I'm needing a "slow" shelf. Despite a lot happening, this one felt like it was double the length.
I'm torn. It's not a bad book. There is a thread of danger imminent running through the whole story, a masterful presentation of a world gone to waste in apathy, and many interesting commentaries on society from the point of view of a very flawed protagonist. The part where I'm torn, is where the suspense did not thrill me, and the package whole felt flat to me.
Here is another aspect of the deal: the movie is also slow (at least at first), the protagonist deeply flawed, the apathy all-encompassing and the depression caused by the setting is transmitted loudly. But it works.
I have trouble working out why the difference in impact, but I think it is the focus.
The movie is about the need to stop being detached, to feel again, to care about something enough to live and die. The pregnant woman symbolizes, above all, hope.
In the book, the pregnant woman still symbolizes hope, but that's only far away down the road. Above all, she represents power. Everyone fights ultimately to be present at the birthing, and it feels like the book is first about power, who has it, what kind of person goes after it and... something like people feeling like power is a reason unto itself when there is no reason left or meaning to find in life.
So, yeah, a though provoking book, but not one I really enjoyed.
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