What Niall Saw

by Brian Cullen

Niall Bruce, a seven-year-old Irish schoolboy, relates, in diary form, the experience of his family--the squabbles and the hardships--as they anxiously await within the confines of their claustrophobic shelter for the all-clear signal after a nuclear holocaust

89 pages, Hardcover

First published September 19, 1985

Reviews

[Kennedy808 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've mentioned a few times that I do almost all of my reading on my Kindle now days, and there is definitely no shortage of post-apocalyptic books at my disposal in that format. But every so often, I come across a book that I really want to read that's just not available in any kind of electronic format; What Niall Saw by Brian Cullen was one such book.

I first heard about What Niall Saw from my buddy Fear, of the Cosy Catastrophe blog. He said it was bleak, maybe even on par with The Road or Threads, and that I had to read it. So I found an original paperback on Ebay, and even though it was in the UK and the shipping cost more than the book itself, I grabbed it.

Published in 1985, What Niall Saw is the story of a family living in Ireland, in the days following a nuclear strike on Great Britain. But it's not your standard cold war-era WWIII story; because Niall is a seven year-old boy, and what he saw is written as if we're reading his diary, complete with spelling and grammar mistakes, and more importantly, a seven year-old's perspective.

Late one night, Niall and his four year-old sister are awakened by the shaking of their beds, and the sky going "an orange lumpy colour". His parents quickly grab a few meager supplies and seal the entire family, including the dog, in the cupboard beneath the stairs. With little outside news, and knowing that fallout is a very real danger, they remain in that closet until forced out by thirst and hunger, with Niall chronicling all that they're going through.

Given that it's the whole point of the book, I found it interesting that the fact that the narrator was a child was what I considered to be its biggest drawback, for two reasons.

The story is definitely bleak, I won't argue that. They're trapped in a confined space for weeks; it's cold and dark. They've got the runs, and bedsores, and they know that it's worse outside because they can hear the sounds of violence in their neighborhood. I imagine that "horrible" would not be a strong enough word to describe their experience.

But the problem is that you do have to imagine it. Because the story is written by a young boy who doesn't fully realize what's happening, or what could happen, you don't get the full impact of how bad their situation is.

If it was a movie where we could see their misery, or written from the parents' perspective where we would be able to know their agony at seeing their children suffer, it would be much more hard-hitting. But Niall describes what's happening as facts, and he's not able to understand that no matter how bad things are, they're likely to get worse.

My second problem with the childish narration is actually another literary device that the author utilized on purpose. As the book progresses, Niall's health begins to fail, and so does his ability to keep a journal. While the writing in the early parts of the book is mostly understandable, by the end it was so disjointed that I had a hard time telling what was going on.

Again, the thought of a child so ill from radiation sickness that he can't write is heart-breaking, but if you have to guess at what's happening, it doesn't convey the same impact.

So overall, I'm glad I read it, but mostly just because it satisfied my curiousity; if I would have left it sitting on my shelf, I would have always wondered about it. I won't say I actively disliked it, but it definitely didn't live up to my hopes and expectations.

So ironically, I guess you can say it's a good thing I read it, if only because now I know that it wasn't really worth reading in the first place, at least for me.

[Emma Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book years ago, it has remained with me ever since. Written from the perspective of 7-year-old Niall, in the immediate aftermath of a nuclear attack, I found it to be a compelling read. Yes, the language is simplistic, with grammatical errors and unstructured sentences, but for me, that only added to the authenticity of the account. Very moving and hard hitting. If you can get hold of a copy then I would highly recommend it.

[Grump · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Irish 7 year old keeps a diary of sheltering in place after the UK is hit by nukes. My mom tried to read this to me when I was little. She gave up because I kept laughing at the kid's grammar. Seems like the family tried to leave their house and go to their aunt's house in the country but they get super sick and die on the way. Sad book with a difficult to discern ending.

[Wendy Uchimura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when it first came out. I'm not even sure how it appeared in the house, but I read it alongside Raymond Briggs' When The Wind Blows. It was the 1980s and there were huge fears of nuclear war at the time. This story has stayed with me ever since.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is from a seven year old's point of view. If you can get past the childlike grammar, spelling etc, it is a compellingly moving story

[Rebecca Wilkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this when I was in my teens after my mum picked it up in the charity shop. I still haven't recovered from it. It's so simple and yet so hard hitting. I loved it.

[Bo Malpas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the saddest book I've read, also terrifying.

[Ryan Arcega · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s raw, honest, and wrecked me for days. Deirdreeeee!!!!

[Andy Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is presented as the diary of a 7 year old boy living in Ireland at the time of a nuclear war. Ireland is said to be neutral and hence not directly attacked, but it is affected by fallout from Great Britain (and presumably the rest of Europe). The book is an interesting fictionalisation of a nuclear war as it features the unusual aspects of a neutral country and being told from a child's perspective. This of course means that we only learn about events that directly affect his family and issues of which he is aware. The reader is left to infer the greater meaning and the reasons behind some of the events. In these terms the book is a great success and I would recommend it.

However, be aware of two features that prevented me from giving a higher score. Firstly, the book is quite short, which isn't a terrible thing, but it's over too quickly. Admittedly, this does fit the story as there's only so much that can be reported in diary form by a child. Secondly, and more importantly, as it's supposed to be a child writing, the grammar and spelling are pretty poor. That's fine and realistic up to a point but it felt like it was deliberately bad to the point where I thought a typical 7 year old could have done a lot better. The odd spelling mistake and simplistic language would have been fine but there are a LOT of fragmented sentences and text that's actually quite hard to decipher.

In summary, it's a good idea and an interesting approach, but the style was just too annoying.

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adored this book, but I will probably never be able to read it again. It was such a gut wrenching read for such a small book...it will stay with me for the rest of my life. An absolute MUST read, I recommend it to all of my friends. If you can find a copy, it is well worth a couple hours of your time.