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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
Not quite what I was expecting, and it paints a rather scary and somewhat bleak view of what the future could hold.
It was tricky to work out what was happening in each section at times, sometimes with big jumps in time after the previous section, so I would have appreciated some indication of time in the title of each section.
It was tricky to work out what was happening in each section at times, sometimes with big jumps in time after the previous section, so I would have appreciated some indication of time in the title of each section.
4.5 Sparse prose and a subtle yet terrifying decline of the world kept me fully immersed even though I had to read this book in small bursts due to a busy schedule.
I was interested in the original characters in this book, but the author lost me as the book meandered around. I never felt like there was a point. I liked the idea of following the ecocatastrophe through time, but just couldn't maintain interest. Also, I felt like the bees were false advertising, only appearing in one little section.
“It is quiet out here today, the only sounds that disturb the silence those of the wind, the occasional squalling cry of the birds. Down by the water an elephant seal lies on the rocks, its vast bulk mottled and sluglike; around it tracks of human activity scar the snow like rust, turning it grey and red and dirty.” Loc 34- 35
Well, at long last, I am back to my award list reading/reviewing. Clade was on the Locus Recommended Reading list. But, unfortunately, it didn’t reach the final ballot. I disagree with this omission. I really liked this novel. In fact, I predict that it will be one of my books of 2016. The work is a written evocation of a well-drawn, depressingly, beautiful world, peopled by great characters. This work, which I am going to call a work of mosaic fiction, is formed of several, interrelated, independent, and interdependent pieces. Each section of the novel follows a different character/s (either; Ellie, Adam, Summer or Noah) tracing the various strata of their shared history.
This work deals with environmental decay, and destruction. It is an attempt to understand, change and stop that destruction. It starts with a young Adam surveying the ice fields and noticing the damage that humanity is doing to this setting. In later sections of the novel, we follow; Adam, Summer, and Noah, racing to escape a storm, in an attempt to escape from the effects of global warming. In addition, this work focuses on the collapse of bee colonies throughout the globe. You could say that the destruction of the bee hives foretells the destruction of the human colony.
So, this book looks head on at the damage that we are inflicting on the environment. But, it is more than; a call to arms, a diatribe, a polemical piece of writing, or depressing mournful cry for humanity. In fact, it is all of those things and more. We see that human lives continue, despite the harshness of the times. The characters aren’t simply signifiers in a political argument. They are more than place holders, puppets in the authors argumentative polemic. They are themselves, concerned with their own messy lives. The characters do live in an Anthropocene world and have to cope with the effects of environmental damage. But, that doesn’t stop them from living. These characters still; go through the problems of childhood and adolescence, get jobs, get married, have children, quarrel, get divorced and age. In other words, these characters live full and messy lives.
Bradley shows the characters interacting with the world and its inhabitants. Amir is one of the interesting individuals that we meet along the way. Ellie meets him when she is exploring the possibility of creating an art instillation around his bees. We learn that Amir is an ‘illegal immigrant’. Through him we see the horrors, and inhumanity, of the immigration system, both; in our world, and the world presented in the book.
As you may be aware, I am disabled. Therefore, I am always interested when a book includes characters with disabilities. Noah has Autism. It is interesting to see how Noah, and his need for uniformity and stability, reacts to an ever changing world. It is great that, while Bradbury doesn’t shrink from the pain that Autism inflicts on Noah and his family, he doesn’t portray Noah as a victim of this pain. He gives Noah a narrative arc and a future, even in a world where the cards seems stacked against him.
This is a brilliant evocation of a world in decline. But, it is, also, a world which is full of life, life which is struggling to survive. It is a beautifully drawn picture of a decaying hopeless, and hopeful, world. I highly recommend this work
Disclosure: ARC received from Edelweiss & publisher in exchange for an honest review. (They may regret this.) Any and all quotes were taken from an advanced edition subject to change in the final edition.
An astonishing and compelling novel of climate change and the effects--physical, emotional, practical--it will have on human life. Set in Australia, Clade is an outstanding companion to Nevil Shute's classic On the Beach, which is about the end of human life on earth. Clade, with its survivors and vision of the future, addresses many of the same responses and feelings, couched in an entirely modern and well-researched manner. By following a single family line through the 2020s and forward, Bradley creates unique characters who clearly learn from and are influenced by their progenitors and their actions. I'd love to teach this novel in conjunction with Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy and On the Beach, as they all offer distinct and endlessly fascinating ideas of what will come.
reflective
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
This novel is really a collection of vignettes that follow 3 generations of a particular family through worsening climate catastrophes. The plot was a rather shallow, if not downright non-existant. There was no character development - actually, the characters were mostly flat. Some of the information was just wrong (fridge food will not spoil if the power is out for a night!) and the ending just doesn't end anything at all and is rather silly (looks like the author got bored and just stopped). In all, the novel ended up being rather tedious. The writing is fairly decent, the concept of 3 generations of a family dealing with worsening climate catastrophes could have been interesting, but this novel did not work for me. I simply did not care about any of the characters or their problems.
FORMAT: Audiobook
FORMAT: Audiobook
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another in the growing genre of climate fiction. A pleasant enough beach read, fairly plausible as to the science (failed coffee harvests), and in the end we party on as the water rises which seems likely enough.
There's a lot to be said for telling ourselves stories about climate change as a way of making it more real, but if you're fairly immersed in it anyway, its all a bit depressing unless, like the Overstory, it really adds something.
There's a lot to be said for telling ourselves stories about climate change as a way of making it more real, but if you're fairly immersed in it anyway, its all a bit depressing unless, like the Overstory, it really adds something.
challenging
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced