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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
You know all those dystopian books about how hopelessly screwed we are because humans are selfish, dumb and weak? This isn’t one of them. This is a hopeful book and it acted like a wonderfully soothing balm on this old punk’s frayed, fatalist nerves. Sure, it’s about what would happen if the world you took for granted suddenly collapsed. But it’s also about the idea that bad circumstances can bring out the best out of people if you give them a chance.
This is a fable about a small, sleepy Cornish village. It is rather predictably populated by quirky characters who, for a myriad reasons, would rather stay away from the busy parts of the world and live a quiet life by the sea. But one day, a stock trade analyst from the big city (London) washes up on the village beach, in his birthday suit, along with an almost beached fin whale. The villagers rescue the whale and take the mysterious stranger under their wing, and luckily for them, they believe him when he starts talking about the end of the world…
This book was a very pleasant surprise: my husband pointed it out in the book store and yes, I totally bought it because it had a whale on the cover. But sometimes, beautiful covers hide beautiful works!
Joe Haak worked for a big investment bank and in an attempt to design a program that could calculate investment risks by reading the news from all over the world and connecting the dots, he came to the conclusion that a pandemic was an inevitable and oncoming catastrophe. A strange series of events leads him to the shore of St. Piran, where he gets to know the close-knit community, befriends them and does everything in his power to help them cope with oncoming threat that will soon rattle the world as they know it.
Now I am not a particularly optimistic person: people are really not my favorite thing and I am pretty cynical. But reading about this little village and how they face up this global catastrophe with love, support and tolerance moved me very much. The characters are endearing, atypical and finely drawn. They have their differences, but they won’t let that get in the way of helping each other through this pandemic. The story is peppered with flashbacks of Joe’s job at the bank and his colleagues’ ruthlessness are cleverly contrasted with the St. Piran’s inhabitants’ simplicity and spirit of community. Joe’s determination to do the right thing by the people who helped him is wonderfully heart-warming. The idea that these people survive because they love and care for each other makes this a rather unique book in the usually very bleak genre of post-apocalyptic tales, and as such, it has a very special place on my shelf.
The themes of community, the inevitability of change, human nature and the ways it can surprise you really delighted me. The computer program (aptly named Cassandra, or Cassie for short) predicted the end of the world, but the machine doesn’t understand or take into account the human heart and it’s infinite potential for goodness. The obvious references to Jonah and the whale and to biblical prophets are not overstated; they simply give the story an almost mythological tone that somehow manages to remain grounded and believable.
I loved the very realistic apocalypse the book describes. I’ve read so many dystopian tales and most of them love the idea of nuclear catastrophe, global warming and flooding or alien invasion as their trigger-event for the end of the world as we know it. This was much more simple and also much more frightening, because it could happen at any time.
I docked half a star because the writing style, while clever and witty, sometimes lacked a bit of polish, but do not let my 4 ½ rounded-to-4 stars rating discourage you! This is a unique, lovely, hopeful read that might just restore your faith in human nature – just as the cover promises! Warmly recommended.
This is a fable about a small, sleepy Cornish village. It is rather predictably populated by quirky characters who, for a myriad reasons, would rather stay away from the busy parts of the world and live a quiet life by the sea. But one day, a stock trade analyst from the big city (London) washes up on the village beach, in his birthday suit, along with an almost beached fin whale. The villagers rescue the whale and take the mysterious stranger under their wing, and luckily for them, they believe him when he starts talking about the end of the world…
This book was a very pleasant surprise: my husband pointed it out in the book store and yes, I totally bought it because it had a whale on the cover. But sometimes, beautiful covers hide beautiful works!
Joe Haak worked for a big investment bank and in an attempt to design a program that could calculate investment risks by reading the news from all over the world and connecting the dots, he came to the conclusion that a pandemic was an inevitable and oncoming catastrophe. A strange series of events leads him to the shore of St. Piran, where he gets to know the close-knit community, befriends them and does everything in his power to help them cope with oncoming threat that will soon rattle the world as they know it.
Now I am not a particularly optimistic person: people are really not my favorite thing and I am pretty cynical. But reading about this little village and how they face up this global catastrophe with love, support and tolerance moved me very much. The characters are endearing, atypical and finely drawn. They have their differences, but they won’t let that get in the way of helping each other through this pandemic. The story is peppered with flashbacks of Joe’s job at the bank and his colleagues’ ruthlessness are cleverly contrasted with the St. Piran’s inhabitants’ simplicity and spirit of community. Joe’s determination to do the right thing by the people who helped him is wonderfully heart-warming. The idea that these people survive because they love and care for each other makes this a rather unique book in the usually very bleak genre of post-apocalyptic tales, and as such, it has a very special place on my shelf.
The themes of community, the inevitability of change, human nature and the ways it can surprise you really delighted me. The computer program (aptly named Cassandra, or Cassie for short) predicted the end of the world, but the machine doesn’t understand or take into account the human heart and it’s infinite potential for goodness. The obvious references to Jonah and the whale and to biblical prophets are not overstated; they simply give the story an almost mythological tone that somehow manages to remain grounded and believable.
I loved the very realistic apocalypse the book describes. I’ve read so many dystopian tales and most of them love the idea of nuclear catastrophe, global warming and flooding or alien invasion as their trigger-event for the end of the world as we know it. This was much more simple and also much more frightening, because it could happen at any time.
