I'm a sucker for a good post-apocalyptic tale, and The Postman did not disappoint on that score. The United States has been destroyed, and isolated communities in the Pacific Northwest are barely surviving in the aftermath of a war that was less damaging than the plagues that followed on its heels and killed most of the population. When a solitary traveler is mistaken as an agent for a reconstituted U.S. government (due to his having stolen the uniform and mailbag of a dead postman along the way), he figures out a way to use the lie to bring communities together to fight the larger threat of anarchic gangs of "hypersurvivalists" who bear an uncomfortable resemblance to modern-day militia groups.

It's touching to see how eagerly the villages want to believe that they are not alone in the world. The postman initially doesn't intend to deceive them, but soon figures out that it's the best way to bring them together against the common enemy. Beyond the basics of the plot, the book also has a powerful message about the real dangers of the post-apocalyptic world. The war itself caused limited damage, the plagues that followed did more, but it was the "hypersurvivalists" with their stockpiles of weapons and food who caused the most damage and prevented the country from rebuilding itself by attacking and disrupting humanitarian relief efforts. As Pogo said so long ago, "We have met the enemy and it is us." ( )

excellent book - felt Gordon's struggle - wonder if movie is any good? ( )

Summary: A reluctant hero holds the line for civilisation while the forces of chaos and anarchy try to claw him (and the rest of the world) down into the ash.

Things I liked:

* I liked how some chapters started with a letter written between various correspondents and how this was used as a device to show some of the bigger picture stuff going on in the world outside of the main man's POV.
* Sense of threat was pretty constant and I definitely got the sense that anyone or anything could go pretty wrong pretty quickly. That made the whole setting more real and hence a lot more engaging.
* The general feel of the book had a hopeful note(s) which I've discovered I quite like in amongst the more bleak versions of post-apocalyptic fiction e.g. 'The Road' (I actually only watched the movie but the example still stands with other movies like 'Dawn of the Dead'.

Things I thought could be improved:

* just an anecdotal memory but some of the dialogue (from memory particularly the dialogue with the Cyclops servants was quite cheesy and stilted I thought. The descriptive prose eg.

"Snow delicately cover the death-glazed eyes of started deer, filling the channels between its starkly outlined ribs"

was much stronger.


Highlight:

I think when he get's to cottage grove and people are starting to buy into his story is where I started to really buy into the book so I guess that's my highlight. ( )

3 ( )

I liked the book overall, but was alternately engrossed and, not bored but something close to it, by the story. There were multiple stories in this novel...almost a series of shirt stories knitted together. Every time I thought “well, this is the ending”, another story would start. Again, liked it, but didn’t love it. ( )