The Road
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the fact that the Road is celebrated as great literature and the Stand by Stephen King is regarded as pap is criminal... the Road has moments, but is just too soft focus for me... it's nice, but i imagine it might be one of those books like the Godfather that's actually BETTER as a movie...
scottdisco
rip this joint please
that writer sounds like he thinks soft-pedaling occurred just down to the Nick Cave score not being used as nimbly as it might (!)
still, good looking cast, G Pearce and M K. Williams as well as those already mentioned by the NYT
i read the excellent Blood Meridian off the back of some shouts from the Updike thread, page 3 onward, very particular stylist though McCarthy, maybe a bit like say Saramago i might imagine that when it falls flat, it does so quite whole-heartedly (that the only C Mc i've read i must say)
still cool link PS, i've been excited/intrigued about this since i first heard about it last year or so
still, good looking cast, G Pearce and M K. Williams as well as those already mentioned by the NYT
i read the excellent Blood Meridian off the back of some shouts from the Updike thread, page 3 onward, very particular stylist though McCarthy, maybe a bit like say Saramago i might imagine that when it falls flat, it does so quite whole-heartedly (that the only C Mc i've read i must say)
still cool link PS, i've been excited/intrigued about this since i first heard about it last year or so
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STN
sou'wester
I actually can't put my finger on what's good about him and his style, as on paper (arf) it sounds rubbish: books about cowboys, one of which involves a boy becoming obessed with a wolf (if you please!), with rendered dialogue and clever repetition of words and phrases, but I think he's terrific. I have read one of his less-good books, Child of God, which was still okay, but the prose felt unremarkable rather than catastrophically try-hard.
scottdisco
rip this joint please
w hindsight think my message above a bit lukewarm & unfair to the guy, esp given i adored Blood Meridian, a remarkable book. and it is the only one of his i've read, though there again i knew it was the one to check out first (in a dip in and out, headline-grabbing way).
D
droid
Guest
The Road is an amazing book and I think this looks very promising.
I'm completely baffled by Peter's comparisons to the frankly appalling 'the stand' though, which is closer to 'Night of the comet' that McCarthy IMO.
I'm completely baffled by Peter's comparisons to the frankly appalling 'the stand' though, which is closer to 'Night of the comet' that McCarthy IMO.
padraig (u.s.)
a monkey that will go ape
with you 100%. it's not even about some kind of respected author vs. mass-selling hack thing; King's Dark Tower series is fantastic. but "The Stand" is pretty awful. McCarthy can be a bit hard to take, but so is Faulkner. And the payoff is so worth it. Tho I still can't believe this book became a (minor) cultural phenomenon - and off the back of an Oprah recommendation!
nice to see you back Droid!
oh & I'm also w/you Scott, Blood Meridian is a pretty staggering work. now there's an ambitious film adaptation waiting to happen. probably unfilmable tho, it'd wind up like Dune.
D
droid
Guest
Just dipping in Padraig, thanks though.
Totally agree on Blood Meridian. One of my favourite books ever. There is a film planned though: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0983189/
Totally agree on Blood Meridian. One of my favourite books ever. There is a film planned though: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0983189/
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Agrre on the Road...in a (fairly) similar vein, I think Coetzee's Life & Times of Michael K is far superior. Not sold on post-apocalyptic books though - Don DeLillo's White Noise really didn't sit well with me, which surprised given that a couple fo my favourite authors had name dit as a personal favourite.
grizzleb
Well-known member
Blood Meridian shouldn't be made into a film IMO (although in the right hands it could work). The excessive nature of it kind of calls for a book. And what a book, you know where you are after the shocking and hilarious introduction, and it just keeps going for there. I'd compare it to The Kindly Ones for sheer apocalypic madness.
The Road is amazing too, my favourite sections are when they come across the palatial mansions, and they look so full of comical hubris compared to the wasteland and the desperation they are in.
The Road is amazing too, my favourite sections are when they come across the palatial mansions, and they look so full of comical hubris compared to the wasteland and the desperation they are in.
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Benny Bunter
Well-known member
Who would they get to play the JUDGE? 
We had discussed The Road on another thread , I wasn't blown away after one read,
but it was a worthy read and am looking forward to seeing it.
Another clip popped up after the first one finished ,
that one has the pretty harrowing scene as father and son try to hide inside the house and run upstairs.
Also quick edit of scene in basement with what looks like naked cannibals .. arg !
but it was a worthy read and am looking forward to seeing it.
