Apocalyptic diversions

I've just started reading The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, and I can see from the first 30 pages that it is going to be very special.  The vision of the father and son, walking along a road to nowhere in a post-Apocalyptic environment is bleak, but irresistible.  I like the structure and style (very short scenes, sometimes just a paragraph or two).  Frightening, right from the beginning.  I can't stop thinking of the description of their joy over finding a can of coca cola (at first, just the father's joy over being able to give his son some type of pleasure).  Or, the father's feeling that dreams of the past are a seduction that he needs to wake up from fast.

 

While it's too soon to say more than this, the book reminds me of three movies I've been meaning to recommend to TF-ers:  Apocalypse Now (I know you've probably seen it, but if you haven't, do so very soon); Children of Men (I was really rooting for that to win the Oscar for Best Picture of the Year); and 12 Monkeys (great, great, great -- proof of what Bruce Willis is capable of doing, completely fascinating in terms of its plot twists, and about as bleak as it gets -- you won't forget the underground scenes).   

By the way:   Children of Men, the book (by P.D. James) is pretty good too, fairly different from the movie but a good read all the same.  That said, I'd choose the movie over the book for any number of reasons, including Clive Owen's great acting job.