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Loading... The Postmanby David Brin
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. I really liked this one. I re-read it again after seeing the movie and realized once again how much I liked it. The movie was pretty good, but all they shared was the name and the postman aspect. ( )Having been singularly underwhelmed by the movie when I saw it way back when, this was always low on my reading list, but Im glad I finally got round to pulling it out of the 'to read' pile. There's nothing spectacular about the book, but its well written, the main character is sympathetic and post-apocalypse Oregon well realised. A quick and entertaining read. hile not as satisfying or as meaty as Earth, Brin’s portrayal of a post-apocalyptic America is still compelling. The main character, trying to survive in the Oregon wilderness, happens upon a dead mailman and confiscates his uniform. Putting it on, he becomes the “postman” for the people in the enclaves he visits and even begins carrying their mail, all the while bemoaning the fact that no one will take responsibility for restoring civilization without realizing that he, in a small way, is doing exactly that. One interesting plot point is that the collapse is not brought about by war or disease but by an anarchist militia movement capitalizing on those things to destroy American society from within. Of course, at the end, the Postman and his followers must fight a decisive battle with that same militia to determine whose way of life will ultimately win out. Gasp! I'm both a fan of the book and a fan of the movie! While the movie is different in many ways from the book, and I think that a lot of people don't like it because of Costner, I enjoyed it for what it was. Then again, I'm a real sucker for post-apocalyptic stories, and especially so when the future isn't necessarily bleak (ummm, can On the Beach get much bleaker?). But if I had to choose which I liked better between film and book, the choice is easy. Another book I hope I can get my kids to read. I liked it. I think the message could have been a little less "beat you over the head" and the cyclops thing was a bit off, but I still liked it.
The great virtue of "The Postman" by David Brin is that it takes nothing for granted...Mr. Brin offers no simplistic formulas; nothing comes easy for the postman or the people he tries to help... Still, I found myself wishing that the ''war for men's minds'' in this book had a convincing personal as well as a sociological dimension. I am afraid that it would take a more complex character than his likable but limited postman to do justice to the important issues Mr. Brin raises.
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(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:54 -0400)
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