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The City Where We Once Lived #1
The City Where We Once Lived
Win a free print copy of this book!
20 days and 03:48:43
2 copies available
U.S. only
In a near future where climate change has severely affected weather and agriculture, the North End of an unnamed city has long been abandoned in favor of the neighboring South End. Aside from the scavengers steadily stripping the empty city to its bones, only a few thousand people remain, content to live quietly among the crumbling metropolis. Many, like the narrator, are there to try to escape the demons of their past. He spends his time observing and recording the decay around him, attempting to bury memories of what he has lost.
But it eventually becomes clear that things are unraveling elsewhere as well, as strangers, violent and desperate alike, begin to appear in the North End, spreading word of social and political deterioration in the South End and beyond. Faced with a growing disruption to his isolated life, the narrator discovers within himself a surprising need to resist losing the home he has created in this empty place. He and the rest of the citizens of the North End must choose whether to face outsiders as invaders or welcome them as neighbors.
The City Where We Once Lived is a haunting novel of the near future that combines a prescient look at how climate change and industrial flight will shape our world with a deeply personal story of one man running from his past. With glowing prose, Eric Barnes brings into sharp focus questions of how we come to call a place home and what is our capacity for violence when that home becomes threatened.
But it eventually becomes clear that things are unraveling elsewhere as well, as strangers, violent and desperate alike, begin to appear in the North End, spreading word of social and political deterioration in the South End and beyond. Faced with a growing disruption to his isolated life, the narrator discovers within himself a surprising need to resist losing the home he has created in this empty place. He and the rest of the citizens of the North End must choose whether to face outsiders as invaders or welcome them as neighbors.
The City Where We Once Lived is a haunting novel of the near future that combines a prescient look at how climate change and industrial flight will shape our world with a deeply personal story of one man running from his past. With glowing prose, Eric Barnes brings into sharp focus questions of how we come to call a place home and what is our capacity for violence when that home becomes threatened.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published March 13, 2018
234 people are currently reading
52480 people want to read
About the author
Eric Barnes
15 books568 followersEric Barnes is writer of the novels The City Where We Once Lived (Arcade Publishing), Above the Ether (Arcade Publishing), Something Pretty, Something Beautiful (Outpost19) and Shimmer (Unbridled Books), an IndieNext Pick.
Emily St. John Mandel, author of STATION ELEVEN, said about The City Where We Once Lived: “Barnes's new novel is a rare and truly original work: a hard-edged fable, tender and unflinching, in which a man's descent and renewal is mirrored by his city. An eerie, beautifully written, and profoundly humane book.”
Barnes has also published numerous short stories, and works as CEO of The Daily Memphian, host of Behind the Headlines, and publisher of a number of community newspapers.
Praise for Above the Ether:
“Barnes’ spare and chilling prose flows from one horrific scene to another without, surprisingly, alienating his readers, perhaps because the heart of his narrative ultimately reveals an abiding faith in the power of human compassion. A first-rate apocalyptic page-turner.” - Booklist
“In twenty years—or less—people will have a hard time believing that this is a work of the imagination; that's how convincingly Barnes plays out the signs and omens of our times. That he conjures this dark forecast without ever naming a soul or the cities they live in does not make the story more otherworldly, but only more chillingly recognizable.” - Tim Johnston, NY Times bestselling author of THE CURRENT
“Above the Ether depicts a dystopia more terrifying because of its proximity to our own, yet this novel is also saturated by hope. In this world, people can rise above their pasts, and humanity can endure change and hardship. Barnes is also just a terrific writer of both story and sentence.” - Elise Blackwell, author of THE LOWER QUARTER and HUNGER
“The world of Eric Barnes’ novel Above the Ether suffers destruction of Biblical proportions. Flood, fire, pestilence, famine — the rolling cataclysms have an Old Testament tenor and scope. Though the novel builds in intensity as the story lines interweave, it derives its power from the poetic quality of its language.” - Chapter 16
Praise for The City Where We Once Lived:
“Written in a gorgeously spare language that perfectly reflects the dystopic future this novel depicts, The City Where We Once Lived kept me enthralled throughout. At the core is a deep and admirable compassion for humanity.” - Chris Offutt, author of COUNTRY DARK
"A stunningly-written tale of loss and grief." - Lindsay Moran, former CIA operative and author of BLOWING MY COVER
"Spare and elegant, Eric Barnes shows us what it means to inhabit - a building, a city, a life. And also what it means to be inhabited - by memories, by ghosts, and maybe, just maybe, by hope." - Elise Blackwell, author of THE LOWER QUARTER
“An intensely envisioned work of dystopian realism and American desolation, beautifully drawn from the slow-motion apocalypse of everyday life.” - Christopher Brown, author of TROPIC OF KANSAS
"A controlled burn of a book, full of horror and sadness and, once the fire dies down, the beauty of new growth. In the tradition of J.G. Ballard and Margaret Atwood, Eric Barnes gives us a dying neighborhood of outcasts who save the world that has cast them out." - John Feffer, author of SPLINTERLANDS
“With deft prose and a discerning voice, The City Where We Once Lived is a taut examination of the archetypes and rituals that form the landscape of community.” - Courtney Miller Santo, author of THREE STORY HOUSE and THE ROOTS OF THE OLIVE TREE
"The voice is appealingly quiet, the atmosphere dreamlike, but the premise of poisoned ground, weather gone haywire, and a government that has thrown up its hands, is frighteningly real." - James Whorton, author of APPROXIMATELY HEAVEN, FRANKLAND and ANGELA SLOAN
"Eric Barnes' The City Where We Once Lived is a most original novel, surprising and fierce - a dazzling puzzle of grief and utopia, dystopia and hope." - Minna Zallma
Emily St. John Mandel, author of STATION ELEVEN, said about The City Where We Once Lived: “Barnes's new novel is a rare and truly original work: a hard-edged fable, tender and unflinching, in which a man's descent and renewal is mirrored by his city. An eerie, beautifully written, and profoundly humane book.”
