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4th out of 36 books
—
40 voters
The City, Not Long After
by
Pat Murphy
Half a generation ago, a gesture in the name of peace turned out to spread plague and disaster. In San Francisco, the survivors are heir to a city transformed. It is a haunted, dreaming place peopled with memories, and in a strange way nearly alive itself. And although it is only beginning to recover from near-ultimate disaster, the city is at risk again. An army of power-...more
Paperback, 244 pages
Published
April 6th 2006
by Firebird
(first published 1989)
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I read this book because Pat Murphy is a guest at Fogcon, and because it's about San Francisco. I really enjoyed it. I am not really bothered by post-apocalyptic books, but I am bothered by dystopian books (I can read them, but I seldom choose to). This books is post-apocalyptic but not at all dystopian. It's magical realism after everything and nothing has changed.
In some ways, I wish I'd read this before I'd ever read Dhalgren. There are a lot of superficial similarities, themes about coming o...more
In some ways, I wish I'd read this before I'd ever read Dhalgren. There are a lot of superficial similarities, themes about coming o...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Following a plague brought on by a gesture of peace (aka monkeys), the survivors of San Francisco turn the city into an artists' colony of sorts. The fate of the city is put in the hands of a young woman, Jax, and other teenagers she meets along the course of her journey who work together to protect San Francisco from an army led by a power-hungry general.
This is a different sort of post-apocalyptic world. In other books falling in the same category there is often a lot of sparse descriptions of...more
This is a different sort of post-apocalyptic world. In other books falling in the same category there is often a lot of sparse descriptions of...more
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I really enjoyed reading this book - the tone and concepts were just beautiful. It's a post-apocalyptic scenario infused with magical realism. After a plague spread (accidentally?) by peace-activist Buddhists, only a few survivors live amongst ruins. San Francisco has become a haven of artists, but a military cult based in Sacramento is set on forcefully establishing a new American empire. Pacifism faces down a philosophy of violent force... but primarily, this is the story of the orphaned Danny...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
A post-apocalyptic San Francisco sets the scene and, living in the Bay Area, I feel like that was what let me appreciate it as a novel.
Having the ability to navigate the map of places described definitely helped in picturing HOW the city has truly changed. I enjoyed that fact that the city's keepers were the "artists", who if attempted their projects today, would be considered insane. Yet somehow the story gave their projects meaning such as creating a prism in the city or painting the Golden G...more
Having the ability to navigate the map of places described definitely helped in picturing HOW the city has truly changed. I enjoyed that fact that the city's keepers were the "artists", who if attempted their projects today, would be considered insane. Yet somehow the story gave their projects meaning such as creating a prism in the city or painting the Golden G...more
This is a remarkably upbeat vision of San Francisco a few decades after a great plague that decimated most of the Earth's human population. A jingoistic General advances upon the city, determined to rebuild the American Empire by conquering territory and conscripting subjected peoples into his army. A woman from the conquered Sacramento area makes it to San Francisco to warn of his coming. How can San Francisco's residents, largely peace-loving hippie-type artists, possibly hope to defend their...more
I would probably only give this a 2 or 3 except that it's set in San Francisco and I really enjoyed actually being able to place the action in physical space. (It mentions the building where I work - twice!) It's just not my usual taste in science fiction - I've read some magical realism I've enjoyed, but not much. That and the ending are the reasons I would have given it fewer stars otherwise. I was initially a little put off by the idea that after an apocalypse nearly every surviving San Franc...more
This was a definitely enjoyable story. It was written in 1989 but somehow was rather timeless. Definitely a post-apocalyptic story but some of the imagery in it is absolutely gorgeous. Artists of various kinds inhabit San Francisco after a plague has killed most of the population of the US and other major countries. The changes these artists make to the city are interesting and their various projects are really inspirational. There's also conflict, and the dilemmas of how to deal with that confl...more
Read enough post-apocalyptic fiction, and you’ll start to tire of the tropes. Some of them will even make your memories of plots start to blend together: the lone walkers of the highways, the department store foraging, roadside bandits, the almost-cozy beginnings of new, hopeful communities.
The City, Not Long After by Pat Murphy (1989, reprinted 2006) relies on a few of the expected post-apocalyptic themes, but with some notable --and refreshing-- differences...[More]
Read full review at Book Dir...more
The City, Not Long After by Pat Murphy (1989, reprinted 2006) relies on a few of the expected post-apocalyptic themes, but with some notable --and refreshing-- differences...[More]
Read full review at Book Dir...more
Interesting post-apocalyptic fantasy with a dream-like feel. The characters are good, if a bit blank in many ways; they aren't so much meant to be people as ideas, I suspect. Once it gets to the end it feels like Murphy realized she was running out of pages, so shifted gears to wrap-up mode, making it feel more than a little rushed. I would have liked to have read more after the climax, but that's asking for more linearity than the author was interested in providing.
