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135th out of 154 books
—
226 voters
Then
It was 9.22, the moment when everything stopped. First there was the burning air, then came the darkness, the fire, and finally the frost.
Now, in a frozen, wasted London, a woman - uncertain even of her own name - is fighting to stay alive. Along with a small group of fellow survivors, she takes refuge in an abandoned skyscraper in what was once the financial centre. But s...more
Now, in a frozen, wasted London, a woman - uncertain even of her own name - is fighting to stay alive. Along with a small group of fellow survivors, she takes refuge in an abandoned skyscraper in what was once the financial centre. But s...more
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published
June 2nd 2011
by Jonathan Cape
(first published 2011)
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I'm about two-thirds of the way through and I've had these thoughts in my head for some time and I feel I need to record them now.
Everyone keeps saying how gripping this book is, how disturbing, how powerful but I don't quite feel this the same way. It's not so gripping that I can't put it down but it IS fascinating. It's not so disturbing that I feel upset by it - for apocalypses it's good but also a bit tame; they're cold but not freezing, they're hungry but not driven to cannibalism, their wo...more
Everyone keeps saying how gripping this book is, how disturbing, how powerful but I don't quite feel this the same way. It's not so gripping that I can't put it down but it IS fascinating. It's not so disturbing that I feel upset by it - for apocalypses it's good but also a bit tame; they're cold but not freezing, they're hungry but not driven to cannibalism, their wo...more
I have literally just finished reading this book, and I am totally stunned. Julie Myerson has a special talent for writing about the single most darkest moments in life, motherhood and all its highs and its pitfalls, mother guilt and the gut-wrenching heartache that loving and losing a man you love with every fibre of your being can bring.
Admittedly, I was weary about reading this book after noticing that many people on goodreads had given it one or two stars and written reviews were less than f...more
Admittedly, I was weary about reading this book after noticing that many people on goodreads had given it one or two stars and written reviews were less than f...more
London, and a curious apocalypse has befallen the city. One February day, the temperature soared. At first, Londoners basked in the unseasonal warmth, but as buildings began to erupt into flames, exuberance turned to panic. Then the temperature dropped again and snow began to fall, plunging Britain into a frozen permafrost. [return][return]The tale is related by a narrator who struggles to remember what happened, or who she is. Holed up in an office building in the City with a small group of str...more
This was hard work....
In the frozen remains of London, a woman wakes. She has no idea who she is, where she is, or what has happened to her.
This was a really hard book to read.I really don't know what happened , how much of it was the woman (Izzy) suffering a psychosis & how much of it was "real".
The book is written in quite an unusual style : speech isn't indicated by punctuation, for instance, & there is almost a "stream-of-conciousness" feel to the writing.
Parts of this book felt too...more
In the frozen remains of London, a woman wakes. She has no idea who she is, where she is, or what has happened to her.
This was a really hard book to read.I really don't know what happened , how much of it was the woman (Izzy) suffering a psychosis & how much of it was "real".
The book is written in quite an unusual style : speech isn't indicated by punctuation, for instance, & there is almost a "stream-of-conciousness" feel to the writing.
Parts of this book felt too...more
Jan 26, 2013
Melda
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
contemporary-fiction,
science-fiction
I hated every single word of this book. Yet, almost a whole year after reading it, it is still with me. Almost scene by scene, carved into my memory. That makes it a very successful narrative, right? It made me angry, every page of it. I wanted to rip it, burn it. It was very, very difficult to read. Moreover, the ending is extremely difficult to swallow. I was cursing the author when I closed the book. "Is this what you made us wait for? Suffer for? This horrible terrible ending?" Yet, as I sai...more
A very, very difficult book to read. There are all sorts of factors that make books hard to stick with. Narratives that bounce from past to present, where characters' memories are undependable, where characters deliberately withhold information from each other and the readers, where incomprehensible events have occurred, where these events may or may not have occurred in the real world ...and all of these make up Julie Myerson's Then. The novel succeeds in throwing is into the middle of a post-c...more
Then is not a post-apocalyptic survival story. The apocalyptic event, which is never fully explained, that led to London becoming a frozen wasteland sets the scene for the story, but this is far more a literary mystery than a story of survival.
