A Children’s Bible

I read this based on a NYT review and reviews here at Amazon. Although and easy, quick read I did not find it very enjoyable. I was disappointed with the \”Children\’s Bible\” part as it was only a small part scattered through the novel. The book seemed simple, the characters very simple and the narrative rather disjointed to me. And I felt it moved toward being a bit silly in the final 3rd. \”Lord of the Flies\” meets the \”Durells in Corfu\” was my thought through most of the very short (for the cost) novel. I bought hardback at Amazon\’s price due to not going to bookstores during the stay at home time. I wish I\’d spent my money on something else.

I picked up this book because 1) it is a finalist for the National Book Award 2) it is short and 3) it sounds bonkers. A group of college friends rent out a mansion near the ocean with their children for the summer. The novel is narrated by Eve one of the older girls who takes care of her brother Jack. The children play games while their parents drink and relax in the giant house. The kids row down the river to the ocean where they meet people from a yacht. When a huge storm arrives and floods the residence, the children leave to find safety while the parents take ecstasy. This novel is a fable, a parable, a warning. In some ways it’s a scathing indictment of parents who are addicted to technology, drugs, comfort, leaving the children to deal with their problems. I thought this book might go into “Lord of the Flies” territory, but it never did. The children had a fun and funny rapport and they generally cared for and protected each other. Though way more precocious than most teens, you can see these teen reflecting young activists like Malala, Greta, and the kids from Parkland. In many ways, this extended allegory is very heavy handed. It reminded me of the film “Mother” which beats you over the head with its message. But for the most part the novel works. The writing is at once serious and irreverent, capturing the view of tragedy through the eyes of the children. I couldn’t stop reading the book, though I wish it was a little less “The Walking Dead” and a little more subdued in some ways. I liked the ending a lot. If you are not a fan of high concept books, or you don’t like any ambiguity in your stories, this is not for you. But if you’re looking for a fast, engaging, quirky read, I highly recommend this novel. ★★★★★ • Hardcover • Fiction – Literary • Published by W.W. Norton & co. on May 12, 2020. ◾︎

This book is brilliant! In addition to being a really good story, it is literature at its finest. Written by Lydia Millet, this short novel is an allegory about the perils of climate change. Narrated in the first person by Evie, a teenager, the story begins on a beautiful beach on the northeast coast. Parents who went to college together rent a beach mansion for the entire summer for all their families. There are so many children, ranging in age from 9 to 17, that the adults, who spend almost all day drinking, doing drugs, and having sex, pay no attention to them. The kids run wild. A devastating hurricane hits that comes close to destroying the house, causing the children to leave and find shelter elsewhere in the midst of unmanageable chaos. They set up camp on a well-stocked farm, until danger strikes again. Evie\’s younger brother, Jack, is nine years old, and Evie is more of a caregiver for him than are their parents. Jack is a dreamy, intelligent child who is worried about the environment and cares deeply for animals. One of the mothers in the beach house gives him a book titled \”A Child\’s Bible: Stories from the Old and New Testaments,\” which he devours having never heard any of the stories before. The sheer genius of the book is the reenactment of some of the Bible\’s biggest stories—and no one is aware of this except for Jack—including Cain and Abel, the great flood and Noah, a plague, the Exodus, a birth in a barn with angels and donkeys, a crucifixion of sorts, and eerie shades of the Book of Revelation. Ingeniously plotted and imaginatively written, this book is not only a gripping story, but also a poetic warning about the very real and imminent dangers of climate change to life as we know it. The societal collapse and chaos caused by the massive hurricane are clear warnings for us to pay attention. Now. Bonus: The book has what is perhaps the best explanation of the Holy Trinity I have ever heard. I go to church every Sunday, and I especially look forward to Trinity Sunday when the priest usually does verbal and mental somersaults trying to explain what is essentially unexplainable. This book should be required reading for all clergy.

Unfortunately, this book didn\’t reach my expectations. It was very hard to believe how stupid the parents acted, and the children didn\’t talk or act like real children (similar to the script of a Shyamalan movie). Does the author really expect us to believe that a pre-teen knows how to successfully hijack a yacht? Really? Come on. The plot is basically nonexistent and it goes nowhere. The characters aren\’t interesting enough to grab my attention let alone make me care about what happens to them. Skip this one. You aren\’t missing anything special.

This fairly short novel had good reviews but was hugely disappointing. Written through the eyes of a teenager, Eve, on holiday with a group of children and some quite frankly, awful, millennial type parents. The insight and cynicism of the teenagers is justified and this carries the novel until the big storm occurs and they run away to a farm they just happen to find with a Hobo. From that point the novel loses the plot, becoming absurd and inconsistent trying to paint a picture of “The end of the world”, but rarely succeeding; eventually metamorphosing into a Mad Max type scenario. The Children (and the parents) survive, the children are happy to research via the internet and their mobiles (miraculously still working) and despite despising their parents’ indulgences are happy to bargain for booze and weed from them, bunker in one of the parent’s nice houses and survive off online deliveries! The parents, incidentally, despite experiencing “the end of the world” remain just as awful and stupid. The author doesn’t paint a realistic view of Armageddon and the novel ends rather abruptly as if the writer had run out of ideas. Overall it’s a poor apocalypse novel; much better has been written

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