I finally got around to reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It describes the struggle for survival of a man and his young son in a postapocalyptic, brutal world where everything is barren and covered with ash.

The contrast between the father and son is particularly fascinating. While the father had lived in a world of comfort, his son, to whom he is completely dedicated, has known nothing but the constant journey south, hunger, fear and cold.

Not only do they battle the cold rains, illness and starvation, but they must avoid the traveling cannibalistic marauders, who lurk among the ashen trails.

McCarthy'snarrative style is condensed and direct, and often free of punctuation. He moves the pace of the novel with bursts of phrases. Thus his overall style base and economical, which reflects the plight of the characters. Nevertheless, as always , McCarthy drops many rich images to depict the dead universe, in which the man and the boy struggle.

None of the characters in the novel has a name. They are anonymous shells, living , corpses, whose identities were lost in the ashes of their old existence.

This was well worth my time. I regret not having read this sooner.