This week we begin with a brief “Posts for the Hosts” segment before diving into conversation about the final passages in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Topics include passages that are most moving to each of us, whether the final pages are truly hopeful, the archetypal nature of the story, the question of God in the book, and much more. Happy listening!
Thank you for the discussion on the ending. Each time I read it, I have vacillated between finding it hopeful and finding it wistful. Hearing you break down the use of tense and other words helps me see why I could not find clarity and understand that McCarthy probably wants to leave me, the reader, with that ambiguity.
I was so glad you discussed the tense and "once" in the final passage about the trout. As Heidi was talking about it as a hopeful ending, I kept muttering, but what about the fact that it's in the past tense? And the lines about the "thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again."
I think I'm satisfied now that the ending is ultimately hopeful, but I really needed the close reading in order for it all to make sense to me.
I am so glad I reread this book. The book was even better than I remembered. It was delightful to think about it with you guys and listen to your thoughts.
Thank you for the discussion on the ending. Each time I read it, I have vacillated between finding it hopeful and finding it wistful. Hearing you break down the use of tense and other words helps me see why I could not find clarity and understand that McCarthy probably wants to leave me, the reader, with that ambiguity.
I was so glad you discussed the tense and "once" in the final passage about the trout. As Heidi was talking about it as a hopeful ending, I kept muttering, but what about the fact that it's in the past tense? And the lines about the "thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again."
I think I'm satisfied now that the ending is ultimately hopeful, but I really needed the close reading in order for it all to make sense to me.
I am so glad I reread this book. The book was even better than I remembered. It was delightful to think about it with you guys and listen to your thoughts.