A review by vg2
The Hopkins Manuscript by R.C. Sherriff

5.0

Clever, funny and wonderfully written, ‘The Hopkins Manuscript’ has quickly become a new favourite sci-fi novel for me. Edgar Hopkins, our pompous and slightly pathetic protagonist, recounts the final months of the Earth before a collision with the moon, and a span of years afterwards. We know from the first page that Western civilisation eventually collapses entirely, and the causes will surprise no-one will a healthy cynicism regarding the behaviour of humans. What makes the story so successful is that the key characters are not leaders, heroes, scientists or explorers; the setting is not (for the most part) a major city. Instead, it concerns an ordinary person, who remains ordinary, in a tiny village, imagining that he is doing his patriotic duty at all times. The small absurdities are only absurd until you realise that they could well happen, and whilst much has changed since the setting of the 1940s, much has not.