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beccaboyes 's review for:
The Children of Men
by P.D. James
DID NOT FINISH
I really wanted to like this.
PD James’ prose is incredible. The way things are described and characterised is perhaps some of the best I’ve read in recent memory. But good prose cannot save a boring book.
The premise intrigued me - I’d heard of the film but had never gotten round to watching it, so thought I’d try reading the original version first. Let’s just say, it’s a slog, and I’ve been forced to leave it for now (I refuse to DNF books but it may take me a while to return to this), because of one simple reason.
I am over halfway into the book, and the conflict has not started.
The world building is immaculate, realistic, gripping - but when the first 140 pages of the book are taken up by Theo Farron recounting his past and current life, and seemingly attempting to delve into the problems of the Quietus only to put brakes on fit for an airplane, the pace of the book becomes excruciatingly slow and tedious. This is not helped by the sheer unlikeable nature of our POV character, and while I know where the story leads because of the trailer for the film, the middle of the book seems lost in a sea of world building and descriptions of Theo thinking himself better than everyone else, rather than... you know... introducing the major plot?
I like to push through books I’m not fond of, but if you don’t introduce your main plot before the halfway mark, you have not written a good book. The Children of Men is a book with an excellent and gripping premise, but this seems to be all PD James had up her sleeve.
PD James’ prose is incredible. The way things are described and characterised is perhaps some of the best I’ve read in recent memory. But good prose cannot save a boring book.
The premise intrigued me - I’d heard of the film but had never gotten round to watching it, so thought I’d try reading the original version first. Let’s just say, it’s a slog, and I’ve been forced to leave it for now (I refuse to DNF books but it may take me a while to return to this), because of one simple reason.
I am over halfway into the book, and the conflict has not started.
The world building is immaculate, realistic, gripping - but when the first 140 pages of the book are taken up by Theo Farron recounting his past and current life, and seemingly attempting to delve into the problems of the Quietus only to put brakes on fit for an airplane, the pace of the book becomes excruciatingly slow and tedious. This is not helped by the sheer unlikeable nature of our POV character, and while I know where the story leads because of the trailer for the film, the middle of the book seems lost in a sea of world building and descriptions of Theo thinking himself better than everyone else, rather than... you know... introducing the major plot?
I like to push through books I’m not fond of, but if you don’t introduce your main plot before the halfway mark, you have not written a good book. The Children of Men is a book with an excellent and gripping premise, but this seems to be all PD James had up her sleeve.