Thankful for a classmate

First of all I have to say that I really like everyone in this English class. Everyone is really nice and I enjoy going to this class. It is very interesting to hear all the different opinions on questions and topics cause we all got other values on our mind to judge different situation in different ways. Especially Harlans and McKinleys comments are really inspiring sometimes.

I also think that Mr McCarthy is a very good teacher since he knows how to make the lessons interesting. He always finds a good balance between fun and learning at the same time and that is why I like this class so much.

Then there are Filip and Jack sitting right next to me. They became good friends of mine and helped me a lot to understand things when I didn´t know what to do. Our group work was always very productive and fun. Thank you guys for being in this class with me!

Cormac McCarthy Blog

The Road is a very  special book which makes people think more about our own world. The dark and depressing athmosphere of America after the apocalypse with those the two nameless heroes, the father and the son, makes us reflect a lot, since any of us could be one of them. Where does McCarthy get his ideas from for such an affecting book?

I think for Cormac McCarthy his surrounding and the people who are close to him give him a lot of inspiratione to write his his books. He sais that many lines from the book where are taken from conversations between him and his son. Also he gave some of the character traits his friends live for to his characters in the book such as being  the good guys for father and son.

"A lot of the things that the kid [in the book] says are things that John said. John said, "Papa, what would you do if I died?" I said, "I'd want to die, too," and he said, "So you could be with me?" I said, "Yes, so I could be with you." Just a conversation that two guys would have."

"I have friends at the Institute. They're just really bright guys who do really difficult work solving difficult problems, who say, "It's really more important to be good than it is to be smart." And I agree it is more important to be good than it is to be smart."

His ideas obviously kind of come from everyday life, from conversations with people. And thats where he got his interpretation of the apocalypse from. In an interview the "Wall Street Journal" asked him what kind of research he did for The Road. He said that he was often talking to his brother about what would happen if there was a serious catastrophe and only some people left on our planet. They came up with everyones would be part of a tribe and they would eat each other. Just like in his book the bad guys.

"We talked about if there was a small percentage of the human population left, what would they do? They'd probably divide up into little tribes and when everything's gone, the only thing left to eat is each other. We know that's true historically."

I guess the thing which makes his book so affecting is his way he presents the relationship between the father and the son and the language which is held very simple. You probably have to be a great author AND a father to be able to describe the relationship in the way he does.