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The History of Our World Beyond the Wave
A tidal wave came, as high as the stars and hissing, and it washed away bathers, buildings, all civilization. Paul Sant survived by clinging to a surf mat. Eventually he found land-but unlike land he had ever know. Combining an allegory of good and evil with adventure that takes us through nightmare to salvation-including knights in armor, fish people called Gugs, and an ominous yelloe Volkswagon-R.E. Klein creates a world that is strange beyond our imagination yet familiar to the heart, a world where things may not be real, but they are true. In the History of Our World Beyond the Wave, Klein imagines a world washed clean of materialism, cynicism, of the emptiness of modern life, a world where the metaphysical and the magical are again possible.
215 pages, Hardcover
First published October 31, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 5, 2009
Paul Sant miraculously survives a great deluge at the beginning of this unique and optimistic post-apocalyptic novel. Paul find himself becoming part Robinson Crusoe, part Gulliver as he travels from island to island--formerly hilltops and mountaintops--in the aquatic landscape of his new world. He is explorer, survivor and pilgrim, all at once. Never certain exactly how hostile this new world is, from time to time Paul encounters strange creatures and even a metaphysically unstable and deadly island as he tirelessly seeks companionship and civilization, making and losing many friends along the way.
It’s incredibly rare that I read a contemporary novel that seems as though it were written exactly to my personal tastes, but I feel I’ve found that here. The publisher and reviewers of the novel made appropriate comparisons with Milton, Bunyan, and C.S. Lewis. I think the Lewis connection is most apt when comparing this novel with Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra. But the book also compares favorably with George MacDonald’s Lilith and Phantastes. And late in the novel Klein has an opportunity to acquaint us with others of his favorite authors: Chaucer, Dickens, Machen, De Quincey, Lovecraft, Dunsany, et cetera.
Throughout, Klein demonstrates a light touch in this visionary, episodic fantasy. He shows a great affinity for the canon of Western literature and thought, and his narrative is always accessible and compulsively readable. After having read the novel twice now, I’ve decided this is one of those indispensable sorts of books that serious readers have to keep around them as a remedy to the cynicism, flagging imagination, and reductive dogmas of modernity--all of which are features far too familiar and prevalent in modern novels.
It’s incredibly rare that I read a contemporary novel that seems as though it were written exactly to my personal tastes, but I feel I’ve found that here. The publisher and reviewers of the novel made appropriate comparisons with Milton, Bunyan, and C.S. Lewis. I think the Lewis connection is most apt when comparing this novel with Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra. But the book also compares favorably with George MacDonald’s Lilith and Phantastes. And late in the novel Klein has an opportunity to acquaint us with others of his favorite authors: Chaucer, Dickens, Machen, De Quincey, Lovecraft, Dunsany, et cetera.
Throughout, Klein demonstrates a light touch in this visionary, episodic fantasy. He shows a great affinity for the canon of Western literature and thought, and his narrative is always accessible and compulsively readable. After having read the novel twice now, I’ve decided this is one of those indispensable sorts of books that serious readers have to keep around them as a remedy to the cynicism, flagging imagination, and reductive dogmas of modernity--all of which are features far too familiar and prevalent in modern novels.
November 12, 2018
My all-time favourite fantasy novel. Maybe my favourite novel, full stop. Tragically overlooked.
April 7, 2018
3.5 stars. My dad read this to me long ago and it stuck with me, parts of it quite vividly. This was my first reread as an adult.
The writing is definitely more idea-driven than character-driven. It's is a good novel; it had potential to be a great one. I wish the author had trusted his story (and his readers) a little more. As a young teen (I think?) much of the overexplaining of things and how they connected to the plot went over my head, which meant I received only the story, pure and simple, and could drink in the Mystery that the author seems so determined to interpret out of existence. So while enjoyed this reread, the book has also lost something for me, which is a little sad.
Nonetheless, I am glad to now have it on my shelf and would recommend it to others.
