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3.07 AVERAGE
3.07 AVERAGE
This book was first published in 1975, so it feels a little more dated than the young adult that's coming out right now. I'm not entirely sure of the reason for the second edition, except that there's a rise in dystopian YA literature, and the publishers saw a chance to market this book to that audience. For me, it didn't quite measure up to some of what I've read. There are books like Life as We Knew It, which was so haunting and real that I kept checking to see if the world really was ending, if I still had electricity and food in my cupboards. This one, while an interesting study on human behavior, just didn't grab me in the same way.
Because we hear the story only from Barry's perspective, who seems to think his father has taken a short train ride to crazy town, it's hard to get the full picture. We don't find out the main reason behind his father's actions until the very end of the story. Having known that throughout the book, I think I would have been better able to see things from his father's point of view, and the moral dilemma would have been more compelling.
I think this may be a good one if you're looking for a short book for your book group, as it could promote some interesting discussion.
Because we hear the story only from Barry's perspective, who seems to think his father has taken a short train ride to crazy town, it's hard to get the full picture. We don't find out the main reason behind his father's actions until the very end of the story. Having known that throughout the book, I think I would have been better able to see things from his father's point of view, and the moral dilemma would have been more compelling.
I think this may be a good one if you're looking for a short book for your book group, as it could promote some interesting discussion.
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A story about life during an economic disaster that feels very contemporary, even if it was written 30-40 years ago. Then again, maybe the thread of economic disaster is something that all time periods have in common.
Possibly not the best book to be reading during this period of global unrest and inflationary fun, but I heard about this book as being a fascinating "what if" look at a socioeconomic collapse in post-war Great Britain. This book seems to be set in most likely the 1960s or so? Possibly a touch later. But, published in 1976, it definitely posits a grim future for Britain. While this book was fascinating partly because it is a window into some of the pessimistic ideas floating around in the '70s, the book itself is a bit dull and predictable. The whole of the book is a slow decline into the inevitable collapse of both the nation and the family at the center of this book. There are not any nuanced characters in this book and the message of the book is quite clear - individuals should not seek to look after themselves, but instead, all should be provided for in common. It is quite a socialistic moral tale, at the end of all things, but I do confess that the author does a good job of showing the terror and unease that comes when a society falls apart. When people are not able to easily (or at all) obtain food, the seemingly strong fabric of society frays almost instantly. This is frightening indeed. What is the answer to that? The author doesn't have any, as he is not focused on the big picture, but almost solely looking at how individuals, families and communities react to existential stresses. A good tale, fascinating, but at the end, a bit too neat and pat in how the author resolves everything and brings about the ending he so fervently desires. Worth one read, surely, but not more than that. There are better near-apocalyptic books than this.
Although slightly dated from its 1978 publication, this book is quite pertinent today. The book opens as Norman Mortimer is stockpiling food in anticipation of a economic crisis. Hyper-inflation makes money nearly worthless, food becomes scarce, and mobs begin to rule. And thru it, Norman tries to hold his family together as different values pull them apart. Written for young adults but an interesting story for anyone.
It took me a long time to get into this book. Barry's father is just so horrible, even before he starts hoarding, that I didn't think I could handle a book full of him. For example:
"You always used to be at work all day until we moved here," Mother pointed out.
"That was before the present crisis," said Father. "Now I have the shopping to do."
"It was you who insisted on doing it," Mother said. ... "I sometimes wonder what I'm for. Just cooking and cleaning, I suppose. I might as well be a servant."
"A servant would need wages," Father said -- unaware, I was sure, of any cruelty in the remark.
p.43
Except that he is aware. He spends the entire book making belittling comments about Barry's mother and older sister Nessie, mostly about their inferior, womanly minds. And, for the most part, they just took it. Nessie gets all riled up about it, but only in front of Barry. No one stands up to Father. It wasn't until Barry started to doubt his father that I started to get into Noah's Castle. Then Nessie started actively defying her father and it really started to get good.
Of course at the same time, problems much bigger than a horrifically controlling and sexist head of household are looming all around the Mortimers. As food goes beyond "scarce" right to "rare," people around them start to starve. Barry, Nessie and their mother have to deal with the guilt of knowing that they have plenty when so many other people are suffering and dying of want. Father, on the other hand, feels no guilt. Those people are ill-prepared and none of the Mortimers are allowed to share with them, not matter how hungry, elderly, young, or sick they are. This conflict is the core of the novel. As much as you want to help the needy around you, how do you give away all of your food, not knowing when you may get more, knowing that it means your sickly little sister may go hungry? It's an impossible question with no rights answer, and none is given in the book. But the rights and wrongs of everyone's actions are explored.
Of course, the wrongness of the sexism isn't explored to its fullest, but maybe that would be a bit too much to ask of a book originally published in 1975. Luckily, Nessie struggles against her father's beliefs and bullying and seems like she'll escape the Mortimer house unscathed.
Book source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
"You always used to be at work all day until we moved here," Mother pointed out.
"That was before the present crisis," said Father. "Now I have the shopping to do."
"It was you who insisted on doing it," Mother said. ... "I sometimes wonder what I'm for. Just cooking and cleaning, I suppose. I might as well be a servant."
"A servant would need wages," Father said -- unaware, I was sure, of any cruelty in the remark.
p.43
Except that he is aware. He spends the entire book making belittling comments about Barry's mother and older sister Nessie, mostly about their inferior, womanly minds. And, for the most part, they just took it. Nessie gets all riled up about it, but only in front of Barry. No one stands up to Father. It wasn't until Barry started to doubt his father that I started to get into Noah's Castle. Then Nessie started actively defying her father and it really started to get good.
Of course at the same time, problems much bigger than a horrifically controlling and sexist head of household are looming all around the Mortimers. As food goes beyond "scarce" right to "rare," people around them start to starve. Barry, Nessie and their mother have to deal with the guilt of knowing that they have plenty when so many other people are suffering and dying of want. Father, on the other hand, feels no guilt. Those people are ill-prepared and none of the Mortimers are allowed to share with them, not matter how hungry, elderly, young, or sick they are. This conflict is the core of the novel. As much as you want to help the needy around you, how do you give away all of your food, not knowing when you may get more, knowing that it means your sickly little sister may go hungry? It's an impossible question with no rights answer, and none is given in the book. But the rights and wrongs of everyone's actions are explored.
Of course, the wrongness of the sexism isn't explored to its fullest, but maybe that would be a bit too much to ask of a book originally published in 1975. Luckily, Nessie struggles against her father's beliefs and bullying and seems like she'll escape the Mortimer house unscathed.
Book source: Review copy provided by the publisher.