The Death of Grass - Jan 2023 - Book Group discussion thread

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McGoohan
McGoohan
Mar 2023
1:37pm, 14 Mar 2023
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McGoohan
You need a mash-up, like maybe, Radioactive Mutant Tomatoes on the Hellscape Path to Murder Farm
LindsD
LindsD
Mar 2023
1:38pm, 14 Mar 2023
60,520 posts
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LindsD
:) :)
Diogenes
Diogenes
Mar 2023
2:20pm, 14 Mar 2023
77,278 posts
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Diogenes
I started the year reading several dystopian-future themed books. In addition to TDOG there was The Children Of Men, by PD James and Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro. Then there was a collection of Short Stories by George Saunders entitled Liberation Day which thematically similar. Last night we finished watching The Last Of Us which is another survival saga set in a world where society as we know it has broken down. I think it is fair to say that I am all dystoped out for the time being. Of all the books, I think perhaps TDOG was my slight favourite precisely because of it's dated form and attitudes. There's nothing like a bit of old-fashionsed sexism and racism to reassure us of how far we have come and reinforce our complacency.

Now I am on to Olive Kitteridge. Is it possible that I also have well-crafted, folksy, down-home small town American sagas fatigue, however well-written and observed that might be?
Serendippily
Serendippily
Mar 2023
5:47pm, 14 Mar 2023
28,087 posts
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Serendippily
I havent been dystopian for ages. Last one was “They” and i enjoyed that too :-)
I liked the violent bits in whistlestop, like whatsherface driving into the teen’s car and shouting at her husband to get his own drink. It was just about 200 pages over familiar, i think its a saga thing, the corrections is the only one i remember liking
Diogenes
Diogenes
Mar 2023
6:07pm, 14 Mar 2023
77,285 posts
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Diogenes
The thing I liked best about The Corrections, and Franzen in general, is how he captures toxic relationships and people. The gaslighting wife who manipulates her children to collude in downtreading their father is a spectacularly evil character.
LindsD
LindsD
Mar 2023
9:55pm, 14 Mar 2023
60,526 posts
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LindsD
Love Franzen

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About This Thread

Maintained by McGoohan
January 2023's book is The Death of Grass by John Christopher as chosen by BintMcSkint.

Owing to the book's title, I suppose you'll be expecting me to make some sort of marajuana/grass/drugs pun here. But I won't, I tell you, I won't. And if you don't like it, you can stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

Damn!

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