The Children of Men

Our book club was examining "The History of the Future." I chose a fascinating story by a mystery writer, P.D. James, a well-known Englishwoman. Phyllis Dorothy James was born in 1920, and died just two months ago. She became famous for her crime fiction, many featuring the suave, intelligent police officer Adam Dalgleish. Children of Men begins in England on January 1, 2021. Dr. Theodore (Theo) Faron, an Oxford don, writes in his diary that the last human to be born on earth has been killed in a pub brawl. In 1994, the sperm counts in human males dropped to zero all over the world. The last people to be born were the “Omega” generation, born in 1995. They are described as spoiled, over-entitled, remote and unstable. They are known to show undisguised contempt for their elders. Since everyone knows that eventually, humans will all die off, there are discussions about what to do with our beautiful creations on earth, our universities, libraries, museums and churches. While no more humans are being born, animals continue to be born, and it turns out that many, mostly women, have turned their attention of bringing up their animals—cats and dogs—like children, dressing them in clothes, pushing them around in prams. They hold elaborate christening ceremonies for newborn pets. Women also dote upon dolls the same way. Many spend thousands on beautiful dolls, and likewise push them around in prams, etc. There are no children’s playgrounds—the government demolished all of them several years ago. There are no toys, and schools have been turned into storerooms, or just abandoned. Since there are no births, the population is gradually dropping, worldwide. England is ruled by a Warden, named Xan Lyppiatt, a sort of benign dictator. He and Theo grew up together, he from a noble family, and Theo from a less privileged part of the same family. They spent summers together in the English countryside. Xan and his council of five are preparing the country for the eventual extinction of all citizens. They have established the Isle of Man as a prison colony, and citizens found guilty of a crime are sent there. They don’t come back, and they don’t escape. Parliament acts in an advisory capacity; judges rule in criminal cases without any jury. And of course, there is a secret police organization. As people grow old and need more care than is available, they have the opportunity to engage in “Quietus”, wherein older people may “voluntarily” elect to go aboard a special vessel that goes out a distance from shore and sinks, with all chained to the deck. Some, it is reported, didn’t actually choose to do this. Theo is approached by a nice young woman named Julian. It turns out she is one of a group of dissidents called The Five Fishes. They are determined to upset Xan’s tidy world, by fighting to release the prisoners on the Isle of Man, end the Quietus voyages, and return England to democracy. The other “Fishes” are Rolf, Julian’s husband, Luke, a former priest, Miriam a midwife who for 25 years has had no babies to deliver; and Gascoigne, who is quite clever with explosives. The Fishes want Theo to approach Xan and ask for various reforms and a more democratic system. He travels to meet with Xan and his council. That meeting does not go well. Theo goes on a long trip for several months in Europe. When he returns, Julian contacts him. Gascoigne has been arrested as he tried to blow up the landing for a Quietus ship, and the Secret Police will soon be looking for the other four Fishes. Julian discloses that she is pregnant. In a world where no one has been pregnant for 25 years, this is a big deal. Theo joins the group, and they all take off in the car of a professor friend of Theo’s, heading for Wales, and some place where they can hole up until the baby is born. That is the part in this tale which is full of adventure and intrigue. As they drive through the English countryside they encounter a gang of wild Omegas, all with wild face-painting, dancing around their car. They force the Fishes out, beat them, killing Luke, then burn their car. The climax in the tale comes when the Fishes find a place to stop, just in time, because Julian is about to deliver. She delivers a fine baby boy. By this time, Julian is the last of the five Fishes—the others have been killed. Xan arrives on the scene with the secret police. Xan hates to do it, but aims and shoots at his cousin. He misses. Theo, who has been carrying a pistol with one bullet since this escape began, shoots, and kills Xan. Theo takes Xan’s huge coronation ring and puts it on his own finger, and takes over England. Just like that. What was P.D. James trying to say in this story? Is she suggesting that modern society, in its effort to reduce “unwanted pregnancies” has over-corrected and created mass sterilization? What about the ladies with the dogs and cats and dolls in prams? What about the wild young Omegas? James’ Children of Men reminds me of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, published 60 years earlier, in 1932. And also George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945) and 1984 (1949). Huxley foretold of state control of reproduction and in vitro fertilization techniques, designer babies and a marvelous plan to create a whole population of compliant, willing servants of the state. Orwell in his two books warned us about Communism and Stalin at a time (at the end of World War II) when increasing numbers in England and America were becoming intrigued by the idea of communism. I read both books when I was a teen ager, and it helped me to look at the USSR with more critical eyes. I later got to spend two years in the USSR and confirm for myself that Orwell had it right. These writers are trying to tell us something, and it may be worth it to pay attention.

