A Review of The Passage by Justin Cronin

Funny enough, The Passage is a post-Apocalyptic tale in much the same vein as Oryx and Crake- life after a virus has destroyed most of the world. Unlike Oryx and Crake, the virus in Mr. Cronin's book is one that changes human beings into vampires with one bite. These are not the typical suave and sexy vampires that have been depicted since Bram Stoker wrote Dracula, these are beasts. Mindless, bloodthirsty, rip people into literal pieces beasts.
This book was interesting on several levels. First, it was nearly 800 pages long. That's a lot of set up, and a lot of post-virus world. This story is apparently part of a trilogy as well, although this first story was just published. The story is broken into many sections, and written in many different formats, which was both interesting and annoying. The story is not narrated by any one character, perhaps because their lives are often so fleeting. There are sections written as journal accounts, written by different characters.
The best part about that is that the story doesn't get boring because you are only hearing from one character. The "main" character in the story, if there is one, is Amy. Amy is both from the "Time Before" (our time now- the story begins about 8 years from now) and the "Time After". Before and After refer to the virus wiping most everyone out. Amy is young girl purposely infected with the virus in the Time Before and who is still around in the Time After. She is the one piece that gives the story its continuity and she is the least understood character.
I know I normally write a summary of the story, but I find that the scope of this book is such that I would have to write quite a lot- too much really- to explain adequately without giving things away that the reader should find out for him- or herself.
I will say that the second half of the book was better than the first. I enjoyed the characters and the story better in the Time After than the setup for how the virus has come to be and how it escapes.
There are clear good and bad guys in this story, and truly, it is a tale of good versus evil. But the last third contains a group of friends who set out on a mission and this is the part that was the most entertaining.
I feel it is necessary to point out a few specifics about this story. One of the things I enjoyed the most was the author's writing style. His writing is truly beautiful. He has a real talent for making it easy to visualize his world and for making you feel the intense pain and suffering his characters feel. He is an extremely talented writer. However, this story borrows heavily from quite a few other books I've read, and while this is an original story, it is also not original. There was quite a bit of The Stand, Lord of the Rings, A Game of Thrones and even The Lottery, for those of you who remember that short story from high school English syllabi. While Mr. Cronin makes the story work, it also feels like he borrowed too much at times.
I really can't explain much more than that. I do intend to continue whenever the next book comes out (too much suspense not to!). I would recommend it, but be prepared.

In Progress

Other books mentioned in review of Oryx and Crake, see below

A Review of Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

What a terrifying tale of the future that Margaret Atwood has envisioned for humanity. The story of Oryx and Crake is actually the story of Snowman, whose real name is Jimmy, and is the narrator of this post-Orwellian nightmare. I was not aware that this is the first book in a series, called the MaddAddam Trilogy, until after I had begun reading it, but I will most definitely continue with the other two books.
Snowman is narrating this tale as one of the very few humans left alive. Some ravaging disease, something engineered by man and has Ebola-like tendencies to reduce its victims to a liquified, bloody mess, has eliminated everyone, at least as far as Snowman knows. He is not sure whether there are any other humans like him left, but there are the Children of Crake living nearby, or Crakers as Snowman calls them, humanoid beings engineered by Crake, who was a "frenemy" of Jimmy's before the plague.
The flashbacks of life before, told from Jimmy's perspective, narrate a world divided into areas of science, known as Compounds, whose inhabitants are those brainiacs who engineer all of modern medicine and who live isolated, perfect lives away from the rest of humanity (Jimmy's first home is in the compound HealthWyzer). Everyone else lives in the "pleeblands" (LOVE that term!), areas where life is not much different than the here and now that we enjoy. Jimmy and Crake live in one such compound growing up, and there they enjoy a sheltered existence. Eventually they both go away to colleges and Crake becomes a scientist at the most wealthy and well-known compound, RejoovenEsense, while Jimmy is a low-earning copy writer for AnooYoo.
The main story narrates Jimmy's so-called life after the plague, and mainly shows his struggle to remain sane as he is alone on earth, even though he is not technically alone.
This story is one of the most creatively written stories I have ever read. Ms. Atwood's ability to build upon reality and successfully weave her fantasy is refreshing. One of my favorite aspects of the novel were the various animals that she had the scientists invent. Pigoons, for instance, are quite prominent in the tale. A pigoon is a genetically-modified pig that is used to grow transplant organs, but Jimmy suspects that they are used for food as well, which brings up an interesting canibalistic overtone. This very clearly reminded me of another terrific book, Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro. That had a similar theme and was also quite a nightmarish tale, but very different from this one. One main difference is Ms. Atwood's ability to inject humor into such a dark story. It is, of course, dark humor, but unlikely all the same.
To some extent, this story reminded me of The Stand by Stephen King. The Stand was more focused on the aftermath, rather than building the world which spawned the before. I am wondering if the other two books will focus more on the after. It did seem that the main question that arises from the reader (how humanity got wiped out) was indeed answered, but the after story line, that of Snowman rather than Jimmy, was left unanswered.
If you like a good, cautionary tale, one with a lot of imagination and quite a bit of social commentary mixed in, I would highly recommend this book. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the MaddAddam series.

Coming Soon!

A Review of Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Little Bee is primarily the story of two women, Little Bee and Sarah, who met under extreme circumstances in Bee's home country of Nigeria. Sarah was there with her husband, Andrew, and met Little Bee and her sister Nkiruka, on the beach where they were being chased by "the men who come"- army men intent upon killing them. The story begins with Little Bee's incarceration as an illegal immigrant in England, two years after her fateful meeting with Sarah. She is attempting to escape the murderers of her entire village, unluckily built upon an oil field.
This story contains many secrets; the secret of Little Bee's escape from the "men who come", the true nature of Andrew's suicide, which happens at the beginning of the story, the secret of why Charlie, Sarah and Andrew's four year old son, will only wear his Batman costume, and the secret of Little Bee's true name. It is told chapter by chapter, alternating narrators between Sarah and Bee.
While this story was extremely powerful and had a terrific message, it was not especially to my liking. I found it very sad, and while the story redeemed Sarah as a character (she is particularly flawed, but not unrealistically so), Little Bee was not given the same redemption. Perhaps this is simply true to life; that a sixteen year old girl who lived through atrocities in her own country, escaped illegally to try and seek refuge in England, and was not truly helped by anyone she came across is an accurate portrayal of this type of situation. It is true that Sarah did try to help Little Bee, and more than once. Again, this seems to be to Sarah's credit, but not as much to Little Bee's.
This story is well-written and engaging, in a sad sort of manner, but in all, I did not truly enjoy it. It lacked some fundamental element that can make a depressing story seem worthwhile. I am reminded of my favorite novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. This tale is also quite sad, but is so encompassing, so amazingly joyful at the same time, that you are left (as I was, all 10 times I read it) with an uplifted feeling at the end. That is what I felt was missing from this story.

Coming Soon!