The Road

I can understand why this book gets both a lot of love and a lot of hate. As a new dad, I found the relationship at the core of the novel deeply moving (a nameless father and son, travelling the ash-covered road together at something like the end of the world). The emptiness of the characters and of the plot, where so many details are completely left unsaid, worked well for me. It meant I found myself filling in the blanks myself, reflecting on my own life and relationships, lost in thought and often having to go back and listen again to what I had missed. (I listened to the audiobook, which also means the narrator helpfully filled in who was speaking, since I understand McCarthy's prose doesn't specify.)