The History Of Our World Beyond The Wave: A Fantasy [Paperback]

R.E. Klein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 1998

A tidal wave came, as high as the stars and hissing, and it washed away bathers, buildings, all civilization. Paul Sant survived by clinging to a surf mat. Eventually he found land-but unlike land he had ever know. Combining an allegory of good and evil with adventure that takes us through nightmare to salvation-including knights in armor, fish people called Gugs, and an ominous yelloe Volkswagon-R.E. Klein creates a world that is strange beyond our imagination yet familiar to the heart, a world where things may not be real, but they are true. In the History of Our World Beyond the Wave, Klein imagines a world washed clean of materialism, cynicism, of the emptiness of modern life, a world where the metaphysical and the magical are again possible.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

R.E. Klein's modern moral fable begins with catastrophe: a massive wave engulfs Earth, washing away civilization and leaving only a few isolated mountaintops exposed for survivors to cling to. Just as the biblical flood was no ordinary disaster, so this wave is fraught with metaphysical meaning. Taking his cues from C.S. Lewis and Milton, Klein follows one survivor, Paul, on his physical and spiritual journey through the strangely altered post-wave world. Surfing the now-endless sea in search of friends and a future, Paul encounters good and evil in the form of fellow travelers, bizarre creatures, and freakish, Lovecraftian landscapes, but no sign of life as it was before the apocalypse. It's time for humanity to choose between the best and the worst of the pre-wave world. Paul's compatriot Hiram Bell sums it up:

Hear me, that precious wave of ours has scoured the planet clean to the lithosphere, rinsing away all the drift and drabble and nasty little headachy things that drive men mad. No more income tax, inflation, and nagging uncertainties. No more lawyers, social workers, and corporate executives. Hereafter people will live in a big way.

English literature majors will have a field day with this small, elegant book--references aplenty to tease out of the text. But fear not if you don't know Chaucer from Coleridge. This is a cracking good fantasy that is fun to read and provides food for thought--it begs rereading as soon as you've finished. --Therese Littleton

About the Author

R.E. Klein is a contributor for the following Houghton Mifflin Company Title: The History Of Our World Beyond The Wave

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (October 31, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151004110
• ISBN-13: 978-0151004119
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,371,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book touched me in unique and unexpected fashion., November 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The History Of Our World Beyond The Wave: A Fantasy (Paperback)

There are four dramatic moments in my life that I will always remember. One of them is the day I finished reading this book. It was at an outdoor cafe. I had a cup of coffee that had long grown cold. The sky was greying. I sat back and closed my eyes and thought to myself, it doesn't get any better than this. I wondered how so much feeling and creativity and a way with words could be confined in one person. Every generation produces a thinker for it's times. R.E. Klein is probably a thinker for the ages. I found myself lost in this book and I don't think I will ever get out. And...I don't want to.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rare Find, December 8, 1999

By 

"evenmere" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The History Of Our World Beyond The Wave: A Fantasy (Paperback)

As I get older, it is a rare joy to find a book destined to become part of my life. Klein explores a world both wonderful and dreadful; though the novel was never gruesome, I had the feeling at any moment the writer might reveal an image too terrible for me to bear. If you loved C.S. Lewis' "The Great Divorce," "Phantastes" by George MacDonald, or Lindsay's "A Voyage to Arcturus," you will like this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book to reread and to share with your friends, January 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The History Of Our World Beyond The Wave: A Fantasy (Paperback)

This book draws in the reader from the first page. It is literate, elegant, and exciting. The story keeps coming to mind after you've read it once, and you'll want to share it with friends because you'll want to have people to discuss it with! This book reminds me of C.S. Lewis' "Perelandra" with its good-and-evil tug-of-war with the ocean as a background.

I happened upon this book at the public library, have lent it out once, read it twice, and it's not due back for another week yet. I hope to find it on tape for my husband so WE can discuss it!