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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
All the men on earth become infertile. Twenty years later, a baby is born.
I disliked this. It lacks logic in general, but it's particularly trying right now to read a vehement dystopia about how mankind became so liberal that God took away all the babies.
Gays are dictators who will destroy everything. There are euthanasia squads. The last children to be born are entitled terrorists, nay, soulless murderers. There are too many porn shops. Immigrants are welcomed, then forcibly banished at age sixty, so the social safety net doesn't need to care for them. There is no such thing as a jury, and the state runs everything.
The main character is a scumbag among scumbags, until he has proof of the miracle. Then, suddenly, he is redeemed. Everything is carefully arranged to "prove" that God exists. But, surprise, it's only the author in the end.
I get that there's a long and interesting tradition of Christian fiction. I have read and enjoyed much of it. But this is a screed about how God will punish everyone that the author doesn't like, not an honest self-interrogation in the best traditions of Lewis or Chesterton.
I like PD James's mysteries. But this wasn't up to the same standard. Skimmed.
Do not recommend.
I disliked this. It lacks logic in general, but it's particularly trying right now to read a vehement dystopia about how mankind became so liberal that God took away all the babies.
Gays are dictators who will destroy everything. There are euthanasia squads. The last children to be born are entitled terrorists, nay, soulless murderers. There are too many porn shops. Immigrants are welcomed, then forcibly banished at age sixty, so the social safety net doesn't need to care for them. There is no such thing as a jury, and the state runs everything.
The main character is a scumbag among scumbags, until he has proof of the miracle. Then, suddenly, he is redeemed. Everything is carefully arranged to "prove" that God exists. But, surprise, it's only the author in the end.
I get that there's a long and interesting tradition of Christian fiction. I have read and enjoyed much of it. But this is a screed about how God will punish everyone that the author doesn't like, not an honest self-interrogation in the best traditions of Lewis or Chesterton.
I like PD James's mysteries. But this wasn't up to the same standard. Skimmed.
Do not recommend.
adventurous
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was so good. My heart hurts for Miriam.
2.5 this was my second PD James and I feel kind of how I did with the first: it was ALMOST really good. So close, but just didn’t quite do it for me. So many things she just left for us to not know.
For example, why are the Omegas crazy? Like, some of them rove in bands with painted faces killing people. What? And other “violent offenders” maybe a year older get sent to the Isle of misery for, like pushing someone down? I’m confused.
Why does Julian feel connected to Theo? She took his class for apparently one day? And then Theo is like, I’m learning to love this band of strangers, oh nvmd. I’m ok with them dying.
Old dude is introduced purely to give them the option to go borrow his stuff later. No pain, easy peasy, Theo didn’t even have to justify anything to himself.
Was Theo just a psychopath? Like the accident with his daughter was pre-Omega, so you can’t blame the post-Omega Apathy; so what the heck?
It just felt like it held so much promise that didn’t get developed.
For example, why are the Omegas crazy? Like, some of them rove in bands with painted faces killing people. What? And other “violent offenders” maybe a year older get sent to the Isle of misery for, like pushing someone down? I’m confused.
Why does Julian feel connected to Theo? She took his class for apparently one day? And then Theo is like, I’m learning to love this band of strangers, oh nvmd. I’m ok with them dying.
Old dude is introduced purely to give them the option to go borrow his stuff later. No pain, easy peasy, Theo didn’t even have to justify anything to himself.
Was Theo just a psychopath? Like the accident with his daughter was pre-Omega, so you can’t blame the post-Omega Apathy; so what the heck?
It just felt like it held so much promise that didn’t get developed.
Engrossing. Check: dystopian, blue cover, sci-fi, set in Europe (again), and library (again)
Set in a 2021 when no children have been born in twenty-five years, The Children of Men is a most thought-provoking dystopian novel. Theo Faren is an Oxford don, solitary and rather self-centred, until he is drawn into contact with a group of dissenters. There is a great sense of place, this beautiful, crumbling Oxford, and increasing tension as Theo's life changes dramatically, and he is pulled out of his apathy. A clever, disturbing, and satisfying mystery.
