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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
A tough read for the hottest day in recorded history. Cataclysmic, avoidable weather has changed society. Kids fending for themselves. I imagine some lines will be drawn to Lord of the Flies, but these kids were far more civil.
God and angels, at least allegorically.
The disappointment of grown adults.
End of the world.
*one note I was displeased with, was the talk surrounding Red. We're smart enough, the kids in the book were smart enough, people don't say "r-----" anymore, and I had a very hard time getting past it. It felt like the author sweeping in, being cruel.*
God and angels, at least allegorically.
The disappointment of grown adults.
End of the world.
*one note I was displeased with, was the talk surrounding Red. We're smart enough, the kids in the book were smart enough, people don't say "r-----" anymore, and I had a very hard time getting past it. It felt like the author sweeping in, being cruel.*
A very quick read of a post-apocalyptic fiction work that felt a little more prescient than I wanted it to.
I read this book for Literature of Ecology and Climate Change this trimester. Every time I open the book grains of sand fall out because I read it on holiday in Sydney, on a 38 degree day. Because I have a habit of reading at a surface level, despite my four years and counting of an English degree, I didn’t appreciate the generative things this novel is doing with contrasting generations - I just thought it was deeply!! unrealistic !! Parents aren’t that silly and kids aren’t that smart is how I’d sum it up. For all my disbelief at the central premise that I had to suspend (no parent I know would just let their nine year old and teenager leave in the middle of a crisis) I think this novel does really interesting things with the rapidly accelerating way climate change unfolds and inaction and our disappointment with both of these things.
dark
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
I picked up this book because I found the topic interesting, however I got lost very quickly. I’ll admit, I’m not the most well versed on the Bible so I may have missed things, but the whole children’s bible plot seemed to only be about a third of the book. Most of it was just describing all the ways the parents got drunk. The story is narrated by one of the teens, so some of it feels very much like a teens POV. From reading the description, it seemed like the kids run away and then realizing the parallels to the Bible use it to guide their survival. What I read was entirely different and confusing.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a super-fast read, and very enjoyable. I avoided reading about it in advance, so everything was a surprise to me. I think that was good. I liked the voice of Evie, a roughly 16-year-old kid who's spending the summer at a large rented house with several other families. I loved the way she looked after her 9-year-old brother, Jack. Jack loves to read, and one of the adults at the house gives him an illustrated children's Bible, which he and his same-age friend Shel interpret in fun ways, since they've apparently had zero religious instruction or experience. That is not the main plot of the story, but it makes a very neat centering element (and commentary) for what's going on.
Although I never expected the world to be saved in this book, I did feel very sad when Jack got sick at the end, and it brought home to me that it is too late — the damage is done and cannot be undone. Quite a downer! But I would recommend the book anyway, for so many reasons.
Spoiler
The hurricane was believable for me, as a Florida resident, and I loved it when the kids set out of their own. Oh, and earlier, I loved the interlude with the visiting "yacht kids" because it put into context that "our" kids, while very privileged, were not of the 1 percent. I was terrified the whole time the men with guns and camo were at the cottage. I was so desperately hoping no one would be killed — it brought home to me how much I cared about this little group. I found Burl and the angels ambiguous, and the owner — well, that bit about her healing Red's leg really thrust this into the realm of fantasy, although I don't think the author needed to go that far. I also liked it that their parents simply disappeared one day. I don't care if it was fully believable or not.Although I never expected the world to be saved in this book, I did feel very sad when Jack got sick at the end, and it brought home to me that it is too late — the damage is done and cannot be undone. Quite a downer! But I would recommend the book anyway, for so many reasons.
The last pages gave me goosebumps. What a beautiful, sad, terrifying book.
In the past few months I have often half-kidded about the glut of signs of the biblical apocalypse (we laugh so we do not cry.) Lydia Millet has stopped kidding and has created a proper narrative around this. There is likely no better person to do this than the brilliant Millet who is a gifted writer who also works in climate science and has a deep working knowledge of scripture. Lucky for us she also has a sense of humor and a core of decency.
