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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
Romanzo distopico ambientato 25 dopo la nascita dell'ultimo bambino sulla terra. In Gran Bretagna si è instaurato un Governo autoritario che gestisce la (vana) ricerca di persone fertili e le necessità dei governati che vanno verso la fine della razza umana.
Buone l'idea e la scrittura, ma un po' debole lo sviluppo è l'approfondimento dei personaggi, troppo spesso stilizzati e archetipici tanto che è impossibile empatizzarci.
Meglio il film.
Buone l'idea e la scrittura, ma un po' debole lo sviluppo è l'approfondimento dei personaggi, troppo spesso stilizzati e archetipici tanto che è impossibile empatizzarci.
Meglio il film.
Another book club title. It's a cheat to have Clive Owens on the cover of recent editions of this book, because this is VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE MOVIE. Ye be warned. Personally, I loved that. The movie is good, and now you get a different version of a similar story in the world (with a lot more backstory).
What I said at our meeting is that one of the dangers of dystopian fiction is the short-sighted nature of the world building. What is happening beyond the perspective of the main character? How did things get this way? How does society function now? WHY are these changes accepted? How does basic life work? If you're Margaret Atwood, you can give a big middle finger to those questions and it feels artful. If you're a lesser writer, you just hope no one asks the questions at all because you didn't bother to sort it out. Here, James gives us a lot of meat to chew on. The book is set in a near future sprung from events that happened in the alternate near-past. For reasons unknown, no one can have babies anymore starting in 1995. The way that plays out, in James's imagination is just fascinating. How do people cope with the loss of young humans? How do people's erotic lives change? What do people consider to be the purpose of life now? What does the government do? What is happening in other countries? All of that is addressed, to some degree, and thank heavens.
The story follows a scholar who becomes wrapped up in the rebellious actions of a very small group of revolutionaries who are upset with the governmental status quo in England. At first, the novel is told through his diary entries, but then we eventually flit back and forth between an omniscient third-person narrator and the journal pages. Honestly, while reading this I kept thinking how great this book would be to study for a writing class. A number of the choices James made were worthy of consideration (like, why that perspective switch -- how's it serve the story?). The story definitely builds to a number of tense peaks, and the ending left a few of our book club members unsatisfied in its ambiguity. Me, I dug the heck out of it.
What I said at our meeting is that one of the dangers of dystopian fiction is the short-sighted nature of the world building. What is happening beyond the perspective of the main character? How did things get this way? How does society function now? WHY are these changes accepted? How does basic life work? If you're Margaret Atwood, you can give a big middle finger to those questions and it feels artful. If you're a lesser writer, you just hope no one asks the questions at all because you didn't bother to sort it out. Here, James gives us a lot of meat to chew on. The book is set in a near future sprung from events that happened in the alternate near-past. For reasons unknown, no one can have babies anymore starting in 1995. The way that plays out, in James's imagination is just fascinating. How do people cope with the loss of young humans? How do people's erotic lives change? What do people consider to be the purpose of life now? What does the government do? What is happening in other countries? All of that is addressed, to some degree, and thank heavens.
The story follows a scholar who becomes wrapped up in the rebellious actions of a very small group of revolutionaries who are upset with the governmental status quo in England. At first, the novel is told through his diary entries, but then we eventually flit back and forth between an omniscient third-person narrator and the journal pages. Honestly, while reading this I kept thinking how great this book would be to study for a writing class. A number of the choices James made were worthy of consideration (like, why that perspective switch -- how's it serve the story?). The story definitely builds to a number of tense peaks, and the ending left a few of our book club members unsatisfied in its ambiguity. Me, I dug the heck out of it.
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Dystopian fiction is my jam, but I haven't read many 'older' books in this genre. Children of Men appealed to me with that glorious cover and the premise of a world where no children have been born for 25 years - I had no expectations at all, and I was so pleasantly surprised.
The contemplation this book brings is palpable. There are sections throughout where the silence is eerie and at times did make me uncomfortable in the best way.
The plot does develop (albeit slowly at the beginning) however I would say this is more of a character study than a plot based novel.
I did enjoy this and would recommend if you're in the market for such a read.
The contemplation this book brings is palpable. There are sections throughout where the silence is eerie and at times did make me uncomfortable in the best way.
The plot does develop (albeit slowly at the beginning) however I would say this is more of a character study than a plot based novel.
I did enjoy this and would recommend if you're in the market for such a read.
The Children of Men is definitely more of a slow paced book and it took me a while to finish it but it was so worth it and I actually enjoyed reading a more slow-going dystopian. The world James has created in this book is definitely plausible which only makes for the story being that much more interesting and in ways terrifying. I found some of the characters unlikable ( especially Julian whom I did find rather selfish and annoying) but this didn’t necessarily take away from the story for me. I found so many amazing quotes in this book and the writing was overall just amazing. I have not seen the movie and have heard it is quite different but am super excited to watch it.
dark
emotional
slow-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
The last 80 pages were great, but God does this book take a while to get going, in my opinion. While I'll need some time to chew on it, this may be one of the very few times I prefer the movie. Still a great read, could just be a me thing.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
With such an interesting premise this book didn't live up to my expectations. It was good but the first half drug on and then the second half went by too quickly. The ending was so compact. I also felt there were so many strange choices by the lead characters. Yes, its a different world but I felt there was a lot overlooked. I would have liked to learn more about this world. James' prose is delightful but there were times the author elongated unimportant aspects of the book that could have been better served elsewhere. Overall, a good book with uneven pacing.