The Tripods 1By: John Christopher
After reading the good reviews of this on Olman's & Lantz's blogs, I had to pick it up when I found it here in Shanghai. They both did great reviews of it, so I'll keep mine short. Overall, it was a fun book and I'll pick up the next two when I find them. That being said, I had some mixed feelings about it, which boil down to the following:
I both like and dislike the unmentioned connection with War of the Worlds. Its pretty undeniable that this is written as an 'alternate reality' of the HG Wells version in which the Tripods win and then take over (albeit later in human history). Its almost like a remix or a mash-up - or a sequel to a book that wasn't quite written. However, it seems that there is something also odd about not acknowledging the original in some way.
Likewise I have mixed feelings about the writing style. Its not flowery or clever, its just there. Something happens, the characters react to it, and something else happens. The writing advances the plot and that's basically it. I can appreciate the clean and straightforwardness of that, but at the same time, I also wish it was a little meatier.
Grade: A- / C+ - it somehow manages to be both at once.
Recommendation: Its a fast read and you'll enjoy it if you're a sci fi geek.
6 comments:
I felt a similar way about the plainness of the style when I reread these as an adult. I note that John Christopher has a very strong voice in his adult books, not neutral at all. I suspect he did this deliberately (though what is actual strategy was I'd love to know) because his move to adolescent fiction was done deliberately. I remember that when I did read it in grade 6 or 7, I was totally into it and it didn't seem neutral or lacking style at all, so it could be that whatever non-style he is using here is appropriate for his intended audience.
Interesting, thanks for those observations, Olman. I haven't read his other books yet- do you have any recommendations of which to read?
Clearly, you haven't been paying close enough attention to my book blog, as Christopher is probably the most featured author there in the last two years!
http://olmansfifty.blogspot.com/search?q=john+christopher&x=0&y=0
His books can be hard to find. Most are out of print. No Blade of Grass is a real post-apocalyptic classic. You might enjoy that. I really like both The Possessors and Sweeney's Island as well.
Are there any ex-pat, english language used bookstores in Shanghai?
heh- mea culpa! I do read your blog, but I hadn't put together the pattern of Christopher books.
We do have a few expat bookshops, but their overpriced and censored by the chinese government. There are a limited amount of english books that are allowed in, and they all have to pass the censors first.
Guess they didn't get the whole thing about living free in these books... ;)
...and no, no used bookstores in shanghai that i have found... although who knows? its a big town!
Too bad. Often countries that were colonized by the British leave behind some great used bookstores, serving the expat community. But I guess most of those don't have a Cultural Revolution in between the time when the British were in charge and today.
I wonder if Hong Kong has any?
Post a Comment