Sunday, June 7, 2009

The Children Of Men

PD James has been writing books for about 50 years now. But I first heard of her a few months back (I read a review about an Adam Dalgliesh story). The comments I read about the author were quite encouraging, so in my subsequent visit to Landmark, Forum, I asked for The Children Of Men. (They also recommended to me her latest - The Private Patient which I am yet to put my hands on.)

The Children of Men was a very interesting read - that is an understatement. It is definitely not a light read, you cannot cruise through the pages at one go. You need to read each sentence, hover over it, and appreciate the thought and research that has gone into the entire work. It is thought-provoking, it is scary (not as in "horror" scary but as in "a world without a future" scary). The truth is that such a future-without-a-future is not impossible. It could be likely, though (if it ever happens), it would take some time.

I understand that a movie has been made on this story, but I am wary of movies made from books as they steer us away from the movie we have directed in our mind during the reading, starring the characters our mind has created using the raw material available to us from our past and present.

My rating of the book: Very Good.


3 comments:

  1. I enjoyed the movie....though I think that I did not like the ending if I remember correctly. I think it was one of those movies with alternate endings. I should read the book.

    You mentioned on my blog that you are on Twitter. What is your Twitter ID?

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  2. Yes, I agree that the ending could probably have been better. Anyways the rest of the book overshadowed the last pages :)

    I am jean_blore on twitter.

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  3. Going to look for you now...re Twitter.

    I added the little boy to my Vigil. I hope no more tragedies occur with these drains. Hopefully, the staff/resources can be located to reverse what seems to be an ongoing situation.

    You seem to have a very kind heart.

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