I docked half a star because the writing style, while clever and witty, sometimes lacked a bit of polish, but do not let my 4 ½ rounded-to-4 stars rating discourage you! This is a unique, lovely, hopeful read that might just restore your faith in human nature – just as the cover promises! Warmly recommended.
As @Henk says, very close to a fictional form of Humankind. Entertaining, whimsical, easy to read and very topical in 2021. It draws closely from the tale of Jonah and the whale, and has the feel of a fable about it. To begin with, I felt it had echoes of some of the characters in Undermilk Wood, though this lessened as I went through the book.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Apokalyptisk tatt på kornet - virkelig! Veldig britisk og veldig underfundig.
Vi følger en landsby i Cornwall i deres kamp for å overleve spanskesykens tilbakekomst. Den er så presis, så innmari presis! Alt fra hamstring til samhold til følelsen av å bli smitta.
Underveis er den krydret med landsbystereotyper som den gamle «vismannen», presten, læreren og ikke minst romanseforfatteren som bare ikke kan la være... I løpet av krisa diskuterer de seg gjennom samfunnskontrakt, økonomi og menneskets natur. Likte veldig godt den «overraskende faktoren» som ble et trumfkort på slutten.
En liten ting jeg ikke var helt fornøyd med, var løsninga på romanseplottet. Alt annet funka meget godt.
Vi følger en landsby i Cornwall i deres kamp for å overleve spanskesykens tilbakekomst. Den er så presis, så innmari presis! Alt fra hamstring til samhold til følelsen av å bli smitta.
Underveis er den krydret med landsbystereotyper som den gamle «vismannen», presten, læreren og ikke minst romanseforfatteren som bare ikke kan la være... I løpet av krisa diskuterer de seg gjennom samfunnskontrakt, økonomi og menneskets natur. Likte veldig godt den «overraskende faktoren» som ble et trumfkort på slutten.
En liten ting jeg ikke var helt fornøyd med, var løsninga på romanseplottet. Alt annet funka meget godt.
Joe Haak is een wiskundige en financieel analist bij een grote Londense investeringsbank. Hij heeft een ingewikkeld computerprogramma, Cassie, ontwikkeld dat op grond van wereldwijde financieel/economische ontwikkelingen en opinies van financiële experts voorspellingen doet m.b.t. de koersontwikkeling van aandelen, maar zijn baas, Lew Kaufmann, vraagt hem in het geheim Cassie zodanig aan te passen tot ze oorzaken kan aanwijzen voor een complete ineenstorting van de bestaande menselijke sociaalmaatschappelijke beschaving.
En als dan op een dag Cassies prognoses aangeven dat de kritische voorwaarden voor een dergelijke apocalyps bereikt zullen worden, ontvlucht Joe Londen en rijdt letterlijk tot hij niet verder kan en zijn wielen nat zullen worden, naar een gehucht van 307 inwoners aan de woeste kust van Cornwall: St. Piran...
De gebeurtenissen daar laten zien dat de mens in nood niet altijd egoïstisch is en alleen aan zichzelf denkt, en dat saamhorigheid, gemeenschapszin en altruïsme de grootste crisis kunnen overwinnen.
Bemoedigend en hartverwarmend.
En als dan op een dag Cassies prognoses aangeven dat de kritische voorwaarden voor een dergelijke apocalyps bereikt zullen worden, ontvlucht Joe Londen en rijdt letterlijk tot hij niet verder kan en zijn wielen nat zullen worden, naar een gehucht van 307 inwoners aan de woeste kust van Cornwall: St. Piran...
De gebeurtenissen daar laten zien dat de mens in nood niet altijd egoïstisch is en alleen aan zichzelf denkt, en dat saamhorigheid, gemeenschapszin en altruïsme de grootste crisis kunnen overwinnen.
Bemoedigend en hartverwarmend.
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Ein Must-read der heutigen Zeit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3.5/5 ✨
Some books' impact on the reader's life depend on when the book is read. Reading this book in COVID times (or listening to the audiobook in my case) was a somewhat disturbing but also heartwarming experience.
The novel describes human interaction in times of crisis (economic instability, broken supply chains and a flu pandemic - 2020 anyone?) while adding interesting dialogues in the form of philosophical, religious and economic discussions on various topics to the mix.
What I didn't like about the book though was the somewhat slow beginning; it took me some time to remember all the names and only after pushing through the first few chapters did I start to get interested in the villagers' and Joe's story, which brings me to the next point. Joe is a too shallow protagonist for my liking. Somehow he didn't seem to have any struggles in life despite not finding the right woman and I would have liked to follow his character development some more.
Some books' impact on the reader's life depend on when the book is read. Reading this book in COVID times (or listening to the audiobook in my case) was a somewhat disturbing but also heartwarming experience.
The novel describes human interaction in times of crisis (economic instability, broken supply chains and a flu pandemic - 2020 anyone?) while adding interesting dialogues in the form of philosophical, religious and economic discussions on various topics to the mix.
What I didn't like about the book though was the somewhat slow beginning; it took me some time to remember all the names and only after pushing through the first few chapters did I start to get interested in the villagers' and Joe's story, which brings me to the next point. Joe is a too shallow protagonist for my liking. Somehow he didn't seem to have any struggles in life despite not finding the right woman and I would have liked to follow his character development some more.