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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
What a gut punch. If you like Lydia Millet just go right into this book, don't read the blurb. I think I need to read her whole backlist, she's my kind of author.
I just finished and my brain is still feeling a little buzzy.
Whenever I finish a book by Lydia Millet, I have questions. So many questions. A Children's Bible is no different.
And this time I also have ... concerns.
Whenever I finish a book by Lydia Millet, I have questions. So many questions. A Children's Bible is no different.
And this time I also have ... concerns.
Probably my favorite book this past month, most excellent, loved it! The author was a finalist for the Pulitzer and this book was on a summer reading list from Obama. The premise follows angsty teens with a disdain for their parents (who hasn't been there, on either side!). I will say, the parents are pretty despicable. I didn't really know anything about it, so reading it was a surprise as things unfolded in ways I did not foresee. The book does take on climate change and religious eschatology. Symbolism runs throughout the novel. Critics found it unrealistic, which I find an interesting critique in a work of fiction, but to each their own. My favorite character was Jack and I loved his interpretations of the stories in the Bible that another parent had gifted him. When asked to summarize the first story, he said "It's like, if you have a nice garden to live in, then you should never leave it." He also claims he solved the riddle of the Bible - "God is a code word meaning nature, and how nature gets misinterpreted, and it's full of symbols, and Jesus is science and the Holy Ghost was art, or all the things people make." The book is hard to describe exactly and not give spoilers, so I'll just say I found it delightful.
I think I read it in an evening. All the waste we're laying to the earth and to the next generation, packed into a little book. Feels like a thriller, reads like mythology.
A Children's Bible is a futuristic book about climate change written from the perspective of children.
The book was ridiculous and brilliant, I hated it and loved it. While I do not know exactly what Lydia Millet was trying to achieve, the range of feelings I had about the book means that Millet was successful. Often climate change is made political and put into an opposition with faith and God. This book is written with a 9 year old boy raised in a secular family carrying around a Children's Bible he was gifted. While he has no reference for the actual stories in the Bible, he loves them. He says it is his favorite book along with frog and toad and a few others. He says “And the proof is, there’s lots the same with Jesus and science,” “Like, for science to save us we have to believe in it. And same with Jesus. If you believe in Jesus he can save you.” The boy also equates God with Nature, quite smart for a 9 year old. I believe that the author wants the reader to realize that you can believe in God and also want to protect earth from climate change. Also, that adults are ruining earth and it may be hopeless if not for the children. Being a scientist with faith made this interesting and disturbing to me. I wish I could give it a 4.5. It deserves a high rating but I did not love the ending. I suppose we will not love the ending of our own climate crisis either.
The book was ridiculous and brilliant, I hated it and loved it. While I do not know exactly what Lydia Millet was trying to achieve, the range of feelings I had about the book means that Millet was successful. Often climate change is made political and put into an opposition with faith and God. This book is written with a 9 year old boy raised in a secular family carrying around a Children's Bible he was gifted. While he has no reference for the actual stories in the Bible, he loves them. He says it is his favorite book along with frog and toad and a few others. He says “And the proof is, there’s lots the same with Jesus and science,” “Like, for science to save us we have to believe in it. And same with Jesus. If you believe in Jesus he can save you.” The boy also equates God with Nature, quite smart for a 9 year old. I believe that the author wants the reader to realize that you can believe in God and also want to protect earth from climate change. Also, that adults are ruining earth and it may be hopeless if not for the children. Being a scientist with faith made this interesting and disturbing to me. I wish I could give it a 4.5. It deserves a high rating but I did not love the ending. I suppose we will not love the ending of our own climate crisis either.
3.5 stars.
+ for writing style and for being a read-aloud that was funny, unpredictable, sad; for making a climate change future feel a little too real
- for plot points which didn’t make much sense; slightly-overdone analogies; a gap in the children’s experience of their parents and their feelings about it
+ for writing style and for being a read-aloud that was funny, unpredictable, sad; for making a climate change future feel a little too real
- for plot points which didn’t make much sense; slightly-overdone analogies; a gap in the children’s experience of their parents and their feelings about it
Ok, I don’t get it. Told in first person plural, from the teenagers’ point of view. A flood comes during their summer vacation, and...what? It’s the apocalypse? But things eventually are somewhat more normal (grocery shopping, ordering things online, etc.) even though they are all living together at one rich person’s house? Good thing it was short or I would’ve dumped it before finishing.
Wow - what a whacked-out ride of a book, horrifying and really nicely written. I'm not much of a dystopian fan, but this was excellent
There was a lot of potential here, but ultimately it felt more clever than good.
Faith and climate change at the end - nice. Otherwise like a weirdly written version of We Were Liars mixed with Lord of the Flies. I was just so confused as to why none of the parents were in anyway responsible people. I do see why it’s well acclaimed but unfortunately was not for me !