Mention Books As A Gift Upon the Shore
| Original Title: | A Gift upon the Shore |
| ISBN: | 0595143415 (ISBN13: 9780595143412) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | Oregon Coast(United States) |
M.K. Wren
Paperback | Pages: 388 pages Rating: 3.88 | 1301 Users | 157 Reviews
Declare Appertaining To Books A Gift Upon the Shore
| Title | : | A Gift Upon the Shore |
| Author | : | M.K. Wren |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 388 pages |
| Published | : | October 1st 2000 by Backinprint.com (first published 1990) |
| Categories | : | Apocalyptic. Post Apocalyptic. Science Fiction. Fiction. Dystopia |
Commentary Concering Books A Gift Upon the Shore
In the Pacific Northwest of the near future, the golden age has ended in apocalypse. Nuclear war has unleased firestorms and the killing cold of nuclear winter. Earthquakes and tidal waves have ravaged the West Coast of America. Desperate violent looters comb the devastated land. And a horrifying pandemic lays waste to the remaining human population. But one of the few survivors, Mary Hope, is determined to see that some spark of culture survives. Together with her beloved friend Rachel, she sets out to preserve the precious knowledge of the past by saving every book she can in what may very well be the last library—the only record of a world that has perished. But Mary and Rachel are not alone. They are forced to share their small subsistence farm, Amarna, with the Flock, a small band of survivors with fanatical beliefs. And one of those beliefs is that books are blasphemous and should be destroyed.Rating Appertaining To Books A Gift Upon the Shore
Ratings: 3.88 From 1301 Users | 157 ReviewsWrite-Up Appertaining To Books A Gift Upon the Shore
this book looked like it had everything I like in a book, but I just didn't connect with it. The characters just seem subtly off - not behaving the way I think people would actually behave - and the conflict feels like it will be extremely predictable.I give this four stars and not five only because I was a little disturbed at how preachy it could get in its anti-religion. However, it's refreshing to have a book in which that's the main theme. And it hits notes that are close to my heart: love of books and post-apocalyptic futures.I loved the frame of an old woman telling her story to a childit was a very convincing perspective, and it surprised me that it drew me in so much. I also loved the character of Rachel, idealized though she is. I
I really disliked this book. It was heavy-handed, flat yet terribly over-written (I had to start skimming descriptive passages, as it was just way overdone, yes, it's a beautiful field/ocean/flower but get on with it), and not engaging. Mary and Rachel's story is a poorly disguised allegory against the Bible-thumping Christians who basically ruin everything. I'm as atheist as they come, but howdy I wasn't expecting to be force-fed a dissection of all the ways Christianity Is Completely Super
A Gift Upon The Shore is a post-apocalyptic novel that owes much to Walden by Henry David Thoreau, Earth Abides by George R. Stewart and A Canticle for Lebowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. This is not a tale of gun-battles, epic struggles, mutants or invading hordes. Nor does it feature (predominately) male heroes who are are brave, resolute, resourceful and armed to the teeth. It doesn't even have all that much in common with the classic post-apocalyptic/nuclear war novel Alas, Babylon by Pat
As you already know, I love a good post-apocalyptic novel involving religious zealots, especially when it also involves rational, free-thinking bibliophiles on a mission to save books (and knowledge) for future generations. A Gift Upon the Shore is fantastically crafted story filled with friendships, hardships, philosophical discussions, drama, hope, and despair. I loved the epigrams M.K. Wren selected and saved a few as favorites. So thought-provoking and epic, this story just sucks you in and
With her Phoenix Legacy, M. K. Wren did for science fiction romance what Mary Stewart did for fantasy - except that fewer people noticed. That's a shame, because the Phoenix trilogy is terrific. Despite that, I didn't pick up A Gift Upon the Shore for many years, mostly because I'm not much of a post-apocalyptarian. But with its recent reissue, and Wren's confounding failure to write any other books (This is her only other SF novel, though she also wrote a series of mystery stories.), I decided
When I first read this book (nearly 20 years ago) I was in my twenties... I was young, I was idealistic, I was in love with books, and I thought I had come across something very special.I have re-read it several times in the ensuing years, and have noticed my view on this work shift. Having read it again, now in my forties, I struggled to find that same connection. Now I see it as rather hypocritical. The author speaks time and again of having expanded views, of how being dogmatic can harm, how
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