In the near future, for inexplicable reasons, humans have lost the ability to reproduce. The backdrop of this story is the slow descent of a dystopian decay. As others have noted, there is no cataclysmic event that sends this world into spiraling chaos. No asteroid has crashed into the planet and spread a galactic virus. Instead, people just stop having babies and slowly and steadily, things just get weirder and weirder. People are just going on with life with no youth about the place to inherit their progress and mistakes. Interestingly, the natural world is gradually creeping back into the life of man, squeezing in from all sides. The wilds of the world are returning. We see the story through the perspective of the main protagonist, Theo, who is a professor. The author switches between diary entries by Theo and a third-person narrative. The flipping back and forth is a strange choice, and I'm not sure if I liked that element. The point of this was to build-up Theo's background and flesh out his relationship with the story's chief antagonist, his cousin, Xan. Theo's whole life has been ineffectual, spending most of his childhood growing up in the shadow of Xan whom excelled at everything he set his mind too. Both Xan and Theo have sort of detached relationships with their families and people in general, however it's clear that Xan is even more detached. Xan's character seems to be ambitious merely for the challenge of it. As if Xan has sat back and observed society simply to figure out what people consider interesting and then decided that that is what he ought to do. Indeed his adept abilities propel him so far a front that he manages to get himself appointed dictator of England in this new world, taking the title "Warden". Xan has managed to take power, but maintains some illusion of democracy by installing three goals for this government's last hurrah in the fading future: freedom from fear, freedom from want, and freedom from boredom. He caters to the base needs of man. The Isle of Man becomes a dumping ground for prisoners and dissidents and nobody even dreams of forgiveness and redemption or second chances. People are forced to learn skills that will be necessary in the future. Fertility tests are mandatory for society's best and brightest in the hope that there might still be a small chance that someone will be able to reproduce. The old are encouraged to end their lives with dignity before they become too much a of a burden on society's waning population, a phenomenon called "The Queitus." Also, the state has opened pornography centers to cure boredom. Theo, being Xan's cousin, enjoyed an advisory role on the Warden's special council. However, when the story begins, we learn that Theo has left this position because he discovered that nobody really cared what he had to say. We get the impression that even though, he had no real "voice" in things, Xan wanted him there-perhaps as a last vestige of human connection. Both of them are detached, but they have no real family relationships other than each other. That bond can't seem to die, however seemingly unimportant the two make of it. The character of Theo is deeply flawed and it is difficult to completely give over to him. We learn that his life is marred by a failed marriage, one that he had entered into because his chosen mate seemed to fit all the necessary requirements. He was never motivated by love. He doesn't seem to know how to love. This trait is, of course, echoed ten-fold by Xan, whose decisions are based on reason, pragmatic rationality and ambition. However, Theo's past is further scarred by the horrible death of his own child, which he has disassociated himself from. What is really deep and profound in this story, is the love that does motivate these two apathetic characters. Theo has not ever learned what love is and perhaps Xan's detached disposition has rubbed off on him. So, when Theo leaves the Warden's council he has an opportunity for personal growth. Xan is driven by ambition and power and though his methods are cruel, he seems to lack a sadistic mindset or will. He doesn't have these kind of feelings. Steps are taken which will bring about the logical results he wants. If certain unpleasantness must be engaged to accomplish his goals, then that is just what is necessary-he takes no particular pleasure from this. Is Xan an amoral Vulcan? And yet, there is still a thread of desire in Xan for something more. He hangs onto Theo as if the protagonist is his last chance at being a "real" person. Theo is his sole representative of family--of brotherhood--of connection beyond simply a means to an end. He is not happy that Theo has left the council, but he will not dismiss him outright--even when he suspects Theo is plotting against him. In the inevitable show down between the two, Xan loses himself. Although it is not immediately apparent, I feel that Xan has hesitation about ending their relationship, not simply by happenstance, but because there is some tiny, fractional, minuscule, infinitesimal part that wants to feel love and a true connection or bond with another human. Perhaps Xan knows that if Theo is gone, then so is his last remaining piece of humanity? This trope of evil incarnate is not necessarily new, but it is so very believable for this character. Darth Vader had trouble killing Luke even at the behest of his boss, the Emperor. The somber mood pervading this story, the awful lingering question of "What's the point of anything anymore?" is well developed by PD James. How quickly would society devolve into chaos and struggle to hold order when the future is taken from it? This story is a strong exploration into the meaning of life. So much of living seems to be purposed on propagation, people's ability to leave something behind of themselves to share with the world. And yet, intermixed with this is mankind's self-awareness. Beyond reproduction-what then? Perhaps that is the back on which society is born--the building block of morals and values? Of mutual respect and dignity. Theo's redemption from abject callousness begins with the Five Fishes. This small group of miscreants has formed as a counterpoint to Xan's puppet council of advisors. The group protests the apathy in which society is fading away. The lack of dignity in it all. They seem to cry out, that there is a point to life beyond the mere continuation of the species, beyond satisfaction of man's most base animalistic needs. Being a direct relation to Xan, the group seeks Theo's intercession--a last plea for change before things need to resort to violence. Theo is still floundering in his pointless existence and not particularly motivated to help them, so they urge him to see things as they really are. Here we learn that, unsurprisingly, Xan is not really meeting all society's needs as well as he could. People are baptizing pets and treating dolls with unnatural attachment. The solution to crime, removing all troublemakers to an island to fend for themselves, may not be so straightforward a solution as it seems. And of course the Quietus, Theo is finally turned to the rebel cause, when he realizes that these dignified suicides are not so dignified or voluntary as he was led to believe when he was employed by Xan. The second part of the book becomes a sort of "Lord of the Rings" quest, when Theo wholly throws his lot in with the Five Fishes and they must race against time to fulfill their destiny. They scramble through the wilder parts of the world and attempt to do this one thing that might change everything, if only they can be left alone long enough to let it happen. It's not so difficult to suspect what this might be, or where this story will end up. Yet, what is heartfelt is the sacrifices that the characters must make to accomplish their goal. Even more important is Theo's discovery that he can actually feel real empathy and genuine love. The protagonist's progression from his apathetic beginnings, devolution and surrender into ultimate detachment until at last he finds redemption for his soul and a purpose for all the buried pain is heartfelt. This is the real story. The imperfection of love and life and society, and how these pieces do not fit so cleanly together. In the end, Xan's more rational, more calculated and more reasonable stratagems cannot win. Theo's character is well-crafted and perhaps masterfully developed in his faults, and faltering growth. This book is the sort of thing that moves along at a decent enough pace. I'm not familiar with PD James' other works, but I suspect this one differs from her more "thriller" type background. Initially, Theo's career as an Oxford professor and his strange relationships in this dystopian future are stuffy and not overly interesting. That said, the setting is intriguing enough to peak your interest from the outset and the story finds its legs as it progresses along. However, the deeper themes and questions and evolving relationships are such that you don't get a sense of what's happened until you've finished reading. Then you set the book down and later it hits you. Wow. Podcast: If you enjoy my review (or this topic) this book and the movie based on it were further discussed/debated in a lively discussion on my podcast: "No Deodorant In Outer Space". The podcast is available on iTunes or our website.