Barnes has also published numerous short stories, and works as CEO of The Daily Memphian, host of Behind the Headlines, and publisher of a number of community newspapers.
Praise for Above the Ether:
“Barnes’ spare and chilling prose flows from one horrific scene to another without, surprisingly, alienating his readers, perhaps because the heart of his narrative ultimately reveals an abiding faith in the power of human compassion. A first-rate apocalyptic page-turner.” - Booklist
“In twenty years—or less—people will have a hard time believing that this is a work of the imagination; that's how convincingly Barnes plays out the signs and omens of our times. That he conjures this dark forecast without ever naming a soul or the cities they live in does not make the story more otherworldly, but only more chillingly recognizable.” - Tim Johnston, NY Times bestselling author of THE CURRENT
“Above the Ether depicts a dystopia more terrifying because of its proximity to our own, yet this novel is also saturated by hope. In this world, people can rise above their pasts, and humanity can endure change and hardship. Barnes is also just a terrific writer of both story and sentence.” - Elise Blackwell, author of THE LOWER QUARTER and HUNGER
“The world of Eric Barnes’ novel Above the Ether suffers destruction of Biblical proportions. Flood, fire, pestilence, famine — the rolling cataclysms have an Old Testament tenor and scope. Though the novel builds in intensity as the story lines interweave, it derives its power from the poetic quality of its language.” - Chapter 16
Praise for The City Where We Once Lived:
“Written in a gorgeously spare language that perfectly reflects the dystopic future this novel depicts, The City Where We Once Lived kept me enthralled throughout. At the core is a deep and admirable compassion for humanity.” - Chris Offutt, author of COUNTRY DARK
"A stunningly-written tale of loss and grief." - Lindsay Moran, former CIA operative and author of BLOWING MY COVER
"Spare and elegant, Eric Barnes shows us what it means to inhabit - a building, a city, a life. And also what it means to be inhabited - by memories, by ghosts, and maybe, just maybe, by hope." - Elise Blackwell, author of THE LOWER QUARTER
“An intensely envisioned work of dystopian realism and American desolation, beautifully drawn from the slow-motion apocalypse of everyday life.” - Christopher Brown, author of TROPIC OF KANSAS
"A controlled burn of a book, full of horror and sadness and, once the fire dies down, the beauty of new growth. In the tradition of J.G. Ballard and Margaret Atwood, Eric Barnes gives us a dying neighborhood of outcasts who save the world that has cast them out." - John Feffer, author of SPLINTERLANDS
“With deft prose and a discerning voice, The City Where We Once Lived is a taut examination of the archetypes and rituals that form the landscape of community.” - Courtney Miller Santo, author of THREE STORY HOUSE and THE ROOTS OF THE OLIVE TREE
"The voice is appealingly quiet, the atmosphere dreamlike, but the premise of poisoned ground, weather gone haywire, and a government that has thrown up its hands, is frighteningly real." - James Whorton, author of APPROXIMATELY HEAVEN, FRANKLAND and ANGELA SLOAN
"Eric Barnes' The City Where We Once Lived is a most original novel, surprising and fierce - a dazzling puzzle of grief and utopia, dystopia and hope." - Minna Zallma
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 201 reviews
February 4, 2019
This dystopian novel is dreamlike and hypnotic and wraps you in a cocoon of mind-numbing prose. We are inside the head of a man whose name is unknown who has survived a stunning loss and is continuing to exist, but barely. He works at a tiny newspaper with 3 employees, writing about what is going on in the abandoned part of a large city (which is also not named, but has a large number of levees and canals) where he lives.
There is a lot of not naming, so everything seems as vague and transient as the inhabitants of this lost city. The other people who live around the main character in abandoned homes and buildings are referred to by their occupations in their new life as survivors, so he meets a man who is trying to regrow plants who is then always called the Gardener.
We aren't told why this is going on, but since everything is stormy and wet and society has broken down, you know it's caused by global warming. We are told the man's personal tragedy, but never told why, unless it was just a horrific accident, but who would do what he did? I enjoyed this, but I was left with that question.
There is a lot of not naming, so everything seems as vague and transient as the inhabitants of this lost city. The other people who live around the main character in abandoned homes and buildings are referred to by their occupations in their new life as survivors, so he meets a man who is trying to regrow plants who is then always called the Gardener.
