Kevin Lau

My mother listened to the audio book, my father watched the movie, and here I am, having just finished a printed copy of this magnificent book.

A man and his son walk a road in a post-apocalyptic world with one goal: Make it south, to the coast, to survive the winter. With only a pistol with two bullets, their supplies in a grocery cart, and each other, they struggle to survive from starvation and avoid the danger that lurks in the darkness that surrounds them.

“The Road”, in itself, is a masterpiece. It is a collection of poems written simply and used to tell the story (so, yeah, cool your jets, grammar nazis). The story is intriguing, the details vivid, and the prose gripping. The world Cormac McCarthy creates is realistic and quite disturbing. There were times when reading the book when I cringed or had to re-read some parts because I couldn't believe what I had just read. And the overall stories of good and evil and a bond between a father and son are extremely well executed.

“The Road” is perhaps one of the best of the post-apocalyptic genre, being both well-written and containing a great plot and great characters.

It's been a while, but I'm back on the wagon (reading The Dresden Files). I was halfway through when I realized I already read this entry but, hey, never hurts to have a refresher before diving into unexplored territory. Though this is one of the weaker entries, it's still fun and loose for the reasons why I loved the series in the first place. It's popcorn entertainment that still has compelling emotional beats and introspection, my kind of brainrot.

A really good epistolary novel that gets a bit frustrating at times for not trusting the reader enough to grasp subtext. There's a small, but prominent, subplot regarding unsent letters that feels like it's cheating the narrative to explain things that can already be understood through the sent letters, creating a sense of mystery and tension that ends up being both predictable and softens the blow of the ending. Other than that, though, it's a decent read!

10/10 ideas pulled back by 7/10 execution.

There's no real narrative thrust to keep readers engaged outside of the story's prescience. Every character is flat, never reaching the status of an archetype or the ideologies to be allegorical avatars, and the plot is constructed in a “this happens then this happens” fashion instead of finding creative ways to weave consequences and reactions between the characters and the setting. It's a story about how important it is to be critical thinkers and put thought into the media we engage with, but I think this would appeal to passive readers more than active ones.

Still a must-read simply for, again, its ideas. Bradbury saw the self-infliction people were committing to anti-intellectualism and how a government can be formed around that. Bradbury essentially predicts TikTok, movies/shows being all about what the situation is and not how a situation feels, and citizens living fast-paced lives so they don't have time to stop and think for themselves.

I'd be hard-pressed to recommend this to reluctant readers, though, as none of the ideas really hold any emotional weight.

Feels like Brandon Sanderson writing on autopilot, but not in the same vein as Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians. There's a decent skeleton to the story here, but would have greatly benefited from having more time in the oven.