...is not what I got in Sigrid Nunez's Salvation City. (Just a moment of self-congratualtion -- that would be my first successful blog link -- thank you to Alison for telling me how.) Salavation City is a town in southern Indiana that has suffered less from the impact of a world-wide flu pandemic. Cole is rescued from an orphanage by Preacher Wyatt and comes to live in his evangelical home after both of Cole's parents have died from the flu. The book seems to want to pose the liberal atheism of Cole's parents against the warm evangelicalism (with some dark under-roots) of the Wyatt's. But in all the book is disappointing. First off, don't tell me this is about a world post-flu pandemic and then give me virtually no details about what has happened in this new world (one mention of an emaciated President (female!) 10 days after surviving her own bout of flu) -- but no discussion at all on the impact this pandemic has on government services, democratic values, transportation systems, food distribution or any of the other postapocalyptic details I seek. The people of Salavation City seem to be waiting for the rapture and their doing better from the pandemic itself is either because they are nicer to each other or because they are isolated. Cole seems less interested in their religion (although he tries) and similalry distanced from the memory of parents that did not seem so great anyway (is this just the truthful voice of a young teen ? I was wholly unconvinced when he expressed sadness over their deaths because he quite convincingly describes his parents as distant, demanding, cold and isolated). Eventually other things happen -- but nothing so interesting to report here....
I am now reading (actually re-reading, but it took me 125 pages to figure this out) Sharp North. It starts out quite well in a small community in a northern woods somewhere responsible for a system of electricity generators. There is certainly mystery and drowning cities and plans for revising the world (both the world we are in and the one we have lost). But it too is still not quite what I want.
So what do I want: an event, survivors, a system for thinking through how to live not just for next week but for the next years and generations. With enough potential threats to keep thinngs moving along -- but no zombies and no cannibals. I want an explanation of how to rebuild and I want evidence that such a rebuilding makes sense. And I want this from a protagonist who is not particulalry heroic in a world where being strong and smart may not be the key to survival. So reader....any suggestions?
Ooo, links! How exciting!
ReplyDeleteIs there ever a postapocalyptic book without cannibals? You should write an article examining the very few postapocalyptic tales that manage to avoid the cannibal plot twist.
I have no suggestions. I'm currently rereading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which seems to have no cannibals. But the world does actually end, so does that count?
I want to heartily recommend any book by Charles Todd. The author is really a mother/son combo and they are well written mysteries set just after WWI in Britain, suspenseful, great main characters -one is an inspector who is suffering from shell shock and has a hallucination who talks to him. Not your average mystery.And there are plenty of them to savor!
ReplyDeleteWWI is kind of postapocalyptic.
Also,there is a series by Stephen Donaldson, fantasy - he is a leper who turns out to have the key to a lot of cool stuff, wars against evil, very complex good and evil, lots of metaphors - sorry can't remember the name and too darn lazy to go upstairs and look :)
Well, if those appeal they should keep you busy for awhile!
Coming over via Alison!
Hi Claire,
ReplyDeleteHave you read David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas? It's a non-linear narrative which spans over 150 years & includes a post-apocalyptic chapter (with NO zombies or cannibals). It's a wonderful book & one I've been recommending to everyone lately. There are not, unfortunately, any survivor tips offered in the text itself (unless pacifism is a survival tip?) Excellent book though.
Does it have to take place on earth? And, does it have to be written for an adult audience? If not the first, I can think of a couple of Ursula le Guin books that might fit the bill. And, my 12 y-o's been reading a couple of post-apocalyptic series in which adolescents have to figure out how to survive after a wide-spread disaster. No responsible adults attached to them. Doesn't always go well. City of Amber series is one she read several years ago that seems to fit this, too, now that I think about it...
And, randomly, have you ever taught Bellamy? I keep considering it for a science & lit class, and then re-considering it. It's more that I find it interesting, than that I find it something I think students will.
Happy reading!
Deandra
Thanks for the suggestions! Deandra, I have read Cloud Atlas, although years ago and should now reread. I am on a binge of young adult books (I will be posting next about two good ones). Has your 12 yo read the Hunger games? Good, but problematic. I do teach Bellamy and I find students are less compelled by it than I am. And I love Le Guin -- which ones do you like?
ReplyDeleteI have not read Charles Todd or Stephen Donaldson -- but will take a look!