• Re: Cormac McCarthy's _The Road_

    From scole@3:633/10 to All on Sun Feb 8 14:19:20 2026
    In article <10le240$llr$1@panix2.panix.com>, kludge@panix.com (Scott
    Dorsey) wrote:

    Why haven't I heard of this before?

    I hadn't heard of Cormac McCarthy until some time after I first watched
    the film adaption of his No Country For Old Men. He seems to be somewhat
    of a paradox - both obscure and universally praised for everything he ever wrote.

    If you crossed Stephen King's _The Stand_ with Pirsig's _Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_, you would get this book. A man and his son are headed out into the wasteland after some terrible apocalypse that has burned all the land and killed many people and all of the vegetation. Anything that could kill kudzu is serious. There are philosophical discussions, there is
    a fight for survival, there are good people and bad people. Some of the
    bad people are pretty bad. I enjoyed the book and I didn't really expect to. I think it's SF.

    Again, I watched the film adaption of this first - and it is so
    exceptionally bleak that I don't think I will ever watch it again, despite
    it being an excellent film. I did quickly hunt out the book, though, and thought it was fantastic - bleaker even than the film, but tremendous
    reading. Very philosophical and thoughtful. And, yes, certainly
    speculative fiction (although, I don't think it's much speculation - what
    is depicted is almost certainly what would become of us as a society were
    the world to end.

    That was my first McCarthy book, I have since read No Country For Old Men (again, just as enjoyable as the film adaption, if not more), and also
    Child Of God, which is a real gross nightmare of a horror story.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From James Nicoll@3:633/10 to All on Sun Feb 8 16:18:15 2026
    In article <vintageapplemac-0802261419200001@pmg3>,
    scole <vintageapplemac@gmail.com> wrote:
    In article <10le240$llr$1@panix2.panix.com>, kludge@panix.com (Scott
    Dorsey) wrote:

    Why haven't I heard of this before?

    I hadn't heard of Cormac McCarthy until some time after I first watched
    the film adaption of his No Country For Old Men. He seems to be somewhat
    of a paradox - both obscure and universally praised for everything he ever >wrote.

    Although his personal life has come for comment, even though his muse
    was old enough she didn't need a car seat anymore.
    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
    My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Paul S Person@3:633/10 to All on Sun Feb 8 09:19:32 2026
    On Sun, 08 Feb 2026 14:19:20 +0100, vintageapplemac@gmail.com (scole)
    wrote:

    In article <10le240$llr$1@panix2.panix.com>, kludge@panix.com (Scott
    Dorsey) wrote:

    Why haven't I heard of this before?

    I hadn't heard of Cormac McCarthy until some time after I first watched
    the film adaption of his No Country For Old Men. He seems to be somewhat
    of a paradox - both obscure and universally praised for everything he
    ever
    wrote.

    Now /that/ was a film worth seeing!
    --
    "Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
    Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
    Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Lynn McGuire@3:633/10 to All on Mon Feb 9 14:57:56 2026
    On 2/8/2026 7:19 AM, scole wrote:
    In article <10le240$llr$1@panix2.panix.com>, kludge@panix.com (Scott
    Dorsey) wrote:

    Why haven't I heard of this before?

    I hadn't heard of Cormac McCarthy until some time after I first watched
    the film adaption of his No Country For Old Men. He seems to be somewhat
    of a paradox - both obscure and universally praised for everything he ever wrote.

    If you crossed Stephen King's _The Stand_ with Pirsig's _Zen and the Art of >> Motorcycle Maintenance_, you would get this book. A man and his son are
    headed out into the wasteland after some terrible apocalypse that has burned >> all the land and killed many people and all of the vegetation. Anything that
    could kill kudzu is serious. There are philosophical discussions, there is >> a fight for survival, there are good people and bad people. Some of the
    bad people are pretty bad. I enjoyed the book and I didn't really expect to.
    I think it's SF.

    Again, I watched the film adaption of this first - and it is so
    exceptionally bleak that I don't think I will ever watch it again, despite
    it being an excellent film. I did quickly hunt out the book, though, and thought it was fantastic - bleaker even than the film, but tremendous reading. Very philosophical and thoughtful. And, yes, certainly
    speculative fiction (although, I don't think it's much speculation - what
    is depicted is almost certainly what would become of us as a society were
    the world to end.

    That was my first McCarthy book, I have since read No Country For Old Men (again, just as enjoyable as the film adaption, if not more), and also
    Child Of God, which is a real gross nightmare of a horror story.

    Yes, a nuclear war could make the USA look like this scenario. Or a
    Super Volcano, etc.

    Lynn


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Bobbie Sellers@3:633/10 to All on Mon Feb 9 13:38:25 2026


    On 2/9/26 12:57, Lynn McGuire wrote:
    On 2/8/2026 7:19 AM, scole wrote:
    In article <10le240$llr$1@panix2.panix.com>, kludge@panix.com (Scott
    Dorsey) wrote:
    snip

    Yes, a nuclear war could make the USA look like this scenario.˙ Or a
    Super Volcano, etc.

