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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this book for class, so while it wasn't necessarily my cup of tea, I loved it the more we analyzed it and its characters. Especially when I had to compare it to the movie "Threads" about another apocalypse, it was very interesting to compare different versions of a British apocalypse.
Literally the worst book I have ever read. How a story as interesting as a virus destroying all the grains in the world can be so badly executed is beyond me. The characters are all horrendous, slipping from being every day middle class families into some neandrathal gender roles within minutes of the outbreak being announced. The men are all one dimensional savages and the women reduced to maids and prostitutes - even when the 'good father's daughter and wife are kidnapped and assaulted all he can think about it how they should get over it. Not only is it implicitly and explicitly sexist, it is terribly written with dialogue between characters not far off note form, used only to drive the plot and never ever testing or developing the characters. How this has become a modern classic I do not know, other than to demonstrate how much of a miracle it has lasted so long.
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s by no means a bad book but I there’s nothing overly special that would warrant reading it.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very good apocalyptic tale. Reminiscent of Wyndham and Golding. Harrowing and unsettlingly close to home.
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Crackerjack scifi adventure romp. The Chung-Li virus evolves until it destroys all grasses, and sweeps the world. The speed of it, the drastic plans made by nations and individuals, the rapid rending of the societal fabric, all make for a gripping and enthralling story even as it follows a small group of uninspiring people. It hasn’t aged badly at all, in spite of the of-it’s-time sexism and slightly hammy dialogue. The parallels with the Covid lockdown felt very fresh.
The entire time I was reading The Death of Grass by John Christopher I could not help but compare it to some of the other “end of the world” novel I have read. But the thing this novel reminded me of most was the 1962 movie “Panic in the Year Zero.” This is a cult classic staring and directed by Ray Milland and a surprisingly good performance by Frankie Avalon. I can only imagine that this novel must have been shocking when it was released in 1956. It deals frankly with the aftermath of the breakdown of society. From the necessity to perform unspeakable violence in the name of self-preservation, to a frank portrayal of the aftermath of rape, this novel covers it all, and in an honest and realistic way without overt descriptions of the violence, but instead focusing more on the aftermath. The movie “Panic” gave me that same feeling.
The biggest irony of this novel for me was the idea that the main character is traveling across England to try and save his children from starving to death or becoming savages doing anything to survive, cannibalism is mentioned more than once, but the most violent people in the novel were John and his group. When his group is robbed of their supplies on the road, the men who did it were pretty friendly about it, allowing them to take some items for their survival. When they rob the next house they come to for supplies, they kill almost an entire family to do it. And they did it without much guilt. They seemed to use “my family needs to survive” as justification for any horrible act, and yet they still feel they are in the right.
I really enjoyed this novel and was sorry it ended so abruptly. If anything that is my major complaint with it. It almost felt like Mr. Christopher just decided he did not want to write the book anymore and so he just tacked on a hurried ending to get it over with. It almost felt like there should be another 25 to 50 pages to this book.
3.5 of 5 stars
The biggest irony of this novel for me was the idea that the main character is traveling across England to try and save his children from starving to death or becoming savages doing anything to survive, cannibalism is mentioned more than once, but the most violent people in the novel were John and his group. When his group is robbed of their supplies on the road, the men who did it were pretty friendly about it, allowing them to take some items for their survival. When they rob the next house they come to for supplies, they kill almost an entire family to do it. And they did it without much guilt. They seemed to use “my family needs to survive” as justification for any horrible act, and yet they still feel they are in the right.
I really enjoyed this novel and was sorry it ended so abruptly. If anything that is my major complaint with it. It almost felt like Mr. Christopher just decided he did not want to write the book anymore and so he just tacked on a hurried ending to get it over with. It almost felt like there should be another 25 to 50 pages to this book.
3.5 of 5 stars