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Awix (3310 KP) rated The World in Winter in Books

Sep 5, 2019

The World in Winter

John Christopher | 1962 | Dystopia, Science Fiction/Fantasy

7.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Christopher's tale of the onset of a new ice age and its consequences is told with his usual clarity and strength of characterisation. The sun dims slightly; northern Europe vanishes under ice and snow, and the wealthy and powerful relocate to closer to the equator.

What makes the book a bit problematic for a modern reader is that some of the attitudes in it feel uncomfortably close to outright racism - it almost feels like a cautionary parable about what would happen if the traditional colonial roles were reversed and Africans were in a position of power over Europeans. That the book is a product of the era when the British Empire was dissolving is obvious, and the racial attitudes do impact on the story - protagonist and antagonist form an alliance at the end, despite a long history of bitter conflict between them, simply because they are both white men and the alternative is to allow Africans to dominate the UK. While the book should be considered in the context of its time, it still leaves a very sour taste in the mouth, quite unlike any of the author's other books.

Kudos

ClareR (5996 KP) rated The Perseverence in Books

Sep 23, 2019

The Perseverence

Raymond Antrobus | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

I’m not quite sure how to review a collection of poetry, so I think I’ll start by saying that I really enjoyed it. The themes centre around feelings of duality, I thought: being deaf in a hearing world, being mixed race, the poet feeling that he doesn’t belong in Jamaica with his relatives telling him just that, a feeling that he doesn’t belong in the UK either.
It made me really think about what it is to have an invisible disability too. In ‘Miami Airport’, the official says:
“You don’t look deaf?
can you prove it?”
This reminded me of the times when I would have to pull up my sons trouser leg to show his splints when challenged about queuing for the disabled toilet (please don’t do this, it’s not cool) - something he rightly wont let me do anymore, I should add!
It was really good to read this on The Pigeonhole, too, and to have some discussion about the poems. I do hope they repeat this soon. Oh, and I bought the book as well, because I really like to read poetry again (and again!). I’m a bit of a ‘poetry dipper’ 😉