(no subject)
THE LAKE AT THE END OF THE WORLD, Caroline Macdonald, 1989
I’m trying very hard to find the motivation to write this review and am semi-succeeding. Which is not to say that I didn’t enjoy this book: I actually really did. It was a quick read, over a few hours with some breaks, simple enough to get through despite the constant POV changes.
This book follows the post-apocalyptic (nuclear) plotline, except without the nuclear. It was land clearing and chemical accumulation instead; not that it really matters, though I suppose back then it did, with the masses of anti-nuclear stories coming out. Right, so following this plotline, you have two people who have lived in this world this whole life discovering each other. One, hector, has escaped his underground commune/cult, the other, Diana, lives with her parents by the lake. Misunderstandings occur. It is generally agreed that the cult is evil and should be ended and those people should come and live above ground cause it’s safe again.
That’s the general gist of it. Two ways of life causing problems in developing a relationship; family issues; suspense and danger. A heavy serving of nature-is-good rhetoric. One cute dog and one cute cat; long held problems finally working themselves out.
The one really good thing I can take way from the book is this: it was told with a shifting POV, as in from hector to Diana every few paragraphs, and it WASN’T ANNOYING. This is very important, cause it usually would be. It works because this book is about communication issues, and with the switches happening frequently each person can go back and tell what just happened in their opinion, so the reader gets a sense of what the problem is, though of course the characters remain ignorant. And of course, it’s quite a short book and fast paced so there isn’t too much time for it to become annoying. If the book was any longer or deeper it would be quite frustrating.
As it is, it’s brief, and engaging. Quite fresh, really, and entertaining with this author’s own take on this stock storyline, and that is hard to achieve in this genre, so props to her for that. You do feel ‘with’ the changes and place, so there’s a good level of reader-author empathy happening, very nice. It’s because it’s told simply without any pretence or over styling, and I do respect the book for that.
On a final note, this was another book I just randomly picked up at a booksale, as opposed to the rather newer ones I’ve been getting from the library. It was a little gamble, just buying it with no prior knowledge, which is good when it pays off. And also, it’s from an era very different to the ones from the library. I’m getting good exposure. Excellent.
7/10