The Children of PD James

Children of Men

Author:
PD James
Published:
Vision (1994)
Number of Pages:
241
Review: We live in a society that measures success in three ways: a. The material belongings of a person, b. the fame of a person, and c. the number of a person’s offspring. Now what if one day we wake up to find that no human (none) would ever get the chance to procreate, that the human race will become extinct because no one can reproduce, how will our world react? What will become of our species? What would then be considered valuable? These questions are asked in PD James’ novel Children of Men.
Theodore Faron lives in a world where no human can procreate. It happened suddenly and with no explanation. Through the depressing blow to all humans that they can never be parents again and the chaos that occurs Theo feels the need to document his life in a diary on the death of the youngest human alive, 25 year old Joseph Ricardo, the last human who’s birth was the last ever to be recorded. As he starts to document his feelings for the first time in fifty years he is suddenly thrown into this chaotic world of secrecy  when he meets a young woman named Julian and vows to protect her and her secret. Throughout the novel’s progression one sees the fight for survival intensify, the destruction humans are able to create, the political chaos that can occur within our species, and the beauty, love, compassion and care our species is able to portray at even the most desperate and evil of times.
This novel is FANTASTIC! It has suspense that would make Alfred Hitchcock shiver and the concept is very unique and daring, after all who would ever dream that a scenario would occur where humans could never reproduce again. That concept is ridiculous and even laughable when you think about it, and yet it is not impossible either. Improbable maybe but not impossible.
The language is beautiful. James does a wonderful job to describe the collective feelings the human species share while living in a scenario where no human being feels safe or protected. “We are outraged and demoralized less by the impending end of our species, less even by our inability to prevent it, than by our failure to discover the cause… Western medicine haven’t prepared us for the magnitude and humiliation of this ultimate failure.” This sentence sequence alone shows the contempt, the fear and the disappointment the species as a whole feels for the situation they find themselves in. Once thought to be the masters of the universe, the inventors of machines, a God among nature, humans have failed to stop or even recognize their own demise.
What James does best in this novel is build suspense. There were moments  when as I was reading my thoughts of serenity turned into total fear and chaos just from her words and unexpected fearful events that happen. “And in that second the Omegas were upon them. Horribly, they came at first unheard, in total silence. At each car window the painted faces stared in, lit by flames of torches. Miriam gave a short involuntary scream.” The narrator is just as unaware of the events to come as the character and the readers. In some parts of the novel the plot line was completely unpredictable which helped keep my attention and kept me in suspense throughout the novel. 
What James does exceptionally well throughout this novel is describing this essentially doomed and post-apocalyptic world. “The old were too weak for the work, the middle-aged, on whom the burden of maintaining the life of the State largely depended on, were too busy, the young cared little for the preservation of the countryside.” We see a world where everyone gives up all hope of keeping the world politically and morally/ethically in check. They give up living life for they know that their species will not carry on, and really there’s no reason to look after the world (and especially the world of their species) for there’s no one to leave it too when they’re gone. It’s basically a world lost. A world no longer worth fighting for.
This novel, at it’s worst, was probably one of the best science fiction novels I’ve read in a long time. The concept was unique, the prose nothing short of perfect and the plot line: breathless. It’s a great book to keep you occupied during the long fall nights, and to keep your mind occupied as you try to make sense of the world she’s created and as you try to imagine what it would feel like for you to live in such a situation. As for myself, if I were to live in such a situation, I’d probably still try to live my life the best I can. Of course I say that now but who knows what I’d think if I found out no human being could ever reproduce again. I might very well live the life Theo Faron did.
Happy Reading!!!