The writing style itself is quite difficult to get used to - it's quite bleak and time shimmers between the past and the present from paragraph to paragraph - this is a book that I had to pay real attention to, otherwise I would have been constantly lost.
I...more
The writing style itself is quite difficult to get used to - it's quite bleak and time shimmers between the past and the present from paragraph to paragraph - this is a book that I had to pay real attention to, otherwise I would have been constantly lost.
I...more
I was excited by the idea of this book, a post apocolyptic London and one woman's struggle to survive in this strange new world. I was utterly disappointed. I am not sure what this book was trying to do. Was it an observation of the frailty of the human memory or just trying to be a 'clever' book? Whatever it was trying, for me it did not work. I am sad I wasted three hours reading it, at least it was not more.
I'm tempted to give this more than two stars, because it's brave and original and hard to put down, but there's too much to dislike about Julie Myerson's unrelentingly bleak vision of a world post apocalypse. The plot is confusing and disturbing; the characters unlikeable; the setting horrifyingly grim. I read this sitting in a sun lounger in Italy, which was probably not the best place to get into it.
This was a very strange book, a combination of an apocalyptic and ghost story. The constant shift between the past, present and even further past is confusing at times but is very cleverly written. I especially liked her children and the part with the biscuits was so incredibly sad. It would have more stars from me but the repetitive descriptions of her relationship with Matthew were a bit tedious.
Bleak, depressing, confusing. I got to the end wanting answers, but found only grim sorrow and senselessness. Some haunting scenes stay with me, but not in a good way! Astonished to see this book get good reviews from The Guardian, Telegraph and others....really not for me.
Set in post-apocalyptic London, the narrator is sheltering in an abandoned office block with other survivors. Struggling with her memory, details of family and events of the past are mixed up with present events. This is a stunning read. To so confuse the reader with timelines and characters and yet keep it all going, is a very clever achievement. It may not always be an enjoyable read, but the need to know the outcome makes it an addictive and thought provoking one.
You might think ‘this is odd and a bit hard’ at first, but keep going it is worth it, I love these ‘end of the world’ books and this was rather different to a lot I have read which I really enjoyed. Can’t wait for others to read it so I can discuss my thoughts on it
Tried to read and enjoy but failed, a hard book to get into. Very disappointed with what it was promising. Not much information on how the apocalypse occurred, a bit too cerebral for me. Others may like this book but I have already got rid of it to a charity shop, a rare fail for me
I persevered and finished the book. It was quite horrifying towards the end and a bit disturbing. Not what I had expected at all after the drawn out beginning. I can't decide if I think the book was very good or bad or if I liked it or not.
I did not like this book at all. Being a pregnant mother, I did not relate to the main character and her actions. The book left too many open questions, specifically, why the apocalypse? I gave this book one star, only because I finished it.
Not interesting enough to hold attention...convoluted tale with a genuinely unlikeable main character...happy to leave her in an apocalyptic world of suffering!
Boring and confusing for the first 100 or so pages, then it suddenly kicks in and is completely gripping and horrifying.
Eerie and compelling. I read it almost in one sitting.
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didn't really understand what was going on. wish I did may have made the experience more enjoyable
3.5 stars, actually.
With a sense of place so immense; I was pulled in from the very start. The story tangles and then unfurls on almost every page in a rapid mesh of half-events, conversations and time but I was never lost. Julie's writing is superb, adept and unflinching in this novel. Read it. Quickly, go!
Couldn't get into this book at all, I disliked the writing style and the story itself which I though had so much promise fell completely flat - I mean the character was hallucinating for the entire thing. Just not for me....
May 22, 2013
Josie Steer
added it
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The novelist Julie Myerson was born in Nottingham in 1960. She read English at Bristol University and has worked for the National Theatre and in publishing. She also works as a journalist and contributes reviews and articles to newspapers, magazines and radio programmes.
Her first novel, Sleepwalking, was published in 1994, followed by The Touch (1996), Me and the Fat Man (1998), and Laura Blundy...more
More about Julie Myerson...
Her first novel, Sleepwalking, was published in 1994, followed by The Touch (1996), Me and the Fat Man (1998), and Laura Blundy...more
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