We aren't told why this is going on, but since everything is stormy and wet and society has broken down, you know it's caused by global warming. We are told the man's personal tragedy, but never told why, unless it was just a horrific accident, but who would do what he did? I enjoyed this, but I was left with that question.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2018
Low key, bland, slow, depressing and pointless. I think the author did a great job of setting up the background. I really felt as if I lived in the North End itself and lived a pointless life like one of the inhabitants. However, I think the author could have done a better job of making me interested in the narrator. This is a book which doesn't draw me along, I make myself read it. I don't look forward to reading it, I look forward to finishing it. There were a few high points along the way, but that's all they were, islands in a sea of depression. In terms of setting the mood of the book, this was great. In terms of entertainment, not so much.
This rating of 2 stars is what I feel, it may not be what you feel about it.
I got this as a free ARC.
This rating of 2 stars is what I feel, it may not be what you feel about it.
I got this as a free ARC.
December 10, 2020
Well, I liked it enough to finish it. It's a rather leisurely read, with information about the nameless main character and the place where he lives being leaked out bit by bit until we finally get enough information to get a sense of the place and a limited understanding of the people who live there.
It's very well written with lovely prose, but I generally prefer a book with a bit more story than I found here. If you are the type of reader who is satisfied by beautiful writing whether there is plot advancement or not, you'll probably really like this one.
It's very well written with lovely prose, but I generally prefer a book with a bit more story than I found here. If you are the type of reader who is satisfied by beautiful writing whether there is plot advancement or not, you'll probably really like this one.
November 1, 2019
In "The City Where We Once Lived'" the world ends as T. S. Eliot predicts in "The Hollow Men," ' not with a bang, but a whimper.'
No one really knows why the North End of the City dies so quickly and the South End hangs on, but despite the authorities' threats to cut off the few remaining utilities and the reputation it has as dangerous, the North End hangs on, scavengers tearing down entire neighborhoods ahead of collapsing levees, a man known as the gardener providing plants and seeds he obtains that are somehow able to thrive in the blighted environmental condition. They even have a newspaper that chronicles events taking place, with stories written by a broken man who is unable to get over his own tragedy he experienced When their support system began to break down years before.
When a horrendous super storm causes catastrophic destruction to the South End, the resilience of the North Enders comes to the fore, giving the reader hope that our own humanity may continue somehow, no matter what.
This is the first book by Eric Barnes I have read. I am looking forward to reading more.
I received this book free from the author and Arcade Publishing in exchange for an honest review on Goodreads.
No one really knows why the North End of the City dies so quickly and the South End hangs on, but despite the authorities' threats to cut off the few remaining utilities and the reputation it has as dangerous, the North End hangs on, scavengers tearing down entire neighborhoods ahead of collapsing levees, a man known as the gardener providing plants and seeds he obtains that are somehow able to thrive in the blighted environmental condition. They even have a newspaper that chronicles events taking place, with stories written by a broken man who is unable to get over his own tragedy he experienced When their support system began to break down years before.
When a horrendous super storm causes catastrophic destruction to the South End, the resilience of the North Enders comes to the fore, giving the reader hope that our own humanity may continue somehow, no matter what.
This is the first book by Eric Barnes I have read. I am looking forward to reading more.
I received this book free from the author and Arcade Publishing in exchange for an honest review on Goodreads.
July 1, 2018
For what this is, it's actually pretty stellar.
It's an exhausting, depressing read. We're pulled into a solitary and slow world and we feel every inch of it. That, in itself, is proof of the author's abilities.
This is the type of book that will force you to dig deep inside yourself and really analyze what you find. It's a story of humanity at it's worst and best. Even though it's a rocky, arduous journey, it can be a rewarding one.
This is not a quick beach read!
It's an exhausting, depressing read. We're pulled into a solitary and slow world and we feel every inch of it. That, in itself, is proof of the author's abilities.
This is the type of book that will force you to dig deep inside yourself and really analyze what you find. It's a story of humanity at it's worst and best. Even though it's a rocky, arduous journey, it can be a rewarding one.
This is not a quick beach read!
January 2, 2022
Haunting, a sometimes subtle, sometimes hopeful, sometimes heavy as a sledgehammer story that resonates with a gut-punching message and introspective perspective.
January 10, 2024
Full disclosure: I won a free autographed copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
Our unnamed narrator lives in the North End district of an unspecified city. It's sometime in the future, presumably the near future since none of tech mentioned is noticeably different from our present day (2024, as I type this.) The North End is sparsely populated and decaying, but we're led to believe that nowhere else on the planet is much better. Grass, trees, and other plants are described as dead, black, decaying things. The climate is harsh and unforgiving, with storms and tornadoes springing up at a moment's notice. The North End has largely been abandoned, with most of the city's populace choosing to live across the highway that divides the city in the presumably more pleasant (we never actually see it up close) South End.
So our narrator and a few other diehards persist, despite attempts from the city at persuading them to relocate. The book is a portrait of a world in decay, and of a man coming to terms with his past and possible future. I don't think it's spoiling anything to reveal that the book isn't nearly as bleak as all of that sounds.
