THE SUNSET UNLIMITED

TITLE: THE SUNSET UNLIMITED
"A Novel in Dramatic Form"
AUTHOR: CORMAC McCARTHY
Pages: 143
Date: 27/07/2010
Grade: 4+
Library

And now for something completely different.....
Every now and again you read a book, and it's unlike anything you've ever read before. This is one of those occasions.
As the subtitle suggest, this book is written as a play. In fact, I would have called it a play were it not for the fact that the cover of the book states it to be a novel.
But, taking into account the layout and the style, you'd have to say that this resembles a  play more than it does a novel. In between the covers the reader gets a description of the decor and the placements of the two players. The rest is dialogue between "Black" and "White".
From the dialogue we learn that the two men, Black an ex-convict, living in a dilapidated apartment with a strong believe in God and White, a professor from a comfortable background with a strong belief in Nothing, met on a New York subway platform where something traumatic has taken place.
The two men are in a discussion about faith, the meaning of life and whether or not there is any reason to keep on living. Both men want to convince the other of their point of view, but both men appear powerless to do so.
This book reminded me a bit of "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett. Having said that, in this book it is a lot easier to follow what exactly the characters are talking about. But I did get the same feeling of two men talking at each other rather than to each other. I also ended up with the same feeling of all the talking leading nowhere.
This was a fascinating reading experience. And this is a play I would love to see on stage.