Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
This book was an interesting look into how the world would change if the human race stopped being able to reproduce. Several times the plot surprised me and even with only 20 pages left I had no idea how the author would end the book. At times the narrative flow was interrupted by words I'd never even heard of before, causing me to look them up before being able to continue. This happens occasionally with some books, but I found this book was a little heavy on the big words. Here is the list of words I had never even seen before and had to look up: lugubrious, suzerainty, crenelated, campanile, peremptory, atavism, ineluctable, etiolate, querulous, portentous, concatenation, perfidious, saturnine, avuncular, eyrie, suffuse, risible, antipodean.
I did enjoy this book but the pace was slower than I would have expected. It is very descriptive, something that I don't usually enjoy, but in the most part it didn't feel superfluous. The characters were believable and messy, much like life would be in those circumstances and the plot could be said to serve as a warning to mankind for our profligate disregard for our planet's wellbeing.
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Eh. Difficult to empathize with the emotions of the characters. Their actions seemed unbelievable given their circumstances, I was constantly wondering if I had missed something (but I'm pretty sure that wasn't the case). I haven't seen the movie, maybe it was better. Cool to think about though - what would you do if you were the last generarion on earth?
Re-read on a recent backpacking trip. What a brilliant book.
Skip this book and watch the movie. Rarely do I believe that a movie is better than the book, but this is one of the few. For a book published in 1992 and set in 2021 the language and dialogue might as well have been written in the 1940’s. Hopelessly outdated even at the time it was published.
This is a story about the world where the human race is dying out and how that influences society. It is also a perceptive tale of a failed marriage. My expectations were fairly high and the novel did not quite live up them, being too predictable. There were some really perceptive insights into human nature. I would not put this book in the same category as "Brave New World" or "1984"... although plot wise, it is a bit of a combination of both. A recommended read, nonetheless.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I never thought I’d say it, but… “the movie was better than the book.” Usually I’m saying the reverse, but in this case the movie was infinately better. Granted, the movie was only loosely based on the book and the book suffered by comparison due to reading it after the movie. I kept hoping for it to get better, but twas truly blah.