Who recommends it
- The Best Dystopian BooksReading list
The Road is a dystopian novel by Cormac McCarthy. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where most of the population has been killed and the environment has been ruined. The novel follows the journey of a father and son as they try to survive in this hostile world.
- Karen RinaldiInterview
The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante; The Unknown Craftsmen by Soetsu Yanagi; A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara; Anything (literally) by Pema Chödrön; Breath by Tim Winton; On a Wave by Thad Ziolkowski; The Road by Cormac McCarthy; Good and Mad by Rebecca Traister; Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit; Red…
- Tim KasherInterview
Whoa. These aren’t uplifting books, but I think I’d gift them The Road by Cormac McCarthy, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. Each book a masterpiece, they offer not only the horrors of humanity but also the indomitable strength of the human will.
- George MonbiotInterview
I think it might be The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I see it as the most important environmental book ever written. It is a thought experiment that takes us to ground zero: imagining a world without a biosphere. It certainly concentrates the mind when I’m thinking about environmental issues.
- Alison LittlewoodInterview
That would probably be The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It’s tremendously bleak but also rather beautiful. An unnamed father and son are making their way through a post-apocalyptic landscape and trying to survive. The Earth has become a grey, dead place, and although the nature of the disaster that has befallen it is not…
- Jeremy ZuckermanInterview
Thanks to the insistence of a good friend, I finally read The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It emotionally slayed me. I’m not sure I’ve ever been that affected by a book before. I had to read it very quickly because it was so hard to bear the emotional strain.
- Jeff ZentnerInterview
- Andrew SalgadoInterview
I’ve been reading The Passage by Justin Cronin for what feels like ages. Its a massive book, like 1,400 pages, and has various stages. I used to read really heavy literature, but to be honest, I spend so much time thinking critically and professionally about art that at the end of the day, if and when I’m reading, I…
Often recommended alongside
The Handmaid’s Tale
On Writing
Moby Dick
The Hobbit
The Goldfinch
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Portnoy’s ComplaintMore books by Cormac McCarthy our guests recommend
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