Review: A very bleak view on the future
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 7, 2014
The Cleansing follows Annie and John, two Americans living in the devastated country after an apocalyptic series of natural disasters wipes out much of the Earth’s population. Many begin to immigrate to the United States, causing natural-born citizens to become a minority. Annie and John soon find themselves targeted, like all the other Americans, and blamed for causing the natural disasters with their careless pollution.That’s not to say that the book portrays all the Americans as strictly “can do no wrong,” sympathetic good guys and everyone else as villains. Some of the Americans or those helping them can be complete jerks or have flaws that garner less sympathy while more often than not, the immigrant characters are shown in a good light or have a good moral sense. The depictions feel even-handed enough, as does the social commentary. The book comments on the extreme natures of state-sponsored religion, environmentalism, nationalism, and cultural, racial, and national identities. It’s not always fully taken advantage of, but it ties the aspects together well, such as the fictitious religion of Erdinism that promotes protecting the planet’s environment.Sometimes, the story becomes overzealous about the thoughts, feelings, and philosophy of the characters, giving more information than is really needed. It feels like things are over-explained and that parts could be trimmed, like a section early on where the reader is told everything that Annie eats at a reeducation facility or the long descriptions of every emotion Annie experiences, slowing the pace down.The book also doesn’t seem to show enough of this futuristic world it creates. In the first and last thirds of the book, there’s plenty of world-building, but nothing much is given in the middle. Instead that part seems like a contemporary setting for the most part. The middle is also where the story drags after an exciting beginning. Not that a little downtime is bad, but the overall plot just kind of halts for a while.But when it picks up in the rest of the book, it really picks up. The story practically sprints toward the end, sliding in to kick the reader upside the head. There are plenty of comparisons to World War 2 and the plot definitely feels like it. It’s a very bleak story, the kind where you grasp onto any sliver of hope for things to turn around and get better. In fact, it was so depressing at times, that I could only read a couple of chapters in a sitting. That’s just me though and I attribute that to a really effective and heavy atmosphere.I’ll round this up to four stars. The atmosphere really does work well. It’s not perfect, but this story has several interesting ideas. It is very dark and not for those looking for an uplifting story.