Autumn is about 3/4 of the way through the year. Whilst the brightest and longest days of the year may be behind us, we’re right in the middle of the BEST days.
The best colours, the best shadows, sunrises, sunsets. Fast changing weather and the challenges of wintry conditions start showing their faces.
(Appallingly cliched analagy alert) A bit like my life. Whilst being young was great, the first couple of decades of adulthood were full of, you know, STUFF. So, my bright, silky skinned, jet black barnet days are long behind me.
Phew!
Because THIS, this is the life I’ve been waiting for……
Utopia. Pure and simple.
I guess one man’s utopia is another man’s dystopia.
Clean. Healthy. Loving. Truthful.
What on earth has this all got to do with a book review?
Well, here I am on the injury bench, Charlie for company, feeling all, er, all wordy……
THE LAST DOG ON EARTH by Adrian J Walker.
Yet another holiday read. The main protagonist, Reg (and his dog Linekar) have ended up living in a post-apocolyptic dystopia. Only that’s not how it feels to them.
One man’s…… oh I’ve said that.
I see, going off subject a bit here, that White Star’s Andy Palmer wrote another piece for The Guardian. Nice. Run Deep Magazine got a plug too. I’ve got a column in Run Deep. Tenuous link to fame there…..
Interesting that people I follow in the media and sporting world tend NOT to be columnists for The Daily Mail (no link inserted there, naturally).
By way of example, Kate Carter, Adharanand Finnish, Rob Deering…… and, er, Andy Palmer!
Anyway, one man’s dystopia…..
So, THE LAST DOG ON EARTH
On a the face of it, a quirky, light hearted romp, told through the voice of a foul-mouthed mutt, around a make believe world where barely anyone has survived a civil war led apocalypse.
Linekar (the dog) and Reg (his owner) have remained in London, creating their own power and scavenging for food. Living a simple, simple existence in isolation. Dependent on each other for company and the routine they both enjoy.
The sparse pattern of lights that remain on view are the only suggestion that a hint of life in the city goes on. There are barely enough (of these lights) for a football team (which is sort of the point), and we learn that gruesome deaths and a hurried exodus has accounted for nearly all of the city’s population.
Gradually, we encounter those that rule the deserted streets and others who have remained. Belief doesn’t have to be suspended too much.
The rhetoric and undercurrent of hatred which we seem to have cultivated in Britain is enough for me to join the dots from today’s realities to Walker’s imagined future. Scary.
It’s a fabulous, moody yet pacey, look at relationships, at how we interact and, yes, how our dogs become part of our personality (as well as suggesting what THEY might be thinking).
Reg and Linekar have their crude but effective existence blown apart after a mission to find fuel for their generator.
Inadvertently, and unwillingly, they become guardians to a lost child.
Their journey, their bonds, their fights and fears as they venture further out into the world now run by extremists, are all grippingly delivered.
With echoes of one of my favourite ever books, Station 11, this band of misfits grows, makes allies, encounters relics from the past (everyday life items which we don’t even notice).
The battle to avoid the ultimate test to determine whether they still have a use in the world (I’m avoiding too many spoilers) is terrifying, absorbing and quite humbling.
A book which tackles extremists controlling the future, mass murder, the destruction of what we call ‘civilization’ and yet can open a chapter with the line “Squirrels are c***s” is a rare trick I reckon.
From this book, I look closer at the things that frighten me in the world more and more, perhaps ask myself questions, and definitely look at Charlie and wonder what HE’S thinking!
Keep on keeping people……..
Packing Our Trunks 