hardcover, 368 pages
Published Dec. 31, 2017 by Subterranean.
Asi sem zatim necetl takto poklidny postapo. Mel sem trosku obavu, ze to je svet po pandemii ("gruzinske chripky"), ale nastesti ten kontext nebyl nijak strasnej. Prolinani casovych linii fajn, mozna trosku naivni az neuveritelny. Naka mini akce tam je, ale vic je to o pocitech a hledani. Trosku to pripomina knizky od Becky Chambers, je to proste takovy zensky. Nekdy si urcite dam dalsi knizku od teto autorky.
I have read many post-apocalypse novels, and this is one of the best. Where it differs from the others is that it includes a lot of contemplative ideas about memory and loss, about what we value in our lives. There are parallel narratives from before and after the apocalypse. The "disaster porn" element of it, where you imagine what it would be like to be one of the survivors, is superbly done. But the accounts of the everyday life of the characters beforehand are also compelling . Emily is just a great writer, she has that way with words that creates an internal voice you just can't stop listening to.
Like Margaret Attwood and Kazuo Ishiguro, this author is one of those writers who denies they are SF authors. I am an unashamed genre tribalist - conventions, cosplay, the lot. But it doesn't matter in the end. This is just …
I have read many post-apocalypse novels, and this is one of the best. Where it differs from the others is that it includes a lot of contemplative ideas about memory and loss, about what we value in our lives. There are parallel narratives from before and after the apocalypse. The "disaster porn" element of it, where you imagine what it would be like to be one of the survivors, is superbly done. But the accounts of the everyday life of the characters beforehand are also compelling . Emily is just a great writer, she has that way with words that creates an internal voice you just can't stop listening to.
Like Margaret Attwood and Kazuo Ishiguro, this author is one of those writers who denies they are SF authors. I am an unashamed genre tribalist - conventions, cosplay, the lot. But it doesn't matter in the end. This is just a great book. Also, I have to admit the non-genre focus really sets this book apart. I think Emily does it better than Kazuo Ishiguro.
The plot of this book is not only interesting but one that lets you think. The writing is superb and it is an overall beautiful book.
Listened to this on audiobook, which it was pretty good for. I wasn't expecting much and therefore it met my expectations. I liked the structure of weaving together all the different storylines, it was decently well written. After a while I started getting annoyed at how useless everyone was after their tech stopped functioning, it's not like ALL knowledge disappears and suddenly people are like "huh, wow, I simply cannot fathom HOW airplanes worked?" idk.
I've read this book for two different book clubs, with about 6 years between each reading, and on both occasions I've come away feeling a bit 'meh'. On the plus side, it's easy to read, the characters have distinguishable names (e.g. no 'Jon' and 'John' who are completely different characters) and all the threads that run through it are tidied up at the end. Each character is distinctive and has their own flaws and background.
On the downside, there isn't really anything particularly new or special in this book. A virus that spreads rapidly and kills off >95% of the population has been done before, and it's unconvincing to have an infectious agent with an incubation period of a few hours which kills within a day - people would die before they could pass it on (at that speed you'd have a plane full of bodies on a long-haul flight). …
I've read this book for two different book clubs, with about 6 years between each reading, and on both occasions I've come away feeling a bit 'meh'. On the plus side, it's easy to read, the characters have distinguishable names (e.g. no 'Jon' and 'John' who are completely different characters) and all the threads that run through it are tidied up at the end. Each character is distinctive and has their own flaws and background.
On the downside, there isn't really anything particularly new or special in this book. A virus that spreads rapidly and kills off >95% of the population has been done before, and it's unconvincing to have an infectious agent with an incubation period of a few hours which kills within a day - people would die before they could pass it on (at that speed you'd have a plane full of bodies on a long-haul flight).
The big problem I have though is that this is supposed to be a post-apocalyptic book, but at least half of it is set pre-apocalypse, achieved through the overuse of flashbacks. Used judiciously, flashbacks can add something to a story, but when they're overused they interrupt the flow and become jarring - better to start with the original events and proceed in chronological order than to jump backwards and forwards.
Like the other reviewers who have given this 1 or 2 stars, I'm struggling to see what I'm missing here that's causing the majority of reviews to be 4 or 5 stars and gushing with enthusiasm.
