Cormac McCarthy, The Road has gone from the Pulitzer prize winning novel set in a post-apocalyptic world to a highly anticipated screen adaptation directed John Hillcoat from a screenplay by Joe Penhall. It stars Viggo Mortensen Robert Duvall, Charlize Theron, and Guy Pearce along with newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee and opens in theaters Weds. Nov. 25, 2009.





Cormac McCarthy


Bringing such a masterful work of literary fiction to the big screen brings inevitable comparisons. How many movies have we said were better than the novel? That’s quite rare. If we can see them as two separate art forms, drawing upon the unique strengths, characteristics and capacities of each, perhaps all the better.

Regardless of the success or failure of the movie which chronicles a journey of a father and his young son in a bleak post-apocalyptic landscape, it has brought the work of the author Cormac McCarthy (picture above) to the forefront. As the L.A. Times points out, though he began publishing novels in the 1960s, (the novel “The Orchard Keeper” was his 1965 literary debut) his recognition as a brilliant, visionary writer has been slow in coming. His work was not understood and/or was marginalized and not considered “literary.” Quoting Kenneth Lincoln, a UCLA professor, the author of a critical study, “Cormac McCarthy: American Canticles,” set for release in December in paperback:

“His writing was horrific at the beginning, then he wrote about the West,” “The frontier narrative has never been taken seriously in New York. For over two decades, he was seen as a regionalist, an eccentric, certainly not highbrow.”

Lincoln goes on to note that some of his contemporaries did recognize the extent of his literary genius, namely Robert Penn Warren and Shelby Foote. Noting the extreme violence particularly of his earlier work, he goes on to say:

“What McCarthy likes is the Old Testament violence. As a good evolutionist, he puts that in the face of the Puritan sentimentalist, saying, ‘You think the world is all sweetness and light.’ ”

As time went on, he did begin to receive recognition for his work, notably the 1992 National Book Award for All the Pretty Horses. Additionally, Hollywood as also served to bring his work to a mainstream public; in particular, the 2007 movie No Country for Old Men directed by Coen Brothers which was based upon his 2005 novel of the same title. The critically acclaimed movie won four Academy Awards including Best Picture.

The new movie has brought with it much attention and favorable reviews, some of which can be seen here and here.

You can also a fascinating essay by the director John Hillcoat who discusses the journey the novel (which was also an Oprah’s Book Club selection in 2007) has taken from the printed page to the big screen here and see the video trailer below.

Readers, share your thoughts. Have you read the book? Seen the movie? Share your thoughts with us on Cormac McCarthy, The Road.

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Photos: PNP/WENN.com, www.wenn.com