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Dry
A powerful literary thriller about a frighteningly near future where myth and adventure intersect, Dry weaves its fable around the lethal conflict between two families.
304 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 1, 2011
I read this book in a day and quite enjoyed it. I'd really give it 3 & 1/2 stars if I could, or 7 out of 10.
The book takes place in Saskatchewan in the not too distant future. While, science fiction, it is quite believable and realistic. Lack of rain and commercial use of chemicals have destroyed the land.
Signy and Tomas Nilsson are plant scientists who have managed to develop a strain of wheat that will grow in this dry wasteland and they have managed to remain on their great-grandparents' farm.
Magnus Dragland (think of an even eviler Montgomery Burns) owns all the land surrounding them and more. He is old, rich and diabolical, intent on getting their land and their secrets too. He will stop at nothing, not even murder.
So, if Dragland wears the black hat, then presumably the Nilssons wear the white. However, all is not that simple. While I was enchanted with David, Signy's son who is deaf yet hears music in the land, I was not so enthralled with his mother. The story is told from Signy's perspective, yet I found it hard to identify with her. She seemed to me to be less emotionally available to me. She herself, killed a man, but oddly seemed to suffer little remorse. Her cousin Astrid is harmed and eventually killed, because Dragland mistakes her for Signy. Yet again, Signy seems less than totally devastated by this loss.
Despite that though, Dry is a compelling read and a thought provoking one, from an ecological standpoint.
The book takes place in Saskatchewan in the not too distant future. While, science fiction, it is quite believable and realistic. Lack of rain and commercial use of chemicals have destroyed the land.
Signy and Tomas Nilsson are plant scientists who have managed to develop a strain of wheat that will grow in this dry wasteland and they have managed to remain on their great-grandparents' farm.
Magnus Dragland (think of an even eviler Montgomery Burns) owns all the land surrounding them and more. He is old, rich and diabolical, intent on getting their land and their secrets too. He will stop at nothing, not even murder.
So, if Dragland wears the black hat, then presumably the Nilssons wear the white. However, all is not that simple. While I was enchanted with David, Signy's son who is deaf yet hears music in the land, I was not so enthralled with his mother. The story is told from Signy's perspective, yet I found it hard to identify with her. She seemed to me to be less emotionally available to me. She herself, killed a man, but oddly seemed to suffer little remorse. Her cousin Astrid is harmed and eventually killed, because Dragland mistakes her for Signy. Yet again, Signy seems less than totally devastated by this loss.
Despite that though, Dry is a compelling read and a thought provoking one, from an ecological standpoint.
May 10, 2018
Really quick read
Read
August 18, 2016Written by one of my (wonderful) editors, I read it twice in a row (which I never do), because I enjoyed it so much.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews