Week 1

Wednesday, 9/7/11

The book that I am reading is called The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The book starts out with just a man and his son looking at the countryside. I later find out that the book has to be in the near future, because there are cars, houses, and present things. I found out that the man and his son are trying to reach the southern part of the country because they won't be able to survive another winter. Everything around them is covered in ash and appears burnt from a fire of some sort. The author makes the world seem like a colorless and dull world.
The man and his son also are alone. There are no other people. They must have also run out of fuel for cars, because they travel south on foot with nothing but backpacks and a shopping cart. The man tries to care for his son, but is it hard to survive on limited food, warmth, and hope. The snow starts to slowly fall, but the man and his son keep on trying to keep warm and stay alive.
I think this is a very interesting novel. The first thing that went through my mind was why everuthing was burnt and coated with ash. Right now, I am thinking a huge fire, or volcano eruption somehow burned the whole country, and maybe even the whole world. I also wonder who caused the fire. Was it humans, war, aliens, or natural causes? I think it is war, but I am not sure.
The next biggest thing that caught my attention was why there aren't any people around. It seems like the human population is non-existant. Are these men the last humans alive? They did see many dead bodies around, but there are signs that other humans or creatures had taken food and resources from places like houses and grocery stores.
The thing that admires me the most is how the man reacts to everything. He has hope and is optimistic. He is kind to the boy and doesn't let all the bad things in his life make him go mad. He always puts his son first and tries his best to do what is best for the boy.