Ben Turnbull, the hero of John Updike's eighteenth novel, is a sixty-six-year-old retired investment counselor living north of Boston in the year 2...
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reviews
May 12, 2009
Ariel
rated it: 
As the first Updike book I have ever read, I was enamored with his poetic style, and his impressive respect for nature and science. I found him to be an amazing stylist with a talent for being able to decribe things in tremendous realistic detail. His writing read like poetry, but the side effect of this was that it was very dense and I was only able to read so much of it at a time. The plot was fairly uneventful: an older guy living in a broken down state of america contemplating on his past
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Nov 21, 2011
Snotchocheez
rated it: 
(1.5 stars)
Only the most stalwart of Updike fans (and for the most part I consider myself one) would find much of value in "Toward the End of Time". Its half-baked musings on mortality, our place in the cosmos, and post-apocalyptic life is a really tough (and, often, creepy) tour of Updike's brain.
A good chunk of Updike's near-50 books invoke similar themes, with a schlubby, misogynistic, nearly unlikable protagonist/anti-hero coping with issues of aging, occu More...
Only the most stalwart of Updike fans (and for the most part I consider myself one) would find much of value in "Toward the End of Time". Its half-baked musings on mortality, our place in the cosmos, and post-apocalyptic life is a really tough (and, often, creepy) tour of Updike's brain.
A good chunk of Updike's near-50 books invoke similar themes, with a schlubby, misogynistic, nearly unlikable protagonist/anti-hero coping with issues of aging, occu More...
Mar 12, 2009
Mike
rated it: 
This is a fictional journal of a year in the life of an old man (60's) living in suburban Massachusetts...after a US-Chinese nuclear war has destroyed much of the US. Life still closely resembles the world we know - tv, the daily newspaper, golf and skiing - except for having to pay protection to the local thugs, using local script instead of US currency because the federal government is virtually defunct and dealing with the potential threat of primtive, insect-like artificial lifeforms that h
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Sep 04, 2009
Patrick
rated it:
This book is about a lonely bored horny old man and his life after the Sino-American nuclear holocaust. Even though stylistically Updike makes the mundane seem magnificent with his words, his subject matter is still mundane therefore uninteresting. It seems the action in his books are in the characters mind and nothing else. I think this is where Philip Roth is superior to John Updike. Whereas Roth has a dynamic story line that matches the characters dynamic inner personality, Updike has his c
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Aug 15, 2009
Marvin
rated it:
This is one of Updike's less inspired efforts. It's about a retired investment counselor living comfortably (except for a bout with prostate cancer) in 2020 amid the chaos of a world in the wake of a destructive nuclear war between China & the U.S. Though much of the West & Midwest have been devastated & the federal government has collapsed, this middle-class man retains typical mundane preoccupations of his class in the 20th century--sex, golf, & gardening--making this feel very, very different
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Dec 26, 2010
Andrew
rated it: 
Didn't think I'd like Updike. This book proved me wrong.
The story is a mish-mash of science and philosophy with some very dark and scathing ideas about the human condition. Thus, I loved it!
here's a funny review that makes me like the book alot more since I dislike David Foster Wallace's review (from wikipedia):
In a review for the New York Observer entitled, "John Updike, Champion Literary Phallocrat, Drops One; Is This Finally the End for Magnificent Narcissis More...
The story is a mish-mash of science and philosophy with some very dark and scathing ideas about the human condition. Thus, I loved it!
here's a funny review that makes me like the book alot more since I dislike David Foster Wallace's review (from wikipedia):
In a review for the New York Observer entitled, "John Updike, Champion Literary Phallocrat, Drops One; Is This Finally the End for Magnificent Narcissis More...
Apr 04, 2009
Annemarie
rated it:
Being close in age to John Updike, I am enjoying this book - why men fall for young things, his relationships with children and grandchildren, and how he tries to protect himself from the world falling about him - much like the security screens people put in their houses that anyone can get through if they tried. A little too much self - indulgence from Updike (but then what is different from all his other books?). I think it makes a good read for him in Memorium.
