Reading the book was like being stabbed in the heart the entire time. That said I read it in one 10 hour sitting. I'm interested to see how that bleakness translates into a film. My fear is that they are going to pull some of the punches. #theroad
@DisturbingClown: Same here. It was really captivating in a disturbing way, like seeing a horrific car crash and not being able to take your eyes off it. #theroad
This story is depressing? I read the novel--it's exactly the standard end-of-the-world fare, about as realistic as "Mad Max" only a lot more dull.
Depressing? If it was "Daddy flees with son, rapes the kid a couple of times and kills and eats him himself," that might be depressing. It would take a far better writer to make it in any way convincing.
McCarthy's success as a peddler of sadiomasochistic manly man's-man bullshit has me completely bewildered. And his prose styling is crap. #theroad
@RollsRoyceRevenge: Im guessing your comment about the novel being 'unrealistic' is based on your real-world experiences in a post-apocalyptic world?...
I actually had to study this book for a literature class at university last year. (And btw. the prose styling is completely intentional.) The book is not meant to be depressing. Bleak and sad, sure, but to accuse it of being depressing - or failing in that regard - is to completely miss the thrust of the story. The world is ruined and dying. Humanity is probably very close it its expiration date. Faced with an overwhelming sense of the mortality of all things, the father is determined above all else that his son will live whatever life he has knowing what it means to be Human, regardless of the impositions of the remaining world. #theroad
@RollsRoyceRevenge: R3, you've made valuable contributions to a lot of Gawker Media threads, but referring here to the prose styling of Cormac McCarthy -- author of Blood Meridian -- as "crap" offers no insight on McCarthy and instead just reflects poorly on you.
I came to McCarthy late myself, but I couldn't name a contemporary writer in his genre -- "manly man's-man," you called it? -- who beats him, and I'd be surprised if you could either.
@RollsRoyceRevenge: Sounds like you should stick to stuff that doesn't bewilder you - and with more conventional prose. Maybe non-Pulitzer type of stuff. Twilight, perhaps? #theroad
@PontiusPirate: @skahammer: @0RB1TAL: I liked the Road, but what's with all you defenders of McCarthey feeling the need to belittle RollsRoyceRevenge in order to make your point? Yeah, people who don't enjoy McCarthey's work must be Twilight fans. ...Piss off. #theroad
@Benny: Fair enough. Normally I enjoy R3's online contributions, so perhaps I reacted unnecessarily strongly to his momentary resort to what I see as knee-jerk philistinism. There's plenty of that attitude already expressed elsewhere online, mostly by commenters far less perceptive than R3.
Although I would still defend the implication that someone who read Blood Meridian and chose to dismiss it as "sadomasochistic manly-man's man bullshit" was hopelessly insensitive to the power of the English language. #theroad
@PontiusPirate: THE MAN looked out of the tent. THE BOY was already outside, chewing on a piece of bone that used to be a cute puppy dog.
It was cold. The cold was symbolic but it was also real. Witch’s tit, THE MAN thought, symbolically.
"Daddy," said THE BOY. "Did there used to be bright light and hope and laughter?"
THE MAN sighed inwardly and also symbolically. Plus metaphorically.
"Yes, my son," he said. "There used to be those things plus Tastee Freeze and Tucker Max and Wilhelm screams and Pulitizer prizes and middle-brow snobbery bullshit that used reference to pop vampire fiction as the content of weak insults. Now there is only a wasteland."
"It sounds as if the prior world were also symbolically a wasteland," THE BOY said.
"Pretty much," THE MAN said. "Particularly Ohio. Well, pack your shit. We have a long way to walk if we want to avoid the worst fate known to Western civilization."
@skahammer: Perhaps my wording was needlessly acerbic, but I simply can't get into McCarthy. He simply will not stop fiddling with his own words. I am reminded of a quote from Orwell on Dickens: "Rotten architecture but great gargoyles." But McCarthy's gargoyles don't bear close examination, in my opinion.
"The Road" reads as if someone had dared a drunk Raymond Carver to write a TV script for "The Stand", although the result of that would probably have been rather more interesting.
But I have not read Blood Meridian and I have nothing against giving it a try. #theroad
I'm not really sure what all the griping is about. If you read the book and enjoyed it, there isn't a thing in the trailer that isn't in it (though one action-type moment did seem a bit exaggerated for the screen). If you didn't enjoy the book, don't see the movie. If you didn't read the book (and I'm assuming haven't seen the movie,) what on earth can you base your opinion on?
A trailer is a marketing tool and an absolutely terrible way to judge a film. Word of mouth, reviews, and your personal taste for the genre and creators involved are much better ways to decide whether or not you want to see a movie.
When people use trailers and marketing campaigns to decide what movies they wanted to see, the biggest hits end up being... Well, the big blockbusters we have now. The ones everybody pays $12 to see, nobody likes and everyone forgets about two weeks later.