The writing is definitely more idea-driven than character-driven. It's is a good novel; it had potential to be a great one. I wish the author had trusted his story (and his readers) a little more. As a young teen (I think?) much of the overexplaining of things and how they connected to the plot went over my head, which meant I received only the story, pure and simple, and could drink in the Mystery that the author seems so determined to interpret out of existence. So while enjoyed this reread, the book has also lost something for me, which is a little sad.
Nonetheless, I am glad to now have it on my shelf and would recommend it to others.
June 3, 2025
Good. And horrid.
I think my favorite part was when Paul met Donk. Donk can cook and asks Paul what he can give in exchange. Paul says he used to teach English literature. I expected, and I felt Paul expecting with me, that Donk would be disgusted with such uselessness. But instead, he's all like, "Great. Give me Shakespeare and Milton in exchange for my cooking." A perfect friendship—they aren't all that much alike in terms of background or interests, but that doesn't matter when there's open-handed giving of self and acceptance of the other as a gift.
And of course I loved when Paul discovered the library and binge-read through the shelves. I need more Johnson. Why is there so little Johnson in audio? And I need to get to Chaucer.
And I loved Bell (I'd never have left his island once I'd found another person, but I understand why Paul had to go) and Belle. And Mary.
I hated the creepy, monstery, horrory parts. Lost half of last night's sleep when Paul returned to the settlement and found the gug in his cabin. Klein spoon-feeds us the info that the book is symbolism, not allegory, but darned if I know what the symbols mean. Are the monsters sin? Surely Saul Dent is Paul Sant's alter-ego or inner man or sin nature or something along those lines.
Book group meets in three and a half hours. I'm sure I'll learn then how stupid my thoughts about this are.
Will I ever read this again? I don't know. We'll see in a few years if it's still niggling at me.
I think my favorite part was when Paul met Donk. Donk can cook and asks Paul what he can give in exchange. Paul says he used to teach English literature. I expected, and I felt Paul expecting with me, that Donk would be disgusted with such uselessness. But instead, he's all like, "Great. Give me Shakespeare and Milton in exchange for my cooking." A perfect friendship—they aren't all that much alike in terms of background or interests, but that doesn't matter when there's open-handed giving of self and acceptance of the other as a gift.
And of course I loved when Paul discovered the library and binge-read through the shelves. I need more Johnson. Why is there so little Johnson in audio? And I need to get to Chaucer.
And I loved Bell (I'd never have left his island once I'd found another person, but I understand why Paul had to go) and Belle. And Mary.
I hated the creepy, monstery, horrory parts. Lost half of last night's sleep when Paul returned to the settlement and found the gug in his cabin. Klein spoon-feeds us the info that the book is symbolism, not allegory, but darned if I know what the symbols mean. Are the monsters sin? Surely Saul Dent is Paul Sant's alter-ego or inner man or sin nature or something along those lines.
Book group meets in three and a half hours. I'm sure I'll learn then how stupid my thoughts about this are.
Will I ever read this again? I don't know. We'll see in a few years if it's still niggling at me.
July 2, 2024
Read because a well-read friend loves it and regularly re-reads it. But alas, I didn’t get it.
March 4, 2018
I'm currently re-reading this book after many years, and it's even better than I remember. Most fantasy readers may have missed this one, because it never came out in paperback. That's a shame. The good news is that it can be found used for a couple of dollars.
I'm a sucker for stories such as A Voyage to Arcturus or Phantastes, where a character travels through a world of wonder. In this case, the earth has been inundated by water, and our hero meets strange and unique characters while struggling to survive in a world of gigantic whirlpools, volcanic fissures, and monsters living in Nature gone wild. It's a unique book, well-worth the journey. You will never look at yellow Volkswagen in the same way again.