This is a short book that took me longer to read than most twice its length. It is a hard read - most of the time when I say that I am referring to emotional toll, but in this case I am using it in the intellectual sense (though I suppose it could be read as just a cool story and someone could ignore that it - like all bible stories - is a parable.) This is a book that sent me skittering back to check biblical passages and to read swaths of Plato's The Last Days of Socrates (mostly the Crito) and a bit of Arne Naess.
I have been reeling lately what with the world in tatters and our country being run by the Monkey King. Add to that the fact that for the first time in my life I have what appears to be a serious back issue so I have been in significant, though lessening, pain and you come up with a me doing a lot of feather-light reading. It was great, and it was fun, but I was really ready for something more meaty but not dry and textbook-like, something challenging because it takes brain-power and not just because it obscure and needlessly complicated, and this was perfect. Smart, accessible and important. Seriously people, we are headed for the iceberg - its unavoidable but maybe if we get it together and start behaving like we are not waiting for the rapture it won't take us all down. And a child (or a clump of children) shall lead them.
This is a short book that took me longer to read than most twice its length. It is a hard read - most of the time when I say that I am referring to emotional toll, but in this case I am using it in the intellectual sense (though I suppose it could be read as just a cool story and someone could ignore that it - like all bible stories - is a parable.) This is a book that sent me skittering back to check biblical passages and to read swaths of Plato's The Last Days of Socrates (mostly the Crito) and a bit of Arne Naess.
I have been reeling lately what with the world in tatters and our country being run by the Monkey King. Add to that the fact that for the first time in my life I have what appears to be a serious back issue so I have been in significant, though lessening, pain and you come up with a me doing a lot of feather-light reading. It was great, and it was fun, but I was really ready for something more meaty but not dry and textbook-like, something challenging because it takes brain-power and not just because it obscure and needlessly complicated, and this was perfect. Smart, accessible and important. Seriously people, we are headed for the iceberg - its unavoidable but maybe if we get it together and start behaving like we are not waiting for the rapture it won't take us all down. And a child (or a clump of children) shall lead them.
Evie, her younger brother, Jack, her parents, her friends, and all their parents are spending time together in a big house in the countryside for summer. The parents are all educated and culture White liberals who don't pay attention to their children when they need them to and disrupt their privacy when they don't want them to. The parents get drunk, do drugs, have sex (not just with their official spouses), and just don't seem to care, disgusting their children. Then, a storm comes through, tearing up the landscape and altering the atmosphere and climate drastically. Now, the world is in a wreck, environmentally and ecologically-speaking mostly, but socially soon follows after. Evie is trying to take care of Jack and with the other kids trying to find a better place to stay while their parents lament away. However, the parents will consistently barge into their lives in this dying (dead?) world and make things difficult.
A Children's Bible was a very quick and interesting read for me. I have never read Lydia Millet before, but this was a wonderful introduction. The story is ultimately a lengthy parable, but not too lengthy, it doesn't overstay its welcome, influenced and paralleled to actual Biblical parables and stories to send a message about both humanity's attention to the Earth and to the next generation. If you followed my updates, you will know that most of the parents are practically worthless; there's a few good apples among them, not much though. The book is not one of Christian fiction or religious fiction in general, but I'm certain you could take a theological message from the book; more on that later.
As I said, the parents are not the best parents, and a recurring theme throughout the book is how and Evie and her friends, even though some of them are in the last years of high school or soon to be entering college, have had to mature rather quickly and act like better adults. In fact, a brief flashback to Evie's younger days show she didn't have much of a childhood. Her parents were not abusive, but may I remind that they are White liberals: her mother is a professor of feminist theory and her father is an artist.
"Now, Nick," you might be saying, "that's not too uncommon in the world of academia." Yes, well, get this: Evie's father paints and sculpts nude depictions of voluptuous women.
