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<3 Children of Men
Apr. 6th, 2011 11:49 pmSeeing the movie adaptation of the novel (not for the first time) on Tuesday was heartening. I had been filled with despair after reading Dawn and Never Let Me Go. A happy ending, even with a dead Theo, is a nice change. Also- I really really like that movie. It's truly one of my favorites, mostly because of the warfare in the city at the end, and the concurrent race to meet the tomorrow.
However, besides the basic premise: people cannot reproduce, then, 'OMG PREGNANT WOMAN', the book hardly resembles the movie! Alas, that happens. Let it be noted, that this is one of the cases where I like the movie more because I thought it was well done, and the futuristic things in the movie are totally neat, plus the grittiness of the internment city.
I suppose the book is really what I should be talking about, and I must say: as much as it makes sense, I didn't expect the amount of religiosity that was in the novel. It's the end of the world, and for some reason I expected more Bear Grylls, and less Luke-the-Priests. I suppose I just think of a quiet apocalypse differently: I think I would be like Jasper- stockpiling a survivor's wonderland. But not the whole kill myself part that he did.. Thinking about it, this world is even bleaker than Never Let Me Go, but the book is not a treatise on the matter. The book is about the return of hope, not its steady erosion. Whereas Never Let Me Go made me feel terrible about humanity, Children of Men helps a little bit to make me feel a bit better. Yes it's a bloody book, it's a dystopian world, and it's humanity's darkest hour: but there's also hope for a new beginning. I think that's why I feel that I would go all survivor-mode, because for some reason I cannot see giving up hope. This novel has more of it than anything else we've read, I feel.
However, besides the basic premise: people cannot reproduce, then, 'OMG PREGNANT WOMAN', the book hardly resembles the movie! Alas, that happens. Let it be noted, that this is one of the cases where I like the movie more because I thought it was well done, and the futuristic things in the movie are totally neat, plus the grittiness of the internment city.
I suppose the book is really what I should be talking about, and I must say: as much as it makes sense, I didn't expect the amount of religiosity that was in the novel. It's the end of the world, and for some reason I expected more Bear Grylls, and less Luke-the-Priests. I suppose I just think of a quiet apocalypse differently: I think I would be like Jasper- stockpiling a survivor's wonderland. But not the whole kill myself part that he did.. Thinking about it, this world is even bleaker than Never Let Me Go, but the book is not a treatise on the matter. The book is about the return of hope, not its steady erosion. Whereas Never Let Me Go made me feel terrible about humanity, Children of Men helps a little bit to make me feel a bit better. Yes it's a bloody book, it's a dystopian world, and it's humanity's darkest hour: but there's also hope for a new beginning. I think that's why I feel that I would go all survivor-mode, because for some reason I cannot see giving up hope. This novel has more of it than anything else we've read, I feel.