I'm a sucker for stories such as A Voyage to Arcturus or Phantastes, where a character travels through a world of wonder. In this case, the earth has been inundated by water, and our hero meets strange and unique characters while struggling to survive in a world of gigantic whirlpools, volcanic fissures, and monsters living in Nature gone wild. It's a unique book, well-worth the journey. You will never look at yellow Volkswagen in the same way again.
May 11, 2020
Started out slow, and although complicated at times a good read. The author could have explored more angles and maybe omited the scene about the dream. I did not understand the end with the weird fellow.
February 8, 2021
Grown-up Chronicles of Narnia... meets... Planet of the Apes?
February 8, 2022
R.E. Klein. Literature professor Paul Sant from modern day California survives a huge tidal wave by breathing into scuba equipment and using a surf board. He goes on adventures in a new world where time was somehow warped and the world has been covered by water. Only mountain tops remain or sinking islands and volcanic islands. Meets few survivors who end up establishing a new colony called “Ulysses A Grant”. The antagonist is a part human/part lemur person called Saul Dent which is a play on Paul’s own name and perhaps a play on Paul/Saul from the Bible. Saul seems to be the darkness of human nature, as is his mother, who was loosed into the world by Paul in a pandora’s box kind of way. The new colony defeats the cynicism, violence, selfishness and fear espoused by Saul and they banish him, and the new colony is established aright. But the whole thing reads like a fantasy with a lot of mirages/dreams/supernatural merging with the natural—thin line between reality and fantasy, making the story more of an allegory than a narrative in some ways. Turns out that only some buildings ad boats were preserved if they were in contact with humans? So in the end they find one library, one department store, and one grocery. Lots of childish fantasy merged with poetry, but not a children’s book.
January 28, 2020
Interesting story of when everyone in the world(?) is wiped out by a wave that covers almost all the land. the protagonist goes around on a raft and encounters other survivors and has fantastical adventures.
It is really an allegorical tale of Armageddon. While the stories are interesting and entertaining it has a few problematical issues. One is that no one seems bothered by the loss of lives, no one left seems to have lost dear ones that they care about. Also, everyone left is American, and while not stated explicitly, by American he seems to mean White-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant-American.
It is really an allegorical tale of Armageddon. While the stories are interesting and entertaining it has a few problematical issues. One is that no one seems bothered by the loss of lives, no one left seems to have lost dear ones that they care about. Also, everyone left is American, and while not stated explicitly, by American he seems to mean White-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant-American.
June 30, 2021
I don’t quite know how this became a book I’ve read three or four times but parts of it stick with me so well, but I can’t help being drawn back to it. It’s not a perfect book certainly I can’t help but go back to it again and again
March 18, 2021
Paul Sant, teacher of English, is spared by a fortunate set of coincidences from the ravages of The Wave when it submerges California and the rest of the world bar a few mountain tops. On his fortuitously acquired surf mat he sails the seas until he finds land, and eventually one or two others who also escaped destruction.
But not everything is as it seems since The Wave, there are a few mysteries that need unravelling, and at times reality and illusion become confused, and Paul and his few survivor companions struggle to make sense of life as it never was. Paul Sant (is there a play on names there?) chronicles events since The Wave, as the title suggests.
A History of the World Beyond The Wave is refreshingly different from all other post destruction of the world stories I have encountered, stories which unfailingly degenerate into survival of the fittest or most violent, accounts which lead us to believe such a catastrophe would bring out the worst in people. This story, or fantasy suggests otherwise, and offers hope of a better and more civilised way of life. That is not to say it is all plain sailing for Paul and company, they have their moments of drama and encounter situations that threaten their to dash their hopes, but good triumphs eventually.
I found this a thoroughly enjoyable tale: likeable and interesting characters, touches of humour, enough mystery to keep one guessing, and the occasional confusion of dream and reality (but never to the point of confusing the reader), and a positive outcome that leaves the reader more than a little something to contemplate.
