The Road due to hit theaters October 16

I will devote my first blog entry to perhaps mankind's greatest achievement, The Road, a novel by Cormac McCarthy. You may know McCarthy as the author of No Country For Old Men which was, as everyone knows, made into a film and just so happened to win Best Picture at the Oscar's. I can't attest to No Country as I have yet to read it, but The Road is unequivocally the best piece of literature I have and likely ever will read.

I don't want to give away too much of the novel, but here's the basic plotline: An unnamed man and his son are traveling due south across post-apocalyptic America, in search of salvation. Well, I shouldn't really say "salvation," as they don't know exactly what they are looking for. They just need something - anything - to take their minds off their current situation.

That may seem bland, but the more information you know, the weaker the experience will be. I went into the book not knowing anything about it other than the title and author.

Now - to the movie. It was originally slated to release in winter 2008, but for a plethora of reasons it was delayed until 2009. Then for more mysterious reasons it was delayed until the end of 2009 - October 16 to be precise (right in time for Oscar season). When Viggo Mortensen was asked to play The Man, he decided to take a hiatus from his hiatus (he had planned to stop acting for awhile) because the role was that appealing to him. It is directed by John Hillcoat, a relatively unknown filmmaker save for the critically acclaimed The Proposition which came out in 2005.

I URGE everyone to read the book before the movie comes out. I read it in two days. It's wholly possible to read it all in one sitting if you are up for it. McCarthy's writing style is artsy and in some ways sophisticated, but very very readable.

So save the date for October 16, and pick up a copy of the book whenever you get the chance. I promise both the book and movie will blow your minds on an epic scale.