The Best Books of the 21st Century: Ryan Holiday on ‘The Road’
6/12/202637 min
In 2024, The New York Times Book Review gathered more than 500 novelists, nonfiction writers, poets and literary enthusiasts to help pick the best books of the 21st century so far. One of those books was Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “The Road,” which came in at No. 13. That book tells the story of a man and his young son trying to survive in a postapocalyptic United States. Like other books by McCarthy, it combines ornate prose with moments of unforgettable violence. It is also a moving story of love and parenthood under the most extreme circumstances.
One of the people who voted on our best books list was Ryan Holiday, author of more than a dozen nonfiction books, host of the “Daily Stoic” podcast and owner of the Painted Porch Bookshop in Bastrop, Texas. We recently invited him on the “Book Review” podcast to talk about “The Road,” and how its meaning changed for him after he became a father.
Books Discussed on This Episode:
“The Road” by Cormac McCarthy
“No Country for Old Men” by Cormac McCarthy
“All the Pretty Horses” by Cormac McCarthy
“Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy
“The Odyssey” by Homer
“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“The Children of Men” by P. D. James
“The Plague” by Albert Camus
“Revolutionary Road” by Richard Yates
“Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius
“Of Boys and Men” by Richard Reeves
“Outdoor Kids in an Inside World” by Steven Rinella
“Letter to His Father” by Franz Kafka
“Range” by David Epstein
“Good Inside” by Becky Kennedy
“Wild Dark Shore” by Charlotte McConaghy
“Death Be Not Proud” by John Gunther
“The Revenant” by Michael Punke
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Ryan Holiday· Guest0:29
To me, part of The Road is about that thin line between civilization and chaos, the veneer between we're all in this together and, uh, every man and family for themselves.
Gilbert Cruz· Host0:42
[instrumental music] I'm Gilbert Cruz and this is The Book Review from The New York Times. The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. I've made reference many times on this show to that project, which we published in summer 2024. It was this massive effort where we reached out to more than 1,000 novelists, and nonfiction writers, poets, bookstore owners, all sorts of lovers of literature to ask what they thought were the best books of the century so far. We wanted to get an early read on what might be the great works from now that, uh, continue to resonate. We took all that data, number crunched, compiled it and put together this list. But of course, even the most robust list