Book Review: A Children's Bible

Like Leave the World Behind, A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet is another novel that comes up for those seeking quiet apocalyptic fiction (we are LEGION).

The title, taken from the discovery of a Bible found by one of the young characters, is literary fiction with a YA-friendly hook. On a surface level, the book revolves around a group of adults and kids who take over a summer home. The adults use this as an opportunity gorge on alcohol, drugs, and sex. They take away the kids' cellphones.

The children, mostly adolescents with a few kids thrown in there, have drifted apart from their parents. A rift forms between the two groups, with the kids blaming their parents for the state of the world, which is undergoing rapid changes--a radical, quiet, background environmental apocalypse. The kids are disillusioned at the adults' lack of care for the world in which they live and the future of that world.

The point of view character is Eve, a teen who narrates the novel. The world is filtered through her observations and interpretation of events. She is very close to and protective of her younger brother Jack. Eventually, a powerful storm arrives, forcing the kids to flee and separating them from the adults, who really don't seem to care all that much?

Image via Indianapolis Public Library

Jack comes across a copy of a book called A Children's Bible and tries to understand its teachings. At one point, he and another child begin collecting animals, just like Noah. This is not the only subtle/hit-you-over-the-head biblical allusion/allegory, but it is the one shown on the cover and most obvious by extension.

Eventually, the kids end up on a farm stocked with food and supplies. This appears to be the perfect place to seek refuge and the groundskeeper, Burl, is kind and allows them to live there as long as they adhere to the ground rules set by the absent property owner. For a time, the kids appear to thrive, but then a group of armed men descend on the farm, ravage the supplies, terrorize the kids and Burl, and generally despoil what could have been an idyllic place to live.

I found this to be a relatively quick read. Like Leave the World Behind, some readers will find it moody and uneventful. I liked Eve and her relationship with her brother. I also found the adults' lack of care and responsibility haunting--they were incapable of dealing with the reality their decisions created and simply chose to abandon it.

It's hard to get a read on the "world" of A Children's Bible. The parents are wealthy people of privilege, yet we also encounter Mad Max-type ruffians who hoard resources and delight in cruelty. The focus is narrow, although intentionally so, I suspect. The novel also has some biblically inspired occurrences and characters. And for as much trouble as Eve and her friends get into, it seems like there's always someone there to bail them out.

For the most part, I enjoyed this one--probably more than I liked Leave the World Behind. It think it's more accessible for reader. But again, your mileage may vary.

Book Review: The Throwback Special

In my quest for comp titles, The Throwback Special by Chris Bachelder came up. The premise of this relatively short novel is killer: 22 middle-aged men gather every year to recreate "The Throwback Special," the play that ended the career of quarterback Joe Theismann.

For those in need of a refresher, the grisly play happened during a November 1985 Monday Night Football game between the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants. Washington ran a flea flicker, and when running back John Riggins pitched the ball back to Theismann after the handoff, the quarterback was already feeling the heat from the Giants defense. All-World linebacker Lawrence Taylor pulverized Theismann, whose leg snapped in vomit-inducing fashion on national television.

It ended up being the last play of his career. During the hit, Theismann recalled, his leg "snapped like a breadstick." It is one of the grisliest plays in football history. I don't suggest searching for the video online unless you're a psycho with a strong stomach.

With that very specific setup out of the way, The Throwback Special follows a group of men who recreate the play every year. They have very specific rules and pick their roles via an annual draft. Participants, for example, are only allowed to play Lawrence Taylor or Theismann every few years and everyone must serve at some point as an offensive or defensive lineman.

Image via Indianapolis Public Library

Certainly, the premise is interesting. These guys gather once a year and don't really know each other despite all the time they've spent together (it's been going on for 17 years). They watch film, they hold a draft, they order pizza, they swap stories, they lament problems at home and in marriages. 

Readers are introduced to a dizzying number of characters in a short span of time, and it's hard to keep up. Admittedly, some of these characters are memorable ("Fat Mike," for example, is an ironically named athletic Adonis and Carl is a barber who doesn't really like cutting hair every year).

The strength of the novel is the characters' collective adherence to tradition and ritual. Life isn't easy and recreating "The Throwback Special" grants them escape and release, at least for the weekend. Bachelder infuses the novel with plenty of dark humor. 

But because of the number of characters and the brevity of the narrative, he doesn't have much time to develop these valiant competitors. As a result, we get only sketches of these men and their dedication to the task--stylistically, I suppose readers come to know them just about as well as their fellow participants do over the span of more than a decade and a half.

It won't be for everyone. While football is at the center of the plot, the book doesn't spend much time talking about the game or, really, even the play itself. But you will walk away with one important understanding: Mark May always does his job.

Book Review: Leave the World Behind

Not every apocalypse needs to be a ridiculous, large, destructive spectacle.

That's one of the things I learned while reading Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam.

As I'm in the middle of revising/pitching an apocalyptic book of my own, this came up as a possible comp title. I have the feeling this one, published in 2020, gets brought up a lot.

The plot here is simple: a family shows up at their rental home for summer vacation expecting to get away from it all. Their vacation, however, is interrupted when people claiming to be the rental property's owners show up and ask if they can stay.

The renters, a family of four, don't trust these new guests, a wealthy couple who also happen to be Black. Their initial distrust, rooted in at least some racial bias, eventually gives way as it becomes clear something is happening in the outside world. 

Image via Indianapolis Public Library

New York City has experienced a significant blackout, but the rental home still has power. The televisions no longer receive a signal and the internet is down, making it nearly impossible to decipher what's going on in the world at large. On multiple occasions, they hear military jets speeding overhead.

It's unclear what's causing all of this--including a strange deer migration--but the lack of clarity is the point. The world is coming apart at the seams, whether that's due to war or ecological disaster or economic collapse. It doesn't really matter. The family and homeowners must learn to trust one another if they have any hopes of surviving. That trust is not easily earned.

This book won't be everyone's cup of tea. The narrative takes its time, even in a relatively short book. Don't expect any explanations, just a lot of atmosphere and character work. The writing, to me, came off a little self-indulgent at times. It seemed like Alam wanted to let everyone knows about his expansive vocabulary. Some mundane detail work, in my opinion, is also a little overdone.

I'm also not sure I liked many of the characters. They are well drawn but seem to lack common sense or compassion. They come off as selfish, which I'm certain is a product of authorial intent, as the book explores themes of race, class, and consumer culture. I think it's worth reading, if just for the pervasive sense of dread and the quiet, resigned nature of a dying world.

Without a doubt, this is a novel that invites discussion (and judging by some of the reviews, a considerable amount of division!).