Overall, I enjoyed this book more than I expected to. Some of what kept me going was the simple curiosity to see what happens next. But everything pays off nicely in the end. If some events happen with more ease than we suspect they would in real life, we forgive because we really want to see them happen. Vague, I know, but I don't wish to spoil anything.
The City Where We Once Lived is a fine novel, well worth your time. Recommended!
Our unnamed narrator lives in the North End district of an unspecified city. It's sometime in the future, presumably the near future since none of tech mentioned is noticeably different from our present day (2024, as I type this.) The North End is sparsely populated and decaying, but we're led to believe that nowhere else on the planet is much better. Grass, trees, and other plants are described as dead, black, decaying things. The climate is harsh and unforgiving, with storms and tornadoes springing up at a moment's notice. The North End has largely been abandoned, with most of the city's populace choosing to live across the highway that divides the city in the presumably more pleasant (we never actually see it up close) South End.
So our narrator and a few other diehards persist, despite attempts from the city at persuading them to relocate. The book is a portrait of a world in decay, and of a man coming to terms with his past and possible future. I don't think it's spoiling anything to reveal that the book isn't nearly as bleak as all of that sounds.
Overall, I enjoyed this book more than I expected to. Some of what kept me going was the simple curiosity to see what happens next. But everything pays off nicely in the end. If some events happen with more ease than we suspect they would in real life, we forgive because we really want to see them happen. Vague, I know, but I don't wish to spoil anything.
The City Where We Once Lived is a fine novel, well worth your time. Recommended!
April 25, 2018
Every once in a while there is one of these books which touches you, deeply...
This was the case for me with this one. I am usually a fan of fast-paced or at least stringent storytelling, and this one started for me a little too slow, a little too... literary (meaning above the standard prose and language).
Boy, am I glad I sticked with it. The story evolves nicely, and with it the character, and a certain ... unexplained phlegma of the story and setting gets explained well and fits the overall idea.
What a gem, and a very convincing take on the CliFi idea without becoming moralistic or simple-solutions prone. Reminded me of American War, in a good way!
This was the case for me with this one. I am usually a fan of fast-paced or at least stringent storytelling, and this one started for me a little too slow, a little too... literary (meaning above the standard prose and language).
Boy, am I glad I sticked with it. The story evolves nicely, and with it the character, and a certain ... unexplained phlegma of the story and setting gets explained well and fits the overall idea.
What a gem, and a very convincing take on the CliFi idea without becoming moralistic or simple-solutions prone. Reminded me of American War, in a good way!
October 19, 2025
This book features an unnamed narrator living in a dying city in a post-apocalyptic dystopian society. The infrastructure is crumbling, and most businesses have closed. Basic services are intermittent or failing. The narrator writes for a still-operating newspaper, while the rest of the city collapses around him. He has lost his wife and children in a tragedy, which is hinted at, then finally revealed.
The novel is structured in short, fragmented chapters. There is no traditional plot development or climactic scene, only steady decline interspersed with the narrator's memories of what the city once was. The narrator is irrationally loyal to this city. He knows his decision to stay makes no practical sense, yet he cannot bring himself to leave, since it was the last place where he felt truly happy. He feels empty since the loss of his family and has no drive to move forward.
I have mixed feelings about the book. I managed to get through it without being tempted to give up, but it becomes repetitive after a while, and there is little (to no) hope. The prose is somewhat flat, which I presume is supposed to reflect the bleakness. I liked the concept and think readers who have more patience for minimalistic narratives will enjoy it more than I did.
3.5
The novel is structured in short, fragmented chapters. There is no traditional plot development or climactic scene, only steady decline interspersed with the narrator's memories of what the city once was. The narrator is irrationally loyal to this city. He knows his decision to stay makes no practical sense, yet he cannot bring himself to leave, since it was the last place where he felt truly happy. He feels empty since the loss of his family and has no drive to move forward.
I have mixed feelings about the book. I managed to get through it without being tempted to give up, but it becomes repetitive after a while, and there is little (to no) hope. The prose is somewhat flat, which I presume is supposed to reflect the bleakness. I liked the concept and think readers who have more patience for minimalistic narratives will enjoy it more than I did.
3.5
September 10, 2021
I've finished it sometime ago but I don't remember finishing it or much of what I actually read. it wasn't a story that stuck with me
January 18, 2018
The City Where We Once Lived is a slow burning story of rebirth. I have to admit I did not like the first quarter of this book, but I'm really glad I pushed through because it payed off. I read the last quarter of the book in one sitting and I had to choke back tears in several painful, hard hitting moments, that only payed off because of the slow development. If you enjoy dystopian stories I would definitely recommend picking this up. The pacing is similar to the pacing in a Margaret Atwood novel if that means anything to you.
Thank you to Skyhorse publishing for the digital arc :) (Yes, this is still an honest review)
Thank you to Skyhorse publishing for the digital arc :) (Yes, this is still an honest review)
March 28, 2020
A strong post apocalyptic novel during the corona virus outbreak probably wasn't a good idea but I lingered over this because I loved the writing style, intrigue, and end of the world descriptive scenes. And several parts of this takes place in a LIBRARY! As well as at a newspaper office! Researching places that used to function and people that used to exist were some of my favorite scenes throughout the book.
4.5 🌟 out of 5!!!
