The Book I Read in August - The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I've entered somewhat of a reading slump this past month - I wasn't planning to write a review of The Road. Alas, I tell myself to write book reviews every month, so here I am writing one.  

In fairness, this is perhaps the best book I have reviewed so far since I started this blog. McCarthy's writing fits the gritty atmosphere of a run-down world, where a man and boy have to stick together. This was my first time reading McCarthy, and I will almost certainly be returning to him in the future. Every word, phrase, sentence adds to the book, with a mix of more interesting phrases (such as the often-referenced "cold autistic dark") as well as (this being an idea I got after trying to understand The Road better) a perhaps metaphorical breakdown of language (such as Spanish not being capitalised and a lack of speech marks). 

When reading The Road, nothing seemed to appear to be especially exciting or thrilling - it's merely a man and boy travelling along a road in a decadent society. There weren't any major plot twists or surprises that came up. This wouldn't appear to work as a book about a post-apocalyptic world - yet the way McCarthy writes paints a rather brutal world, one which at the same time crafts beautifully written characters, ones that simply have to adapt to their situation without being tainted by it. 

I'll be back in the future to post more Cormac McCarthy reviews, you can be sure of it.

• The Book I Read in June - Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
• The Book I Read in July - Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami