Your Stories #3: The Road

YOUR STORIES discovers the books that are important to you. These articles tell the stories of favourited books and their readers.

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CORMAC MCCARTHY'S THE ROAD

CHOSEN BY JOHN WILSON

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When did you first read The Road?

A friend of mine had suggested it to me. I had never heard of McCarthy before and it was a difficult read for me at first since I was not used to his style. Once I had finished The Road, I couldn’t get enough of McCarthy’s work. He has become the primary reason I decided to start writing and would easily be considered my biggest influence. 

Why is it your favourite book?

There are many different reasons I would consider it my favorite.  McCarthy’s prose in general is very poetic, but his style in The Road is even more so. Tightly structured, short paragraphs move the story in a way that  helps create the environment. Few, unnamed characters and the unknown apocalypse also helps immerse you into the world with the characters. The world is unknown to them and then also to you. All of these combined make for an emotionally shattering story and to me that is a very grand achievement. 

Do you have any memories associated with it?

I have a young son that is about the age of the boy in the book. The innocence of the boy is captured nicely in his actions and dialogue. The man’s mission of keeping his son safe at all costs is something that relates to me on a personal level. The love of a father and son no matter of the world’s circumstances.

Share your favourite quotation from the text.

"He lowered the glasses and pulled down the cotton mask from his face and wiped his nose on the back of his wrist and then glassed the country again. Then he just sat there holding the binoculars and watching the ashen daylight congeal over the land. He knew only that the child was his warrant.

He said: If he is not the word of God, God never spoke."

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John Wilson lives in Evansville, Indiana with his wife and two children and works as a land surveyor during the day. His current WIP will be his first novel, a literary take on the zombie phenomenon.  He doesn't blog, but you can follow him on Twitter @JohnZWilson.