A book I skipped for 10 years wrecked me at 2am last Tuesday

I always thought 'The Road' was just misery porn for English majors, so I dodged it since college. Picked up a beat-up copy at a used shop in Portland for $3.50 and read it in one sitting. The part where the father teaches the boy how to die hit me harder than any thriller I've ever read. Anyone else avoid a hyped book for years and then get destroyed by it?

1 comments

1 Comment

cora_martinez8d ago

Relate hard to this. I avoided it for years too, thinking it was just sad for the sake of being sad. But that scene you mentioned, where he’s teaching the boy to put the gun in his mouth... I had to put the book down and just stare at the wall for a minute. It wasn't misery for fun, it was about a dad trying to keep his kid safe in the worst way possible. That kind of love is scary because it's so real. Glad I finally read it, but yeah, it stays with you.