The Children of Men

If you've seen the movie, don't think you've read the book: the film takes the basic premise and tells an almost completely different story, from beginning to middle to end.
PD James' original is, if you've seen the movie, in many ways disappointing. The writing, as other reviewers have commented, can be a little pedestrian, and there is far too much exposition and lack of subtlety and subtext. There are no worries about missing anything here, because important points are stated loud and clear by the protagonist and his diary.
But put that aside and you still have a brilliantly imagined dystopia - James has clearly thought through what a world without children would be like, and her conclusions are thought-provoking, surprising, and terrifying.
This is an anti-Lord of the Flies - a world ruled by adults, with no infant influence to reign them in. A tyranny of the elderly.
Like the best dystopian fiction - Day of the Triffids; Saramago's Blindness and Seeing - it's all in the detail, and there's plenty of it here. Enjoy.

Interesting concept (0/0 people found this helpful)

Another reading group read which I did enjoy. However, I felt the end was a very weak but forgone conclusion. It was interesting to read something very different by P D James. I liked the way she made 2021 feel as though "the end was nigh" rather than over-futuristic; it's quite how I would imagine the world to be once the human race has lost the ability to sustain itself. Well written and it was good to read a book that forced my to use the dictionary for words I'd never come across before.

Cobbler, stick to your last (1/1 people found this helpful)

This book seems unfinished - as if the author lost interest in it after setting out the basic situation, then after some prodding from her publisher, scribbled out a hasty conclusion. All the ideas introduced in the first half of the book are abandoned for the sake of a headlong chase through the countryside.

Dystopian futures like the one described need more detailed exposition. Above all, the reader deserves some explanation of why all men (and all frozen sperm) suddenly became infertile. It looks like an act of God. The frequent references to religion lead one to believe that the long-awaited baby will turn out to be a Messiah (or even a Second Coming, Yeats-style), with the rural woodshed doing duty for a stable. But no, nothing even as unimaginative as that.

Other books which deal with mass infertility in the future at least offer some kind of explanation for it (eg Brian Aldiss "Greybeard", DF Jones "Implosion" Margaret Atwood "The Handmaid's Tale").

The book is curiously two-paced, with important explanations skimmed over or excluded altogether, while characters whom we see only briefly are described in minute physical detail. Some of the conversations and narrative are desperately long-winded.

The book raises so many questions and fails to answer any of them. The author mentions that conditions are worse overseas, but when Theo goes abroad for his Grand Tour he says nothing about the conditions in the places he has visited. The Omegas apparently run riot at night with little danger of being sent to the Isle of Man penal colony - yet Theo and co are picked up within hours of arriving at the Nativity Woodshed, though they could have been anywhere within a hundred mile radius of where the car was stolen: Xan and co go straight to the spot. When Rolf abandons the group the others automatically assume he's gone straight to Xan - as it turns out they are right, but why would he ?

The Sojourners sounded interesting early on - whatever happened to them ?

What's that stuff about state porn shops ? No real explanation offered.

Why doesn't Theo offer congratulations on confirming that Julian's pregnant ?

Why is Theo allowed (apparently) to take over from Xan after he has killed him ?

There are one or two interesting ideas - the Quietus - the sort of thing that could happen if the state sponsored euthanasia; and the christening of kittens, the women pushing dolls in prams. But mostly it's pretty hopeless.

And my favourite gripe: why do so many women authors write in first person from a man's point of view ? What are they afraid of ?

PD James should stick to her thriller books and leave SF to the professionals.

New Genre of Dystopia. (2/3 people found this helpful)

Fantastically written. It describes a future dystopia with so much enigmatic character and charisma that you feel like you are literally on the brink. Character development is not slow or contrived; neither is the emotional impact. The characters have apparent flaws, stern resolve and lovable quirks, you know them, you grew up with them, you love them.

The film however is not the abysmal accolade it's made out to be; harsher to the concept of the book, took away key points, plot, even some beloved characters and character depth was lost to those who are on the main stream of the book. But visually stunning, shorter summed up narrative and less controvertial than the book. But controversy can sometimes make a book. The film follows our current contemporary society by reflecting our status as humans on this planet. Result is a more downheartened and gritty world.

don't bother its dull (5/29 people found this helpful)

I bought the book hoping it would be a good 'disaster' story. Its not. Its tedious and dull. In spite of being an avid reader...i will read anything...I am having problems reading the book its so boring. The plot is tedious and the characters uninteresting. The description of an world without children is unconvincing. This is the first P.D.James book i have bought and it will be the last, I shall stick to authors that can write in future.

P.D. James

Reader Reviews:

An anti-Lord of the Flies (1/1 people found this helpful)

Interesting concept (0/0 people found this helpful)

Cobbler, stick to your last (1/1 people found this helpful)

New Genre of Dystopia. (2/3 people found this helpful)

don't bother its dull (5/29 people found this helpful)

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