    Lynn


    If you want to read about the effect of a super volcano check out Harry
    Turtledove's Supervolcano series where Yellowstone erupts and the USA
    is devastated.

    bliss


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Lynn McGuire@3:633/10 to All on Mon Feb 9 16:40:17 2026
    On 2/9/2026 3:38 PM, Bobbie Sellers wrote:


    On 2/9/26 12:57, Lynn McGuire wrote:
    On 2/8/2026 7:19 AM, scole wrote:
    In article <10le240$llr$1@panix2.panix.com>, kludge@panix.com (Scott
    Dorsey) wrote:
    snip

    Yes, a nuclear war could make the USA look like this scenario.˙ Or a
    Super Volcano, etc.

    Lynn


    ˙˙˙˙If you want to read about the effect of a super volcano check out
    Harry Turtledove's Supervolcano series where Yellowstone erupts and the USA is devastated.

    ˙˙˙˙bliss

    I read "Ashfall" by Mike Mullin back in 2016. Here is my review:

    _Ashfall (Ashfall Trilogy)_ by Mike Mullin
    www.amazon.com/Ashfall-Trilogy-Mike-Mullin/dp/1933718749/

    Book number one of a three book series. There is a kindle novella
    prequel on Amazon and a fourth book on the way in 2017 according to the author's website. This is a young adult series about the eruption of
    the active Super Volcano in Yellowstone.
    http://mikemullinauthor.com/

    We do not know much about super Volcanoes. The last time Yellowstone
    blew, 640,000 years ago, it deposited ash as far away as Louisiana.
    This book is set in Iowa which quickly gets covered with several feet of volcanic ash when Yellowstone suddenly erupts. The book is the story
    about a 15 year old boy and 17 year old girl walking to Illinois to get
    away from the disaster.

    One should prepare in a very general nature for this and other types of
    events. History tells us that non-interesting times are limited in
    scope and tend to change quickly and violently. A very minimum set of
    things to do is:
    1. three months of water storage for each person in the house
    2. three months of food storage for each person in the house
    3. some sort of protection against crazy people, I prefer guns and ammo
    4. there are many other things that you can do to prepare for natural disasters, traumatic life events, national wars, civil wars, etc

    My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    Amazon rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars (355 reviews)

    Lynn



    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Scott Dorsey@3:633/10 to All on Mon Feb 9 20:29:26 2026
    Bobbie Sellers <blissInSanFrancisco@mouse-potato.com> wrote:
    On 2/9/26 12:57, Lynn McGuire wrote:
    Yes, a nuclear war could make the USA look like this scenario.˙ Or a
    Super Volcano, etc.

    If you want to read about the effect of a super volcano check out Harry
    Turtledove's Supervolcano series where Yellowstone erupts and the USA
    is devastated.

    But did it kill the kudzu even? Whatever happened in the Road even killed
    the kudzu.
    --scott
    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Cryptoengineer@3:633/10 to All on Mon Feb 9 20:37:12 2026
    On 2/9/2026 4:38 PM, Bobbie Sellers wrote:


    On 2/9/26 12:57, Lynn McGuire wrote:
    On 2/8/2026 7:19 AM, scole wrote:
    In article <10le240$llr$1@panix2.panix.com>, kludge@panix.com (Scott
    Dorsey) wrote:
    snip

    Yes, a nuclear war could make the USA look like this scenario.˙ Or a
    Super Volcano, etc.

    Lynn


    ˙˙˙˙If you want to read about the effect of a super volcano check out
    Harry Turtledove's Supervolcano series where Yellowstone erupts and the USA is devastated.

    ˙˙˙˙bliss


    I also recommend the 2005 docudrama 'Supervolcano', which dramatizes a Yellowstone eruption. It was made by the BBC and Discovery channel, and
    is highly researched, educational, and factual about what such an
    eruption would entail, and the response to it, set in a fictional narrative.

    pt



    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Bobbie Sellers@3:633/10 to All on Mon Feb 9 18:03:26 2026


    On 2/9/26 17:29, Scott Dorsey wrote:
    Bobbie Sellers <blissInSanFrancisco@mouse-potato.com> wrote:
    On 2/9/26 12:57, Lynn McGuire wrote:
    Yes, a nuclear war could make the USA look like this scenario.˙ Or a
    Super Volcano, etc.

    If you want to read about the effect of a super volcano check out Harry >> Turtledove's Supervolcano series where Yellowstone erupts and the USA
    is devastated.

    But did it kill the kudzu even? Whatever happened in the Road even killed the kudzu.
    --scott

    I do not recall that Kudzu were a problem during the recovery but breathing the air for humans and for our machines was. I think Kudzu
    are indestructable, like fire ants, killer bees and superstition.

    bliss


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Titus G@3:633/10 to All on Wed Feb 11 19:47:52 2026
    On 09/02/2026 06:19, Paul S Person wrote:
    On Sun, 08 Feb 2026 14:19:20 +0100, vintageapplemac@gmail.com (scole)
    wrote:

    In article <10le240$llr$1@panix2.panix.com>, kludge@panix.com (Scott
    Dorsey) wrote:

    Why haven't I heard of this before?

    I hadn't heard of Cormac McCarthy until some time after I first watched
    the film adaption of his No Country For Old Men. He seems to be somewhat
    of a paradox - both obscure and universally praised for everything he ever >> wrote.

    Now /that/ was a film worth seeing!

    Yes. It certainly was. The most faithful film to a book that I have ever
    seen. But it wasn't his usual style nor did it include religion or
    philosophy apart from the explanation of the title.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)