Mar 02, 2011
David
rated it:
One of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. Lyrical, gorgious description, and the classic Updike story-as-stream-of-conciousness was even more so than in all his other works. Unfortunately, the charachters and storyline are just average Updike. In the end I don't see what this book has added to his message.
Feb 26, 2011
Anne
rated it:
Not a bad story, especially because it's based in the future which the geek in me always likes. Quite a few detailed sexual references which is a bit off-putting. But I liked how hew describes how the landscapes and views in New England change during the seasons. Definitely makes me want to visit that area even more.
Mar 05, 2011
Shannon
rated it: 
An optional text for my literature and medicine class. I honestly haven't read anything else by John Updike since reading this book because it was so awful. I don't know, to be gender stereotypical, I imagine John Updike is a more guy-friendly author.
Jun 14, 2009
Roni
rated it:
I liked Rabbit, Run and went on to read the other two in the trilogy and became less and less interested. Toward the End of Time reminded me a lot of those last two Rabbit books. Old guy in love with a young woman - middle-aged crisis stuff. I don't think I need to read any more Updike.
May 25, 2009
Becky
rated it:
Not great - story of man coming to understand his own aging, but not a particularly likeable fellow.I'd try other Updikes first.
Jun 25, 2009
Frank
rated it:
updike's and only (?) foray into dystopic science fiction is original but not really on the mark.
May 23, 2011
Brenda
rated it:
Stumbled upon this one by mistake poking around someone else's library. Excellent book.
Apr 14, 2009
Tanya
rated it:
A huge struggle to get through it all the way. More poetic than plot specific. Too many outbursts of random, dull history for me.
Jun 27, 2008
I'm still reading this one, so far I like the premise and the deer that his wife wants dead...how he melds that into his dreams and thinks about alternate realities and wakes up thinking that maybe his wife, in fact, wants him dead...it sets that into your mind as you continue reading, when she describes her hatred for the deer and how she just wants it dead and you, the reader, think all about how she wants him dead...
Dec 16, 2009
Ann M
rated it:
I gave this three stars because a lot of it dragged, although there were things I *loved* about it -- Fedex and organized crime working together to keep society functioning and the mail coming. Too much standard old-white-guy stuff thrown in, although that is it's statement, I suppose, that the world can come tumbling down and many people will still be primarily concerned with their cholesterol pills.
Oct 06, 2009
Kara
rated it:
What gave me the tenacity to finish this book I do not know. I kind of hated it. What I hated most was the protagonist, as he aged in sex-obsessed disgrace. Come to think of it, I have never liked Updike's characters (or settings or plots) but his prose just really really gets me in the gut sometimes.
Jan 25, 2008
Ted
rated it:
Incredibly self-indulgent and downright pornographic. I can't tell whether I liked it or not. At times, Updike taunts the reader by referring indirectly to incredibly interesting, mind-blowing stuff, but then shifting right back to beautiful if excruciatingly-detailed descriptions of flowers or sex.
Jan 02, 2011
Ken
rated it:
the storyline is not much to be desired. 3 stars just for his poetic style.
not sure about the relevancy of numerous passages heavy on astronomy and cosmology.
not sure about the relevancy of numerous passages heavy on astronomy and cosmology.
Jun 11, 2011
Shane Malcolm
rated it:
The protagonist is well-drawn, the prose is excellent, but the pace is somewhat slow. He is a master, and I definitely need to check out one of his more well-regarded novels sometime soon.
Jun 09, 2009
Leslea
rated it:
Such a boring book. I can't imagine wasting time writing this, let alone another minute reading it. I tried for 2 weeks. Bleh.
Sep 13, 2009
Gwen
rated it:
I love Updike's style but this plot is a bit too strange for me to keep up with. Give it a try if you want a challenge in your fiction.
May 15, 2011
Alison
rated it:
Finally, enough time to read a novel post-baby! Too bad it wasn't one that resonated with me in the least.
Mar 30, 2008
Tim
rated it:
John Updike makes the near future look uneasy and depressing. But he's really good at it.
