A Road Worth Taking

I had written earlier on this blog that one book and movie tie in I wanted to read and watch was The Road.Well after the last week I can say I have .What a book and movie.

Both are equally excellent . The movie does a superb job adapting the books narrative . The story  begins after a sudden and world wide cataclysmic event that is never really explained . It just happened and has left the earth a barren and brutal place. Unlike other big budget films like Armageddon and the more recent 2012 , the background of the devastation is a canvas that is never allowed to over take over the story of the father and a son , struggling to survive in a world gone gray .

The father and son are on the road , trying to get further south in the hope it will be warmer and perhaps more hospitable.  Their bond is so refreshing to have both read and watched . What was so moving for me was to have a story portray a father , or Poppa as the boy called his dad , as one who is a protector,provider and willing to die for his son. With all the negative images we have had concerning fathers , it was a breath of fresh air to have a father who exhibits the good traits instead of what we have seen in so many books and movies.

It is a hard read and movie , it shows man in all its depravity . That once stripped of all societal restraints, what humans will do to survive. In The Road things are very black and white , good and evil . The father and son still have the "fire" as the father tells the boy  that makes them the good guys. They hold on to their humanity and its clear even to the point if its cost them their lives .

Even though its a very bleak and dark world , the story is about love,sacrifice and ultimately hope. It moved me to tears at the very end .  It plays out almost in a biblical sense . If you haven't read the book or seen the movie do so. One of my favorite books and movies .