Summer of the Apocalypse
by James Van Pelt
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Book Summary Information
Author: James Van PeltEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-11-01
ISBN: 0974657387
Number of pages: 260
Publisher: Fairwood Press, Inc
Book Reviews of Summer of the Apocalypse
Book Review: Will resonate for me for a long time to come.
Summary: 5 Stars
I ordered this book based on Amazon connecting the dots: I like apocalyptic fiction and this book obviously qualifies, so they recommended it to me. Often I prefer a darker vision than the author had here, but the author's vision of the future did not disappoint. I was very glad I took a chance on this one.
You know the story if you have read the description above and the other reviews. We are introduced to Eric, both the boy and the man, who has experienced two book end journeys through the apocalypse as a boy of fifteen and a elderly man of seventy five and we are told the story of both in alternating chapters. But as Amy, a previous reviewer, mentioned this is a book about fathers and sons and the relationships that define them as much as it is about the breakdown of society and one man's journey through it. Through Eric's eyes we see the generational differences and similarities that both seperate and bind.
Eric as a teen tries to come to grips with both the world falling apart at the seams and a father who he does not completely understand. A father who is at the same time both distant and somewhat cold and yet caring and warm in his own way. Eric as a seventy five year old man is trying to come to grips with a world that is resistant to discovering ways of rebuilding and a son who he feels has never understood him and who, perhaps, he might have failed as a child. There is hidden resentments, failed gestures, and yet a profound understanding, in the end, that what binds them all together is a love that is deep and overshadows everything else.
A good storyteller not only plunges you into a story with compelling elements and a good plot but lets you identify, on some level, with his or her characters. In this, James Van Pelt has done a terrific job, fashioning an apocalyptic vision that felt real and logical, with elements that made it feel almost profound. He has also given us characters that, for me, were identifiable and totally human. Inside of each of us, as we grow older, is both the child that we once were and the man or woman we have become, so even though we have here a man at two very different times in his life we can see that he is the same person in both instances.
This story resonates for me because Eric's quest to resurrect the old technologies is inextricably tied in with his relationships with his father, son, and grandson. A father who represents the old world and all the good it meant to him and a son who rejects not only the old tech but what it means to his father. The author deftly ties everything together and brings it to a very satisfactory conclusion. Elements of my own relationships with my father and son made this story even more potent and touching to me.
I highly recommend this book.
Summary of Summer of the Apocalypse
When a plague wipes out most of humanity, fifteen-year-old Eric sets out to find his father. Sixty years later, Eric starts another long journey in an America that has long since quit resembling our own, but there are shadows everywhere. Shadows of what the world once was, and shadows from Eric's past. Blood bandits, wolves, fire, feral children, and an insane militia are only a few of the problems Eric faces. Set in Denver, Colorado and the western foothills, Van Pelt's first novel is both a coming-of-age tale, and a story of an old man's search for hope in the midst of disaster. Eric's two adventures lead him through a slice of modern America and into the depths of one man's heart.Literature & Fiction Books
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