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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
In the spirit of Animal Farm, Brave New World, a great work!!, April 2, 2009
Barrett's "Through Darkest America" and its sequel, "Dawn's Uncertain Light," taken together, are for one thing a morals tale for the 21st Century. And I shall mention both in my review because speaking for myself, once I had finished the first, a very easy read, I could hardly wait for the 2nd to arrive in the mail. The books are real page-turners, and remind me in their style most of Robert Heinlein at his best. Adventure novel, but with an agenda. The book that Barrett's two novels most remind me of is in fact "Good News" by Edward Abbey. I think Barrett and Abbey would agree with each other on more political and philosophical ideas than they would with most anybody else. And these modern ideas couched in a good old western novel format is something I've only seen in Abbey, and this style seems perfect for the delivery of such hard-hitting messages. And the message of the novels appears to be similar to that of some westerns too, but taken to a logical extreme: that even in world ridden with crime and sin, even to the extent that men are dining on other men's flesh, there is a place for humanity and heroism. This will be a good lesson for our grandchildren, perhaps. Skeptics of the novels should consider the latest news stories: March, 2009, the government of the Peoples Republic of China has adopted the use of mobile "death vans" to execute capital offenders. Slightly reminiscent of the Nazis' use of vans for transporting Jews, which had the engine's exhaust routed into the passenger compartment so they would be killed en route to the burial place, except this: in China, the vans are preferred because they allow for a speedy removal and delivery of organs to waiting transplant patients. As the world becomes overcrowded and our resources dwindle we may not witness outright cannibalism, but Barrett was merely using that as a metaphor for vice, greed and cruelty in our modern world. And of course about the dark machines of modern government and industry, in the hands of greed.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Resolutely downbeat..., March 14, 2007
not necessarily a bad thing in this genre. The basic idea of the novel, a post-apocalyptic world in which debased humans are used a meat animals, is pretty well realized. Watching Howie gradually become aware of just what meat "animals" really are is the highlight of the book. My only criticism is that the author is somewhat inconsistent in his depiction of the technologic level at which his characters live. For example, in the early pages of the book, guns are described as being extremely rare and ammunition even more so. By the end of the story, and especially in the sequel, that clearly isn't the case at all.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Through Darkest America, January 8, 2005
This review is from: Neal Barrett Through Darkest America N (Paperback)
Anyone who's read any book by Neil Barrett, Jr. knows that optimism is not the man's forte. He revels in darkness and cynicism. Perhaps it was a result of reading one too many syrupy tales of humanity's joyous rebirth from the ashes of apocalypse, but in "Throught Darkest America" he sets out to carefully eliminate all vestiges of hope. The resulting book is brutal, the back cover declaration "not for the squeamish" is an almost ridiculous understatement. But for those willing to tough it out, it's also memorable for its unique way of attacking the subject. Howie, twelve year old at the start, lives in a frontier world centuries after "The War", where twentieth century technology has vanished. The whole country is now organized similar to a nineteenth century frontier town, with the government taking levies to support a war somewhere in the West. With all animals exterminated, food now comes from 'stock', human-like but apparently unthinking creatures raised on farms. Barrett reinforces this world building by writing the entire book in old fashioned American dialect reminiscient of Mark Twain. Among its strengths is character development. Barrett expertly captures the awkward guilt of youthful sexual discovery in a conservative religious culture. Of course, Howie's peaceful existence eventually gets shattered, his family torn apart, and he sets off on a voyage towards the war zone, encountering life-changing treachery along the way. Much remains unexplained, with plot threads left dangling, but the point of the story, perhaps, is that in real life much is always left unexplained. In "Through Darkest America", it is the journey that matters, not the destination.
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