- Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: Gollancz; New edition edition (2 Mar 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0752816144
- ISBN-13: 978-0752816142
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 13.5 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 991,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Life During Wartime (S.F. Masterworks)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
David Mingolla is one of many drug-pumped grunts slugging it out in the rotten jungles of Guatemala, an expendable pawn in an endless, amoral war. Then he meets Debora, an enigmatic young woman who may be working for the enemy, and stumbles into the deadly war zone of psychic conflict where the mind is the greatest woapon, and thoughts are used to kill.
About the Author
* #17 in the Millennium SF Masterworks series, a library of the finest science fiction ever written * 'One of the brightest stars in post-war fiction' -- Kingsley Amis * 'There are those (I am among them) who would back Ballard as Britain's number one living novelist' -- John Sutherland, Sunday Times * 'This novel, with its brilliant descriptions of an inundated London and an ecology reverting to the Triassic, gained Ballard acceptance as a major author' -- Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A sensual, maddening sci-fi saga set in the jungle. It's a story about a war of psychic powers - which is dumb, but no dumber than the usual betentacled aliens and dogfights in space. It's a story of drugs, madness and intrigue set both the jungles of Guatemala and the jungle of the human mind. It's an odd, rambling, and ultimately unsatisfying tale which tries to cover too much ground and turns weirder with each chapter: I made it to the end, but the rewards diminished as the pages flipped by. However, it's still a worthwhile read for those who like parrots, paranoia and purple prose. Like "Heart of Darkness" it's better read sitting sweaty in a too-hot bath under the shade of a potted cheeseplant, so you can nearly hear the croaking tree frogs and buzzing jungle flies. Now and again, there's a gem of a short story shining in the collage of exotic foliage, or maybe just a treat of writer's self indulgence, like the melvillesque, page-long sentence when the hero has his first vision of the fleshpots of the future California. Might appeal to fans of Ballard's "Drowned World".
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
A very difficult book to rate...It starts very slowly, and is rather hard going in the beginning. The same with the end, with is for me a bit disappointing because of the absolutely grand middle section. Shepard's speciality, erotic descriptions (have you read "The Golden"? Oh my god, it should be x-rated !), are really class. The mixture of reality and drug hallucinations is fantastic, as is the explanation of why there is war on earth. Well... I cannot say this book is excellent, but the middle section definitely is (read the beginning and the end, or you won't get it...).
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Read it. . .
4 May 2003
Format:Hardcover
Lucius Shepard is a strong and beautiful writer. His stories have frequently been compared to those of Joseph Conrad, and indeed Shepard is a master of the short story and the novella. R&R, the novella that makes up the opening of this novel, is a beautiful and terrible read, and the quality of the writing remains consistently captivating throughout. So why have I given this novel only three stars? Because, as a novel, it doesn't really work. Shepard writes fantastic short fiction, but when he wrote LIFE DURING WARTIME, he just wasn't ready to tackle a novel. It reads like a series of episodes, each an good read on its own, but each also providing its own closure. But they are linked closely enough that were I to read something else in between them, I'd likely lose track of the details of the plot. So, while the writing is beautiful, the plot interesting, and each episode a joy to read on its own, the novel isn't able to sustain its momentum throughout. I'm glad I read it, but as a novel, it just doesn't quite work.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Shepard is one of the best 20th century writers
20 Feb 1999
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I always love Lucius Shepard's work and this is his best novel. It is like "Apocalypse Now" in the future, and has the same kind of impact on the reader as that film did on the viewer.
A quote from the opening paragraph: "One of the new Sikorsky gunships... gave Mingolla and Gilbey and Baylor a lift from the Ant Farm to San Francisco de Juticlan, a small town located inside the green zone.... To the east of this green zone lay an undesignated band of yellow that corssed the country from the Mexican border to the Caribbean. The Ant Farm was a firebase on the eastern edge of the yellow band, and it was from there that Mingolla -- an artillery specialist not yet twenty-one years old -- lobbed shells into an area that the maps depicted in black-and-white terrain markings. And thus it was that he often thought of himself as engaged in a struggle to keep the world safe for primary colors."
Brilliant beginning, but then it derails
27 April 2012
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I thought the first couple chapters of Life During Wartime were absolutely brilliant. Written in a poetic style, Shepard managed to document the horrors of war with subtle grace and power. However, as the book progressed, the narrative began to wander, losing its focus. By the end, it seemed to concentrate solely on vivid sexual descriptions, but even these failed to pique my attention. I wish I could say I enjoyed it on a whole, but outside of a few moving passages, there was way too much bloat and wandering prose that seemed to lead nowhere.
After finishing the book, I learned it was an expansion of a short story he'd previously written. It seems as though Shepard just added some filler to this remarkable tale in order to flesh it out into a novel. Unfortunately, I think it would've been better left as a short. Shepard has a unique and poetic voice, one that is superb in its ability to confront the darkest subjects. I just wish I'd found it more enjoyable to read.
After finishing the book, I learned it was an expansion of a short story he'd previously written. It seems as though Shepard just added some filler to this remarkable tale in order to flesh it out into a novel. Unfortunately, I think it would've been better left as a short. Shepard has a unique and poetic voice, one that is superb in its ability to confront the darkest subjects. I just wish I'd found it more enjoyable to read.
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