A review by crickety
The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

3.25

 

This novel is filled with tension. There’s an immediate danger presented by the invaders armed with crude weapons. While we soon learn that they have no intention of harming the family, the presence of possibly deluded religious nutjobs holding you hostage is terrifying. The second level of tension comes from the question of whether the apocalypse is occurring or not. While this is a more dire existential threat, I felt more stress about the family as the larger world felt far away and not as real. 
 
It's interesting how Tremblay has written this question of what is occurring in a way that reflects how faith works. We are never told straight out what is happening and are presented two narratives. There is the possibility of these four adults indeed being sent by god, and there’s the possibility of some communal psychosis occurring. On the side of the god possibility, we have events like the huge tsunami or the planes falling. On the side of, there’s the knowing about the tsunami beforehand, or watching pre-programmed pandemic coverage. I think it shows well a basic component of faith, in that can’t be proven just accepted. Two people seeing and experiencing the same thing can draw completely different conclusions from it. 
 
In my opinion though, based on the information the family got, they had no reason to sacrifice one of their members. Extraordinary claims or commitments require extraordinary proof and such was not presented. To make the choice of murdering your family the evidence would have to be immense and overwhelming. I don’t think this book reaches even a tiny portion of what would be required. To me this makes the story less compelling because the central tension of the push and pull between what is true is not there for me. I never consider that they should sacrifice one of their own because the case is not made strongly enough. And since the family is protected from harm from the invaders since they are not allowed to hurt them, more tension is lost. Therefore, I think the latter part of this novel floundered a bit.