The Children of Men
by P.D. James
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Book Summary Information
Author: P.D. JamesEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-12-05
ISBN: 0307279901
Number of pages: 241
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of The Children of Men
Book Review: Quite different from the movie but interesting
Summary: 3 Stars
As a former fan of PD James, I was surprised to find out that the movie of the same name was based on her book. PD James is a fine writer and I read many of her detective novels for both the plot and the character development (think Jane Austen writing murder mysteries). However, I stopped reading her books after she portrayed a British anti-nuclear activist as an isolated, hapless, socially inept bumbler. (Full disclosure: I was once a full-time anti-nuclear activist so maybe I took it a little personally.)
Once I saw the movie, which was quite impressive, I decided to take another look at her work. However, those folks who are looking for a read which mirrors the film will be quite disappointed. While there are many characters with the same names, they play different roles in the plot and in some cases have different personalities.
Where the book is not as good as the movie: The activists are much more like the anti-nuclear activist described above. Hapless, naive, and clueless about how one mobilizes other people to join a social movement. They contact Theo in order to get the ear of his cousin, Xan, who is the dictatorial leader of the UK. Sorry, Ms. James, but no real activist with half a brain expects that just talking nicely to the man in charge is going to change things. As well, some of the character development makes no sense. People make choices that don't always make sense to me and the pace at which things occur doesn't always work.
Where the book is better than the movie: The book does an effective job of portraying a world which is emptying out. In the movie, the UK is a crowded, busy place, I guess, primarily because of refugees adding to the population. While it makes for an exciting movie, it doesn't really show how the world is becoming emptier and emptier and how empty space and quiet starts to take over people's lives as they have to make decisions about how they will face their deaths in a world without a younger generation to perform the various tasks that keep society running. PD James is a master at portraying what it means to watch the world dying around you.
In closing, if you loved the movie, you may be disappointed by the book but it's still quite interesting on an intellectual level even if the plot is lacking at times.
Summary of The Children of Men
Told with P. D. James's trademark suspense, insightful characterization, and riveting storytelling, The Children of Men is a story of a world with no children and no future.The human race has become infertile, and the last generation to be born is now adult. Civilization itself is crumbling as suicide and despair become commonplace. Oxford historian Theodore Faron, apathetic toward a future without a future, spends most of his time reminiscing. Then he is approached by Julian, a bright, attractive woman who wants him to help get her an audience with his cousin, the powerful Warden of England. She and her band of unlikely revolutionaries may just awaken his desire to live . . . and they may also hold the key to survival for the human race.
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