This book has been on my TBR list for ages. I've seen the film adaptation and I have a friend who occasionally teaches it in college literature courses, so I figured I'd pick it up and see how it went. Overall, I liked this book way more than I thought I would. It played with a lot of interesting ideas and meditated on things like nationalism, justice, futurity, etc. in ways I found deeply compelling. Though the style might not be to every reader's taste, I feel like I could talk about this book for ages, so for that reason, it gets 4.5 stars from me.
WRITING: James's prose is fairly descriptive, feeling more what you'd expect out of literary fiction or older sci fi than out of 21st century dystopia. I really liked the descriptiveness, however, as it allowed James to dig deeply into the themes holding this story together.
And what themes they are! There is so much going on in this book and the ideas are deployed in such interesting ways. I loved discussions of power and how people are willing to look the other way on atrocity so long as they are comfortable. I loved the subtle commentary on immigration and the prison system/crime. I loved the way James thought about the generational differences between most British people and the Omegas as well as their relationship to the world. Even if a reader sees some of these themes as problematic, you have to agree that this book provokes some intense discussion, which makes it a masterpiece, in my opinion.
PLOT: The plot of this book follows Theo Faron, a fifty-something year old man who finds himself entangled with the activities of a small resistance group twenty-five years after humanity has become infertile. This book is divided into two parts: part one gets the reader familiar with the dystopic landscape of Britain. Theo's cousin, Xan, has become the Warden of England, and a resistance group made up of 5 individuals decides to use Theo to attempt to get Xan to enact some reform. Part two primarily follows Theo as he becomes more entangled with the 5, and the stakes are raised when it is revealed that one of them, a woman named Julian, is pregnant.
I really liked this story for the way it thought about justice. In Theo's world, the government is responsible for much brutality, but it is tolerated in part because it makes the lives of "lawful" citizens more comfortable. The first part of this book therefore asks what the value of justice is when there is no hope for the future, while also prompting consideration of things like nationalism, the preservation of culture, etc.
I also really liked the way James thought about what effects infertility would have on the world (especially England). The competing religious ideologies were fascinating as well as shifting attitudes towards sex and pleasure kept my attention rapt, and I was profoundly interested in how the world continued to be built up.
If I had any criticisms, I would say that there are parts of this book that drag a little bit. But because the novel is so short, it doesn't really hold the story back much.
CHARACTERS: Theo, our protagonist, is hard to like, but because he changes over the course of the novel, he's always fairly interesting. At the beginning, Theo is rather cynical and resists being responsible for anyone and anything. He's also fairly sexist and has some rather callous attitudes regarding his ex-wife and daughter. But his flaws are made interesting when he encounters Julian and the others, as they constantly challenge him and drag him into their affairs. By the end of the book, you can see Theo's evolution from someone who is cold and cut off from the world to someone who feels and cares. I also particularly liked James's use of Theo's love for history as a way for exploring the use and misuse of the past, and the digs at his backwards-looking attitudes were genius.
Xan, the antagonist and Warden of England, was also interesting in that he was a charismatic tyrant. He was presented as someone who will do whatever he must to hold onto power, but because we primarily see him through Theo's eyes, his image is distorted by Theo's affection. Theo has fond memories of their childhood together and has absolutely faith that Xan is a reasonable person; but the more we read, the more we realize that Xan is anything but benevolent.
Julian, one of the "rebels" and the woman who becomes pregnant, is fairly interesting on account of the way her optimism and religious views interact with Theo's cynicism and atheism. The only thing I didn't quite like was the way Theo felt something like romantic attraction to her - it didn't make much sense to me and both characters would have worked just fine without that element.
The rest of the resistance crew is just fine. Miriam, the midwife, is valuable for her skills and her compassion, though I do wish James had explored her experiences as a black woman more. Rolf, Julian's husband, is notable for the way he craves power, and his ambitions really make you think about the difference between his goals and Xan's. Luke, the priest, is the most underdeveloped, and given his significance in the plot, it might have been interesting to have him fleshed out a little more.
