Last Day, Domenica Ruta, Speigel & Grau, 2019, 274 pp
Domenica Ruta is an author to watch. Her debut With or Without You, a memoir, was so gripping I read it in a day. Last Day, her first novel, was one I had to warm up to but she left me impressed by the end.
We may be reaching saturation on the post-apocalyptic novel just as we may be reaching saturation on the climate change debate. Who among us can go through each and every day knowing that the long prophesied end of the world as we know it is quite probably coming in the next 50 to 100 years?
Last Day is another look at the ultimate outcome for the sentient being experiment on planet Earth. It is told from multiple viewpoints as various as we have in real life: an astronaut on the International Space Station, a young woman raised by religious helicopter parents, a messed up tatoo artist with criminal tendencies, a mentally challenged orphan aging out of group homes, and a lapsed Jehovah's Witness.
At the fictional future time in which the story takes place, all around the world humans celebrate/anticipate the end of days. Once a year on May 28, in accordance with each area's traditional ethos, Last Day is a worldwide event.
The tone of Domenica Ruta's sparkling imagination is layered with humanist wit. A funny doomsday story, you might ask? Yes, I say.
Within all the variety of human personality types, goals and ethics, she seems to say, we share the responsibility and the consequences for our home world and our individual lives. Really, because of that deep truth, how else could it end?
I have not read many of the new post apocalyptic novels. There are a lot of them. I think that in the right hands any type of brain on can be original and worthwhile. I do tend to like the genre. Maybe I will give this a try.
ReplyDeleteI think Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel is my most favorite:https://keepthewisdom.blogspot.com/2014/09/station-eleven.html.
DeleteAnother one that made a huge impression on me was The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi. I never posted a review of that one because I was on some kind of blogging break but you can find reviews of it. Do you have a favorite from the ones you have read?
this doesn't sound like a genre work... or maybe it is: predecessor of many more humorous books on climatic crashes? i wonder if i could... noo...
ReplyDeleteI would call it a more literary sort within the genre. Nobody has quite outdone J G Ballard on cli fi for various reasons. Have you read him?
Deleteyes, the drowning world the dry world some others along with short stories... like his ideas and developments a lot... also one about the wind increasing to 600 mph... that one was something else!
DeleteSo depressing. 50-100 years.
ReplyDeleteWell, some say there is still hope but I am not so sure.
DeleteI am fearful that there is not. I fear for Eleanor and possible grandchildren. We are nearly at the point of no return. This administration's rollbacks of environmental protections is sealing our fate.
DeleteA change of administration sure would help. If only to give us hope and get us moving again in the right direction.
DeleteI love post apocalyptic books but have such a hard time finding them... no idea why. I am leery of the humor you mentioned but I'm still gonna see if my library has it and give it a chance!
ReplyDeleteDon't worry. It is not laugh out loud humor, just some amusing parts.
DeleteYeah I like to pick up a couple post-apocalypse novels per year: Station 11 is still probably at the top, though Atwood & Severance this year were on my stack. Last Day sounds a bit different but I like humor in dark times.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, the humor is refreshing. I mean to take a look at Severance.
DeleteI have steered clear of post-apocalyptic novels recently. The present is about all the apocalypse I can take at the moment. But this one sounds interesting. Adding it to my list.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand. I predict you will like her writing.
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