Another clip popped up after the first one finished ,
that one has the pretty harrowing scene as father and son try to hide inside the house and run upstairs.
Also quick edit of scene in basement with what looks like naked cannibals .. arg !
STN
sou'wester
Who would they get to play the JUDGE?
tilda swinton
Additional link ...
If interested, one can go through that original link to NYTimes and see an additional link on the making of The Road 'audio slideshow' with comments by the director.
Now I do really want to see it , the manscapes, ruined landscapes look impressive in a dusted out way ...
If interested, one can go through that original link to NYTimes and see an additional link on the making of The Road 'audio slideshow' with comments by the director.
Now I do really want to see it , the manscapes, ruined landscapes look impressive in a dusted out way ...
Didnt enjoy The Road that much, the point with and what sets it apart from other works in the genre i suppose is that it's a post apocalytic hell without much action. But that also makes is kinda depresssing. Two things can happen with the movie as i see it, either it's depressing like the book is, or they try to make it into more of a action flick which will, probably, suck.
it's supposed to be faithful to the book, but the ny times said it wasn't quite bleak enuff... the NY Post critic called it "apocalypse porn" and said that nothing happened (to be fair nothing happens in the book really either except they go into one scary house and talk to one crazy old man)...
i intend to see it this weekend...
ps, everybody hating on The Stand is nuts... it's just as believeable and emotionally engaging as The Road, just from a macro rather than a micro-perspective... and ultimately both books are using the "END OF THE WORLD" as a way to comment on the human condition and what exactly makes us human and what is societal window dressing... to each their own, but i think the Stand is a much better book than the Road...
Handmade books ...
Cormac's weapon of choice goes up ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/books/01typewriter.html?_r=1&ref=arts
Cormac's weapon of choice goes up ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/books/01typewriter.html?_r=1&ref=arts
D
droid
Guest
Thats all good, but TBH, even when I was into King I didnt feel this book. If I remember correctly its 1000 or so tedious pages that ends rather abrubtly - as if he lost the will to write.
Also, I dont really rate King's prose at all. Its quite awful - even in his good books.
empty mirror
remember the jackalope
haven't seen the film but i am dying to
just reread The Road this week after a year or two since the first reading
and it was just as good or maybe a little better the second time around
i guess i didn't remember a lot from the first reading so it felt fresh
and it was interesting to see how mccarthy sets up the scenes that i DID remember
i really ought to reread books more
been on a bit of a mccarthy kick lately
just read No Country For Old Men
those two books are very entertaining but i am not sure i'd call it literature, much less great lit
maybe because both books are too... entertaining... to be serious?
🤷
i have been trying to read All The Pretty Horses but i just can't get past the western thing. images of louis l'amour covers flash through my head.
and yeah, i have stephen king's dark tower* (the first one) on my night stand
i keep trying to read king but it is proving difficult
it reads like college creative writing
i want to like it but
:/
any good survivalist/post-apocalyptic fiction out there in the vein of The Road?
EDIT: bah, maybe i should give The Stand a try
* my father loved the dark tower series and he didn't rate king at all. he didn't live to see king wrap up the series but that was one thing he wanted to stick around for! so yeah, i guess that accounts for my interest in it but i can't work up the mental toughness or whatever to get past page five.
just reread The Road this week after a year or two since the first reading
and it was just as good or maybe a little better the second time around
i guess i didn't remember a lot from the first reading so it felt fresh
and it was interesting to see how mccarthy sets up the scenes that i DID remember
i really ought to reread books more
been on a bit of a mccarthy kick lately
just read No Country For Old Men
those two books are very entertaining but i am not sure i'd call it literature, much less great lit
maybe because both books are too... entertaining... to be serious?
🤷
i have been trying to read All The Pretty Horses but i just can't get past the western thing. images of louis l'amour covers flash through my head.
and yeah, i have stephen king's dark tower* (the first one) on my night stand
i keep trying to read king but it is proving difficult
it reads like college creative writing
i want to like it but
:/
any good survivalist/post-apocalyptic fiction out there in the vein of The Road?
EDIT: bah, maybe i should give The Stand a try
* my father loved the dark tower series and he didn't rate king at all. he didn't live to see king wrap up the series but that was one thing he wanted to stick around for! so yeah, i guess that accounts for my interest in it but i can't work up the mental toughness or whatever to get past page five.
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