After The Flood - P.C. Jersild

[Libre]

It took me some time to get involved in it - it's relentlessly bleak and desolate. Early on, I really wanted to put it down (and in fact, started a thread about how you know when it's time to put a book down) but I stuck with it until I finished it, yesterday. Now I've started a new book, but I can't get out of the feel of the old one. You know how that happens? You live with a character, in a certain setting, for a period of time, and then it's kind of a shock to be living with a totally different character in a totally different setting. My being was so imbued with the caracter of the last book. I feel kind of homesick. I guess that means it was a pretty great book. Yes, it is great. I would not recommed it to the faint hearted, or those that demand that anything good at all happens in a book. It might be the most depressing book I've ever read.
If anyone has read this, I'd be happy to talk to you about it.

 

[Wolhay]

I'm very fond of the genre and this is one of my favourite books.

I like depressing endings since they can really leave some of the feelings you had when you read the book remaining long afterwards. Perhaps it's possible to experience this with happy endings as well but I'm happy with feel bad books and movies.

One of my favourite descriptions in this book on how civilization is disappearing is that there's hardly any paved roads left since asphalt has other uses.

Spoiler

Do you think that the author meant the main character's age to come as a chock when it was revealed? I don't remember if it was possible to figure out his age in the beginning of the book but since he was so inexperienced I assumed that he was very young.