I decided to read "doomsday" novels this year, and my list included P. D. James' "The Children of Men." This novel, written by an author perhaps better known for her mystery novels, offers yet another cause of Doomsday. No, it's not nuclear war, the moon shifting its orbit, cometary impact, intentional mass genocide, plague, or any of the other usual catastrophes. Nope, this time it's the sudden, overnight sterilization of all men. Everywhere. On the entire planet. No more viable sperm. Hence, no babies. The race is given an expiration date. And the population is falling -- and aging -- rapidly. "The Children of Men" follows events in Britain, where a history professor named Theodore Faron keeps a journal of the times, not knowing who might ever read it. Faron also just happens to be the cousin of the "Warden" of Great Britain (the guy in charge). The government has become increasingly authoritarian and controlling in the decades since the last Human baby was born, but nobody really seems to care much. Essentially, they all know the Human race is going to die, they get their basic needs met by the government, and most of them go on with whatever daily drudgery they called their life as it was before the "change" because they really don't have anything better to do, and it keeps their minds off the enormity of their impending collective doom. Of course, some people indulge in fringe behavior, such as buying dolls and pretending they are living babies. And suicide is up, even officially sanctioned. Still, the author is a Brit, and there is a mild hint of "stiff upper lip" and "keep calm and carry on" underlying the plot development. No explanation is ever given for male sterility. Of course, governments round the world, and medical and academic institutions -- they all looked as hard as they could for an explanation. But none is ever found. It appears to be an Act of God. A very Old Testament sort of Act. God, it appears, hath doth smote us. This was not my favorite "doomsday" novel. It is a bit slow-paced, and (true to form) unfolds more like a mystery or suspense novel than a dystopian tale. But there is a theme in this work that justifies its inclusion on many of the lists of "best doomsday" novels. And that theme is hope. In the end, it is the lengths to which individual people go in order to preserve our hopes -- and our Humanity -- that gives this story its message. Set in a well-written context, the moral emerges slowly, and the reader probably won't even be aware of it until after they have closed the back cover. So, not five (or even four) stars, in comparison with other selections from this genre. But well worth the read. Enjoy.

