Lox, I have NO opinion about Cormack McCarthy's writing at all, because I haven't read any of it yet. You misinterpreted my post as being directed personally toward him and his writing. It wasn't. My post was simply about that which normally motivates to read any book or see any movie....not the technical excellence of how it was done alone...but rather the general subject matter and meaning of it combined with the excellence of how it was done. You get the right combination of those factors and it's definitely something you want to see or read, correct? I doubt if I'm really different from most people in that respect. I look for both subject matter and quality.

I'm not in any way attacking Cormack McCarthy. I have no axe to grind regarding him whatsoever.

I did see a movie I didn't like too much, "No Country For Old Men", and it was based on one of his books, but that doesn't necessarily have much to do with him. It has to do with the people who wrote the script and directed the film, I would think. If I have a beef about the movie, it's with the Coen brothers, not with Cormack McCarthy.

I have not offered any criticism of his book at all here, therefore I have done nothing here that should arouse your wrath in that respect.

I understand that you are defending an author you have a high opinion of. Fine. I'm not attacking him, so there's nothing here for you to defend in that regard. You can defend the movie if you want to, in which case I'd say, "Fine. You like it. I don't. So our tastes differ."

As for "dark" material and so-called "feel-good" material, I had quite an appetite for darker material at a younger age, and I still find it somewhat intriguing (at least in movies...less so in literature). It makes for very good drama. If one wants a powerful drama one usually needs a strong confrontation between light and darkness, so that's what one expects to find in a drama. In the case of a movie, if it's acted and scripted well then, yes, I can definitely enjoy some dark material just fine. I loved the Coen brothers movie "Miller's Crossing", for example, and it was about ruthless gangsters in the prohibition era. I also liked "Natural Born Killers"...a very dark film, but it made some powerful and useful points about how our media and our culture exploit both violence and fame. In the case of books, though, I'd rather for the most part read things that inspire me than things that horrify me.

If something inspires me, then I start to feel better about life and my own part in it. Seems like a good thing to do to me. (?) I don't see why it would offend anyone or cause them to think I'm a pollyana (and I am not).

One area of deepest darkness that holds a lot of interest for me is the present political and financial system we live under. It's corrupt, and it's a lot scarier than any of those horror films people go to see. So if you think I'm sitting around gazing at flowers all day, contemplating my navel, and avoiding thinking about unpleasant realities, you are mistaken.

The possibility that the worldwide disaster alluded to indirectly in "The Road" (the book) was caused by an meteor or an asteriod is an interesting one. It would certainly be one quite credible explanation for something that killed off most of the people and animals on the planet, and it would be a reminder of how small we humans and our busy plans are in the greater scheme of things.