I'm with you Morgoth, I hated the movie and also hated the book. Believe it or not the book is even more bleak. There are scenes in it that (thank God) were left out of the movie. I've always thought McCarthy was overrated. Every one of his books are an unending slog of misery, evil and nihilism. People go through all kinds of mental gymnastics to try and wring some message from them, when you could simply read a book that doesn't describe child r- and humans used for livestock, and STILL learn a few lessons about life and humanity.
The post-apocalyptic genre is one of my favorite, but The Road strips away everything that makes it so fascinating. There's no point to any of it, because there's simply no chance the main characters will ever be able to overcome their situation. In the book he describes forest fires stretching across states because all of the plant life has died. All of the fish in the seas are dead. Birds, animals, even bugs have all died. Ok McCarthy great. Thank you for writing an entire novel about a dying world where people are eating each other to survive. He's supposed to be the greatest living American author and I can't think of a greater indictment of the state of our broken culture.
McCarthy died last year. I liked the road, as well as no country for old men. The Road is a about being a father to a son. If I remember correctly McCarthy became a father later in life and it is what spurred him to write it.
I'm glad you liked it. I feel like he probably could have told a story about a father and son without all the pederasty and cannibalism, but that's his prerogative as a writer. Of course it's my prerogative as a reader to have my own opinions about what I read. I've read four of his books and had essentially the same opinion of all of them. Obsessively focusing on the absolute worst of humanity in order to tell a story is like filming a documentary of a man's life by only showing his BMs. Yeah technically this is what he does but it's not a particularly useful or accurate portrayal.
This short clip from the animated show “Smiling Friends” absolutely destroys the anti-natalist and atheist “nothing matters” crowd: https://youtu.be/9ZjLxk0djyE?feature=shared
At 1:18 mark:
*Yelling venomously to the crowd*
“Nothing matters because we’re all going to die someday.”
*Facing a rifle in his face the next moment*
“No,no,no, please don’t kill me. I don’t want to die. Please don’t kill me!”
All these fakers are like that, and if they’re not then it’s just the end of their bloodline and hence the end of their anti-baby doom cult.
I’m unsure the scenario in the Uk, but in the US, it’s the most religious who are having the most babies (3-4 per couple who attend church weekly). The one comfort is that these delusional doomers are literally phasing themselves out. And their “hired gun” immigrants are reverting to 1-2 children by second generation so they can’t be a vehicle for continued electoral control. So they’re looking at a future of hyper religious believers with the highest percentage of the White population who also have the most intact and involved families. Their reign is over baring a cataclysm (hence why they subconsciously long for the apocalypse when their evil urges can be let loose).
Yes the 'bleakest most depressing film', yet when the father and son see the bird fly over then maybe a sign of hope and renewal? An article on Unherd a few weeks ago telling of the Chernobyl wolves and how life has returned to and become immune to high levels of radiation. Made me think anyway. Great discussion as always.
Cormac McCarthy writes nothing but very depressing books...The Blood Meridian is even worse..But I can't say that The Road is an impossible scenario at this point, which is a grim fact...
“The Man : I told the boy when you dream about bad things happening, it means you're still fighting and you're still alive. It's when you start to dream about good things that you should start to worry”. What is meant by this in the context of everyday life? I don’t understand the messaging behind it.
I'm with you Morgoth, I hated the movie and also hated the book. Believe it or not the book is even more bleak. There are scenes in it that (thank God) were left out of the movie. I've always thought McCarthy was overrated. Every one of his books are an unending slog of misery, evil and nihilism. People go through all kinds of mental gymnastics to try and wring some message from them, when you could simply read a book that doesn't describe child r- and humans used for livestock, and STILL learn a few lessons about life and humanity.
The post-apocalyptic genre is one of my favorite, but The Road strips away everything that makes it so fascinating. There's no point to any of it, because there's simply no chance the main characters will ever be able to overcome their situation. In the book he describes forest fires stretching across states because all of the plant life has died. All of the fish in the seas are dead. Birds, animals, even bugs have all died. Ok McCarthy great. Thank you for writing an entire novel about a dying world where people are eating each other to survive. He's supposed to be the greatest living American author and I can't think of a greater indictment of the state of our broken culture.
Amen.
McCarthy died last year. I liked the road, as well as no country for old men. The Road is a about being a father to a son. If I remember correctly McCarthy became a father later in life and it is what spurred him to write it.
I'm glad you liked it. I feel like he probably could have told a story about a father and son without all the pederasty and cannibalism, but that's his prerogative as a writer. Of course it's my prerogative as a reader to have my own opinions about what I read. I've read four of his books and had essentially the same opinion of all of them. Obsessively focusing on the absolute worst of humanity in order to tell a story is like filming a documentary of a man's life by only showing his BMs. Yeah technically this is what he does but it's not a particularly useful or accurate portrayal.
This short clip from the animated show “Smiling Friends” absolutely destroys the anti-natalist and atheist “nothing matters” crowd: https://youtu.be/9ZjLxk0djyE?feature=shared
At 1:18 mark:
*Yelling venomously to the crowd*
“Nothing matters because we’re all going to die someday.”
*Facing a rifle in his face the next moment*
“No,no,no, please don’t kill me. I don’t want to die. Please don’t kill me!”
All these fakers are like that, and if they’re not then it’s just the end of their bloodline and hence the end of their anti-baby doom cult.
I’m unsure the scenario in the Uk, but in the US, it’s the most religious who are having the most babies (3-4 per couple who attend church weekly). The one comfort is that these delusional doomers are literally phasing themselves out. And their “hired gun” immigrants are reverting to 1-2 children by second generation so they can’t be a vehicle for continued electoral control. So they’re looking at a future of hyper religious believers with the highest percentage of the White population who also have the most intact and involved families. Their reign is over baring a cataclysm (hence why they subconsciously long for the apocalypse when their evil urges can be let loose).
Man that was bleak. I listened to the book years ago and it took me a week to shake it off.
Your cold might be hayfever? I'm suffering a bit at the moment 🤧
Bond pic would be MWTGG. Christopher Lee is just brilliant! Plus you've got whole Kung Fu/Bruce Lee zeitgeist.
Yes the 'bleakest most depressing film', yet when the father and son see the bird fly over then maybe a sign of hope and renewal? An article on Unherd a few weeks ago telling of the Chernobyl wolves and how life has returned to and become immune to high levels of radiation. Made me think anyway. Great discussion as always.
Where there's hope, there's life.
Great film! you are spot on regarding its intensity and bleakness - Cormac McCarthy loves to kill off his protagonists.
Cormac McCarthy writes nothing but very depressing books...The Blood Meridian is even worse..But I can't say that The Road is an impossible scenario at this point, which is a grim fact...
“The Man : I told the boy when you dream about bad things happening, it means you're still fighting and you're still alive. It's when you start to dream about good things that you should start to worry”. What is meant by this in the context of everyday life? I don’t understand the messaging behind it.