4.5 🌟 out of 5!!!
November 11, 2017
Wonderful. For fans of Emily St Mandel’s Station Eleven, a quiet, reflective look at the people who stay when a civilization crumbles.
June 3, 2018
This was an interesting look at how cities are in a state of constant flux, how people are always pushing to be in a better neighborhood, have better things and abandoning the older areas. Read my review here ---> https://wp.me/p5t5Tf-1xP
October 6, 2022
Nope. I can't continue to read this. I'm almost 40% into it and nothing of any importance has happened except a list of unanswered questions growing in my head:
1) What's caused the devastation of one half of a city (North End) but not the other (South End)?
2) Why are buildings in the North End being destroyed by rain? Rain falls on buildings all the time, so what's made the rain harm buildings in the North End during the 20-30 years that the devastation of the area has been going on?
3) Why are the residents, especially the main character, so slow and mind-foggy? Is it from whatever caused the devastation of North End? Years of isolation? If from isolation, why don't the residents congregate more?
4) Why does the author constantly say the main character doesn't know why something has happened or why he feels a certain way, only to list reasons right afterward?
5) Why does the main character complain to himself and others about how cold he always is but also always keeps the windows to his room open, letting in cold air?
Additionally there are too many odd things like how the main character continues to help publish a newspaper that the residents read, and he says that the pressman, readers, and himself "don't know what they would do if they stopped making the newspaper." Well, the newspaper would stop being made, the main character would have to find something else to do, and the residents would have no newspaper to read. That's all. Not a drama filled mystery, that. Or how the main character actually covers so much ground each day but usually makes it home again, even though the North End appears to be large and no public transport exists. Or weird phrases like "a brightly blue container" inside a factory (why brightly? why not bright?) or saying that dust, blown by random winds, carefully deposits onto buildings. How can a random wind carefully deposit anything? Or strange details given like the main character is standing on a building, overlooking the city and "touches his face with a hand." WHO CARES?
The author alludes that the main character has a dramatic and emotional reason for staying in the devastated North End but 40% into the book, we really don't know what that reason is. The main character comes across as a grey, worn out obsessive recluse who not only stays alone but which anyone in their right mind would probably leave alone.
Not going to waste more time on this story!
1) What's caused the devastation of one half of a city (North End) but not the other (South End)?
2) Why are buildings in the North End being destroyed by rain? Rain falls on buildings all the time, so what's made the rain harm buildings in the North End during the 20-30 years that the devastation of the area has been going on?
3) Why are the residents, especially the main character, so slow and mind-foggy? Is it from whatever caused the devastation of North End? Years of isolation? If from isolation, why don't the residents congregate more?
4) Why does the author constantly say the main character doesn't know why something has happened or why he feels a certain way, only to list reasons right afterward?
5) Why does the main character complain to himself and others about how cold he always is but also always keeps the windows to his room open, letting in cold air?
Additionally there are too many odd things like how the main character continues to help publish a newspaper that the residents read, and he says that the pressman, readers, and himself "don't know what they would do if they stopped making the newspaper." Well, the newspaper would stop being made, the main character would have to find something else to do, and the residents would have no newspaper to read. That's all. Not a drama filled mystery, that. Or how the main character actually covers so much ground each day but usually makes it home again, even though the North End appears to be large and no public transport exists. Or weird phrases like "a brightly blue container" inside a factory (why brightly? why not bright?) or saying that dust, blown by random winds, carefully deposits onto buildings. How can a random wind carefully deposit anything? Or strange details given like the main character is standing on a building, overlooking the city and "touches his face with a hand." WHO CARES?
The author alludes that the main character has a dramatic and emotional reason for staying in the devastated North End but 40% into the book, we really don't know what that reason is. The main character comes across as a grey, worn out obsessive recluse who not only stays alone but which anyone in their right mind would probably leave alone.
Not going to waste more time on this story!
May 4, 2022
Speculative fiction; there's no science of note here.
[may contain mild plot spoilers]
If you enjoy slow pace and crumbling, nearly-deserted cities, maybe you'll give it 3 or more stars.
IN SHORT: The slowest, least exciting dystopian-ish* book I've read. But it's not terrible, and the writing style was perfectly adequate.
*If a city crumbles slowly, and most people leave, does that count as a dystopia? Or just Detroit?
I don't mind slow-paced books, but very little of interest happens here. Our protagonist wanders around the mostly-empty city. Sometimes he contributes to a small newspaper. Occasionally, he reacts (slowly) to other people. There are a handful of brief, dangerous situations. The plot picks up slightly in the last 15%-20%.
On the plus side (at least for some readers):
++ No
++ A bit more realistic that the usual dystopian-ish stuff out there.
[may contain mild plot spoilers]
If you enjoy slow pace and crumbling, nearly-deserted cities, maybe you'll give it 3 or more stars.
IN SHORT: The slowest, least exciting dystopian-ish* book I've read. But it's not terrible, and the writing style was perfectly adequate.
*If a city crumbles slowly, and most people leave, does that count as a dystopia? Or just Detroit?
I don't mind slow-paced books, but very little of interest happens here. Our protagonist wanders around the mostly-empty city. Sometimes he contributes to a small newspaper. Occasionally, he reacts (slowly) to other people. There are a handful of brief, dangerous situations. The plot picks up slightly in the last 15%-20%.
