I would read them in that order. The endings are nice and complimentary too. I think McCarthy read Lebowitz and took some inspiration. Lebowitz is also a good palette cleanser after the tender bleakness of the Road. Intellectually stimulating and different enough while in my mind being a non cannon sequel to the Road. Love both books so much. Good little post apocalypse pairing
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Huh, that’s a fun thought exercise. If I were a librarian I’d sell A Confederacy of Dunces & Apathy and Other Small Victories as a pair.
What’s your reasoning? I’ve read neither book but have heard of dunces by name
IMO the pairing for “Canticle” is “Riddley Walker” rather than “the Road”.
Sounds like they could all fit together. Thanks for letting me know about Ridley Walker, now I have something interesting to read after the road!
You could try reading “On The Beach” then “The Road” then “A Canticle For Leibowitz”. Save the best for last.
On The Beach
Glad I made this post. So many cool recommendations!
By coincidence, I just picked up Canticle for Lebowitz in a local bookshop. Your post feels like intuition confirmed. Unfortunately, the ‘read it at the end of the sequence’ proposal falls. I may try The Road afterwards and compare notes.
Interesting… I read both recently, and enjoyed them. Never thought of them as being a pair though – both are great books though.