» Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:12 pm
Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Set in a post-apocalyptic America (what the exact nature of the apocalypse in question actually is is never revealed, although it's strongly implied that it's a massive nuclear exchange a la Fallout), it tells the story of a man and his son trying to stay alive in a world that has literally died around them. One of the bleakest and most unforgiving books I've ever read--McCarthy's description of the ocean is at once horrifying and unforgettable-- but also one of the best. A difficult book, not only because of the subject matter but also because of McCarthy's unorthodox writing style, but definitely worth your time if you relish a literary challenge.
It should be translated into Portuguese--there was a film adaptation of it with Viggo Mortensen that was released not too long ago, so it's fairly well-known--but as I don't speak Portuguese I can't guarantee that it'll be as good in that language as it is in English. I can confirm that when translated into Chinese it suffers greatly, so I'm not too optimistic. Still a good read even when translated, though, and Portuguese is much closer to English than Chinese is.