On the plus side (at least for some readers):
++ No
++ A bit more realistic that the usual dystopian-ish stuff out there.
November 17, 2020
"Sometimes, at night, I would light houses on fire. But no one particularly cared. I could sit on a porch across the street from the flames, watching the fire spread from the first floor to the second, and still no one would come. It was many years since there’d been police or fire trucks or ambulances, and I picked houses far away from the few neighbors that remained.
I guess this was so I could be alone."
The north side of a big city was abandoned a long time ago with only a few people living there now. One of those people is the heavily traumatized and nameless narrator that returned to the North side area 6 years ago and now works on a small local newspaper, wandering daily through the almost empty city to find new stories and take photos.
Everything happens in a slow melancolic pace, with a dark mood mixed in, surprisingly I was never bored and the story which is very well written kept me interested all the time. A good read that certainly provides food for thought.
I guess this was so I could be alone."
The north side of a big city was abandoned a long time ago with only a few people living there now. One of those people is the heavily traumatized and nameless narrator that returned to the North side area 6 years ago and now works on a small local newspaper, wandering daily through the almost empty city to find new stories and take photos.
Everything happens in a slow melancolic pace, with a dark mood mixed in, surprisingly I was never bored and the story which is very well written kept me interested all the time. A good read that certainly provides food for thought.
November 7, 2020
Powerful!
In some ways the writing is sparse, yet in some ways luscious. This book should be taught in high school English classes. It seemed like a slow start, but I'm glad I read on.
In some ways the writing is sparse, yet in some ways luscious. This book should be taught in high school English classes. It seemed like a slow start, but I'm glad I read on.
August 30, 2019
Received this as a Goodreads Giveaway. The world portrayed could be in any of our cities today. What happens tomorrow is not known and so this could be my home. Time has lapsed and the inner struggle with acceptance rings true for me. How many times have I hid from something I didn't want to accept, or I didn't want to believe? How often do you lie to yourself, but really truthfully believing the lie to be the truth?
I understood why, and that it is a journey that we all must take for ourselves and that no one can walk it for us. It was profound and caused me to think on a deeper level, personally and then how I affect my community. What am I doing? Is it enough? I guess that is a question for everyone. Am I doing enough for myself, my family, my community, my world? Are you?
I understood why, and that it is a journey that we all must take for ourselves and that no one can walk it for us. It was profound and caused me to think on a deeper level, personally and then how I affect my community. What am I doing? Is it enough? I guess that is a question for everyone. Am I doing enough for myself, my family, my community, my world? Are you?
March 13, 2023
Interesting concept but just drags on and on until it finally ends. Blah
December 2, 2020
As much as I loved some parts of this book and I'm curious to read more by this author, seeing this is a #1 in a series with a prequel, I don't feel *excited* or compelled to read more stuff in this world.
Checked out this book after reading one of his shorts ("Something Pretty, Something Beautiful") in The Best American Mystery Stories 2011, partly because the story was good and mostly because it took place in Tacoma & he grew up there. I tend to feel compelled to read stuff that takes place locally or has Puget Sound area roots, especially places like Tacoma because I love it and am familiar with it having lived there for years ... and because there aren't tons of books and writers with Tacoma roots. That this guy Barnes now lives in Memphis and writes for and about that place that I only have visited once but feel like Tacoma is kind of a sister city to makes me even more curious about his work and wanting to read more stuff that is "deeply rooted in place" ... especially places like Tacoma and Memphis.
There are a lot of things I did not enjoy about this book and some stuff raised my eyebrows in ... annoyed disbelief? But I appreciated the quiet introversion of it.
Speaking of eyebrow-raising-in-annoyed-disbelief, this book is plastered everywhere with supportive blurbs from Emily St. John Mandel who wrote Station Eleven which I actually loved a lot of MORE than this Once Lived City book ... but this book does a better job on one of the main eyebrow-raisers for me in Station Eleven; I was in annoyed disbelief by S11 a lot because ... for sure there are/would be a lot of people who know how to MAKE ELECTRICITY HAPPEN and put some of that shit back together. So as much as her places like Michigan are recognizably real-feeling, she apparently doesn't know how relatively-easily you can find dudes who'd have lots of shit up and running. Anyway, I felt like this City book here does a better job of writing those kinds of people in -- the kinds of people who suddenly appear with specialized expertise and resourcefulness. But it was almost *too* good at this, which sometimes was part of the hard-to-enjoyably-believe annoyingness of it. But maybe there is some fancy dreamlike parable IDK-what aspect of both of these books that I fail to understand. Who knows. I thought this was about to end in a real tricky ah-ha way like that, but (I think?) I was wrong about that too. Still, it's weird how hopeful some moments in this book made me (the events at the overpass after the huge storm, for example) to the point of tears even though I was like oh boy you commie what is this super-unrealistic propaganda you're making me read here?!?
I kind of wish I would stop telling you what I think of books here.
