Somehow this book ended up having been put on hold for me at the library. I didn't add my name to the list, and no one I know owned up to it either. It seemed pretty interesting, being about the apocalypse and stuff, so I read it. It ended up being not very interesting, but I went ahead and finished it.
It's the story of this 10th grader and her family after an asteroid hits the moon and knocks it in a closer orbit with the Earth. This messes up things like tides, causing tsunamis, volcanic action, earthquakes, etc. They hang out in their house and try to survive and things like that.
It had potential, but it pretty much sucked. The woman didn't really write poorly; it just wasn't anything memorable and the story was boring. There was some subplot with her being kind of obsessed with some figure skater that was from her hometown and made it big, and then he shows up halfway through the book when like everyone else is dead, skates with her on a pond, and never comes back. It was really annoying. Either take out that subplot or make it matter, woman. also, I'm not sure about the science behind it. I think she might be close, but I wanted a little more backing for all the things that happened after the moon came closer.
It was like someone took The Day After Tomorrow and made it even worse and without any LULZ. They mostly just sat around making bad decisions about water usage. "Oh no, kids! Half the world's population is decimated, we have zero government assistance or healthcare or electricity! I'm limiting us to one bath a week apiece. Our well water should last us to eternity, despite all the drought we've been having!" It was such a consumerist view of what "bad times" means. Wah wah we can't go to McDonalds wah wah I miss the microwave wah wah." Grow some balls. Ok, so in the event of an apocalypse I might miss microwaves a bit. But not very much, and guess what they never mentioned the whole book? Music! What kind of asshole doesn't even think about the fact that all their music is hiding on a dead-ass computer? I'd be hoarding batteries for a boom box, or rigging up my record player to be crankable. Or something.
The back was all "You are going to crap yourself this is so scary!" But it wasn't scary in the slightest. It was like an apocalypse novel for people that had never thought about an apocalypse thoroughly before. Which is probably lots of people, and I am probably a minority in my "what can I ask for for my birthday that will aid me after the collapse?" mentality. But still. Boring.
The main character was an SJ, too. Who writes SJ main characters? BORING. Ugh.
I think that crisis novels written from the P.O.V. of a child (or young adult) can be really poignant if done well. You're supposed to get something out of the fact that you're seeing the world fall apart through the simplified lens of a child's eye. Kind of like Persepolis! But this book didn't pull that off, and was just not very interesting, instead.
God, I could write such a good apocalypse novel.
Pages: 360
Time: Feb 16-Mar 4
Rating: 3
so i get that fate basically left this on your doorstep, and i don't even know if we read the same type of books but if you suggest some for me i'll suggest some for you. deal? i'll start. ha. have you read any jeannette winterson? i read the passion and i thought it was awesome. no apocalypse and it honestly has a bit of a candide feel (which is kind of a great book, just for its storytelling) but i liked it a lot. and it's more fun to read than the dense shit i usually subject myself to. so anyway, i'd like to know what you think. also italo calvino if on a winter's night a traveler is cool, especially for a writer. maybe you have read these. i don't know. this comment needs to end, now.
ReplyDeleteOh, good. I like suggestions. I dunno when I'll get around to reading them, but I will eventually, and then I will talk about them on here, so you'll know when it happens.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of Jeanette Winterson. Did she write Written on the Body? I hear good things about that, but I've never heard of The Passion. I like Candide, though, so I'll look out for that book. I've read Invisible Cities by Calvino and thought it was okay, and recently acquired Cosmicomics and planned on reading it soon, but I've not read If on a Winter's Night a Traveler, but maybe I will.
For you... I don't know what kind of books you like, either. I'm not done shitting myself over Oscar Wao, so I'll recommend that. You might like The God of Small things by Arundhati Roy, but it's been a while, so I'm not sure if it's as good as I remember it being. I think so, though. another book I like a lot currently is The Book Thief, which is sort of a YA book, but not really and it's narrated by Death and it is a Holocaust book that isn't your typical Holocaust book. also have you read anything by David Mitchell?
haha kristen you's funny. apparently "you's" is a word.
ReplyDeletei haven't even heard of david mitchell. i really need to read oscar wao, and probably other diaz too. i'm stuck in henry miller right now, but after that i'll probably read one of the hundreds of books i've bought with the intention of reading. i've heard tons of good things about god of small things, but somehow every time i start i just can't keep going. i think i got a bit burnt out on indian fiction maybe. but i'll try again probs.
ReplyDeleteMitchell wrote Cloud Atlas, which is one of those multiple story concentric frame things, and Black Swan Green, which is a regular style novel. I loved Cloud Atlas a whole lot, but BSG is probably a better book? I'm not sure. I don't think I've read any Indian fiction other than
ReplyDeleteGod of Small Things, so that's possibly why I liked it so much.
Oh my gahd what do you MEAN there's no microwave??? How am I supposed to eat my Hot Pockets!!!
ReplyDeleteAhaha hot pockets. I wonder what the shelf life of those things even are? I bet they'd be edible even after nuclear winter.
ReplyDeletewhat's an SJ? is it Stupid Jew? I hope it is.
ReplyDelete-Peter
If it's sensing judging then I don't want to know. The MB is less cool than racism.
ReplyDeletePETER. Okay, racism is pretty funny but the MBTI is cooler than most things on the planet. You know you wouldn't want to read a book about an ESFJ. That would be boring as hell.
ReplyDelete