The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Generally books seem to fall into two categories for the average reader; they can be either entertaining or artistic. However, The Road is one of those rare books that seamlessly fuses the two categories to create a book that is both gripping and beautiful.

The two main characters in this book are a man and his son (their true names are never given) who live in a post apocalyptic world.  The setting is the southern part of the USA and the north of Mexico.  The two characters are traveling down a road to try and reach the coast where they hope the nuclear winter may be less intense.  The world seems completely desolate and the only other human beings left have turned to cannibalism in order to stay alive.  There are few animals left and the whole of the world seems gloomy and dead.  The real interest in this book comes from the struggle of the man and his son to remain pure and to not fall to the evil pressures of cannibalism  and murder.  The real beauty in this novel comes from the innocent character of the little boy who even though his life is perpetually in danger, always stops to help others.  He seems to be the only reason his father is still alive.

This journey is gripping and moving and will shock the reader and melt their heart.  The evil in the world contrasts so starkly with the character of the little boy.  This book is a masterpiece and I would recommend it to anyone.

Picoult’s Plain Truth Worth Reading

Famous for writing My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult has a whole array of other, fabulous books out there, each one usually covering a different controversial topic.

In Plain Truth, an Amish girl gets pregnant and has a child. She’s unmarried though. In her world, that is one of the worst things you can do, so when the newborn is found dead hours after birth, they blame the girl, Katie Fisher, who claims she wasn’t even pregnant. To stay at her farm and not in jail, she must be under 24-hour watch. When none of her family offers, her attorney, Ellie Hathaway somehow finds herself living on an Amish farm for months, with a family that believes everything that she doesn’t. She must work to gain their trust to discover the truth about Katie. Through it all, she not only solves the case, she also discovers who she is.

The book lets you inside an Amish family’s life. It’s a common thought that they are weird, secluded people, but the book shows you how they live. They don’t shun outsiders, they embrace them.

Jodi Picoult has the ability to make you feel like you are there, she can paint such good of a picture that you feel like you are there with Katie while she milks the cows. You feel for Samuel when he hears his girlfriend got pregnant. You feel torn like her mother when she must choose between supporting her daughter or staying with her husband.

The book makes you laugh, it makes you cry, and it makes you want more.