Checked out this book after reading one of his shorts ("Something Pretty, Something Beautiful") in The Best American Mystery Stories 2011, partly because the story was good and mostly because it took place in Tacoma & he grew up there. I tend to feel compelled to read stuff that takes place locally or has Puget Sound area roots, especially places like Tacoma because I love it and am familiar with it having lived there for years ... and because there aren't tons of books and writers with Tacoma roots. That this guy Barnes now lives in Memphis and writes for and about that place that I only have visited once but feel like Tacoma is kind of a sister city to makes me even more curious about his work and wanting to read more stuff that is "deeply rooted in place" ... especially places like Tacoma and Memphis.
There are a lot of things I did not enjoy about this book and some stuff raised my eyebrows in ... annoyed disbelief? But I appreciated the quiet introversion of it.
Speaking of eyebrow-raising-in-annoyed-disbelief, this book is plastered everywhere with supportive blurbs from Emily St. John Mandel who wrote Station Eleven which I actually loved a lot of MORE than this Once Lived City book ... but this book does a better job on one of the main eyebrow-raisers for me in Station Eleven; I was in annoyed disbelief by S11 a lot because ... for sure there are/would be a lot of people who know how to MAKE ELECTRICITY HAPPEN and put some of that shit back together. So as much as her places like Michigan are recognizably real-feeling, she apparently doesn't know how relatively-easily you can find dudes who'd have lots of shit up and running. Anyway, I felt like this City book here does a better job of writing those kinds of people in -- the kinds of people who suddenly appear with specialized expertise and resourcefulness. But it was almost *too* good at this, which sometimes was part of the hard-to-enjoyably-believe annoyingness of it. But maybe there is some fancy dreamlike parable IDK-what aspect of both of these books that I fail to understand. Who knows. I thought this was about to end in a real tricky ah-ha way like that, but (I think?) I was wrong about that too. Still, it's weird how hopeful some moments in this book made me (the events at the overpass after the huge storm, for example) to the point of tears even though I was like oh boy you commie what is this super-unrealistic propaganda you're making me read here?!?
I kind of wish I would stop telling you what I think of books here.
June 9, 2021
I'm deeply conflicted about this book and if I'd recommend it to someone else or not.
Beneath the surface here, there's a story about a man deeply conflicted after the death of his family. Our unnamed protagonist, or, "the writer," confines himself to a literal purgatory within a decaying city in an abandoned hotel overlooking this dead city.
When faced with signs of life and rebirth, he turns inward, although he's bound by his duty as the city's lone reporter to document what he sees. From a woman and child, a politician, a gardener and other signs of life in a place he'd confined himself to under the idea of withering away with it until his demise, it's difficult to not see glimmers of hope through the dried chaparral.
Whatever the catastrophe facing this city and the world at large are remain unexplained, vague and at times, eye-roll-worthy with how blunt they are, metaphorically. Even as someone who agrees humanity has irrevocably damaged the planet and we're cruising towards climate disaster while refusing to take our collective foot off the gas for long enough to consider the outcome, it felt clumsy and forced.
This was a world that couldn't see beyond what it knew and never considered anything else. An apocalypse in slow-motion that got close to saying something about how to deal with it, but seemed gun shy.
The changes and growth of the lead character are subtle, so subtle they can easily be missed, but they are there. The plot doesn't have insurmountable odds to overcome and there's no hero. That's okay. There's no great awakening in our writer, or change of heart, just, like I said, a glimmer of hope he might change while the people around him are the ones moving in the positive direction.
Beneath the surface here, there's a story about a man deeply conflicted after the death of his family. Our unnamed protagonist, or, "the writer," confines himself to a literal purgatory within a decaying city in an abandoned hotel overlooking this dead city.
When faced with signs of life and rebirth, he turns inward, although he's bound by his duty as the city's lone reporter to document what he sees. From a woman and child, a politician, a gardener and other signs of life in a place he'd confined himself to under the idea of withering away with it until his demise, it's difficult to not see glimmers of hope through the dried chaparral.
Whatever the catastrophe facing this city and the world at large are remain unexplained, vague and at times, eye-roll-worthy with how blunt they are, metaphorically. Even as someone who agrees humanity has irrevocably damaged the planet and we're cruising towards climate disaster while refusing to take our collective foot off the gas for long enough to consider the outcome, it felt clumsy and forced.
This was a world that couldn't see beyond what it knew and never considered anything else. An apocalypse in slow-motion that got close to saying something about how to deal with it, but seemed gun shy.
The changes and growth of the lead character are subtle, so subtle they can easily be missed, but they are there. The plot doesn't have insurmountable odds to overcome and there's no hero. That's okay. There's no great awakening in our writer, or change of heart, just, like I said, a glimmer of hope he might change while the people around him are the ones moving in the positive direction.
July 2, 2018
The narrator, who doesn't seem to have a name, lives in a deserted city, North End, with the thousand or so remaining people. It's a crumbling city, with sometimes-violent weather, but otherwise quiet; the utilities still seem to work in most places, though the levees are slowly giving way to rising water. This novel is not a thriller; the great disaster is already well under way, the narrator's family is dead, and the town is mostly abandoned in favor of South End. The people remaining in North End keep mostly to themselves (although the narrator does set abandoned houses on fire now and then).
