The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Road was recommended to me by a friend, and I went in not knowing what to expect. While I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about the book, I can say with all honestly that it is extremely well written. I was compelled to keep reading even though I had other things I needed to do. I don't want to give away too much, but I will say this: It is about a father and his young son who are traveling across a desolate post-apocalyptic land while simply trying to stay alive. The book makes you think much about humanity and the depths to which it can fall. They come across come disturbing things that the man tries to keep the boy from seeing. It is this point that stuck out to me the most.

"Just remember that the things that you put into your head are there forever, he said. You might want to think about that."

Think about it I have. It's been rather sobering. While I'm not wandering through a wasteland of civilization, there are still many things detestable. People are haunted by the things that they see. Veterans wake at night believing they are back in the battle. Victims of violent crimes relive them over and over. These may be more extreme examples, but the truth remains nevertheless. Even now I recall some of the more unsavory things that I've witnessed in life. But despite all of this, there is something else that I took away from this book. No matter how much evil is in the world, there is always hope for good.

As the father tells the son, no matter what goes wrong... the good guys keep trying. That's what they do. That's who we are.