BOOK GROUP - 'The Children of Men’ by P.D. James

Most of us had enjoyed P.D. James’ detective stories featuring Adam Dalgliesh and Cordelia Gray, and were taken aback by her grim vision of a world with no children and no future. Pollution has made the human race infertile, and the last generation to be born are now spoilt and self-absorbed young adults.

The first section was slow moving, which meant some of us struggled to get into it; in contrast part two was a gripping thriller. We enjoyed the beautiful descriptive writing, the complexity of her characters and the multiple layers.

However, we found the book profoundly disturbing. Thirty years after it was written, passages could have come from current news reports – the rise of dictators, the treatment of migrants from outside the UK and the rise in the number of people not wanting children. It was a book that had made us all think. Not all of us had enjoyed it but all were glad to have read it – and we agreed it was a book that would remain in our minds for some time to come.

P.S. There is a movie about the book, starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, and Michael Caine. Very much for fans of brilliantly realised violent, dystopian worlds https://www.theguardian.com/.../22/juliannemoore.thriller

On Tuesday 19 December we will be discussing a classic, ‘The Quiet American’ by Graham Greene. New members are always welcome!