"Well, okay, that's weird, Nick. But his wife is a feminist professor, so surely--"
And it's later revealed by Evie that on these sexy women's bodies that her father imposed or replicated images of destruction in the Middle East. Scenes of warfare, burning, and suffering.
"..."
One could argue that there is possible some sort of critique of American imperialism and/or warfare and how America fetishizes it with these briefly mentioned art pieces, but given the themes and motifs of this book and I am pretty sure this information is solidifying the fact that Evie's father--and all the parents really--aren't really that concerned about worldly disasters unless it personally affects. They're disconnected. After the storm hits, all the parents get depressed and start drinking more and having sex more. They completely forget about Evie and the other kids for quite a bit of time.
Anyway, Millet doesn't simply show the parents as losers--for lack of a better term--just to criticize her fellow liberals (this book really isn't about American liberals, to be honest, but it deserves pointing out), it is also a declaration on how the older generations, primarily the Boomers, and maybe also Gen X given the ages of some of the kids, have failed the younger generations. Not only in not connecting with them or given them attention, but also in that they have failed in protecting and stabilizing that world their children and grandchildren going to inherit. Evie's brother Jack is very concerned about the state of the world, particularly about the situation with all the animals. He reads children's books with animals as the main characters and he also reads a children's Bible, hence the title, given to him by one of the mothers. Evie does show concern for the animals too, but Jack and his friend Shel are greatly devoted to them to the point that they take as many animals as they can when they leave the summer house for better dwellings. It is through Jack that we see both the necessity of keeping the environment safe and seeing the beauty and connectivity--and God--in it, but also the innocence and naivete in not realizing that fixing and saving it is not so easy. Jack's naivete is never insulted or punished by the other characters or Millet, but the story does hint at at how limited we can be in fixing things.
Throughout the journey and struggle, we get Evie's insights into what she thinks about those around her and her relationships with some of them. What these insights can be summed-up as is that basically Evie and her friends still aren't quite ready for adulthood themselves, but the crumbling world around them, and their parents' negligence, is forcing them to. Evie takes on a maternal role towards Jack and she's figuring out her feelings towards one boy named Low. Some of these interactions and insights on the other kids were interesting, some were fairly mundane. Not too many of the other kids got fleshed out and I sometimes forgot who they were. Although, one could argue since that we're entirely in Evie's head that we wouldn't see them as much, but still they could've been more. One critique I will give here now goes back to Low. Early in the book Evie kissed Low and mentions that he tasted like a banana and whenever he's brought up again she frequently mentions this. Once was fine, but after that it got tedious. The more interesting parts of Evie's perspective is seeing her exchanges with Jack and him detailing his semi-spiritual and semi-scientific (it's neither truly, wholly one, in my opinion) credo and her interactions with the other adults.
The other adults are Burl, an old yardman who washes up on the summer houses' property after the storm (some Biblical imagery there), and the trail angels, some spiritual hippie people who help the kids once they start living on a farm. Fun fact: trail angels--ah, angels--actually exist in real life. They give people hiking on the Appalachian trail supplies so they can make their journey easier. My friend from West Virginia was able to confirm that for me. Evie's interactions and the other kids' reception to Burl and the trail angels are very interesting. Burl and the trail angels are the parents the kids never got. Granted, Burl is not always present, but he is running around trying to keep the farm stable and comfortable for the kids. He does take them to the farm--he works on the farm and knows the owner--and helps them even the men with the guns come. The trail angels all have different expertise and teach the kids different subject matters. It is through one of these angels, Darla, that we see more of Jack's credo.
