Reviews
"Freedom was wonderful beyond relief. But with it came that bitch, Duty." I had no idea the movie my mom loved so much when I was growing up was based on a book until Goodreads offered it up as a recommendation. I had vague memories of watching it with her (memorable Shakespeare scenes come to mind), but nothing really solid. I do like my post-apocalypse romps though, so I thought I'd give this a try. Unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations. In a world where vague disasters (both man-made and natural) have rendered America asunder, people have been left behind, fractured and separated, to rebuild. Our protagonist, Gordon, comes across the wreckage of a vehicle in the wilderness while fleeing from a band of Holnists (your average post-apocalyptic organized band of renegades). Taking shelter inside, he finds a postal uniform and bag, which he gratefully liberates from its long-dead occupant. Decked out in the remnants of the old world, though, he decides to use this uniform as a charade of sorts to exploit food, shelter, and supplies from settlements he comes across. But a man's conscience is a weird thing, and Gordon finds himself falling slowly into the role of postman despite protesting internally the entire time. The book follows him as he affects these small communities differently, slowly bringing them back together and in contact with one another through his charade. At least, that's the first third of the book. What comes after this neat philosophical musing on a man's duty toward his fellow man and basically faking it until you're making it is the remaining two-thirds of the book, which takes an abrupt left turn into sci-fi AI weirdness and disappointing on-the-nose super soldier action. I'm not sure why we couldn't have an entire book about Gordon slowly unifying western America through good deeds, because I feel like I would have enjoyed that more. What I got instead was vague, disconnected bits of sci-fi stuff shoved in haphazardly until the book just runs out of pages. Some people clearly loved the book, and I did too in the very beginning. Then the rest of the book happened, and I checked out. Pass on this.
Interesting concept. Particularly liked the conceit that the lie becomes the truth - because isn't society just a set of constructed truths we choose to live by? But this intriguing kernel gets pushed aside by a, well, far more technological Colonel, which derails all the subtlety and killed off my interest. Thought the writing was pretty bland too, and repetitive. Makes me want to watch the Costner movie, which is unforgivable.
I loved the movie based on this book so was very excited to check it out. Not surprisingly they are very different, but I liked them both. I'll probably give his other books a try, I liked the writing style.
