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A review by careymacaulay
The Children of Men by P.D. James
4.0
"I wish that my remembrance of my father was happier, that I had a clear view, or at least some view, of the essential man which I could take hold of, make part of me; I wish that I could name even three qualities which characterized him. Thinking about him now for the first time in years, there are no adjectives which I can honestly conjure up, not even that he was gentle, kind, intelligent, loving. He may have been all of these things, I just don’t know. All I know about him is that he was dying. His cancer wasn’t quick or merciful—when is it merciful?—and he took nearly three years to die. It seems that most of my childhood was subsumed in those years by the look and the sound and the smell of his death. He was his cancer."
PD James is one of my mother's favourite authors. She is polarizing for me as I've read hits and misses. This story is definitely a hit for me. I loved that the story is half epistolary (with the other half written in the third person.) I get why PD James decided to write the story this way. In the beginning, our main character, Theo, is a solitary, lonely man who decides to reflect on his life by beginning a journal. He has turned 50, it is new year's day, and the world is dying -- no babies born for the past 25 years. As the novel progresses, we see how Theo changes from a self-serving, selfish, apathetic person to a leader. Unfortunately, there is a suggestion in the end that Theo may be returning to his self-serving ways -- albeit with added power -- and that he likes that power a little too much. A scene between Theo and an elderly couple shows how frightening humans can become when survival is in on the line. We humans can excuse away our actions in all sorts of ways -- especially at the expense of the weak.
PD James discusses many things within her novel: ageism, power, religion, slavery, crime, and suicide, to name a few. Without giving away too much of the story, the ending is unresolved for the human race as PD James leaves us with many questions and concerns. I wasn't exactly hopeful that all would be set right for Theo and the world. The writing and story are both very good -- especially for someone who loves an apocalyptic tale -- and this one is subtle but VERY smart.
P.S. It is that time again for my new years bookish resolutions. As always, my main goal is to read books on my physical book shelves and read less library books, give away the books I will not be reading again, and read authors I love. So, this year I will be reading a library book and then my own book. I have a reading list that I aim to stick to. I like to read atmospheric books so I will be tying in stories with the seasons -- my favourite! I am not so concerned with the number of books I read as I would like to read some weighty tomes and classics I can sink my teeth into. There are so many books I want to read and so little time to do it
PD James is one of my mother's favourite authors. She is polarizing for me as I've read hits and misses. This story is definitely a hit for me. I loved that the story is half epistolary (with the other half written in the third person.) I get why PD James decided to write the story this way. In the beginning, our main character, Theo, is a solitary, lonely man who decides to reflect on his life by beginning a journal. He has turned 50, it is new year's day, and the world is dying -- no babies born for the past 25 years. As the novel progresses, we see how Theo changes from a self-serving, selfish, apathetic person to a leader. Unfortunately, there is a suggestion in the end that Theo may be returning to his self-serving ways -- albeit with added power -- and that he likes that power a little too much. A scene between Theo and an elderly couple shows how frightening humans can become when survival is in on the line. We humans can excuse away our actions in all sorts of ways -- especially at the expense of the weak.
PD James discusses many things within her novel: ageism, power, religion, slavery, crime, and suicide, to name a few. Without giving away too much of the story, the ending is unresolved for the human race as PD James leaves us with many questions and concerns. I wasn't exactly hopeful that all would be set right for Theo and the world. The writing and story are both very good -- especially for someone who loves an apocalyptic tale -- and this one is subtle but VERY smart.
P.S. It is that time again for my new years bookish resolutions. As always, my main goal is to read books on my physical book shelves and read less library books, give away the books I will not be reading again, and read authors I love. So, this year I will be reading a library book and then my own book. I have a reading list that I aim to stick to. I like to read atmospheric books so I will be tying in stories with the seasons -- my favourite! I am not so concerned with the number of books I read as I would like to read some weighty tomes and classics I can sink my teeth into. There are so many books I want to read and so little time to do it