TL;DR: The Children of Men is perhaps less interesting for its story than it is for the ideas it beings up when telling it. The fascinating worldbuilding combined with a cynical protagonist who evolves into someone who cares is set against thoughtful prompts regarding tyranny, comfort, justice, etc. and even if you don't enjoy the plot, it's hard to deny that this book makes you think carefully about the nature of power.
WRITING: James's prose is fairly descriptive, feeling more what you'd expect out of literary fiction or older sci fi than out of 21st century dystopia. I really liked the descriptiveness, however, as it allowed James to dig deeply into the themes holding this story together.
And what themes they are! There is so much going on in this book and the ideas are deployed in such interesting ways. I loved discussions of power and how people are willing to look the other way on atrocity so long as they are comfortable. I loved the subtle commentary on immigration and the prison system/crime. I loved the way James thought about the generational differences between most British people and the Omegas as well as their relationship to the world. Even if a reader sees some of these themes as problematic, you have to agree that this book provokes some intense discussion, which makes it a masterpiece, in my opinion.
PLOT: The plot of this book follows Theo Faron, a fifty-something year old man who finds himself entangled with the activities of a small resistance group twenty-five years after humanity has become infertile. This book is divided into two parts: part one gets the reader familiar with the dystopic landscape of Britain. Theo's cousin, Xan, has become the Warden of England, and a resistance group made up of 5 individuals decides to use Theo to attempt to get Xan to enact some reform. Part two primarily follows Theo as he becomes more entangled with the 5, and the stakes are raised when it is revealed that one of them, a woman named Julian, is pregnant.
I really liked this story for the way it thought about justice. In Theo's world, the government is responsible for much brutality, but it is tolerated in part because it makes the lives of "lawful" citizens more comfortable. The first part of this book therefore asks what the value of justice is when there is no hope for the future, while also prompting consideration of things like nationalism, the preservation of culture, etc.
I also really liked the way James thought about what effects infertility would have on the world (especially England). The competing religious ideologies were fascinating as well as shifting attitudes towards sex and pleasure kept my attention rapt, and I was profoundly interested in how the world continued to be built up.
If I had any criticisms, I would say that there are parts of this book that drag a little bit. But because the novel is so short, it doesn't really hold the story back much.
CHARACTERS: Theo, our protagonist, is hard to like, but because he changes over the course of the novel, he's always fairly interesting. At the beginning, Theo is rather cynical and resists being responsible for anyone and anything. He's also fairly sexist and has some rather callous attitudes regarding his ex-wife and daughter. But his flaws are made interesting when he encounters Julian and the others, as they constantly challenge him and drag him into their affairs. By the end of the book, you can see Theo's evolution from someone who is cold and cut off from the world to someone who feels and cares. I also particularly liked James's use of Theo's love for history as a way for exploring the use and misuse of the past, and the digs at his backwards-looking attitudes were genius.
Xan, the antagonist and Warden of England, was also interesting in that he was a charismatic tyrant. He was presented as someone who will do whatever he must to hold onto power, but because we primarily see him through Theo's eyes, his image is distorted by Theo's affection. Theo has fond memories of their childhood together and has absolutely faith that Xan is a reasonable person; but the more we read, the more we realize that Xan is anything but benevolent.
Julian, one of the "rebels" and the woman who becomes pregnant, is fairly interesting on account of the way her optimism and religious views interact with Theo's cynicism and atheism. The only thing I didn't quite like was the way Theo felt something like romantic attraction to her - it didn't make much sense to me and both characters would have worked just fine without that element.
The rest of the resistance crew is just fine. Miriam, the midwife, is valuable for her skills and her compassion, though I do wish James had explored her experiences as a black woman more. Rolf, Julian's husband, is notable for the way he craves power, and his ambitions really make you think about the difference between his goals and Xan's. Luke, the priest, is the most underdeveloped, and given his significance in the plot, it might have been interesting to have him fleshed out a little more.
TL;DR: The Children of Men is perhaps less interesting for its story than it is for the ideas it beings up when telling it. The fascinating worldbuilding combined with a cynical protagonist who evolves into someone who cares is set against thoughtful prompts regarding tyranny, comfort, justice, etc. and even if you don't enjoy the plot, it's hard to deny that this book makes you think carefully about the nature of power.