It’s not an easy read, but it’s a wonderful one. It’s full of hope and laughter and philosophy. The writing is beautiful and flows. The narrative is compelling as are the characters.

P.D. James crafted an incredibly enthralling and essential novel. The Children of Men comments on how hope is the only thing that matters. The story's world is a horrible place to live. It is dark and desolate, countries across the globe have fallen. In this modern dystopia women have become infertile and mankind is rapidly approaching extinction. The novel explores the true nature of man when there is no future. Life becomes trivial if there is nobody to pass your achievements down to. When people have nothing to lose savagery ensues. As mentioned earlier hope (or the lack thereof at points) is a recurring motif throughout the piece. This motif is often expressed through children. In dystopian London the youngest person alive is 26 years old. This 26 year old is hailed as a messiah of sorts in the society and the last successful childbirth. After Julian gives birth her child becomes a beacon of hope for all who are around it. A society certain that they would be the last generation to walk the earth is finally given a reason to live. Without children the world becomes silent and depressing, each passing day represents humanity taking one collective step closer towards extinction. I believe that The Children of Men is an incredibly underrated novel, one which everyone should read. Not only is the book engaging but James shows off what a technically sound writer she is. The pacing of the novel was something that I thought was incredible. The story is always on the 'upswing' with every passing chapter (aside from a few here and there). Most chapters build off of each other becoming more interesting. James is also able to craft a few great characters in this story. Theodore Faron is one of the realest characters I have encountered since Holden Caulfield from 'The Catcher in The Rye.' Theodore Faron is far from a perfect character, the occasional inconsistency or hole in his development is what makes him seem truly real. People do not act consistently, humans are fickle. Theo is also a fairly crappy person. In the same breath Faron mentioned how horrible he felt about running over his infant daughter and how he did not love said daughter as much as himself. P.D. James' commentaries on mankind in The Children of Men are something that needs to be recognized once again in our society. Mankind are still animals deep down and our ultimate goal as a people should always be securing the future. In this day and age we have become increasingly distracted from this primitive goal. War, politics, etc. have taken off of our original track. Overall, I believe that P.D. James' The Children of Men is a very compelling story. It tells a fairly entertaining story, that is well-paced, and is technically sound. The concept of the story is also very original and one which narrates an important commentary on humanity. The novel has a lot going for it but for whatever reason I cannot say that it is incredible. The book does have a fairly slow beginning and does seem to get distracted at times. In conclusion, this book is one which is worth reading resulting in its 4 stars out of 5.

It is perhaps fitting that P.D. James saw fit to end the world she foresaw in the pages of this book with both a bang and a whimper--a cry of pain yielding to hope of a new world which would begin anew to recover some of what had been lost--despised and discarded--in the old one. This is my second reading of "The Children of Men," the first being 25 or so years ago. Good books are worth re-reading, and this one certainly was.

