Review: Surviving "Surviving the Fog"
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 18, 2012
This book gets a lot of negative reviews. I read them before I decided to invest nothing in the book except the time to read it. I enjoyed reading it. Had I found anything really poorly done, I would have sent this book right off to the deepest archive as I have sent several books that I could not recommend. But, if you have the time, I recommend reading this book.I think the author is young - no older than 25. I say that partly because I wrote a few short stories similar to this in many ways during the period age 15 to 20 when I was in high school and college. I always thought I would write more when I got old and retired from daily pay-the-bills-type work. I haven't written anything because I have almost decided I don't have anything I want to tell anybody. That's the trouble. This kid has put together a story of youths overcoming adversity that displays plenty of youthful optimism and enthusiasm. That's what kept me turning the pages. That's what you lose when you grow old enough to be a good writer with a lot of wisdom and insight into the human condition!A quick review: Mike is 13 and spending a few weeks at a summer camp near the 7,000 ft mark in the Sierra Mountains of California with about 50 other kids and one counselor. The other kids range from 12 to 16 and the counselor is about 22 with some medical training. There were a bunch of other adult counselors but they left to get more supplies and did not return. The boys do a little scouting, as curious boys will, and discover a fog that surrounds as much of their area as they can see, rising to the 6600 ft level. They see birds and deer run into the fog and hear scary screams as these animals remain in the fog. So they conclude that nobody is going very far for a while. They form a small organization led by Mike, who seems to be the only person concerned with their well fare, to gather and preserve food and to build shelters good enough to last the winter. This all lasts several years as they run into bad guys who rape and kill (forcing the boys and girls to kill them with spears and arrows and a hangman's noose) and they establish a set of rules to cover all problems: for example, no sex before you are 16. They discover other people who are nice and helpful so their shelters and food resources are improved. They even find the US Army, or a small contingent, that is just as stranded as they are. It all turns out well in the end. Eventually, many of them marry and start a new generation that can survive the fog. Even Mike eventually gets married. He marries an Army Sargent whom he meets after you read 96% of the book. When they first meet she keeps saying " that's Sargent Ann Jenkins to you, Kid!" But then he stands down a big brown bear facing it with only his spear, and they become romantically involved. (You had to have been there!) 2.5 years later she becomes pregnant.There is a slight flaw in the story. Nowhere in the book do we get a description of this lovely Annie. We know she is big enough and strong enough to pick Mike up off his toes grabbing his shirt. But we don't know if she is dark haired or light haired, medium tall or very tall, skinny or fat .... What does Annie look like?