The Road

Title: The Road
Author: Cormac McCarthy
Year Published: 2006
My Rating: four out of five stars, or B

The Road is the story of a man and his son trying to survive nuclear winter and stay together. It's a bleak, dark tale, yet there are hopeful and loving moments between the man and his son. The best parts of the book show the touching relationship between the man and his son. For example, the man continually strives to provide food, warmth, and protection for his son despite dangerous circumstances. The man tries to maintain the normal life that existed before the world died. For example, he bandages his son's feet in blankets to keep them from getting frostbitten in the fierce cold as if he were tying his shoes to get him ready for school. They are elevated above the warped behavior everyone else adopts due to the harsh circumstances they live in. Thus, the son and his father remain a beacon of hope and light in the dark, dead world they live in.
I also liked the vivid imagery McCarthy used to describe the earth during a nuclear winter and the horrors that it caused. McCarthy's imagery makes a world unimaginable to the reader feel very real. The terrors he creates seem real as well, as he is excellent at showing the dark side of humanity. McCarthy's writing makes the world he describes in The Road extremely similar to the one we live in.
Overall, I had two responses to the novel: one that I was horrified, the other that I was inspired.
The Road gave me hope that no matter how terrible life is now, it will get better.

"If I become a first lieutenant, would you put my photo on your piano?"

So this is my new blog, it is a vehicle to improve my writing skills and also to give reviews and opinions and show my news stories and other writings to a wider variety of people, since I work for the A and E section of The Lumberjack.
So, last night I went to the Suicidal Tendencies concert at The Orpheum in Flagstaff with my boyfriend. It was really loud since The Orpheum is a small indoor venue and Suicidal Tendencies is a loud band. They played some of their older stuff like "I Shot The Devil" and "Cyco Vision". I personally enjoy "Cyco Vision" because it's a fun song to rock out to. They should have played "Institutionalized" though; brilliant song. Most of Suicidal Tendencies's stuff is really fun. They don't take themselves too seriously, which is another thing I rather enjoy about them. They connected with their fans in the audience well, which I really appreciate. After the concert, it was really windy and snowing still, and walking home was one of the most difficult experiences in my life, believe it or not. I kid you not. I'm reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy currently, and when I finish it, I shall review it on here. And if anything exciting happens I will report on that as well.
Finally, Mike Muir and the other guys of ST who visited Flagstaff, thanks for coming out and putting on a great show.