This is my first novel from Pat Murphy. Not sure I'm really that excited about reading more from her. I thought it was okay at first, then I thought it was really bad, then the last 3rd got interesting. Overall it felt really dated. There were supernatural elements that seemed extremely out of place in a post holocaust world. At first I couldn't tell if they were events that were actually happening or if they were somehow metaphorical. When it started raining flowers I thought I had missed somet...more
Very hard to get into....took quite some time. Once you DO get into it, it's a wonderful and different story. I agree with others that the "magical" aspects are a little offputting because you don't really know if events are actually happening or being imagined by the characters. The ending was a little odd, but all in all worth reading for those who like this genre.
The beginning is rather depressing. I hope it gets better.
..............
OK, it got a little better. The story features the city as a character, personified by the angel that watches over the inhabitants. This book was written and published while I lived in San Francisco. So I enjoyed the references to the various neighborhoods. But the mystical contribution to resolving the key conflict was less than I'd hoped for. The conclusion for the key characters (other than the city itself) were also ant...more
..............
OK, it got a little better. The story features the city as a character, personified by the angel that watches over the inhabitants. This book was written and published while I lived in San Francisco. So I enjoyed the references to the various neighborhoods. But the mystical contribution to resolving the key conflict was less than I'd hoped for. The conclusion for the key characters (other than the city itself) were also ant...more
I really liked this book. It's quite short, and so somewhat summary in places. That's my primary criticism. I wasn't surprised to read the afterward and find out that he'd taken a previously published short story and fleshed it out.
I love both San Francisco and post-apocalyptic stories, so this was so far up my alley that I can't even be trusted to be critical about it.
I love both San Francisco and post-apocalyptic stories, so this was so far up my alley that I can't even be trusted to be critical about it.
Artists wage a creative turf war in post-apocalyptic San Francisco and paint the Golden Gate Bridge blue as butterfly wings.
Writers read this for: strong, effective use of theme...anything an artist creates, however impermanent, changes themselves and therefore changes the world..."When you make something beautiful, you change. You put something of yourself into the thing you make. You're a different person when you're done."
Quotes at the opening of Part 2 "The Mystery and Melancholy of a Street...more
Writers read this for: strong, effective use of theme...anything an artist creates, however impermanent, changes themselves and therefore changes the world..."When you make something beautiful, you change. You put something of yourself into the thing you make. You're a different person when you're done."
Quotes at the opening of Part 2 "The Mystery and Melancholy of a Street...more
Oh my god, I read this ages ago and loved it, then promptly forgot the title. Hurrah for being reminded of it again. Honestly, this is great - post-apocalyptic and joyful and haunting all at the same time.
Beautiful images, and the city as a character is fantastic. Unfortunately the rest of the characters, and the story, are not quite as well fleshed out. Great idea, though, and a fun, fast read.
Even with the growing (sub)genre of post-apocalyptica out there, this is still my favorite. I want to save the world by cobbling together a community of creative people for art warfare.
I found the theme and topic interesting and the reading easy. It made for a good book for a long airline flight. It definitely did not end the way I expected.
Mar 15, 2011
Jeff
added it
I finished reading this book about a week ago, and I'm already having trouble remembering enough details to really comment on the book. It was OK in the way that a drug-store paperback is OK. I wouldn't recommend it. It made some nice points about pacifism in a violent society. Other than that, pretty lightweight.
A beautiful apocalypse. It makes on to many of my favorite lists, including Most Disturbing, Redemptive Stories, and Books of Yearning.
This is another adult sf novel, repackaged for YAs. It's a post-apocalyptic yarn about California after a plague has wiped out most of the population. Parts of Northern California have come under the sway of a general people call Four Star, who wants to rebuild America as an ultraconservative dictatorship. The denizens of San Francisco, on the other hand, have created an anarchist art colony and have no desire to have their way of life disrupted.
The whole thing's ever-so-slightly hippie-dippy, b...more
The whole thing's ever-so-slightly hippie-dippy, b...more
The story takes place in San Francisco 16 years after a plague has wiped out most of the world. The city's remaining inhabitants have created a new society focused on art. The artists are living quite happily together, along with the occasional ghost produced by the city itself, when they learn that they may have to defend against war-minded attackers.
This was a fairly interesting story, and I particularly enjoyed how the artists decide to fight back against a military group who try to take over...more
This was a fairly interesting story, and I particularly enjoyed how the artists decide to fight back against a military group who try to take over...more
hands down, my favourite book of all time. and that's difficult to say when i love Lord of the rings so much.
Apr 17, 2013
Shannon Appelcline
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction
Slow-paced and dreamy, but evocative and full of memorable characters.
Aug 11, 2010
Arlene Allen
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction
Beautiful. Glad it is still in print even though it's marketed to teens now.
Sep 17, 2007
Quinn
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
any sci-fi/fantacy buff, but you haters might like it too
Shelves:
sci-fi
This book was hard to get into at first but well worth it. It's an interesting blend of sci-fi and magical realism.... or maybe just magic. The author writes about magic in such a matter of fact, down to earth way that it's almost a little unnerving at first. Post plauge, the city of San Fran is inhabited by artists, ghosts, and dreams. When a warring faction wishes to take over the city as part of a new America, the artists and the city must defend themselves, but in their own particular style....more
Best een ok boek. Mocht wel nog verder uitgewerkt zijn.
Mar 12, 2010
Quigui
marked it as wishlist
The city, not long after by Pat Murphy (2006)
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