Jack's credo and view of the children's Bible he has is very interesting. Now, Evie does mention that none of the kids or their parents are religious or had religious upbringings. Darla the trail angel was Catholic in the past and even though she's "just spiritual" some part of the Catholicism still follows her in a little way. Jack believes the Bible is providing a code to how to view the world and protect it. To him, God is just the codeword for nature and Jesus is the codeword for science. Science comes from nature, and Jack believes the "knowing stuff" of God is Jesus/science, and while be believes the "making stuff" is tied to the Holy Spirit, he isn't quite sure yet what the Holy Spirit is code for. He even makes a little list comparing science to Jesus and the only difference between them is that Jesus can raise the dead but not science. Some readers will probably find this saccharine or childish, but I think there's something worthwhile in it. Also, and this is something out pointed toward the end of the book, but Jack's view of his children's Bible, science, and nature are still from an innocent child's point-of-view. He thinks it's simple and that it can be simply resolved, but any adult theologian or scientist would probably tell him that it isn't. However, unlike most of the adults and some of the other kids, Jack does get the point of both Jesus and science and cherishes what they do.
"Science comes from nature. It's kind of a branch of it. Like Jesus is a branch of God. And if we believe science is true, then we can act. And we'll be saved."
A Children's Bible makes usage of Biblical parables and imagery, some more quietly than others: Sukey's mother gives birth in a barn and the true father is not physically present; during the funeral pyre of Sukey's mother Darla sings Ave Maria; Evie's real name is Eve; Burl, the man who helps the kids and brings them to a betterland place washes up on the shore of their summer home; Jack and Shel keep their animals in a treehouse during the flooding part of the storm and call it the Ark; the owner of the farm finally descended from a helicopter towards the end of the book and rescues the kids and their parents from the gunmen before disappearing; Burl and the trail angels disappear after everything is resolved too, without a trace. So on and so forth.
At the book's end, Evie and the other kids and their parents arrive safely at the mansion of one of the families. An early, freezing winter is about to set in so the kids make some rules after they state upfront that their parents all failed them. They make their own little community and the adults slowly tapper off their drinking, but become depressed. And then, they leave. The children are left alone, again. It is here were once again come back to Jack's children's Bible. He tells Evie that the farm owner told him that Revelation--and Millet doesn't make the error most writers do by adding an "s" at the end, yes, it's always been "Revelation"--is not in any children's Bible because it is too violent and that Revelation is the real ending for the Bible. Anyone who's studied the history of the Bible and of its writers and composition knows that Revelation is not actually about the end of the world. The original Greek title is "Apokalypsis" (Ἀποκάλυψις), meaning "unveiling" or, well, "revelation". Eschaton (ἔσχατον) is the Greek word that means "end." The Book of Revelation is about the state and future of the Church under the reign of the Roman Empire, but perhaps Millet meant this to be a double meaning. However, Jack wants to know what happens the rest of the world after the end. Evie informs him that, true to nature itself, all the old things and animals will pass away and eventually end up in the air while new things and animals evolve and come take their place; all that is old will become part of the flowers, trees, plants, and other animals. Jack says that isn't science and Evie simply responds that it is art and that it still comes from God. Thus, Jack has his answer: the Holy Spirit is what people make, the "making stuff."
."So maybe art is the Holy Ghost. Maybe art is the ghost in the machine."
This declaration is an undoing of the provocative artworks that Evie and Jack's father do and show just once again how detached and uncaring the parents really were. It is ultimately a statement that everything in nature and the universe is connected. And sure it's probably just poetic, just art, but it's art based off nature and the universe. And, as Evie says, it's hope.
I don't have much else to say on A Children's Bible. It's pacing was quick and good, no massive info-dumping paragraphs, some characters felt a little undeveloped, but overall a poignant novel. It's story, or a parable itself maybe, about caring for our world. Everything in our world is connected and we can't leave it broken and unhealed for the next ones to come. I don't know when the world will end, much like Evie, Jack, the many writers of the many books of the Bible, and perhaps Millet herself, but I do know that all things give way and something or someone else takes their place.
Let's not leave that place in ruins.
A Children's Bible was a very quick and interesting read for me. I have never read Lydia Millet before, but this was a wonderful introduction. The story is ultimately a lengthy parable, but not too lengthy, it doesn't overstay its welcome, influenced and paralleled to actual Biblical parables and stories to send a message about both humanity's attention to the Earth and to the next generation. If you followed my updates, you will know that most of the parents are practically worthless; there's a few good apples among them, not much though. The book is not one of Christian fiction or religious fiction in general, but I'm certain you could take a theological message from the book; more on that later.
