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I went on another reserving-books-at-the-library spree, but have run out book reading momentum so will write a review of the two I've read insted.
First was "Children of Men", which I grabbed on a whim when I'd just made the reservations and realised it still left me with nothing to read right then.
When the film (which I loved) came out I saw a bunch of reviews saying "The movie is good, but in a very different way to the book", which I assumed would apply just as well in reverse, and it did. The basic plot and setting is similar (everyone became infertile about 25 years ago, the world is slowly sliding into ruin and despair, main character is reluctantly drawn in by anti-government types to help try to save it) but the specifics are very different and where the film's understated and gritty exterior hides a passionately idealistic heart, the book is much more cold, dry and cynical (and similarly for the protagonists) Also while it's made clear there is nasty racism and mistreatment of immigrants going on the main character never sees it and doesn't really care, instead there's much more focus on the everyday life and politics, nothing really dramatic happens for the first 3/4 of the book (but when it does you are reminded that P.D. James is a writer of dispassionately violent crime novels). It almost felt like an extended meditation on ageing and Baby Boom.
Something I really liked was that Theo goes into long meditative reminiscences about his adolescence in the 80s which tell us nothing about the setting(*), but give a real veracity to the book when they segue seamlessly into his memories set post-childlessness. This would have been more convincing if it hadn't sounded like something out of Enid Blyton, I'm not sure P.D. James got a really good grip on how gen Xers think :)
(*)Unlike the numerous "Mary thought back on the 2D films of her childhood and wondered how she had ever lived without immersive smellovision" etc exposition scenes of much near-future scifi
First was "Children of Men", which I grabbed on a whim when I'd just made the reservations and realised it still left me with nothing to read right then.
When the film (which I loved) came out I saw a bunch of reviews saying "The movie is good, but in a very different way to the book", which I assumed would apply just as well in reverse, and it did. The basic plot and setting is similar (everyone became infertile about 25 years ago, the world is slowly sliding into ruin and despair, main character is reluctantly drawn in by anti-government types to help try to save it) but the specifics are very different and where the film's understated and gritty exterior hides a passionately idealistic heart, the book is much more cold, dry and cynical (and similarly for the protagonists) Also while it's made clear there is nasty racism and mistreatment of immigrants going on the main character never sees it and doesn't really care, instead there's much more focus on the everyday life and politics, nothing really dramatic happens for the first 3/4 of the book (but when it does you are reminded that P.D. James is a writer of dispassionately violent crime novels). It almost felt like an extended meditation on ageing and Baby Boom.
Something I really liked was that Theo goes into long meditative reminiscences about his adolescence in the 80s which tell us nothing about the setting(*), but give a real veracity to the book when they segue seamlessly into his memories set post-childlessness. This would have been more convincing if it hadn't sounded like something out of Enid Blyton, I'm not sure P.D. James got a really good grip on how gen Xers think :)
(*)Unlike the numerous "Mary thought back on the 2D films of her childhood and wondered how she had ever lived without immersive smellovision" etc exposition scenes of much near-future scifi
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