The Dead and the Gone (Last Survivors, #2) in The Alternative Worlds

Nov 30, 2011 Regina rated it liked it

Shelves: ya, listened-to-audio-only, post-apocalyptic, audio-also-listened-to, driving-me-crazy

I wavered between 2 and 3 stars. But I am a sucka so 3 stars it is.

In case you fail to get the wrong idea from reading this review, I have enjoyed reading this series and thinking about the series.

Flannery stated it perfectly here, and here, these books are like crack! Or super greasy but yummy food that I can’t stop eating even though I have a lot of problems with them. There are huge holes in this book, that I could just not ignore. I do recommend reading the first book and continuing on with I wavered between 2 and 3 stars. But I am a sucka so 3 stars it is.

In case you fail to get the wrong idea from reading this review, I have enjoyed reading this series and thinking about the series.

Flannery stated it perfectly here, and here, these books are like crack! Or super greasy but yummy food that I can’t stop eating even though I have a lot of problems with them. There are huge holes in this book, that I could just not ignore. I do recommend reading the first book and continuing on with the series. And I plan to read the third book.

This book seemed to be filler and not nearly as well developed as the first book. The story does not stand on its own; despite that it centers on different characters than the first novel, the Dead and the Gone provides few background and details to support the story. There is simply a lack of information and details as to what is happening in the world and really, what is happening with the characters in this story. Because I had the first book as a point of reference, the actions of the characters in this book made sense; but only because of the first book. There are some substantive things that happened, but with no lead off and no development, so sometimes the actions do not make sense. In other parts of the book, something interesting is about to happen and then the storyline is cut off in the middle of the action, as if the author just stopped writing the scene. It is frustrating. Ms. Pfeffer simply failed to fully develop this story.

The cultural references are heavy handed and just off. They seemed clearly written from an outsider who is not part of the community she is attempting to write about, i.e. based on stereotype not reality. For example the constant use of catholic religious faith, constantly (how many times do modern teenagers think about praying? or actually want to go to mass when their parents are not present), the brother’s assumption of a patriarchal role in caring for his sisters, demanding obedience and submission (e.g. ordering them to the bedroom, telling them to clean the apartment and they just accept all of it, why because they are Latina? Is this what Pfeffer thinks latino families are like? Well, she is wrong.), HITTING his sister, keeping his sisters in the dark about decisions he makes concerning them (every single decision he makes he keeps from them) – including sending his sister away to a convent and going to look at dead bodies to determine if his mother’s body was among them! I appreciate the author’s attempt to write about a latino urban family, similar to writing about a rural family in the first book; I also appreciate that in both books the author incorporates cultural realities into both books. However, it seems to me the author did not do it well in this book and what we read was Pfeffer’s stereotype of what a Puerto Rican family was like.

As mentioned above, the author uses religious references and catholic references to depict the family that is the center of this book. This theme is overly used by Pfeffer. Every thought, every action, every choice and every challenge seems to be expressed in terms of what the Church would want Alex to do or inspires an invocation to a saint. For example, something bad happens and Alex thinks (paraphrasing) “They would be okay. Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, they would be okay.” Now, multiple that thought by every single page in the book and you get the idea. Now add constant ruminations about action v. catholic dogma and prayers to saints and also multiply that by the number of pages in the book. Include all of it. I was raised catholic and I thought this theme was over done. However, to be fair there is some character development. At the beginning of the story, Alex is meek and completely submitting to authority even when the authority is unfair and abusive. Often this authority is governmental or priests and teachers. Yet, toward the middle of the story Alex begins to push back when it is necessary and is no longer simply content to accept what is dished out to him. Despite his moral misgivings, Alex begins to undertake questionable activity to support his family. Thus, Alex’s overbearing and controlling personality and his dependence on Catholic dogma serve as points of character for Alex at the beginning of the story and we see Alex, slowly, progressing as a person and becoming less rigid, less controlling and more flexible in his belief system. So I do get what Ms. Pfeffer was doing, I just do not think it was done well. She definitely should have lightened up and readers would have gotten it; I usually do not need to be hit over the head with themes in books to understand them.

There are some huge plot holes discussed in Flannery’s review that I linked to above, so I won’t rehash them here. I agree completely, sorry I guess I will rehash (view spoiler)

What was done well is the range of emotions Alex feels and goes through during the crisis – he is worried and desperate in the beginning. Sad and depressed as the story progressed; then he becomes angry and feels a strong desire to escape the company of his sisters while he also knows he has to remain and protect them. Ms. Pfeffer wrote this same dynamic very well in The World as We Knew It. The book addresses issues of the haves and have nots and disenfranchisement well. The book imagines a post-apocalyptic world where there are some services, but only the rich and the powerful have access to these services; the poor or the less well to do suffer and die among rotting corpses. We see Alex’s bitterness, angry and sadness that while he and his sisters are dying of starvation and exposure, the powerful are living relatively comfortable and sheltered lives.

I listened to the audio version and it is just okay to bad. An older mature man with a very deep voice reads it and just doesn’t come across as a junior in high school; when he reads the parts of Alex’s sisters it is done in a way that makes him sound like he is mocking a female voice. So .. I would recommend reading this one rather than listening to it. This book has a different narrator than the first book.

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