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spacecomics's review
3.0
The Green Rain by Paul Tabori tells of a man-made catastrophe affecting the whole Earth. Written in 1960, it takes place a few decades later, near the end of the 20th century, when a scientist who discovered chlorophylogen, a "hypothetical forerunner of chlorophyll," plans to seed the Moon with the substance, theorizing it will start a process leading to habitability and life on our dead satellite. But the rocket carrying the chlorophylogen fails, releasing the substance in Earth's upper atmosphere where it reacts with an unknown catalyst and comes down modified in rain storms around the world. Everyone touched by the rain turns green, permanently.
While some of the science ranges from far-fetched to silly, the author obviously put a lot of work into the the book, researching or showing knowledge of the non-scientific aspects, and describing numerous results of roughly a third of the world's population turning green; so it's a shame to give the book only 3 stars. But here's what I didn't like about The Green Rain:
There is no protagonist. Half a dozen characters are followed alternately but none of them are likable. This is the most cynical book I've read; everyone has an angle or is just downright selfish or mean. These are developed characters, but mostly don't evolve during the book. We'll have one chapter about race war breaking out in Africa, another about opportunists changing their political ambitions to take advantage of the new situation, another about a doctor who might be able "cure" the greenness except he doesn't want to help his estranged son, then one about a beautiful actress who turned green setting up a phony religion, and so on. And a whole lot about greenness. Frankly some of these chapters bored me so I kept wanting to skim, hoping the next would be better, and some were.
For the most part it's satire, but mostly of the serious, dark, or just unfunny variety. The main theme seems to be don't mess with mother nature, and for 1960 perhaps it was ahead of it's time in that sub-genre.
Personally I want to get absorbed in a story about a character I care about. But if you don't, you may be satisfied with Tabori's descriptions of various scenarios as people react differently around the world.
While some of the science ranges from far-fetched to silly, the author obviously put a lot of work into the the book, researching or showing knowledge of the non-scientific aspects, and describing numerous results of roughly a third of the world's population turning green; so it's a shame to give the book only 3 stars. But here's what I didn't like about The Green Rain:
There is no protagonist. Half a dozen characters are followed alternately but none of them are likable. This is the most cynical book I've read; everyone has an angle or is just downright selfish or mean. These are developed characters, but mostly don't evolve during the book. We'll have one chapter about race war breaking out in Africa, another about opportunists changing their political ambitions to take advantage of the new situation, another about a doctor who might be able "cure" the greenness except he doesn't want to help his estranged son, then one about a beautiful actress who turned green setting up a phony religion, and so on. And a whole lot about greenness. Frankly some of these chapters bored me so I kept wanting to skim, hoping the next would be better, and some were.
For the most part it's satire, but mostly of the serious, dark, or just unfunny variety. The main theme seems to be don't mess with mother nature, and for 1960 perhaps it was ahead of it's time in that sub-genre.
Personally I want to get absorbed in a story about a character I care about. But if you don't, you may be satisfied with Tabori's descriptions of various scenarios as people react differently around the world.
snood's review
3.0
Similarly to Cabu, which I began 2020 with, The Green Rain feels like an episode of the Twilight Zone in the form of a short novel. It’s a fun read, but bogs itself down quite a bit by trying to cover so much. The titular green rain occurred globally and the main plot line has to share the spotlight with updates on the status of the rest of the world. I feel like this was originally a novella that the author fluffed up afterwards since novels sell better. Although given a decent amount of time, the events in Africa had no impact on the plot and led to the biggest flaw of the book.
The novel attempts to tackle the issue of racism and racial identity, but suffers greatly by being written in 1961. Despite putting forth the absurdity of treating people differently based on color, the author frequently refers to Asians as “yellow”, references “African pygmies” as if they’re some other species, and depicts African leaders as universally bloodthirsty.
The author should have spent some of that wasted time explaining how South Africa became an ethnostate called the All-White Republic. (That’s not even a spoiler, its existence is dropped on the reader a few chapters in and we’re just supposed to accept it...)
There’s also this line:
“Look boys, the last time I was raped, I enjoyed it. So don’t try to threaten me.”
I don’t even know how to respond to that... is it a joke...? Is that how he thinks women talk...? Nobody even threatened her sexually. That’s just her first response upon seeing two home invaders...
The novel attempts to tackle the issue of racism and racial identity, but suffers greatly by being written in 1961. Despite putting forth the absurdity of treating people differently based on color, the author frequently refers to Asians as “yellow”, references “African pygmies” as if they’re some other species, and depicts African leaders as universally bloodthirsty.
The author should have spent some of that wasted time explaining how South Africa became an ethnostate called the All-White Republic. (That’s not even a spoiler, its existence is dropped on the reader a few chapters in and we’re just supposed to accept it...)
There’s also this line:
“Look boys, the last time I was raped, I enjoyed it. So don’t try to threaten me.”
I don’t even know how to respond to that... is it a joke...? Is that how he thinks women talk...? Nobody even threatened her sexually. That’s just her first response upon seeing two home invaders...
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