Is The Road The Most Depressing Book Ever Written? 

Ironically, we had a lot of fun making this one. I know people will ask about the tunnel location, I saw it on the Alex Garland film "Men" and just had to go there. It's Hawthornes Tunnel in The Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, sometimes referred to as the Euroclydon Tunnel. We got lucky and found that the north entrance was open so explored for a while, amazing place.

A good friend who I never talk about books with pulled The Road off the shelf, bought it and handed it to me. “Read it,” he said. It was so out context that I knew I had to. My son was about 2 at the time. I read it during my commute each day. The day I finished, I was interrupted when the ferry arrived in the city. I was crying when we arrived. I worked my day, got back on the ferry and finished the book. More tears. My take away was that our children are on their own journey. We give them tools, we do our best for them, but in the end they (hopefully) they continue on without us. The Road is one of the most impactful books I’ve every read. A coworker at the time viewed it as a survival story. He imagined how he would try to get by in that world. In effect, we read different books. I wonder if he has re-read it now that he has kids.

Man the BBC should cut you a check and put you on television. Great video.

I’m tired of people calling this book depressing. This is one of the most hope filled books I have ever read.

In 2009 a coworker handed me a paperback copy and said "you have to read it." It was one of the most oddly compelling novels I've ever read. I handed it off to someone else.

Moid, your books reviews are becoming more and more accomplished, this and Blindsight have been both insightful and moving. Thanks.

I’m fascinated by this book but I don’t think I could read it in my current mental state

Two things from this novel have always stuck with me. When the boy asks his father what's the bravest thing he ever did and the father answers, "Waking up this morning." And the idea that you still have hope as long as your dreams are brutal and devoid of color. I mean, so bleak, but also oddly beautiful.

The cinematography on this video is great

Wow. This is next level presenting. I feel like I've visited an art show and sat through a fully immersive documentary, walked out of the cinema as if I've been in there for hours, and am left astounded it's been less than 10 minutes.

One of the best books ever written. Cormac McCarthy is a genius.

Moid, this is the best video you’ve ever made, imo. What a treat! You’ve got a real gift

One of the best books ever written. It hollowed me out, an absolute gut punch of a novel.

It sure depressed the heck outta me when I first tried reading it, so much so that I actually had to stop. And it was still depressing as heck when I finally finished it years later. 😅

"This is no country for old chapter numbers." Love it. (Note the use of quotes --- I'm old and I just can't stop using them.)

This was brilliant! Also yes, this book was amazing. The fact that it was so bleak made it feel that much more realistic for the "what if". The ending killed me though.

Amazing video Moid and team! Absolutely loved it and it introduced me to a book I knew nothing about!

Scariest book I've ever read. Read it in one setting, couldn't put it down, it absolutely horrified and terrified me. Amazing book

That was absolutely superb! Great work Moid (and the rest of the gang). You've made me want to re-read this one, which I just thought was 'ok' first time around (albeit via audiobook).

The most depressing book of all time - Margaret Thatcher: The Downing Street Years. An apocalypse we did to ourselves.

A video from my favorite channel about my favorite novel? The day is saved! Thank you. :)

That was a really well thought out and written intro to this video. At least I assume it was written - if you did that off the cuff I am seriously impressed. Interesting video. Thank you.

Excellent video, Moid. This cult is so great.

Superb overview and a nice jacket.

I just finished this the day before you posted and its like nothing I had ever read before but Wow was it powerful

I enjoyed this video. It's way more elaborate than anything I could imagine trying to produce. That's the thing about these apocalyptic novels, isn't it? Most people assume that they're going to be one of the survivors. When reading The Road, though, I'm pretty sure I don't even want to be one of the survivors. Great novel, though, and definitely depressing.

Moid. Seriously. You've got something cooking here buddy. The last... Several video essays/reviews have gotten so artistic and unique and powerful... You HAVE to keep this momentum and take it with you to the next level! Idk what that is, but I know you have ideas, and my GOD do I want to see it happen. You're helping turn a bunch of millennials and zoomers into genre readers and you're revitalizing an amazing region of the media landscape (SF literature) for a whole new generation. I've been watching RU-vid as my primary entertainment medium for the entirety of my (albeit short) adult life, and You. Have. It. This year is the year of Moid, and it's going to be a wonderful, exhilarating ride Just like your mum

"It's not death metal, it's Radiohead." That's a perfect summary... I've read my share of post apocalyptic novels and they probably aren't my favourite sub-genre of science fiction for many reasons, not all of which I am sure I can analyse, but at least partly it is because they often feel like teenage wish fulfilment with a "wouldn't it be great if there were no adults" kind of unspoken subtext going on, and with all the survivalists, ultra libertarians and general extreme rightwing nutters that seem to be half cheering for an apocalypse these days, I just feel uneasy about giving them the satisfaction of one, even if it is only in fiction 🙂But enough of my peculiar hang ups! The Road isn't one of those books and it's certainly uniquely memorable in a very bleak way. It's a piece of fiction I am pleased to have read but I don't think I'll go back to re-reading it any time soon. There's only so much unrelenting depression I can take!

