You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
A dystopian masterpiece with a glimmer of hope
In a world where all male humans suddenly becomes infertile, the ever ageing population of England are bracing themselves for the inevitable end to come.
A totalitarian dictator has taken control of the country and no one seems to care as long as they can live out their days in security and calm. Ever more authoritarian measures are being introduced, in order to maintain the society (and the elites benefits), like forced suicide of old helpless people, deportation of even petty criminals for life and importing slave-like labours from other countries to care for the old and maintaining the infrastructure.
Our narrator (in a slightly confusing mix between first and third person) is Theo, an 50 year old former teacher of history at Oxford (but with no children teaching like so many other things becomes redundant). He lives a quiet life focused on not having anyone dependent on him and never involving himself in others, his loveless marriage ended a year ago, after his disastrous accident, where he killed their daughter with his car.
Theo is related to the now dictator Zan, with whom he shared most of his summers, at Zan’s family home, he even served as his advisor in a short period, but stopped when he realised he didn’t have any real influence anyway.
By coincidence Theo gets involved with a hopeless group of dissidents and especially a young woman , who want him to reach out to Zan to ease up on totalitarian measures, even though it’s hopeless Theo approaches Zan, without any result, but also slowly opens up to his own feelings and starts to connect to others and even feel love and when a miracle happens, he finally takes control of his life.
In a world where all male humans suddenly becomes infertile, the ever ageing population of England are bracing themselves for the inevitable end to come.
A totalitarian dictator has taken control of the country and no one seems to care as long as they can live out their days in security and calm. Ever more authoritarian measures are being introduced, in order to maintain the society (and the elites benefits), like forced suicide of old helpless people, deportation of even petty criminals for life and importing slave-like labours from other countries to care for the old and maintaining the infrastructure.
Our narrator (in a slightly confusing mix between first and third person) is Theo, an 50 year old former teacher of history at Oxford (but with no children teaching like so many other things becomes redundant). He lives a quiet life focused on not having anyone dependent on him and never involving himself in others, his loveless marriage ended a year ago, after his disastrous accident, where he killed their daughter with his car.
Theo is related to the now dictator Zan, with whom he shared most of his summers, at Zan’s family home, he even served as his advisor in a short period, but stopped when he realised he didn’t have any real influence anyway.
By coincidence Theo gets involved with a hopeless group of dissidents and especially a young woman , who want him to reach out to Zan to ease up on totalitarian measures, even though it’s hopeless Theo approaches Zan, without any result, but also slowly opens up to his own feelings and starts to connect to others and even feel love and when a miracle happens, he finally takes control of his life.
Captivating writing style with an interesting premise, but the symbolism is heavy-handed and the plot is unoriginal.
3 Stars
One of those rare cases where the film was better! Especially regarding the characters, and the ending. This has some nice extra world-building details though.
Got behind on my reading for book club, and with 12 hours in the car in my near future I went to Audible to get a copy of the book I could listen to. I noticed that a lot of people panned the narrator, and a couple loved him. I listened to sample, decided it wasn’t all that bad, bought the book, and never looked back. However, one reviewer said “Don’t you realize this book is satire?” or something like that. So, when I read the book, I had that thought in mind. I think it helped me be able to enjoy the book more.
Comments on the writing: The writing is overall quite good, in my opinion. There are enough side excursions to keep the anticipation building, but not so much that it is annoying or frustrating. I was confused by the transition from first person diary to third person narrator — other than the pronoun I changing to Theo, I didn’t see much difference (this may be the fault of the narrator, or the downside of listening to rather than reading the book).
Message: Definitely a strong commentary on society and government (government really only serves the “desirable” and powerful people in order to remain in power); and a damning of those in power (would we really act any differently if we were in charge?).
Dark, depressing, but I enjoyed it.
Comments on the writing: The writing is overall quite good, in my opinion. There are enough side excursions to keep the anticipation building, but not so much that it is annoying or frustrating. I was confused by the transition from first person diary to third person narrator — other than the pronoun I changing to Theo, I didn’t see much difference (this may be the fault of the narrator, or the downside of listening to rather than reading the book).
Message: Definitely a strong commentary on society and government (government really only serves the “desirable” and powerful people in order to remain in power); and a damning of those in power (would we really act any differently if we were in charge?).
Dark, depressing, but I enjoyed it.
I struggled to finish this book. I typically wouldn’t have put forth so much effort, but the reviews gave me serious FOMO. I can say I read it and participate in discussions, but I’m pretty sure this isn’t something I would recommend to others. PS: I’m embarrassed at how long it took me to finish this!
The movie was so much better. I absolutely LOVE the concept of this book; it's riveting. After having seen the movie and learning that the author of the book was a woman . . . I couldn't wait to read it. I was sorely disappointed. We know so much more about global warming, environmental effects of genetics, etc., than the author did when she wrote this book. I think that affected my ability to buy into this novel. Another issue was that the main character was supposed to be my contemporary, yet I couldn't identify with him at all as someone of my generation. . . he seemed to me to be a typical stuffy, British professor type, more like someone who would have been the aged author's contemporary. I'd love to read a re-write of this book-- perhaps told from the perspective of several different people of all types from varying cultures. Who will take it on?
3.5 stars. Intriguing and well-written, albeit with a slow start and extra wordiness here and there.
I have been meaning to read this one ever since I saw the movie for a class on dystopian narratives that I took in college. I really enjoyed the movie!
This book is not at all what I expected. The premise is simple: what happens to society when people are no longer able to reproduce? It was interesting to see how James explored the slow degradation of society—no more schools, an emerging dictatorship, general ennui—without a future, there really is no reason to keep trying so hard. I love thinking about that!
The choice in narrator was the most confusing piece to me. He was only tangentially related to the broader story the book was trying to tell, and in the end, his engagement with the other (more interesting) characters felt forced. It didn't make sense why he would be involved at all.
It is still an interesting piece of dystopian fiction, and I love being able to contrast books with their movies.
This book is not at all what I expected. The premise is simple: what happens to society when people are no longer able to reproduce? It was interesting to see how James explored the slow degradation of society—no more schools, an emerging dictatorship, general ennui—without a future, there really is no reason to keep trying so hard. I love thinking about that!
The choice in narrator was the most confusing piece to me. He was only tangentially related to the broader story the book was trying to tell, and in the end, his engagement with the other (more interesting) characters felt forced. It didn't make sense why he would be involved at all.
It is still an interesting piece of dystopian fiction, and I love being able to contrast books with their movies.