Gradually, though, the outside world does creep in. Almost all the vegetation, the plants in North End are dead, and word comes in that it's a world wide phenomenon, "the death of things," they call it. The climate is bad in other places -- violent storms in North End and South End, drought elsewhere -- and the overall sense is of creeping decay. South End connects to North End only by one overpass, so word of increasing dysfunction, violence, institutional failure in South End creeps in, and the survivors in North End, who live by scavenging mostly, have some decisions to make.
It's a thoughtful look at a crumbled world, a creeping dystopia, a story in which the reader becomes an inhabitant, rather than a spectator. It's a story that requires patience, but it's a story of endurance far more than conflict. High recommendation.
Gradually, though, the outside world does creep in. Almost all the vegetation, the plants in North End are dead, and word comes in that it's a world wide phenomenon, "the death of things," they call it. The climate is bad in other places -- violent storms in North End and South End, drought elsewhere -- and the overall sense is of creeping decay. South End connects to North End only by one overpass, so word of increasing dysfunction, violence, institutional failure in South End creeps in, and the survivors in North End, who live by scavenging mostly, have some decisions to make.
It's a thoughtful look at a crumbled world, a creeping dystopia, a story in which the reader becomes an inhabitant, rather than a spectator. It's a story that requires patience, but it's a story of endurance far more than conflict. High recommendation.
July 13, 2018
3.5 of 5 stars
Short Summary: After climate change has irrevocably changed the world we live in, a group of individuals continues to live their day to day lives in the ruins of a crumbling city while struggling under the weight of their memories.
Thoughts: A story that’s eerily reminiscent of the world we live in today, painting a terrifying scenario of not just how the world can easily transform into a nightmare but individuals as well.
Verdict: Many have said that the post-apocalyptic genre has been overdone, but The City Where We Once Lived felt refreshingly different with its in-depth focus on the decline of humanity which also mirrored the downfall of the surrounding world.
I received this book free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Short Summary: After climate change has irrevocably changed the world we live in, a group of individuals continues to live their day to day lives in the ruins of a crumbling city while struggling under the weight of their memories.
Thoughts: A story that’s eerily reminiscent of the world we live in today, painting a terrifying scenario of not just how the world can easily transform into a nightmare but individuals as well.
Verdict: Many have said that the post-apocalyptic genre has been overdone, but The City Where We Once Lived felt refreshingly different with its in-depth focus on the decline of humanity which also mirrored the downfall of the surrounding world.
I received this book free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
July 9, 2021
This will be a book I will never forget. I hope my small book club will read it because I'd love to discuss it.
A very unusual tale. I almost want to say "genius". At one point, about a third of the way through, I didn't think I could read on. On the other hand, I couldn't stop thinking about it. It was puzzling and provocative. I got past my intrepidation and was so glad I picked it up again. Eric Barnes' story was so insightful. It made me think that it very well could be as he writes in a dystopian world.
Thought provoking.
A very unusual tale. I almost want to say "genius". At one point, about a third of the way through, I didn't think I could read on. On the other hand, I couldn't stop thinking about it. It was puzzling and provocative. I got past my intrepidation and was so glad I picked it up again. Eric Barnes' story was so insightful. It made me think that it very well could be as he writes in a dystopian world.
Thought provoking.
April 4, 2021
Climate disaster, industrial pollution, humanity exercising violence... whilst this near future dyspotian novel is not brimming with positivity there is a sense of hope in community, a sense of future in working together. This unnamed city, with its unnamed cast of characters are universal representations of pockets of our world, multiplying as we speak. It's incredibly visual - and the voice of the narrator is deeply effecting. A bleak - but well crafted read!
August 22, 2019
I was expecting to like a dystopian novel that examines how climate change and industrial flight will change our world a bit more than I did. Maybe it was the narration or maybe I was too distracted by other things...not sure. Still a good solid listen though; I did like it!
May 3, 2018
I don't want to touch this book ever again...
November 25, 2019
This novel starts of slowly and doesn't pick up pace. The setting was developed very nicely, showing how depressing, bland and pointless - presumably the reflection of the live of the people in the North End, and the main character (narrator) in particular. The prose is beautiful, but there is very little action in this novel and the plot is weak. The narrator is a writer/reporter and we get to read about his observations of the North End and his personal issues. These however, come across as irrelevant, even though they are the stuff of nightmares. The author's concepts of how climate change and industrial flight affect a particular area is interesting, but it fades into the background. I would have liked to have seen this idea explored a little more. There IS light at the end of this dystopian novel. The concept of the scavangers and how the people in the North End choose to live, as well as the gardener are all interesting ideas. What the community chooses to do to survive, instead of devolving into chaos, is also rather different from the usual dystopian stories. I just wish this book wasn't so bland and that the narrator had a bit more personality.
May 25, 2023
This book made me think a lot about how things were during covid. How divided society was, how scared people were, and how people eventually started to come together and build something from the ashes. To continue ordinary life even in extraordinary circumstances. There's a lot of hope in this book. My only complaint is that it was a little slow and therefore took me a long time to get through. I think that there is a beauty in the slowness, though. In having a book that you can simply understand and look at without a lot of dramatic scenes or plot twists or breathtaking character development. It is simply life. I enjoyed it.
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