Why haven't I heard of this before?
If you crossed Stephen King's _The Stand_ with Pirsig's _Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_, you would get this book. A man and his son are headed out into the wasteland after some terrible apocalypse that has burned all the land and killed many people and all of the vegetation. Anything that could kill kudzu is serious. There are philosophical discussions, there is
a fight for survival, there are good people and bad people. Some of the
bad people are pretty bad. I enjoyed the book and I didn't really expect to. I think it's SF.
--scott
On 1/28/2026 4:20 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Why haven't I heard of this before?
If you crossed Stephen King's _The Stand_ with Pirsig's _Zen and the
Art of
Motorcycle Maintenance_, you would get this book.ÿ A man and his son are
headed out into the wasteland after some terrible apocalypse that has
burned
all the land and killed many people and all of the vegetation.
Anything that
could kill kudzu is serious.ÿ There are philosophical discussions,
there is
a fight for survival, there are good people and bad people.ÿ Some of the
bad people are pretty bad.ÿ I enjoyed the book and I didn't really
expect to.
I think it's SF.
--scott
It is apocalyptic SF/F.ÿ Awesome book and scary bad.ÿ The man and his
son survived the apocalypse where they were at in the USA and then
walked to the Gulf Coast when all of the food was gone.ÿ Before the walk started, the man had already gotten poisoning from scrounging for food.
But he protected his son from the apocalypse.
ÿÿ https://www.amazon.com/Road-Cormac-McCarthy/dp/0307387895
There is a movie version also.
ÿÿ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/
On 1/28/2026 5:05 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
On 1/28/2026 4:20 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:I watched that movie.ÿ Incredibly depressing.
Why haven't I heard of this before?
If you crossed Stephen King's _The Stand_ with Pirsig's _Zen and the
Art of
Motorcycle Maintenance_, you would get this book.ÿ A man and his son are >>> headed out into the wasteland after some terrible apocalypse that has
burned
all the land and killed many people and all of the vegetation.ÿ
Anything that
could kill kudzu is serious.ÿ There are philosophical discussions,
there is
a fight for survival, there are good people and bad people.ÿ Some of the >>> bad people are pretty bad.ÿ I enjoyed the book and I didn't really
expect to.
I think it's SF.
--scott
It is apocalyptic SF/F.ÿ Awesome book and scary bad.ÿ The man and his
son survived the apocalypse where they were at in the USA and then
walked to the Gulf Coast when all of the food was gone.ÿ Before the
walk started, the man had already gotten poisoning from scrounging for
food. But he protected his son from the apocalypse.
ÿÿÿ https://www.amazon.com/Road-Cormac-McCarthy/dp/0307387895
There is a movie version also.
ÿÿÿ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/
disappointing. I think of it as a horror and shaggy dog tale which would
have been better as a short story. The science aspect has been heavily >criticised here previously but that wasn't a problem for me as I just >accepted the situation as initially described.
I thought that the book
was dull, apart from the shaggy dog ending, and depressing. I shouldn't
have been surprised that Dimwire concluded something stupid or something >contrary to the author's intention but the statement that the father
saved his son is almost unbelievable. McCarthy doesn't do Enid Blyton
nor teenage adventure.
In article <10lehob$104c2$1@dont-email.me>, Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> wrote:...
McCarthy is one of my favourite authors but The Road was most
disappointing. I think of it as a horror and shaggy dog tale which would
have been better as a short story. The science aspect has been heavily
criticised here previously but that wasn't a problem for me as I just
accepted the situation as initially described.
There is no science because there is no explanation about how things got
this way. Nothing at all, and that is part of the disturbing bit... I spent so much of my time trying to figure out what had happened and in the end
I never did.
On 1/28/2026 5:05 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:son are
On 1/28/2026 4:20 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Why haven't I heard of this before?
If you crossed Stephen King's _The Stand_ with Pirsig's _Zen and the
Art of
Motorcycle Maintenance_, you would get this book.? A man and his
headed out into the wasteland after some terrible apocalypse that has
of theburned
all the land and killed many people and all of the vegetation.
Anything that
could kill kudzu is serious.? There are philosophical discussions,
there is
a fight for survival, there are good people and bad people.? Some
hisbad people are pretty bad.? I enjoyed the book and I didn't really
expect to.
I think it's SF.
--scott
It is apocalyptic SF/F.? Awesome book and scary bad.? The man and
walkson survived the apocalypse where they were at in the USA and then
walked to the Gulf Coast when all of the food was gone.? Before the
food.started, the man had already gotten poisoning from scrounging for
But he protected his son from the apocalypse.I watched that movie. Incredibly depressing.
?? https://www.amazon.com/Road-Cormac-McCarthy/dp/0307387895
There is a movie version also.
?? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/
In article <10lehob$104c2$1@dont-email.me>, Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> wrote:
McCarthy is one of my favourite authors but The Road was most
disappointing. I think of it as a horror and shaggy dog tale which would
have been better as a short story. The science aspect has been heavily
criticised here previously but that wasn't a problem for me as I just
accepted the situation as initially described.
There is no science because there is no explanation about how things got
this way. Nothing at all, and that is part of the disturbing bit... I spent so much of my time trying to figure out what had happened and in the end
I never did.
I thought that the book
was dull, apart from the shaggy dog ending, and depressing. I shouldn't
have been surprised that Dimwire concluded something stupid or something
contrary to the author's intention but the statement that the father
saved his son is almost unbelievable. McCarthy doesn't do Enid Blyton
nor teenage adventure.
I didn't find it dull at all, but I did find it extremely depressing. I liked both of the characters and I liked their relationship and I wanted
to know what would happen to them. But then, I also liked Zen and the
Art of Motorcycle Maintenance a lot too.
