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A review by bookph1le
The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey
5.0
I'd like to preface this review with a short declaration: I do not read books about vampires and zombies.
That's not true, you might say, if you look at my reviews. After all, I've read both this book and Justin Cronin's trilogy, thereby negating my declaration.
But the thing is, I *really* don't read about vampires and zombies. Since I don't read books about them, I can't judge what's out there, but I can say that I typically don't care. It's just not subject matter that draws me. I don't think zombie/vampire books are bad or wrong, I just am not interested in them. So imagine my surprise when I read a book like The Girl with All the Gifts and am blown away by it. So blown away by it that I pick up copies of Fellside and this book as well.
Having read and really admired all three of these books, I can say that this is the one I like the most. Even though Fellside is very different from the two Hungry Plague books, there's a common thread: this author has an uncanny, amazing ability to create characters who make me react in very visceral ways. Yeah, sometimes I like to read books just for their plot, but what always tips my scale when it comes to how deeply gripped a book holds me, it's the characters. I can think of only a few other authors who have the same talent with them this author has.
Yes, this is a zombie book, in many ways. Yet it's also not a zombie book in many ways. Really, what this series is (and this is true for Fellside as well), is a story about how human beings cope, how our strengths and foibles manifest in ways that aren't always obvious to ourselves, let alone to other people. I don't want to give too much away, so I won't go into specifics, but I was incredibly moved by the heroism in this book. There are specific characters who face serious moral quandaries and find a way their way to a solution they can live with. This interests me a great deal, because I find that kind of heroism a lot more interesting than our conventional notions of heroism, which usually include strapping figures jumping in to save the day, usually with the assistance of a lot of heavy weapons. So, yeah, this isn't a book about zombies as much as it is a book about choices, and how easy it is to justify bad decisions, how hard it is to do the right thing, and how compromised our humanity becomes if we're seduced by self-interest at the expense of the larger well being of society.
What I also really admire about this author is the way he portrays unconventional social structures, which I think is another way he picks apart what it means to be human. Zombies are usually portrayed as monsters, but these books take a more nuanced view, and that view poses some big questions about humans tendency to divide animals (and, sadly, often other humans) into categories that measure their worth against our own. The best characters in all of Carey's books struggle mightily with this. They learn to look beyond their own prejudices and preconceived notions to entertain the possibility that maybe their way of looking at things is skewed. This is a quality the world could use a lot more of, in my opinion. Carey is asking readers to think very, very deeply about the meaning of survival at all costs.
Another thing Carey excels at is creating characters for whom I feel pure, unadulterated hatred. There's one character in particular in this novel who made me seethe, because said character's viewpoint is so narrow. Yet I don't think the author is trying to stake some sort of moral ground here, because this character isn't the villain, per se. Instead, the character is an example of what happens when people let their emotions control them rather than trying to see things with a cool head and a clear mind.
This was one of those rare books that had me on tenterhooks, to the extent that, as I got close to the end, I couldn't tear myself away from it. Whatever Carey writes next--even if it's about vampires--it's going on my to-read list.
That's not true, you might say, if you look at my reviews. After all, I've read both this book and Justin Cronin's trilogy, thereby negating my declaration.
But the thing is, I *really* don't read about vampires and zombies. Since I don't read books about them, I can't judge what's out there, but I can say that I typically don't care. It's just not subject matter that draws me. I don't think zombie/vampire books are bad or wrong, I just am not interested in them. So imagine my surprise when I read a book like The Girl with All the Gifts and am blown away by it. So blown away by it that I pick up copies of Fellside and this book as well.
Having read and really admired all three of these books, I can say that this is the one I like the most. Even though Fellside is very different from the two Hungry Plague books, there's a common thread: this author has an uncanny, amazing ability to create characters who make me react in very visceral ways. Yeah, sometimes I like to read books just for their plot, but what always tips my scale when it comes to how deeply gripped a book holds me, it's the characters. I can think of only a few other authors who have the same talent with them this author has.
Yes, this is a zombie book, in many ways. Yet it's also not a zombie book in many ways. Really, what this series is (and this is true for Fellside as well), is a story about how human beings cope, how our strengths and foibles manifest in ways that aren't always obvious to ourselves, let alone to other people. I don't want to give too much away, so I won't go into specifics, but I was incredibly moved by the heroism in this book. There are specific characters who face serious moral quandaries and find a way their way to a solution they can live with. This interests me a great deal, because I find that kind of heroism a lot more interesting than our conventional notions of heroism, which usually include strapping figures jumping in to save the day, usually with the assistance of a lot of heavy weapons. So, yeah, this isn't a book about zombies as much as it is a book about choices, and how easy it is to justify bad decisions, how hard it is to do the right thing, and how compromised our humanity becomes if we're seduced by self-interest at the expense of the larger well being of society.
What I also really admire about this author is the way he portrays unconventional social structures, which I think is another way he picks apart what it means to be human. Zombies are usually portrayed as monsters, but these books take a more nuanced view, and that view poses some big questions about humans tendency to divide animals (and, sadly, often other humans) into categories that measure their worth against our own. The best characters in all of Carey's books struggle mightily with this. They learn to look beyond their own prejudices and preconceived notions to entertain the possibility that maybe their way of looking at things is skewed. This is a quality the world could use a lot more of, in my opinion. Carey is asking readers to think very, very deeply about the meaning of survival at all costs.
Another thing Carey excels at is creating characters for whom I feel pure, unadulterated hatred. There's one character in particular in this novel who made me seethe, because said character's viewpoint is so narrow. Yet I don't think the author is trying to stake some sort of moral ground here, because this character isn't the villain, per se. Instead, the character is an example of what happens when people let their emotions control them rather than trying to see things with a cool head and a clear mind.
This was one of those rare books that had me on tenterhooks, to the extent that, as I got close to the end, I couldn't tear myself away from it. Whatever Carey writes next--even if it's about vampires--it's going on my to-read list.