I loved this book which is quite unlike anything else that PD James has written. It's also very different from the movie - the James book might be adequately treated in a mini-series - trying to do it justice in a movie format was doomed to failure. . Those of you who are old (like me), probably remember Nevil Shute's book: "On the Beach" -which dealt with how the survivor's of a nuclear holocaust eventually succumb to the effects of residual radiation that poisons the whole world. "Children of men" is reminiscent of "On the Beach", in that the world is coming to an end because all the males in the world have become sterile. . Some of the scene's in the book are absolutely haunting - the sense of hopelessness and depression resulting from the knowledge that there will never be any more children resonates far more than I would have expected. There is a scene where the protagonist passes the "Perch Inn" enroute to the town of Binsey and notes that it is closed due to lack of custom. That scene affected me so much that I had to go to the website for the Perch Inn to make sure that it was still there (it is). . Unlike "On the Beach" where the world ends "not with a bang - but with a whimper", the second half of "Children of Men" deals with the consequences of a woman finally getting pregnant - the first pregnant woman in 25 years. The sense of optimism that pervades the second half of the book is very strong as a result. . I think that James may be expressing an EXTREMELY "politically incorrect" thought in this book - one that would certainly result in her being labelled a "racist" if she was even slightly less subtle. I think that she is expressing her anguish that the low fertility of the native British population and the high rate of immigration of high-fertility foreigners will result in the demise of the characteristic British culture. She even mentions that the protagonist's parents were both killed in "race riots". Apparently she believes that the solution to both paradigms is for the British to have more children.

Title: The Children of Men Author: P.D. James The Plot: In the 1990s, all men on Earth became infertile. Now, twenty years later, the last generation of children have grown to adulthood and the world is beginning to break down. The population is shrinking and the mechanism of civilization is decaying. Xan Lyppiat, a dictator using the title Warden of England, rules the British Isles. He manages the country to provide the population security and comfort. The price for the security and comfort is a heavy hand with those who break the law, the occasional culling of the aged and feeble, and the importation of foreign workers, who are discarded when they are no longer able to perform their duties to satisfaction. Theo Faron, a 50 year old professor of history, Xan Lyppiat's cousin and one-time advisor, lives a quiet batchelor's life, until one day he is courted by a small dissident group. He learns that one of the members of the group claims to be pregnant and he walks away from his quiet life to learn the truth. The Writing: The writing is excellent; rich in description and dialogue. Some chapters are presented in narrative, while others are sections of Theo Faron's diary. The reading level is advanced; I had to reach for my dictionary on a few occasions, which is a rare, but enjoyable occurance. The book is set in England and some English terms and locations may not be familiar to American readers. Details on the Volume Reviewed: Published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1992, 1st edition. Hard cover. 241 pages in a medium font. Opinions on the Plot: This is a very enjoyable read, exposing, in detail, a dying civization. That said, it is a bit of a slow read. There is little action in the plot and a great deal of internal dialogue. The author tries very hard (and in my opinion, succeeds) to envision the response of our civilization to certain, but gradual doom. The basic premise, that all men and all preserved sperm have lost fertility, is a bit of a contrivance, but if you can get past that plot point, the rest of the book proceeds in a very reasoned fashion.

The film "Children of Men" was superb and I was surprised at the time to learn it was adapted from a book by PD James. Lady James, as she became was enobled because of her work in support of the arts and her numerous best selling detective novels featuring the bloodless Adam Dalgleish - an police inspector who wrote poetry! I suppose it's a change from mysogyny and racism. I couldn't imagine Phyliis James, pillar of the establishment stooping to sci fi. Yet she did it very well. The book is compelling. The world building simple but credible and the characters all well drawn. As expected the air of menace is unrelenting and there are one or two striking and upsetting passages such as the mass "Quietus" of the elderly on a beach followed by a seaside landlady's refusal to see what has just happened. Some might baulk at the ending - PD James was religious and a fan of the Cranmer prayer book, but for me it did not detract from a superb book. Sadly PD James has passed on, because I really would have liked to know what she made of the film. It seems to me all the director wanted was the central idea, and the names Julian and Theo for characters. The rest of the book was ignored. Strange how one idea can generate two such different piece of art.

One of the best written books I can recall reading in decades! I loved the 2006 film adaptation of this book with Clive Owen and a couple of months ago, I picked this up on my travels. Very happy I did. It reminded me that reading can be more than just entertainment. At a time where these kind of books are getting increasingly formulaic (and long), it is a delight to read something that has an original narrative structure, long paragraphs and chapters, deep character development and wonderful prose. Unlike any other P.D. James book, by the way. It's a bit of a standalone in her oeuvre.

excellent novel

Un livre formidable, qui marque un peut comme La Servante écarlate de Margaret Atwood. L'espèce humaine ne parvient plus à se reproduire, l'organisation politique est basée sur un dictature. La notion de bonheur n'existe plus. Superbement écrit, se lit très facilement en anglais. Lecture recommandée.

Hat mir sehr gut gefallen