As I said, the parents are not the best parents, and a recurring theme throughout the book is how and Evie and her friends, even though some of them are in the last years of high school or soon to be entering college, have had to mature rather quickly and act like better adults. In fact, a brief flashback to Evie's younger days show she didn't have much of a childhood. Her parents were not abusive, but may I remind that they are White liberals: her mother is a professor of feminist theory and her father is an artist.
"Now, Nick," you might be saying, "that's not too uncommon in the world of academia." Yes, well, get this: Evie's father paints and sculpts nude depictions of voluptuous women.
"Well, okay, that's weird, Nick. But his wife is a feminist professor, so surely--"
And it's later revealed by Evie that on these sexy women's bodies that her father imposed or replicated images of destruction in the Middle East. Scenes of warfare, burning, and suffering.
"..."
One could argue that there is possible some sort of critique of American imperialism and/or warfare and how America fetishizes it with these briefly mentioned art pieces, but given the themes and motifs of this book and I am pretty sure this information is solidifying the fact that Evie's father--and all the parents really--aren't really that concerned about worldly disasters unless it personally affects. They're disconnected. After the storm hits, all the parents get depressed and start drinking more and having sex more. They completely forget about Evie and the other kids for quite a bit of time.
Anyway, Millet doesn't simply show the parents as losers--for lack of a better term--just to criticize her fellow liberals (this book really isn't about American liberals, to be honest, but it deserves pointing out), it is also a declaration on how the older generations, primarily the Boomers, and maybe also Gen X given the ages of some of the kids, have failed the younger generations. Not only in not connecting with them or given them attention, but also in that they have failed in protecting and stabilizing that world their children and grandchildren going to inherit. Evie's brother Jack is very concerned about the state of the world, particularly about the situation with all the animals. He reads children's books with animals as the main characters and he also reads a children's Bible, hence the title, given to him by one of the mothers. Evie does show concern for the animals too, but Jack and his friend Shel are greatly devoted to them to the point that they take as many animals as they can when they leave the summer house for better dwellings. It is through Jack that we see both the necessity of keeping the environment safe and seeing the beauty and connectivity--and God--in it, but also the innocence and naivete in not realizing that fixing and saving it is not so easy. Jack's naivete is never insulted or punished by the other characters or Millet, but the story does hint at at how limited we can be in fixing things.
Throughout the journey and struggle, we get Evie's insights into what she thinks about those around her and her relationships with some of them. What these insights can be summed-up as is that basically Evie and her friends still aren't quite ready for adulthood themselves, but the crumbling world around them, and their parents' negligence, is forcing them to. Evie takes on a maternal role towards Jack and she's figuring out her feelings towards one boy named Low. Some of these interactions and insights on the other kids were interesting, some were fairly mundane. Not too many of the other kids got fleshed out and I sometimes forgot who they were. Although, one could argue since that we're entirely in Evie's head that we wouldn't see them as much, but still they could've been more. One critique I will give here now goes back to Low. Early in the book Evie kissed Low and mentions that he tasted like a banana and whenever he's brought up again she frequently mentions this. Once was fine, but after that it got tedious. The more interesting parts of Evie's perspective is seeing her exchanges with Jack and him detailing his semi-spiritual and semi-scientific (it's neither truly, wholly one, in my opinion) credo and her interactions with the other adults.
The other adults are Burl, an old yardman who washes up on the summer houses' property after the storm (some Biblical imagery there), and the trail angels, some spiritual hippie people who help the kids once they start living on a farm. Fun fact: trail angels--ah, angels--actually exist in real life. They give people hiking on the Appalachian trail supplies so they can make their journey easier. My friend from West Virginia was able to confirm that for me. Evie's interactions and the other kids' reception to Burl and the trail angels are very interesting. Burl and the trail angels are the parents the kids never got. Granted, Burl is not always present, but he is running around trying to keep the farm stable and comfortable for the kids. He does take them to the farm--he works on the farm and knows the owner--and helps them even the men with the guns come. The trail angels all have different expertise and teach the kids different subject matters. It is through one of these angels, Darla, that we see more of Jack's credo.