On Wed, 28 Jan 2026 17:33:32 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
On 1/28/2026 5:05 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
On 1/28/2026 4:20 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:I watched that movie. Incredibly depressing.
Why haven't I heard of this before?
If you crossed Stephen King's _The Stand_ with Pirsig's _Zen and the
Art of
Motorcycle Maintenance_, you would get this book.ÿ A man and his son are >>>> headed out into the wasteland after some terrible apocalypse that has >>>> burned
all the land and killed many people and all of the vegetation.
Anything that
could kill kudzu is serious.ÿ There are philosophical discussions,
there is
a fight for survival, there are good people and bad people.ÿ Some of the >>>> bad people are pretty bad.ÿ I enjoyed the book and I didn't really
expect to.
I think it's SF.
--scott
It is apocalyptic SF/F.ÿ Awesome book and scary bad.ÿ The man and his
son survived the apocalypse where they were at in the USA and then
walked to the Gulf Coast when all of the food was gone.ÿ Before the walk >>> started, the man had already gotten poisoning from scrounging for food. >>> But he protected his son from the apocalypse.
ÿÿ https://www.amazon.com/Road-Cormac-McCarthy/dp/0307387895
There is a movie version also.
ÿÿ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/
Yes, indeed. And pointless. And stupid. The father, in particular,
comes off as a totally inadequate excuse for a human being.
Why haven't I heard of this before?
If you crossed Stephen King's _The Stand_ with Pirsig's _Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_, you would get this book. A man and his son are headed out into the wasteland after some terrible apocalypse that has burned all the land and killed many people and all of the vegetation. Anything that could kill kudzu is serious. There are philosophical discussions, there is
a fight for survival, there are good people and bad people. Some of the
bad people are pretty bad. I enjoyed the book and I didn't really expect to. I think it's SF.
On Fri, 30 Jan 2026 17:44:29 +1300, Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> wrote:
One weird thing I remember noticing: the maps showed them moving
to/along the /East/ Coast, but when the reached the ocean, it was to
the right when they were moving south (ie, /West/ Coast). Apparently,
it never occurred to the moviemakers to either use a map consistent
with what they were showing or shoot the beach scenes with the ocean
on the left by actually moving north along the coast. I could, of
course, have been mistaken about this.
IIRC, the consensus of those knowledgeable enough to discuss it here,
was that nothing could cause such devastation and continuing after
effects. But that is beyond my pay grade.
On 30/01/26 05:51, Paul S Person wrote:the
On Wed, 28 Jan 2026 17:33:32 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
On 1/28/2026 5:05 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
On 1/28/2026 4:20 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Why haven't I heard of this before?
If you crossed Stephen King's _The Stand_ with Pirsig's _Zen and
son areArt of
Motorcycle Maintenance_, you would get this book.? A man and his
hasheaded out into the wasteland after some terrible apocalypse that
discussions,burned
all the land and killed many people and all of the vegetation.
Anything that
could kill kudzu is serious.? There are philosophical
of thethere is
a fight for survival, there are good people and bad people.? Some
reallybad people are pretty bad.? I enjoyed the book and I didn't
and hisexpect to.
I think it's SF.
--scott
It is apocalyptic SF/F.? Awesome book and scary bad.? The man
the walkson survived the apocalypse where they were at in the USA and then
walked to the Gulf Coast when all of the food was gone.? Before
food.started, the man had already gotten poisoning from scrounging for
But he protected his son from the apocalypse.I watched that movie. Incredibly depressing.
?? https://www.amazon.com/Road-Cormac-McCarthy/dp/0307387895
There is a movie version also.
?? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/
Yes, indeed. And pointless. And stupid. The father, in particular,
comes off as a totally inadequate excuse for a human being.
I haven't seen the film but in the book, the father has to change his
code of morality when it comes down to his own survival and, more >importantly, that of his son. Pretty human I think. But he became quite
an extraordinary human being surviving cliffhanging disasters, not of
his own making, and constantly having to make difficult life or death >decisions with no special abilities or background.
BIG SPOILER Follows Was the film ending the same?
He couldn't relax because if he dropped his guard just once to trust
someone else, he would join his son on the BBQ.
On Fri, 30 Jan 2026 17:44:29 +1300, Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> wrote:snip
BIG SPOILER Follows Was the film ending the same?
He couldn't relax because if he dropped his guard just once to trust
someone else, he would join his son on the BBQ.
He dies at the end. And, boy, was I happy to see him go. By that time
he had turned unbearably cruel.
Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> writes:
On Fri, 30 Jan 2026 17:44:29 +1300, Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> wrote:<snip>
One weird thing I remember noticing: the maps showed them moving
to/along the /East/ Coast, but when the reached the ocean, it was to
the right when they were moving south (ie, /West/ Coast). Apparently,
it never occurred to the moviemakers to either use a map consistent
with what they were showing or shoot the beach scenes with the ocean
on the left by actually moving north along the coast. I could, of
course, have been mistaken about this.
Someone probably just reversed the negatives accidentally in post >production...
On 31/01/26 06:25, Paul S Person wrote:
On Fri, 30 Jan 2026 17:44:29 +1300, Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> wrote:snip
BIG SPOILER Follows Was the film ending the same?
He couldn't relax because if he dropped his guard just once to trust
someone else, he would join his son on the BBQ.
He dies at the end. And, boy, was I happy to see him go. By that time
he had turned unbearably cruel.
That is nothing like what I remembered happening in the book and I
wonder about to whom he was cruel. I will reread the last chapter and
report back.
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