Your new essay style of book reviews are spot on. You are a keeper of the fire

My father used to read this to me before I went to bed.

Love the on location look.

Great video. I found the book recently but haven't read it yet. I think I need to be in the right frame of mind to get through it. When I do find the right time I'm sure I'll love it - probably for all the good reasons you talked about in this very video. Thanks!

Maybe do some of these "on-site" reviews for the upcoming Night's Dawn readalong?

Mr Lapworth introduced me to your videos and I’m glad he did. Quality all round! I read Blood Meridian last year. It was my first McCarthy book and I really struggled for the first few hours to adjust to his writing style. But I stuck with it and I’m glad I did. However, I’ve been wondering since WHY he writes like he does? You’ve provided the best explanation yet - he wants the reader to work in order to appreciate the words themselves. Thanks. The Road and All the Pretty Horses are high on my reading list. But first I’ll binge a few more of your vids!

Great review, great production, great video! Thanks Moid.

Blood Meridian isn't sf but it's more horrific than The Road. All hope is squelched. After that I guess McCarthy was free to add just a dash of hope to some of his work. Fantastic review of probably the best living writer of English prose.

Just a fantastic job you've done here, some of YOUR descriptions are artful, poetic. Thanks for the vids you give us and for all the work that goes into making them:)

Really digging these recent reviews Moid. I love all your stuff, but this has been a nice way to add (even more) original touches to your reviews. You look well on top of your game.

"Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not to be made right again. In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery." Finished it last weekend. So haunting and rich with depth. Great video!!

Fantastic review- thank you!

Superb video, Moid! Great review!

Not depressing at all. I can read it again and again. It's a warm blanket on a rainy day ⛈️

Very, very well spoken, Moid. Bravo. I saw the movie (which was excellent IMO) and for once am grateful I did not read the book. The movie left a lasting impression.

Cloud Cuckoo land is a must read for this channel ✌️

Excellent review, and nicely produced. wow

I've had this book for a couple of years but avoided reading it because I think I need to be in the right mindset (as in not totally disgusted by people in general), but I don't know that I'll ever get there ~ hope springs eternal and all that, ya' know. You're my favorite BookTube person, love your reviews and interviews. Great job as always, dude. 😘

Love the spoken word parts! Cool video essay!

Just started following your channel - great content. This would easily sit within the BBC’s iPlayer arts section.

Loved your take on one of my favorite books from one of my favorite authors and the production value was amazing (maybe I should say favourite?). Anyway, great video!

Brilliant review. Your best.

I read this straight through one night. Not really because I was enjoying it so much but that if I stopped I wouldn't start again. What I found so sad wasn't the death of humanity, it was the destruction of the natural world. That was the true loss. Good review, really suits the mood of the book. Cool to see some location shots as well.

Fantastic review! Wonderfully shot! Beautifully bleak book too

Only book that, as I got further into it, realised I had drifted slowly into an almost shock state. Rattled me. Love it.

You did this book justice, fantastic review

I saw the movie version by chance not really knowing anything about it and it affected me deeply, especially as a new parent at that time. So I thought 'I have to read the book' but then I thought 'or maybe not', still havent made up my mind.

Amazing review!

Obviously love the content. But dude the shots and style of this video….. brilliant. Please do more of this!

Liked this video immensely. Including the music.

Depressing, but beautiful. You ended on a hopeful note.

Hi Moid, enjoyed the video & your review o the book. I think I got more from it than I could the book (which I haven't read). I found the film depressing & the boy constantly repeating "Papa" so annoying that I wanted him to die just to shut him up. I doubt I will ever be in the right state of mind to appreciate the book (life in the here & now is too bleak already for me). Thanks for the effort you put into this.

and that is why youtube recommodation push his top post-apocalys vidoes into our screens

Great video! They keep getting better. Other books that have greatly depressed me, in case you're into that: When Heaven Fell by William Barton (science fiction that's bleak as fuck), Johnny Got his Gun by Dalton Trumbo, every book by Thomas Hardy (OK not ALL but Jude and Tess at least), and Job (not the Heinlein-- the literal book of Job in the Bible).

I read The Road 10ish years ago and I still think about some of the scenes from it. A great video and critique of remarkable book.

Moid taking MDC out on "The Road" is a great change up. Love this book. The writing is transfixing.

😮 Love the new format! Must have been a lot of work, but it was definitely worth it! I also agree. 'The Road', even though the themes and depictions in the book are depressing and awful, I feel has a smidge of Hope at the end. It's been a few years since I've read it, so maybe a re-read is on the table.

Next level book review. Well done.

Cracking video Miod, i cant see me ever reading it for the very reasons you love it...the movie was trauma enough

Masterwork

Good show, mate.

This video is so underrated. Loved it as much as the book❤

Excellent

The movie was great. A true description of a 15 year megadrought, no hope and all the structures of the civilization have transformed to uncivilized not even tribal mess of an anarchy.

The whole message of the book is about keeping hope alive throughout the devastation. There is hope in the book and the relationship of the man and the boy.

