"The Road", Cormac McCarthy

My husband recommended I read, "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. Yeah, yeah, Christian friends, I know it's an Oprah's Book Club selection. He read it recently and was moved...I don't know that I've heard him talk about a book so much in recent memory. I'm not going to discuss the content -- it's a hard book to read. Frightening. Kept me awake until 5:00 am the night I finished it...In fact, I HAD to finish it, because I didn't want to go to sleep on it unfinished, so I read straight through 200 pages.

My lingering thought, after the fear has somewhat faded, could be summarized by one of the lines uttered by "The Man" (the father). To paraphrase him because I've already returned it to the libarry, "God gave me the job of taking care of you (spoken to "The Boy", his son) and I'm going to do what I must to make sure nothing happens to you." The Man knew this was a life or death promise.

I haven't looked at my girls the same way since I finished this book. I have let some things slide that I wouldn't have let slide before. Life is too short, and some things are just not that important. It is my heartfelt desire to protect their innocence, provide for their safety, give them comfort, solace, and a home filled with joy and laughter. More importantly, I must pray for their hearts to be protected, comforted, and to find salvation, and therefore joy in the Lord alone.

Read this book, but do it in the daytime. With a light on. And a loved one nearby. And finish it before 11:00 pm...or you won't sleep.

**** Update**** It's a movie. Arghhhh. Now I'll never shake it from my mind. Viggo Mortensen is The Man. Robert Duvall is also in the movie as the Old Man along the road to whom The Boy begs his father to share their food. Will I see it? Of course not! (That means I probably will...at home with the lights on on a Saturday afternoon when the girls are gone...)