There are many things that can make a great book. Three things that I look for in a good book are a good plot or storyline, good characters and lots of action or suspense.
So far in "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy all three of those qualities are being met. So far, the storyline has been good. Everything so far has made sense and has been in a logical order. The characters are also very good in this book. The father is smart, strong and brave and his personality really contributes to the story. The boy is the other main character in the story. The boy's presence really adds to the story because the father has to look after himself as well as the boy, where as if the boy wasn't in the story the father would only have himself to look after and his journey would be a lot easier. This story is also full of action and suspense. The two characters have been through many near death experiences and have survived two different attacks from the "bad guys" so far. Whenever their is action the author does a great job of adding suspense. For example when the father and his son come upon the house where people are being held captive their only light is coming from a lighter. As the light flickers pieces of information are reveled. This really drags out the moment which creates a feeling of suspense.
"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy has met my three requirements of a good book and is overall a great book.
McCarthy, Cormac. The road. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print.
I agree with the three things you have chosen that make a book, special. Action and susupense are very crutial parts that every novel needs. I believe that if there is nothing to keep the reader on the 'edge of their seat', the author has not done their job well. Good characters also change how the storyline plays out. For example, if a character is boring and lazy, they wouldn't do so well in an action or horror novel, unless they were the poor victim that gets killed first ( In the horror novel ).
ReplyDeleteThe novel that you are reading sounds very interesting, though it is not my type of novel. Oh boy, even reading your blog post, about the novel makes me want to read more and more! Being held captive sounds like a really scary experiance, a very good suspense moment. The questions that went through my head, just now, were: "What happens next?", "Do they live or die?", "Do they escape?"
Did the same questions go through your head, as a reader of this novel?
I agree with your three elements that make a good book, only suspense is in my top three though. I like how you talk about the elements and then give us examples, makes the blog post so much better!!
ReplyDeleteJust a question.....is thsi book part of a series??