But not everything is as it seems since The Wave, there are a few mysteries that need unravelling, and at times reality and illusion become confused, and Paul and his few survivor companions struggle to make sense of life as it never was. Paul Sant (is there a play on names there?) chronicles events since The Wave, as the title suggests.
A History of the World Beyond The Wave is refreshingly different from all other post destruction of the world stories I have encountered, stories which unfailingly degenerate into survival of the fittest or most violent, accounts which lead us to believe such a catastrophe would bring out the worst in people. This story, or fantasy suggests otherwise, and offers hope of a better and more civilised way of life. That is not to say it is all plain sailing for Paul and company, they have their moments of drama and encounter situations that threaten their to dash their hopes, but good triumphs eventually.
I found this a thoroughly enjoyable tale: likeable and interesting characters, touches of humour, enough mystery to keep one guessing, and the occasional confusion of dream and reality (but never to the point of confusing the reader), and a positive outcome that leaves the reader more than a little something to contemplate.
February 9, 2008
I enjoyed this book; there's a lot going on here, and it requires faith from the reader. I say this because many of the assumptions I had about the way different episodes in the book would play out were incorrect. However, it's a different world after the wave and the possibilities are great. It starts off traditionally, but within the first couple pages you're swept away by the wave of the title. I think that the fantastic adventures of Paul Sant, the main character, are entertaining and enlightening. There are many excellent descriptions in this book, but at the same time, I never really felt I could picture any of the characters (though I was able to picture the Gugs). This didn't affect my enjoyment of the book though; I think that overall, it's more about the mental/spiritual/physical journey of the main character. Another thing that I really enjoyed were the many different references to literature. I don't claim to have noticed many, other than the most most obvious, but I'm sure that when I read it again, I'll pick up on more of the literary scaffolding that moves behind the work.
July 3, 2013
Klein's book is not easy to explain, so I won't even attempt it. After the world is engulfed by a massive wave, Paul (the narrator)finds himself adrift and begins seeking other survivors. During his journey he comes across creatures and others who may be mystical in origin, mutated crabs who threaten to devour. Finally, he joins a small group who as they attempt to rebuild, discover that not everyone wants things to return to the way they were. Has evil as well as good survived the End?
Throwing in elements of philosophy, religion and fantasy, Klein keeps the reader unsure of the environment in which Paul finds himself. Who can he trust and what sort of society can emerge when you have to begin from scratch.
The book is short, but not a 'quick read' since you'll probably find yourself stopping to consider what is happening and what you might do in such a situation. Just remember that not everything or everyone in the book is exactly what it initially appears to be.
Throwing in elements of philosophy, religion and fantasy, Klein keeps the reader unsure of the environment in which Paul finds himself. Who can he trust and what sort of society can emerge when you have to begin from scratch.
The book is short, but not a 'quick read' since you'll probably find yourself stopping to consider what is happening and what you might do in such a situation. Just remember that not everything or everyone in the book is exactly what it initially appears to be.
November 6, 2012
A fun read, if a bit brief. I felt like some scenes should have been fleshed out more to make the reader feel the urgency/despair/emotion of the happenings. Other than that, I quite enjoyed this book.
January 18, 2016
I hate this book, I hate this book, I hate this book! I tried valiantly to finish this, but won't be doing that. If, however, you like things like this (the the jacket they liken it to Milton & Bunyan, go for it. I took out out on a whim because I liked the cover & the title.
February 6, 2016
This was OK. The world is destroyed in a deluge that leaves very few people alive, and now they are faced with some very new challenges, like communicating with Gillmen who want to eat them and, you know, forming a new society out of the leavings of the old.
October 23, 2008
It started out kinda slow but then it picked up. The last half of the book was great, I couldn't put it down!
July 16, 2009
This is an after-the-big-disaster type of book, kind of like the movie Waterworld, but with more thought put into the plot.
May 17, 2013
The excellent story that has elements of every great literature book you ever read in the Humanities in college.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews