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A review by katiescho741
The Death of Grass by John Christopher
2.0
I was looking forward to this book and I enjoyed the premise but I thought overall it was only okay.
This book is very much a "keep calm and carry on" and "Stiff upper lip" apocalypse fiction. It was written in the 1950's and it's very of its time...especially at the start when the Brits seem to think that they would have a better reaction to the Chung-Li virus than the people in Asia would.
The writing is a bit on the surface and tends to shy away from details about the terrible things the group are forced to do. This is a shame but it means that you can imagine the horrors instead.
I was a bit unsure of the part where the wife and daughter are kidnapped and the implication seems to be that they were raped/sexually assaulted but it's brushed over. The wife is even seen as a bit of a hindrance while she deals with the shock.
There are a few bits that are problematic but it's a decent story overall. I wish it had been written more recently though...the fact that most of the characters had lived through WW2 meant they were experienced with rationing and killing for necessity. I'd be interested to see how grass dying out, rationing and the breakdown of society in the UK would look today...perhaps guns would be harder to get hold of, perhaps we'd struggle with a sense of direction because we rely on google maps, would we riot sooner because we aren't used to rationing?
Later, as the group expands, the issue is that everyone blends into one. I also found the children to be interchangeable.
An interesting idea to read about if you're a fan of apocalypse fiction, but it could be so much better.
This book is very much a "keep calm and carry on" and "Stiff upper lip" apocalypse fiction. It was written in the 1950's and it's very of its time...especially at the start when the Brits seem to think that they would have a better reaction to the Chung-Li virus than the people in Asia would.
The writing is a bit on the surface and tends to shy away from details about the terrible things the group are forced to do. This is a shame but it means that you can imagine the horrors instead.
I was a bit unsure of the part where the wife and daughter are kidnapped and the implication seems to be that they were raped/sexually assaulted but it's brushed over. The wife is even seen as a bit of a hindrance while she deals with the shock.
There are a few bits that are problematic but it's a decent story overall. I wish it had been written more recently though...the fact that most of the characters had lived through WW2 meant they were experienced with rationing and killing for necessity. I'd be interested to see how grass dying out, rationing and the breakdown of society in the UK would look today...perhaps guns would be harder to get hold of, perhaps we'd struggle with a sense of direction because we rely on google maps, would we riot sooner because we aren't used to rationing?
Later, as the group expands, the issue is that everyone blends into one. I also found the children to be interchangeable.
An interesting idea to read about if you're a fan of apocalypse fiction, but it could be so much better.