I'll have you know that scream is actually called , "Screams 3; Man, Gut-wrenching Scream And Fall Into Distance". Often confused with the Wilhelm scream. (and that book was amazing...trailer looks like rubbish)
In the future! Beware of steaming cars, falling trees and friendly people asking if your kid is hungry. Oh, and there will be running.. And one famous scream.. I bet ya all heard it! #theroad
Interesting how that "Like it used to be when the sun came out" line is in the 'inspirational crescendo' part of this trailer but it was the 'depressing swing' of the last one.
Someone doesn't know how to sell this movie. #theroad
@ThisDudeRufus: I feel like they're trying all possible angles in an effort to interest as many people as possible. Expect the next trailer to present it as a romantic comedy. #theroad
Well, that looks a little more horrific...but still, it sounds a little too optimistic. We all know the people who took the kid at the end killed him and ate him. #theroad
@Derek Pegritz: No way! They were totally good people, who looked after him and made sure he brushed his teeth before bed and taught his algebra and they all lived happily ever after together in Florida. And nothing you say will convince me otherwise. #theroad
11/02/09
In Hollywood: not many. #theroad
10/31/09
I kill me #theroad
10/31/09
10/31/09
Like emo Burma-Shave signs? #theroad
10/31/09
10/31/09
11/01/09
10/31/09
10/31/09
10/31/09
Depressing? If it was "Daddy flees with son, rapes the kid a couple of times and kills and eats him himself," that might be depressing. It would take a far better writer to make it in any way convincing.
McCarthy's success as a peddler of sadiomasochistic manly man's-man bullshit has me completely bewildered. And his prose styling is crap. #theroad
10/31/09
I actually had to study this book for a literature class at university last year. (And btw. the prose styling is completely intentional.) The book is not meant to be depressing. Bleak and sad, sure, but to accuse it of being depressing - or failing in that regard - is to completely miss the thrust of the story. The world is ruined and dying. Humanity is probably very close it its expiration date. Faced with an overwhelming sense of the mortality of all things, the father is determined above all else that his son will live whatever life he has knowing what it means to be Human, regardless of the impositions of the remaining world. #theroad
11/01/09
I came to McCarthy late myself, but I couldn't name a contemporary writer in his genre -- "manly man's-man," you called it? -- who beats him, and I'd be surprised if you could either.
11/01/09
11/01/09
11/02/09
Although I would still defend the implication that someone who read Blood Meridian and chose to dismiss it as "sadomasochistic manly-man's man bullshit" was hopelessly insensitive to the power of the English language. #theroad
11/02/09
But yes, I'm belittling R3's contribution. It's a cold, cold world. #theroad
11/02/09
It was cold. The cold was symbolic but it was also real. Witch’s tit, THE MAN thought, symbolically.
"Daddy," said THE BOY. "Did there used to be bright light and hope and laughter?"
THE MAN sighed inwardly and also symbolically. Plus metaphorically.
"Yes, my son," he said. "There used to be those things plus Tastee Freeze and Tucker Max and Wilhelm screams and Pulitizer prizes and middle-brow snobbery bullshit that used reference to pop vampire fiction as the content of weak insults. Now there is only a wasteland."
"It sounds as if the prior world were also symbolically a wasteland," THE BOY said.
"Pretty much," THE MAN said. "Particularly Ohio. Well, pack your shit. We have a long way to walk if we want to avoid the worst fate known to Western civilization."
"What’s that?" THE BOY said.
"Butthex," said THE MAN. #theroad
11/02/09
"The Road" reads as if someone had dared a drunk Raymond Carver to write a TV script for "The Stand", although the result of that would probably have been rather more interesting.
But I have not read Blood Meridian and I have nothing against giving it a try. #theroad
10/30/09
A trailer is a marketing tool and an absolutely terrible way to judge a film. Word of mouth, reviews, and your personal taste for the genre and creators involved are much better ways to decide whether or not you want to see a movie.
When people use trailers and marketing campaigns to decide what movies they wanted to see, the biggest hits end up being... Well, the big blockbusters we have now. The ones everybody pays $12 to see, nobody likes and everyone forgets about two weeks later.
10/30/09
I'll have you know that scream is actually called , "Screams 3; Man, Gut-wrenching Scream And Fall Into Distance". Often confused with the Wilhelm scream. (and that book was amazing...trailer looks like rubbish)
10/30/09
Although nice to see my timing has changed. By the time I usually get to watch these links on IO9 they are dead.
This time I watched it, and it became "no longer available" just after I finished.
Well it was funny to me.......... #theroad
10/31/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/31/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
Someone doesn't know how to sell this movie. #theroad
10/31/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
...spoiler reveal, face the wheel! #theroad
10/30/09
10/31/09
10/30/09
It's..."heartwarming."
Well, that's $12 saved. #theroad
10/30/09
Dear God, I hope that's all. #theroad
10/30/09