Saturday, June 27, 2015

The Postman by David Brin

 

            I mentioned before I had a desire to read The Postman in my post about another story written by David Brin. I will say, to start off, the novel has met at least the expectation that it would be good; despite any problems I had with the novel, the overall state of the book is quite recommendable nonetheless, and this did not surprise me. From what I've seen otherwise, Brin seems to have a general sense of good story-telling, and much like anyone is not perfect, but is at least another author I can point to with with legitimate interest.
            The Postman in particular seems to be a deconstruction of the usual post-apocalypse tropes, as the idea is a re-ignition of civilization, I suppose due to a nostalgic realization of having lived in a better time since societal collapse, which could be seen as a conservative viewpoint, but I doubt this was intended as a conservative novel by Brin as Brin, from what I know of him, is certainly not a conservative. The novel, more so than right versus left, merely seems to be about the collapse of civilization and the attempt to rebuild itself against a savage opposition, and so more seems to be a criticism of rugged individualism and anarchy.
            However, the central character of this novel, Gordon Krantz, while he does require help in this novel at various points in this novel, does happen to get himself out of many a situation by himself and holds himself as quite a headstrong leader; the Holnists, the novel's individualist antagonists, highlight their admiration for him for this reason, and so obviously Brin was aware of how he was building his character. I posit any untrained writer would've ignored this link, and so I give Brin credit for averting this trope (while still realizing his novel probably wouldn't work without Gordon overcoming his obstacles). Gordon himself does not even defeat his final adversary, however, which is a nice change of pace.
            But the novel still contains certain tropes which are tiresome; some are forgivable, but the most egregious is the deus ex machina toward the end before the final confrontation with the Holnist leader in which a character named George Powhatan (whose name I'm sure has meaning since he's named after a Native American tribe) saves Godron Krantz from certain fate pretty much out of nowhere. This scenario could feasibly happen as it did, but I still couldn't help but roll my eyes, as I tire of seeing situations like this in fiction.
            Besides that, I find the novel's treatment of feminism strange. I'm not entirely sure what statement exactly Brin was attempting to make about feminism in the novel, but his views either seemed to zig-zag or Gordon Krantz was simply too worried about the potential women can hold, which I suppose would be believable enough. I doubt Brin was attempting to make any sort of statement against feminism, but rather a sort of critique which still can give off mixed messages even if it is positive overall. To explain properly would truly require an essay out of me and that is not the purpose of this blog, so I will abstain from saying more without being too picky.
           This is not enough to keep this novel from being great, however. As a novel of epic struggles, it more than delivers excitement and can absolutely be thought-provoking. Brin is quite savvy to how he builds his worlds and characters, and as a scientist even builds a believable environment to the aftermath of war without going too deeply into the aspect of world-building or hard science. Brin keeps his style simple, yet still engages readers with intelligent quips and observations and, despite being somewhat formulaic, still holds some surprises and legitimate dramatic tension. Despite not living up quite to expectations (expected a potential classic), The Postman was well worth the journey.

            P.S. I have not seen the film adaptation starring Kevin Costner (because why would I want to see three hours of Kevin Costner?), but you can see Brin's commentary about the film here. I would also like to mention David Brin's interesting blog, Contrary Brin, showing more of the author's more informal side for those wanting to know the man himself better.

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