The Children of Men
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3.8 • 30 Ratings
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- £6.49
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- £6.49
Publisher Description
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 Cuarón the film starred Clive Owen, Michael Caine and Julianne Moore.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In her 12th book, the British author of the two series featuring Adam Dalgleish and Cordelia Gray ( Devices and Desires and An Unsuitable Job for a Woman , respectively) poses a premise that chills and darkens its setting in the year 2021. Near the end of the 20th century, for reasons beyond the grasp of modern science, human sperm count went to zero. The last birth occurred in 1995, and in the space of a generation humanity has lost its future. In England, under the rule of an increasingly despotic Warden, the infirm are encouraged to commit group suicide, criminals are exiled and abandoned and immigrants are subjected to semi-legalized slavery. Divorced, middle-aged Oxford history professor Theo Faron, an emotionally constrained man of means and intelligence who is the Warden's cousin, plods through an ordered, bleak existence. But a chance involvement with a group of dissidents moves him onto unexpected paths, leading him, in the novel's compelling second half, toward risk, commitment and the joys and anguish of love. In this convincingly detailed world--where kittens are (illegally) christened, sex has lost its allure and the arts have been abandoned--James concretely explores an unthinkable prospect. Readers should persevere through the slow start, for the rewards of this story, including its reminder of the transforming power of hope, are many and lasting. 125,000 first printing; BOMC main selection.
Customer Reviews
children of men
This review has nothing to do with the story itself which is quite good but with the quality of the book itself. It has clearly not been proof read and there are countless errors and sometimes whole paragraphs of complete garbled english making no sense at all. This situation is not confined to this book and we have found many instances of this in books bought from the Apple Store.
The quality is such that they are not fit for purpose and would fail any test as such. A lot of work needs to be done if we are to buy products from the store which up to now have been fine but the books are setting new standards in very poor quality, standards that would not be acceptable in the hard copy version.
Can Apple please take a look at this situation as at the moment we are not getting value for money and if I had bought the book in a store I would have taken it back for a refund.
I realise this is not a review of the book but there is no other channel to get this message back to Apple.