The Children of Men
by P.D. James
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Book Reviews of The Children of Men
Book Review: Unsympathetic characters in a wasteland
Summary: 2 Stars
Author P.D. James starts with an interesting thesis in this dystopian novel: due to an unexplained, worldwide infertility crisis, there have been no children born for a generation. Society begins to unravel as it ages, and in the Britain of the near future democracy has been abandoned in favor of a 'Warden', Xan, who will keep the lights on, evacuate the outlying lands and allow civilization to come to a quiet end. Sex has become meaningless and people spend their remaining time in pointless pursuits. Against this, the protagonist Theo Faron, a frustrated academic, becomes involved in a plot over a rumor that there might be a fertile woman left in the world.
Unfortunately there are substantial problems with the characters. The biggest one: Theo Faron is a most unsympathetic protagonist. He's completely selfish and unlikable, and in the second half of the book it becomes clear that what motivates him in the end, similar to Xan, is possession of the woman. He's nothing more than an over-educated, pessimistic, nihilistic Neanderthal. The smaller characters in the conspiracy likewise are dull, dimwitted fools. I had much more sympathy for the Warden who was actually trying to manage an orderly implosion of the society that had been given to him.
Author James is an excellent technical writer -- the descriptions of people and places sing. The pace, though moderate, never drags. At the end though you're left with wondering, "it was all about ... THIS?"
Book Review: a far cry from the movie
Summary: 4 Stars
This book was published in 1992. That is why, although it is set in a dystopian world not too far from our present future, it will seem a bit dated. There are no mentions of cell phones, Internet communication, or other inventions that have changed our world so drastically. However, it is still a powerful premise: the book is set in a time after mysterious source causes all women worldwide to become infertile. The youngest inhabitants of planet Earth are in their twenties, and the future looks bleak, with various attempts to create children failing. England, where the book is set, is now ruled by a Warden with a council of four, and the main character is the Warden's cousin, Theo, a disillusioned and cynical university professor. When he hooks up with a younger woman who is part of an undergrown resistance movement, and becomes involved, he ultimately comes into conflict with his cousin and the possible future of mankind hangs in the balance.
The book bears only a passing similarity to the 2006 movie, indeed one major character was created solely for the onscreen version.. The ending too, is radically different. Personally, I preferred the movie ending, as the book one struck me as problematic. The protagonist's transformation from cynic to compassionate human being seemed rushed. Also, the alternating chapters told in the first then third person were difficult to easily transition. But it is the novel is still a thought provoking read.
Book Review: different than movie in plot and themes
Summary: 4 Stars
First of all - what a great premise for a story. I think that's what I actually enjoyed most by reading this book - is the description of the dystopia brought on by the infertility of humanity. How do people change knowing that there is no future for the human race?
The world that James describes is not too much different than our own. Religion is exemplified by Rosie who's tenants are "corporate social responsibility and sentimental humanism" (All you need is Love) instead of theologies of sin and redemption. The Archbishop of the fragmented Church of England is a self-described Christian Rationalist who forbids infant baptism due to it being a superstition.
Descriptions of other social aspects are also described such as the importance of pets, sex becoming "least important of man's sensory pleasures", and government led euthanizations called Quietus'.
The ending of the book is quite a bit different than the movie - in fact much better (though I didn't overly enjoy the entire plot of the book - hence the four stars). Whereas in the movie, Science is seen as the savior of mankind, religion plays a larger role in the book. Also, in the movie suicide is shown in a positive light but the same cannot be said of the book.
Overall a good book that I will likely pick up to read again in the future.
Book Review: great characters, great description
Summary: 5 Stars
description of Rawlings, an investigator for the secret police:
"I thought I understood his kind: the petty bureaucrats of tyranny, men who
relish the carefully measured meed of power permitted them, who need to walk in the aura of manufactured fear, to know that the fear precedes them as they enter a room and will linger like a smell after they have left, but who have neither the sadism nor the courage for the ultimate cruelty. But, they need their part of the action. It isn't sufficient for them, as it is for most of us, to stand a little way off to watch the crosses on the hill."
The character does not have the power to insert the lance in the side, rather he'll menace; perhaps he walks around the cross tapping his spear on the ground, or poking the man on cross.
Most of us are content with a distant view. We dare not.
Setting a scene:
"Daylight, tentative and bleak, stole like a chill breath into the wood, wrapping itself round barks and broken boughs, touching the boles of the trees and the low denuded branches, giving darkness and mystery form and substance."
Hmmm, dark, threating and suspenseful.
These are examples found on nearly every page of this book.
Notwithstanding the story, the brilliance of the writing makes this a book one to own and study.
Book Review: An interesting plot....worth the time to read it!
Summary: 4 Stars
I decided to read this book BEFORE I saw the movie and I'm glad I did. The book, a real change from P.D. James' typical books, involves a future in which people have become infertile and the last group (The Omegas) are all that is left of the population of earth as they were the last group of human beings born before the mysterious cause of infertility. Meanwhile, England is led by a dictator and the search for fertile people is done constantly looking and hoping for the next "Adam and Eve" (if you will) to help keep civilization going.
It's a scary premise and at times in the book I thought about what would mankind be like if we knew we that within a generation or two the world would never see human life again. P.D. James does an excellent job with the characters including Theo Faron who is an Oxford Scholar that has lost faith in religion and in mankind. He meets up with a group (The Five Fishes) and the book begins to unfold even more as a "secret" that the group has could change the world.
At times the book was a bit slow, but the book kept me interested and made me think about a world in which man knew that his legacy on earth would be over soon enough and how human beings would respond. PD James has some interesting political twists and ideas and it made for a good read.