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Post-apocalyptic, Pulitzer Prize winning novel comes to the big screen
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At the end of civilization, an epic journey is about to begin
The Movie
Cormac McCarthy’s The Road is officially coming to theaters November 25th. Starring Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce and Charlize Theron and directed by John Hillcoat, many believe the film adaptation Oscar-worthy (Best Picture).
It is rumored that the film remains true to the novel’s symbolism. The majority of filming took place in Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh last year. The city was chosen for its tax-breaks and “abundance of locations that looked post-apocalyptic: coalfields, dunes, and run-down parts of Pittsburgh.”
The Book: Apocalyptic Transcendentalism? Ralph Waldo Emerson’s famous quote from Nature may accurately describe the writing process and genius flashes of inspiration of Cormac McCarthy. McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Road is an apocalyptic story of a man and his son’s survival in a world gone lost.
In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, -- no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes), which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, -- my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space, -- all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part and parcel of God. ~Emerson, Nature
While the protagonists remain unnamed throughout the story (yes, we are stuck with the man and the boy), what struck this reader as Emersonian were the descriptions of post-apocalyptic nature.
He walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the interstate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like ground-foxes in their cover. Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it.
McCarthy’s words flow on the page like beautiful poetic prose, provoking thought, but more so, evoking emotion. The religious aspects of The Road are often debated, as some consider the man and his son as God and Jesus Christ. Completing the Holy Trinity is perhaps the sailboat, Pajaro de Esperanza or “The Bird of Hope.”
During McCarthy’s first ever television interview, Oprah, who had chosen The Road for her book club in 2007, asked the author why this was his first television appearance. McCarthy answered, quite honestly, that he was a writer. “You work your side of the street and I’ll work mine.”
For those who haven’t read The Road, be sure to check out its reviews on Goodreads. The site is perhaps one of the best in obtaining real, unbiased reviews of any published work.
Will you see The Road? Post your thoughts and comments below.
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