movie and all I can say is that I am now considering stockpiling food, weapons, ammo, water and all the kit needed to survive without eating people. Cormac McCartneys book and now the movie will scare the bejesus outta you.

Click to expand...

You might enjoy One Second After too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Second_After
OR
http://www.onesecondafter.com/index.html
Regards, GF.

I saw No Country for Old Men, then read the book. The book was great and went into the Tommy Lee Jones character a little deeper than the movie could, but the movie was excellent. Im a huge Coen bros fan, and it's one of their best IMO.
I'm reading Blood Meridian right now. It's very good, I love westerns, and this one is full of action. I find the vernacular to be awkward enough to slow my reading down tho so it's taking a while to get through it.
I saw The Road, and liked it, but it's a watch once kind of movie. I've been debating whether to read it or not. I'll probably pass. The movie was really bleak.

damn, that was a good book. i'm glad i stumbled upon this thread. i'd never really heard of cormac mccarthy before it (i didn't realize he wrote 'no country'). and i agree, most depressing book ever, but a really vivid book and i really like his writing style. i think i'll redbox the movie just to see how the directors and producers imagined everything looking compared to how i envisioned it while reading.

Revvy said:

What other McCarthy novels can you recommend?

Click to expand...

There was a time about 12 years ago or so where I read everything he had written up to that point ... from memory, I'd say that Blood Meridian was the best and darkest thing he'd done. It's pretty damn violent. Like I said, it's been more than a decade, but I can still very vividly picture The Judge, one of BM's main characters, in my mind. There was a time when All the Pretty Horses was being talked about a lot; IIRC it's pretty sparse and open feeling, relatively spooky, with some passages that are just fantastic and some parts that to my mind drag a bit (YMMV). Likewise with The Crossing (the sequel to ATPH). The earlier books - The Orchard Keeper and Suttree especially - were fine, but, honestly, they read to me more like Faulkner rip-offs than anything else.

Haven't actually read No Country for Old Men - I should. IMO The Road is really his best. Still haven't gotten around to seeing the movie. Must remember to add it to queue...

I don't know if it's something wrong with me, or with everyone else, but I thought The Road was terrible. Bleak and hopeless, yes, but also meandering and almost completely lacking in plot and dialog. Half of the dialog went along the lines of:

Im Scared
I Know

Im Hungry
OK

My punctuation is variable and apostrophes and quotations disappear randomly.
Tell me about it

And so on. Thanks, but I'll take my postapocalyptic fiction with a solid dose of something, anything, actually happening. McCarthy is a master of imagery, but a novel of pure image just doesn't cut it for me. I'd rather re-read The Stand or Alas, Babylon for the tenth time. Maybe I'm a heathen who "just doesn't understand literature", but I think there are plenty of great authors (Octavia Butler, Margaret Atwood, and China Mievelle, for example) who are as good or better than McCarthy, but don't get read as much because they're not the darlings of the literary set.

[/rant]

Speaking of Alas, Babylon...

I literally have this stack of post-apocalpyse on my nightstand. I have a friend who lends me books and he's heavy into the genre.

Anyone want to save me a few days and eliminate any of these (or support them), thanks.

1. Alas, Babylon
2. Footfall
3. Lucifer's Hammer
4. The Day of the Triffids
5. Earth Abides

I'd skip Footfall, since Lucifer's Hammer is (IMO) Niven and Pournelle's best novel. Instead, I recommend Dies the Fire and the five following novels by SM Stirling. I'd also add The Stand if you've never read it. I think it's Stephen King's best novel.

Loved the Stand. Hated the mini-series. I'm afraid I'll feel the same way about The Road as a book -vs- a movie.

read the book in one night. fantastic book.

the movie was very good in capturing the feeling of the book. there are obviously some parts in the book that were left out of the movie (like the infant) probably because that would be a little too graphic i think (though there are some graphic movies out there, but the idea involving a baby...meh).

I did feel like crap after reading and watching The Road, though. lol

jds said:

I'd skip Footfall, since Lucifer's Hammer is (IMO) Niven and Pournelle's best novel. Instead, I recommend Dies the Fire and the five following novels by SM Stirling. I'd also add The Stand if you've never read it. I think it's Stephen King's best novel.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I've read The Stand twice... loved that. I really loved those older books by King, but haven't read anything of his in a very long time.

Since we're talking about Post Apoc novels (which I am a big fan of as well)



Swan's Song, by Robert McCammon (who is the author of one of my favorite books, "A Boy's Life.")

Swan Song;

On the edge of a barren Kansas landscape, an ex-wrestler called Black Frankenstein hears the cry..."Protect the Child!"---In the wasteland of New York City, a bag lady clutches a strange glass ring and feels magic coursing through her---Within an Idaho mountain, a survivalist compound lies in ruins, and a young boy learns how to kill.

In a wasteland born of nuclear rage, in a world of mutant animals and marauding armies, the last people on earth are now the first. Three bands of survivors journey toward destiny---drawn into the final struggle between annihilation and life!

They have survived the unsurvivable. Now the ultimate terror begins.

Click to expand...

It's a lot like "The Stand" in that there's sort of a mystical element to it.

Revvy said:

Click to expand...

Oooh. I likey.

thanks for whoever recommended 'dies the fire', i started it a few days ago and am really enjoying it. definitely different from 'the road' and i'm enjoying it more, although i did like the road. i also didn't realize that this is a 5 part series.... looks like i'm in it for the long haul!

android said:

thanks for whoever recommended 'dies the fire', i started it a few days ago and am really enjoying it. definitely different from 'the road' and i'm enjoying it more, although i did like the road. i also didn't realize that this is a 5 part series.... looks like i'm in it for the long haul!

Click to expand...

You're welcome. I discovered that series a little late. I love it when that happens, since I can read all the books in one go, except for the last one, which I'm still waiting for.

End of world movies eh?

Book of Eli Never saw the twist at the end coming.

Blood Meridian = one of my favorite books. Cormac McCarthy is one of those authors that will probably be read 100 years from now as literature.

I also just finished Child of God - one of his lesser known novellas....it was pretty dark to say the least.

ChristianAlpha-RuBrew said:

End of world movies eh?

Book of Eli Never saw the twist at the end coming.

Click to expand...

Really good movie really good i recommend this!

Just started the dies with fire book series and its good so far