Happy 2009 everyone. Having trouble juggling the hours in the day....but have managed to come throu...
Happy 2009 everyone. Having trouble juggling the hours in the day....but have managed to come through with a review at long last. :)
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I first read Brother in the Land by Robert Swindells a good number of years ago. I borrowed a copy from the library and was instantly impressed the writing and unsettling subject matter. When I was asked to read the new edition, to review for the library I now work at I agreed, and prepared to reacquaint myself with a classic book of my teenage years.
~~~THE AUTHOR.
Robert Swindells has been a full-time author since 1980, but did write before that (his first book was written as part of his teacher training course). He hails from Bradford in Yorkshire ~ in fact a lot of his stories are set around this area. Robert Swindells was born in 1939 and before he took up writing he has been in the RAF, a clerk, an engineer, a publisher and a trainee teacher. He even worked on his local newspaper for while when he was a teenager.
Since becoming an author he has written loads of books ~ I can’t pretend to have read all of them, but I have really enjoyed the ones I have
come across. Of the selection I have read, my favourites have been:
Brother in the Land was first published in 1984. It has won the Children's Book Award, The Other Award, and was highly commended for The Carnegie Medal.
THE STORY~~~
Brother in the Land centres around the character of a teenage boy (Danny) who somehow manages to survive a nuclear attack. Danny, along with his younger brother Ben, must learn and fight to survive in a society that has been torn apart. After originally thinking that they have been lucky to be alive, they soon begin to realise that living is going to be the hardest job of all! Danny has to grow up fast and to protect himself and those around him, in a world where only the strongest and most cunning will keep going.
In among all this gloom and fear, there is also a love story developing between Danny and a girl called Kim. There is also an element of hope too ~ maybe if Danny and his “family” can survive, society can grow and survive too!
WHAT I THOUGHT! ~~~
At first glance, you could be forgiven for thinking that Brother in the Land is going to be depressing and sad. It IS ultimately a story of a Post-Apocalyptic world and thus isn’t going to be a happy smiley sort of book, but there is a lot more to it than just fights and tears.
Brother in the Land is a powerful and well written book that is told using the language of a teenage boy. There are things HE doesn’t understand and his fears and confusion make him a believable three-dimensional character. It is in this that the success of the book as a whole rests ~ as the pages turn, I begin to identify with Danny, to care what happens to him and finally to share a glimmer of hope with him. A few people in our review group described it as a bleak and depressing book ~ I suppose it is, but it is also a moving and interesting journey; Danny’s development and adaptability make it “real” too.
The use of the first person narrative (the book is written using Danny as the “voice”) makes it easy to read and get into. It IS a harrowing journey, but one that draws you in and maintains your interest throughout. The pictures Swindells paints in your mind are often painful and quite disturbing, but they only strengthen the need to see Danny adapt and survive. What Danny must face made me feel happy with the life and comforts I possess. I also found myself wondering how my morals would change and just how far I would go to stay alive ~ I was left wondering if I would rather have died in the initial bomb blast than have to suffer so much hardship.
Brother in the Land, although marketed as a Children’s Book, is probably more suited to older children and teenagers. We read it at school too (in conjunction with watching Threads and When the Wind Blows) ~ as a supervised educational tool it is probably suitable for those of aged 11 and above. It provides much scope for discussion and is extremely thought provoking.
When you have finished reading this book you will be pretty drained and at first wonder why you put yourself through it, but when people ask me if I can recommend a good book for teenagers, I still find myself singing its praises! This is a brilliantly written novel that was well worth reading again. I’m really glad that I was given the push to live Danny’s life once more!
~~~PUBLISHING INFO.
Paperback - 160 pages (21 May, 1998) Oxford University Press; ISBN: 0192717855
Book: Paperback | 129 x 198mm | 160 pages | ISBN 0140373004 | Dec 1994 | Puffin
It is currently available on Amazon for £5.59 and from the Puffin web-site (http://www.puffin.co.uk/Book/BookFrame/0,1007,,00.html?id=0140373004) for £5.99. The hardback version was currently out of stock.
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Apr 30th, 2003
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