Total oblivion, more or less

306 pages

English language

Published May 2, 2009 by Spectra Ballantine Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-553-59254-2
OCLC Number:: 299706487

(1 review)

"I remember the first time I began to understand that things might not be the same again."What's a girl to do when her world is invaded by warriors from the ancient world? That's the problem faced by sixteen-year-old Macy, who sees her quiet, normal life in suburban Minnesota turned upside down when things that should never be possible begin to transform the landscape all around her. The cable stops working, the phone lines die--and then the horsemen come to town. It's not the same America that she last went to sleep in.Ticketed to a refugee camp by the marauding Scythian armies, Macy and her family come to believe that heading down the Mississippi by boat is their one escape from the encroaching madness. But as they make their way downriver, Macy's world just keeps getting stranger, and the wooden submarines, wasp-borne plagues, and talking dogs are the least of her …

"I remember the first time I began to understand that things might not be the same again."What's a girl to do when her world is invaded by warriors from the ancient world? That's the problem faced by sixteen-year-old Macy, who sees her quiet, normal life in suburban Minnesota turned upside down when things that should never be possible begin to transform the landscape all around her. The cable stops working, the phone lines die--and then the horsemen come to town. It's not the same America that she last went to sleep in.Ticketed to a refugee camp by the marauding Scythian armies, Macy and her family come to believe that heading down the Mississippi by boat is their one escape from the encroaching madness. But as they make their way downriver, Macy's world just keeps getting stranger, and the wooden submarines, wasp-borne plagues, and talking dogs are the least of her problems: For in this upside-down world, old identities warp and family bonds are sorely tested.Acclaimed writer Alan DeNiro has fashioned a completely original, utterly beguiling melding of the surreal and the everyday.From the Trade Paperback edition.

2 editions

Daniel Andrlik reviewed Total oblivion, more or less by Alan DeNiro

Review of 'Total oblivion, more or less' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

I had mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I appreciate the absurdity of DeNiro's imagined post-apocalyptic United States, and he takes a big risk by refusing to explain any of it. That makes sense as the characters in the novel would have no opportunity to even begin to understand what was happening to their world beyond the visible results.

This is ultimately a story of a family that is being torn apart, and of a teenage girl's attempt to save her brother, despite how he has slighted her. The relationships within the family are well written, and you feel for the protagonist and her family. However, the rest of the characters seem to suffer as a result. I can't put my finger on why, since their motivations are clearly outlined in the text, some of the other characters struck me as plot puppets as opposed to having …

I had mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I appreciate the absurdity of DeNiro's imagined post-apocalyptic United States, and he takes a big risk by refusing to explain any of it. That makes sense as the characters in the novel would have no opportunity to even begin to understand what was happening to their world beyond the visible results.

This is ultimately a story of a family that is being torn apart, and of a teenage girl's attempt to save her brother, despite how he has slighted her. The relationships within the family are well written, and you feel for the protagonist and her family. However, the rest of the characters seem to suffer as a result. I can't put my finger on why, since their motivations are clearly outlined in the text, some of the other characters struck me as plot puppets as opposed to having their own motivations, especially as they begin to align with Macy. This may have less to do with the characters than it does with my own irritation at the ending, which was far too pat given the circumstances.

One other note, there is plenty of dialogue in this novel, but absolutely none of it is enclosed in quotation marks. This was clearly a stylistic choice, and it is extremely distracting, especially as you will often be halfway through a sentence before you realize it is dialogue and then you have to go back and start reading it again. It was irritating in the extreme, and even my fiancé (who was peeking at it over my shoulder) remarked on how confusing that was.

Normally, I would give a book of this quality about three stars, but the quotation mark issue described above made it so frustrating an experience to read that I have to knock it down to two. If you don't think that issue would bother you, then you have a quick three-star read (enjoyable, but not amazing) ahead of you.

Subjects

Regression (Civilization) -- Fiction
Teenage girls -- Fiction
Families -- Minnesota -- Fiction
Survival skills -- Fiction