Jack's credo and view of the children's Bible he has is very interesting. Now, Evie does mention that none of the kids or their parents are religious or had religious upbringings. Darla the trail angel was Catholic in the past and even though she's "just spiritual" some part of the Catholicism still follows her in a little way. Jack believes the Bible is providing a code to how to view the world and protect it. To him, God is just the codeword for nature and Jesus is the codeword for science. Science comes from nature, and Jack believes the "knowing stuff" of God is Jesus/science, and while be believes the "making stuff" is tied to the Holy Spirit, he isn't quite sure yet what the Holy Spirit is code for. He even makes a little list comparing science to Jesus and the only difference between them is that Jesus can raise the dead but not science. Some readers will probably find this saccharine or childish, but I think there's something worthwhile in it. Also, and this is something out pointed toward the end of the book, but Jack's view of his children's Bible, science, and nature are still from an innocent child's point-of-view. He thinks it's simple and that it can be simply resolved, but any adult theologian or scientist would probably tell him that it isn't. However, unlike most of the adults and some of the other kids, Jack does get the point of both Jesus and science and cherishes what they do.
"Science comes from nature. It's kind of a branch of it. Like Jesus is a branch of God. And if we believe science is true, then we can act. And we'll be saved."
A Children's Bible makes usage of Biblical parables and imagery, some more quietly than others: Sukey's mother gives birth in a barn and the true father is not physically present; during the funeral pyre of Sukey's mother Darla sings Ave Maria; Evie's real name is Eve; Burl, the man who helps the kids and brings them to a better
At the book's end, Evie and the other kids and their parents arrive safely at the mansion of one of the families. An early, freezing winter is about to set in so the kids make some rules after they state upfront that their parents all failed them. They make their own little community and the adults slowly tapper off their drinking, but become depressed. And then, they leave. The children are left alone, again. It is here were once again come back to Jack's children's Bible. He tells Evie that the farm owner told him that Revelation--and Millet doesn't make the error most writers do by adding an "s" at the end, yes, it's always been "Revelation"--is not in any children's Bible because it is too violent and that Revelation is the real ending for the Bible. Anyone who's studied the history of the Bible and of its writers and composition knows that Revelation is not actually about the end of the world. The original Greek title is "Apokalypsis" (Ἀποκάλυψις), meaning "unveiling" or, well, "revelation". Eschaton (ἔσχατον) is the Greek word that means "end." The Book of Revelation is about the state and future of the Church under the reign of the Roman Empire, but perhaps Millet meant this to be a double meaning. However, Jack wants to know what happens the rest of the world after the end. Evie informs him that, true to nature itself, all the old things and animals will pass away and eventually end up in the air while new things and animals evolve and come take their place; all that is old will become part of the flowers, trees, plants, and other animals. Jack says that isn't science and Evie simply responds that it is art and that it still comes from God. Thus, Jack has his answer: the Holy Spirit is what people make, the "making stuff."
."So maybe art is the Holy Ghost. Maybe art is the ghost in the machine."
This declaration is an undoing of the provocative artworks that Evie and Jack's father do and show just once again how detached and uncaring the parents really were. It is ultimately a statement that everything in nature and the universe is connected. And sure it's probably just poetic, just art, but it's art based off nature and the universe. And, as Evie says, it's hope.
I don't have much else to say on A Children's Bible. It's pacing was quick and good, no massive info-dumping paragraphs, some characters felt a little undeveloped, but overall a poignant novel. It's story, or a parable itself maybe, about caring for our world. Everything in our world is connected and we can't leave it broken and unhealed for the next ones to come. I don't know when the world will end, much like Evie, Jack, the many writers of the many books of the Bible, and perhaps Millet herself, but I do know that all things give way and something or someone else takes their place.
Let's not leave that place in ruins.