Great video on a great book

Cracking video my friend

Great vid. I loved The Road, for all its devastation (big CM fan anyway, particularly of his punctuation choices). I actually think Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent Spring’ is the most depressing book, because it’s real (I had to read it in my local botanical gardens to keep myself sane), but The Road is like an awful sequel.

Loved the movie; loved the book; loved this review. Bloody well done, nicely scripted, recorded and lighted. And IMHO I think it's not the most depressing book ever - that award goes to its big brother, Blood Meridian. Cheers, Cult Leader!

Might be your best review yet

May I suggest that the most depressing book ever written is “On the Beach” by Neville Shute

I think the best part about the ending of The Road is that it symbolizes exactly what the father must have hoped for in carrying on with his son through all the hardship. You as the reader only have the hope that as the boy goes off into the world with the family that found him, he will he okay. You're deeply invested in him and his future because you've gotten to know him throughout the story, but you're given an ambiguous answer to what happens next. In that way you're like the father, who hoped to give everything he could to further his son's survival but is no longer around to see if he's really prepared to face the world or doomed to die in it. As the reader who gets to see the boy fall in with the family, you have at least that much more hope for a good ending that the father surely didn't have before he died, but you also don't get to carry on to see what becomes of the boy. You're left in the exact same hopeful but unknowing condition that comes when parents die and leave their children behind. They can really only hope that their child can make it in the world, cruel and depressing though it is.

5:23 could be a black metal album cover lmao

The language is also on a biblical level. Very beautiful prose about the utter obliivon of things, that's hopeful in itself, that humanity can make art of it. The father son thing is that: the human hope despite hope fading. It's hopeful to me.

Bloody good book. Bloody good video

From my memory.. The boy looks at his father, "That because we're the good guys." You've restored my faith in modern humans. On RU-vid, I watched a very bad review of this book by 2 guys who spent the entire video trying to figure how the world got this way. Was it climate change or a nuclear war? Would it be temporary or forever? I commented, "You guys missed the point! It was about a father's desperate and doomed attempt to keep the boy safe. The terrible circumstances were secondary to the relationship of the father and his son. I read the book long before the film and I was thinking, "It should be filmed in B+W". They met me halfway with desaturated color Your review is excellent and now you have a new sub

Love it. How do we get Moid on the telly box?

It's not a book I could re-read over and over again that's for sure. I'm rather hesitant in re-watching the film as well.

When asked about his lack of quotation marks McCarthy responded, “I don’t like a lot of extra garbage on the page.” Also, the inspiration of Byron, in particular his poem “Darkness,” needs to be mentioned.

One of the most stirring books I have ever read .

Now I feel like shit. Cheers for that 😭😂

THE ROAD, was a brilliant read and without being controversial the film adaptation was as good, unlike the adaptation of ALL THE PRETTY HORSES...I love Cormac McCarthy. But very strange to see you without your whisky and home, but thank you for the effort....and you did'nt fucking swear !!! I thought Solaris by LEM was far more depressing. The Moomins are never depressing !!!

I always loved this book but after watching this review I realized I didn't love it quite enough :) btw who's narrating? Sounds amazing

The movie has an amazing soundtrack too.

Great video and review! I recommend Blood Meridian. This book is considered by many to be Cormac McCarthy's masterwork. It's pretty damn bleak too.

I had to read this book in college and write an annotation on it. I had many unpopular comments about it. I saw too many loopholes and was often taken out of the suspension of disbelief. Especially when it came to food. Many wild sources existed like mushrooms. And if poison ones grew, so did edible mushrooms. And the food they found in canned jars would not just make one sick like the story said. Usually, if bad, home canned food would be tainted with botulism, which would kill you - period. The jars of food were said to be very old, yet there were apples rotting on the ground. Apples fall in various stages from trees with some rotting on the ground while nice apples still hang on the tree late into the fall. Often pecked on by birds. And if there are apples rotting on the ground, that means the trees are still producing, and it wouldn't have been so long since the apple trees produced. And I'd eat rotten apples on the ground, they'd be like applesauce. Especially if in an apocalypse I'd slurp them up. Apples just break down, turn brown. I did not find it the most depressing book. I found it comical. McCormack just used canned stock shock factors and the book is overated. It's his name that created the mass "we like it" mentality. It's not a good book to me. It's lazy not to get facts right and not to write a realistic existence in the type of world he created.

🔥🔥🔥

Was given this as a present a few years back and it claims the top spot on my DNF list..which is a list I can count on one hand in 50 years as an avid reader.. I managed about 3/4's of it before I checked out..I know misery porn is a popular genre..but this is on its own level of grim..

Great video, great review, as for the content one could easily say The Road is or maybe the most depressing book but in reality if the apocalypse actually came about wouldn't life be like this novel, depressing, dark and dangerous to the unimaginable, yes, it is unlikely the end of everything would be sanitized, clean, strange but somehow "okay", it wouldn't be, it would be dark, dangerous and need I say depressing,

To appreciate, one should eat of the crumbs from the depression table wherest this master writes. Stand up thereafter, dust off, and stumble off into the grey end of meaningless humanity.

But which scene in The Road is the most depressing?

Read The Archipel Gulag maybe, in case you haven't already...