Award-winning P.D. James, one of the masters of British crime fiction, plots this atmospheric and disturbing novel in the year 2021. Children of Men is a brilliant mystery possessing all of the qualities which distinguish P.D. James as a novelist. Under the despotic rule of Xan Lyppiatt, the Warden of England, the old are despairing and the young cruel. Theo Faren, a cousin of the Warden, lives a solitary life in this ominous atmosphere. That is, until a chance encounter with a young woman leads him into contact with a ...
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Award-winning P.D. James, one of the masters of British crime fiction, plots this atmospheric and disturbing novel in the year 2021. Children of Men is a brilliant mystery possessing all of the qualities which distinguish P.D. James as a novelist. Under the despotic rule of Xan Lyppiatt, the Warden of England, the old are despairing and the young cruel. Theo Faren, a cousin of the Warden, lives a solitary life in this ominous atmosphere. That is, until a chance encounter with a young woman leads him into contact with a group of dissenters. Suddenly his life is changed irrevocably, as he faces agonising choices which could affect the future of mankind. PD James is the world's pre-eminent crime writer, most famous for her Adam Dalgliesh mysteries and for her bestselling titles Death Comes to Pemberley and The Murder Room. Children of Men was adapted into a hit film in 2006, directed by Alfonso Cuar???n the film starred Clive Owen, Michael Caine and Julianne Moore.
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Seller's Description:
Good. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Light Creasing on Front Cover, Spine; Heavy Creasing on Rear Cover; Front, Rear Covers, Spine Lightly Chipped; Moderate Yellowing Due to Age. COVER PHOTO BY: Alex Murchison. COVER DESIGN BY: Bruce W. Bond. MOVIE TIE-IN: This novel was the basis for the 2006 feature film of the same name. CONTENTS: BOOK ONE Omega January-March 2021 BOOK TWO Alpha October 2021. SYNOPSIS: When Omega came it came with dramatic suddenness and was received with incredulity. Overnight, it seemed, the human race had lost its power to breed...Omega was the year 1995, when the last child was born on earth. Twenty-five years later the world's population is seriously declining, and many countries have descended into anarchy. But Xan Lyppiatt, the charismatic Warden of England, is running things with a sure hand. Despite the imminence of worldwide human extinction, everything appears to be running smoothly. But is it? Theo Faron simply doesn't want to know. The reclusive academic and one-time advisor to Xan wants merely to enjoy the consolations left to him. Then he meets the young woman, Julian, who tells him about a small group of radicals who plan to challenge the Warden's absolute authority. Reluctantly involved in the radicals' struggle and increasingly drawn to the enigmatic Julian, Theo takes action that will irrevocably alter his life and involve him in unimaginable terror. P. D. James was born in Oxford in 1920 and educated at Cambridge High School. From 1949 to 1968 she worked in the National Health Service as an administrator, and the experience she gained from her job helped her with the background for Shroud for a Nightingale, The Black Tower and A Mind to Murder. In 1968 she entered the Home Office as principal, working first in the Police Department concerned with the forensic science service and later in the Criminal Policy Department. She retired in 1979. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a governor of the BBC and a member of the board of the British Council. She served on the Arts Council and was chairman of its Literary Advisory Panel from 1988 to 1992. She has served as a magistrate in Middlesex and London. P. D. James has twice been the winner of the Silver Dagger Award of the Crime Writers' Association and in 1987 was awarded the Diamond Dagger Award for services to crime writing. In 1983 she received the O B E and was created a life peer in 1991. She has been a widow for over twenty-five years and has two children and five grandchildren. Her novels include An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, Innocent Blood and The Skull Beneath the Skin (which are also published by Penguin in one volume as Trilogy of Death), Shroud for a Nightingale, The Black Tower and Death of an Expert Witness (also published by Penguin as A Dalgliesh Trilogy), Cover Her Face, Unnatural Causes, A Taste for Death, A Mind to Murder, Devices and Desires, which was short-listed for the Sunday Express Book of the Year Award in 1989, and The Children of Men. She is co-author, with T. A. Critchley, of The Maul and the Pear Tree.
Whenever I speak about this book with friends, I always call it the worst book I've ever read. Not because of the writing style nor the story premise. In fact, the premise is what first caused me to pick the book up. I bought it at a time when money was tight and I counted my pennies carefully so perhaps that is why my disappointment was so complete. The book was very interesting throughout the first two-thirds, but the ending was so absolutely unbelievable, I felt gypped. The author could have done so much more, but instead I felt I had wasted my time and money.
Ellyb
Mar 19, 2008
Quiet terror
This book resonates with sadness. It is introspective, slow moving, and thoughtful, which is not what you might expect for a story about the end of the human race. What struck me about the story is the quality of stillness inherent in many of the tableaus, even as the main characters hurtle towards their fates. Outlandish, violent things are happening, yet the predominant imagery is of trees and woods and quiet English countrysides. It's an interesting juxtaposition that worked for me but I can see how it might not be an effective tool for everyone.
ChrisC
Apr 24, 2007
Here's a change - The movie's better!
After seeing the well-made movie, which due to its violence was diffcult to get through, I decided to "relax" and read the book. I was surprised that the only similarities between the book and movie were the title, the main character, and the premise. In terms of plot and theme, the two extensively differed. Of the two, I would recommend the movie. It was more effective at conveying the results of no more children being born, people turning either apathetic or savage. It's a wonderful premise. I only wish P.D. James was as good a writer as the movie's screenwriter.
Bart
Apr 4, 2007
First half really good, second just OK
I read this book before the movie version (with Julianne Moore and Clive Owen) of it came out . The first half of the book was really interesting and went into a lot more detail than the movie did about the social problems caused by men not being furtile anymore. The second half of the movie was very different, though, and was kind of suspenseful but you don't learn enough about the characters to really care what's going to happen to them. Without giving away too much detail... there's one character that falls in love with another, but we don't really know anything about that other character besides their name, so it gets a little irritating sometimes.
Overall the book was a fun read, but I would give it a better rating if the second half was as good as the first. Also, if you saw the movie first, expect the plot of the book to be very different.