- Paperback: 231 pages
- Publisher: Elsevier Science Ltd; New edition edition (30 Nov 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0080064345
- ISBN-13: 978-0080064345
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,273,110 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Death of Grass (Penguin Modern Classics)
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Product Description
Review
'The Death of Grass sticks with commendable perseverance to the surface of the earth we know... John Christopher has constructed an unusually dramatic and exciting tale' Daily Mail 'I know and admire The Death of Grass. It was published at roughly the same time as The Day Of The Triffids. In my judgement, it is by far the better book. The characterisation is better and the mood uniformly cold. It is a thrilling and sensible work' - Brian Aldiss 'Gripping ! of all science fiction's apocalypses, this is one of the most haunting' Financial Times
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
At first the virus wiping out grass and crops is of little concern to John Custance. It has decimated Asia, causing mass starvation and riots, but Europe is safe and a counter-virus is expected any day. Except, it turns out, the governments have been lying to their people. When the deadly disease hits Britain they are left alone, and society starts to descend into barbarism. As John and his family try to make it across country to the safety of his brother's farm in a hidden valley, their humanity is tested to its very limits.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What a fantastic read. Although this book was written in the 1950's, it could easily apply to the modern world. Set over a few days in the aftermath of a disease which kills all grasses, we find the main characters beliefs and morals tested to an extreme which few could imagine. Similar apocolyptic references as John Wyndhams Day of the Triffids I can thoroughly reccommend this book.
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've been wanting to read this for ages, so jumped at the chance to buy it now it's been reprinted. I read it in an afternoon and was not disappointed. If anyone's intending to buy it then don't whatever you do read the introduction, which is so laden with spoilers that it was the only thing that reduced my enjoyment of the whole thing in any way.
I've read in many places, including one of the other reviews here, comparisons with The Day of the Triffids, saying that this is much more realistic and that TDOTT is all stiff upper lips and cosy catastrophe. I find this a little unfair because Wyndham's work is set in a world where there are almost no survivors, and as such bears little comparison with the disaster unfolding here. Indeed, Wyndham's main character explicitly realises at one point in TDOTT how different (and bloody) things would be if 10 or 15 per cent of the population had survived, so he has that base covered. Rather than comparisons with TDOTT, which must come more from the fact that both books come from the same era than from anything else, this book made me think more than anything else of a prequel to Cormac McCarthy's deeply disturbing The Road.
In short TDOG is excellent, but has not toppled TDOTT from my Number One for this type of fiction.
I've read in many places, including one of the other reviews here, comparisons with The Day of the Triffids, saying that this is much more realistic and that TDOTT is all stiff upper lips and cosy catastrophe. I find this a little unfair because Wyndham's work is set in a world where there are almost no survivors, and as such bears little comparison with the disaster unfolding here. Indeed, Wyndham's main character explicitly realises at one point in TDOTT how different (and bloody) things would be if 10 or 15 per cent of the population had survived, so he has that base covered. Rather than comparisons with TDOTT, which must come more from the fact that both books come from the same era than from anything else, this book made me think more than anything else of a prequel to Cormac McCarthy's deeply disturbing The Road.
In short TDOG is excellent, but has not toppled TDOTT from my Number One for this type of fiction.
74 of 78 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
...... do we revert to the Year Zero of the Pol Pot era in Cambodia? This novel is perhaps one of the best treatments of the ecological disaster theme, written with both intelligence and a clear understanding of the human condition when faced with life-threatening circumstances.
The storyline starts out with the news that a deadly, resilient plant virus known as the Chung-Li virus has virtually wiped all cereal crops, including rice, in China. Due to an initial Chinese government decision to suppress details of the ensuing famine, the full scale of the disaster is not made known until it is quite too late. Vaccine developed hastily by Western countries proves ultimately to be ineffective and before long, the virus has rapidly spread, reaching Europe including England and wiping out all the cereal crops (with the exception of potatoes) and grass of that particular region. Life in England starts breaking down with catastrophic consequences and the story then focuses on the attempts of the protagonist John Custance, his family and close friends, to reach safety in northern England where his brother has a farm newly set up for potato farming.
Initially the reader may gain the impression of the novel being a THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS clone but as the story progresses, it is clear that this is not the case. Whereas John Wyndham attempted to portray English middle-class values as being the best defence against total societal breakdown, John Christopher provides no such assurances. The transformation of Custance from comfortably middle-class Londoner through a deterioration of personality to that of a feudal clan chieftain is indeed very disturbing and the atmosphere throughout the novel is one of constant potential violence as people prepare to wage war on one another .... for a scrap of food. The depiction(s) of Custance's right-hand man, Harold Pirrie, as an expert rifle marksman and a cold, calculating killer are chilling in the extreme. Add to that, the summary justice meted out by Custance and his followers to a gang of marauders who kidnap and rape Custance's wife and young daughter and the cold-blooded shooting of an unfortunate family seeking to defend their household and you have a novel of quite brutal savagery. Very rarely throughout the book is any chance of salvation offered and the novel's conclusion I found to be shockingly nihilistic. With scant details provided of the Chung-Li virus and the news of the Chinese famine provided at second-hand, the novel is very much a study of mankind's primal instincts and the lengths individuals will go to preserve their very existence.
Every sci-fi reader should read this book. The novel is a subdued warning against complacency and the possible consequences of such complacency. This is very much relevant in today's world of GM-modified foods and resistant strains of disease culture. If such a scenario unfolded in present-day Western society, then all I can say is ...... God help the lot of us.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Prescient, apocalyptic and rather quaint
John Custance, his family and friends inhabit a world of secure employment, good education, English pubs, seaside caravanning holidays and summer picnics in the garden. Read more
Published 3 days ago by Lester
Cracking Read with a chilling message
I found out about this due to it being broadcast as a serial on 'R4' a while ago and had to buy it. It's a great book that comes back to haunt you whenever you read about an... Read more
Published 19 days ago by charononvitch
From architect to warlord, from citizens to vassals - a reflection on...
Although quite old (first published in 1956) and not very long (barely two hundred pages), this is a very good "post-apocalyptic" novel, which didn't age much and still packs an... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Maciej
DeadGrass
I enjoyed this "short" story. The description was accurate enough to tempt me and I wasn't disappointed. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mr. Samuel J. Main
Superb stuff
Probably the best and most stark post apocalyptic novel I have read. This beats Day of the Triffids for me. It dates from the same era, being first published in 1956. Read more
Published 8 months ago by John Hopper
The Death of Grass (1956)
I studied this book in English class when I was fourteen. I had a good teacher who chose interesting texts for the two year syllabus including ''Z is for Zachariah'', and... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Ghost
A chilling depiction of the breakdown of society
I have read many post-apocalyptic novels but none so disturbing as this one. The collapse of the world's food production leads to the total breakdown of society, law and order... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Kirsty at the Overflowing Library
Best apocalypse ever
You'll hear the word 'prescient' bandied around when looking for reviews of this book. I always take that sort of thing with a pinch of salt. Read more
Published 14 months ago by R. Davidson
Great book to read
I know that it is mentioned that this book is comparable to lord of the flies, but in my honest opinion I would quite happily label this book as being BETTER than lord of the... Read more
Published 14 months ago by KKKittehz
A nightmare revisited
John Christopher was years ahead of the game when he wrote The Death of Grass. The novel is very timely in a modern world obsessed (perhaps rightly) with ecological breakdown and... Read more
Published 15 months ago by FlyingAspidistra
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