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2.83 AVERAGE
2.83 AVERAGE
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is another read in my early history of SF adventure and is usually stated as being the first post-apocalyptic novel. The story is set in England a few generations after an unnamed disaster wiped out the population and the cities. The society that has grown up is the classic quasi-medieval feudal world found in so many fantasy stories. To me this novel is science fiction is the same way that [a:Anne McCaffrey's|7868581|McCaffrey, Anne|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] Pern series is science fiction- they are both fantasy stories built on a science fiction foundation.
I found the protagonist annoying and the plot lackluster (and don't get me started on the lack of conclusion). This is a case of a good idea suffering in a poor story but it's the core ideas presented that went on to inspire other writers of the era and so on down the decades until today where the post-apocalyptic society theme is firmly entrenched.
Overall, if you are a Science Fiction fan and wish to get the sense of the lasting themes of this novel read Part 1 of the novel and then Chapters 22-24 of Part 2. I don't think general readers would be interested in this story.
I found the protagonist annoying and the plot lackluster (and don't get me started on the lack of conclusion). This is a case of a good idea suffering in a poor story but it's the core ideas presented that went on to inspire other writers of the era and so on down the decades until today where the post-apocalyptic society theme is firmly entrenched.
Overall, if you are a Science Fiction fan and wish to get the sense of the lasting themes of this novel read Part 1 of the novel and then Chapters 22-24 of Part 2. I don't think general readers would be interested in this story.
Loved the story, which felt like a medieval fantasy at times, though it's set post-apocalypse of some kind. It's one of the "England is the cheese that stands alone" kind of stories. The upper class just leaves the country, leaving the less educated (in sciences and things) and those who can't afford to emigrate. Jefferies doesn't try to explain why. There is some weird narrator separation from the story, which takes place some hundred years after everybody cleared out and some undefined amount of time before the story is written. The protagonist is some historical character of note—though, again, Jefferies doesn't really go into it. I'm kind of a sucker for a) wilderness post-apocalyptic themes and 2) stories where a lot is left to hang, expository-wise ("Scanners Live in Vain" as an example).The end felt overly abrupt, though. Of the books I've read this month, bits of it have stuck the most (besides Borges, but I adore his work so much it doesn't factor in). This promises to be a book and idea that snuggles perfectly amidst the scraps of sf ideas and notions that have shacked up in my brain. I wonder if it'd have the same impression on someone from a totally different geographic locale.