Well, where to start? A friend had posted about a similar book she was reading, as she was working her way through a list of 1001 children's books one should read. The book she read reminded me of one I wanted to re-read, but couldn't find. I couldn't remember the name or author, but could remember the basic storyline. I had looked for it once before, but came up without the book. So, all this prompted me to try again. I tried Amazon and googling with keywords and also the title of the book she was reading, but to no avail. Somehow, I ended up on Goodreads and read a review of "Brother in the Land". The reviewer mentioned also "Z for Zachariah", so I looked those two up on Amazon. "Z for Zachariah" was the one I'd been looking for! Quite satisfied to have found it.The county library had both these books, so I requested them. I received "Z" first and read it (I'd recommend it, and you must remember the time it was set in. It was published in 1973.). Then I got this one. "Z" is set in rural America, but "Brother" is set in northern England in a town in a more modern time. Both books take place following a nuclear war. Nuclear war was a real, tangible possibility when I was growing up. We did not have the drills as earlier American children did, so it wasn't as scary as tornadoes (which we DID have), but it could happen. When I was in high school, the SALT talks were going on. My senior year, there was a big mini-series about post-nuclear war that was very frightening. The local paper ran several articles on it, and included the likelihood of our area being targeted (very high as relatively close to Fort Knox), and what would happen if we were. If I were at school, I'd be killed outright. If I were at home in the country on the farm, I might have a chance of surviving the bomb, but would probably become extremely ill. Depending on circumstances, I might have been blinded by the light of the explosion. I thought I wouldn't want to survive and would prefer any bombing to be during the school day.The main theme in "Brother" is how horrible human beings become after the larger society is wiped out. The main character (a young, teenage boy) wonders just why we have done this, as all it leads to is death, fear and horrendous suffering. He is contradicted, though, when he says that everything good has been destroyed. It is pointed out to him, that despite all the horror, loss, heartbreak, fear and deprivation, there are still brief moments of happiness and even love.I know that two editions of this book were published, and the front cover of the one I read points out that it contains a "new final chapter". At the end of this chapter, things are not quite so dire. I have read a couple of reviews that say that the new chapter explains it all to have been a dream. Well, my edition certainly does not end that way.The title of this book comes from a quote that a character repeats, then explains to the main character. We aren't told which book the line comes from, though. I would kinda like to know.
Brother in The Land begins with teenager Danny taking a break from working in his father’s corner store to go on a long bike ride into the English countryside. It starts to rain, so he takes shelter in a World War II pillbox. As he waits for the rain to stop, he sees the flashes of nuclear missiles exploding.Aware that the rain might contain radiation, he waits for it to stop and then rides back to his fictional hometown of Skipley. It is badly damaged and hundreds are dead. The rest of the novel tells the story of Danny’s attempts to survive.Brother in the Land is a young adult novel told exclusively from Danny’s point of view. Danny seems slightly emotionally detached from what is going on around him. He mourns little for family and friends who died, which leaves the reader wondering if he had had any friends. But perhaps he is just in shock and too busy getting on with surviving to mourn.The novel does a realistic job of describing the aftermath of a nuclear attack: the breakdown in authority, the wait for help while many people do whatever it takes to survive, people dying of radiation sickness, crops failing, deformed babies being born.The novel was written and set in the 1980’s, at a time when nuclear war was a big fear. But the novel reads like it could have been written in the 50’s. One of the reasons for this is the near total absence of females in leadership roles. There is only one substantial female character in the novel, the tough, but pretty Kim. She is used to show that Danny still has teenage hormones.The novel has a real boy’s own adventure feel to it. It is obvious that its author Robert Swindells had a military background, with Danny’s devotion to duty being one of the novel’s big themes. Duties that include helping his family and joining a militia to fight those who sought to enslave the survivors.The prose is straightforward, with little creative flair. The sentences are short and there is a lot of foreshadowing. Brother in the Land won the “Other” award, but I could find no reference to that award on the web.Originally the novel ended with little hope for Danny’s survival, but Swindells added a new chapter that gives some hope. This seems unnecessary and goes against the novel’s overall bleakness. It also seems unrealistic.Except for the additional chapter, Brother in the Land appears to be a relatively realistic portrayal of a teenager trying to survive after a nuclear war. As it progresses, it becomes a passable action novel, with Danny forced to fight to survive. But his lack of emotion left me thinking the author was too scared to explore the inner thoughts of his main character. It is very much a novel for teenage boys who don’t want to read any girly emotions.
Do You like book Brother In The Land (2015)?
This is a novel for older teenagers I guess but it most certainly be appreciated by adults. It starts with a nuclear holocaust which leaves a young teenager Danny one of the few survivors in his town. The rest of the story tells of how Danny and his fellow survivors cope with the aftermath of the meltdown.I read this almost thirty years after it was published and the threat of nuclear attack appears, at least for the time being, to have receded. It certainly brought back to me those two decades when the push of a button could signify the end of the world. Nobody knows, of course, just what the world would look like after such an attack but Swindells, drawing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, makes a pretty creditable attempt at it and the picture that he paints was both chilling and disturbing. Brother in the Land has a range of well-drawn, contrasting and interesting characters and these help to drive this totally convincing and very exciting story. Highly recommendedDavid Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil (thebluepencil.co.uk)davidlowtherblog.wordpress.com
—David Lowther
Harrowing novel about the aftermath of a nuclear war. Like Threads in book form. HOWEVER, I know there are at least 2 editions of this, with different endings. One is the original, which is realistic and depressing. There's another one which makes no sense but gives a reasonably happy ending. I prefer the first. Funny story: we read this book in school and half were the first and half the second but the teacher hadn't realised they had different endings. When we got to the end there was a lot of confusion and the teacher expressed her disappointment with the depressing ending. WHATEVER TEACH YOU WERE DUMB AS HECK DEPRESSING ENDINGS FOR LIFE
—tom
This is just such a masterpiece. It's quite short, and does lend itself to being a children's book, but I think anyone could read it and thoroughly enjoy it.The ending is where Brother in the Land really shines. There's drama and even a happy ending (kind of) and you really feel for Danny, Kim and Ben.This is a post apocalyptic novel, so be prepared for some desolation and desperation as well as a corrupt military/government and some death. After the nuclear bomb goes off that destroys much of the world (we are to believe -- definitely a lot of Europe) we are presented with a small village that must pick up the pieces and look after the sick and wounded. Radiation sickness, cannabilism, poisoned rations - all of these paint a bleak picture of society after the bombs.The real pearl in Brother in the Land for me was the analysis of human nature, and how we might react and learn to live with 'the new situation'. One reaccuring theme is of the neanderthal/caveman and the modern human and how humans as a race have become cold and heartless to adapt to the desolation we have doomed ourselves to (by creating nuclear weapons). The relationship between Ben (Danny's 7 year old brother) and Danny is very sweet. Ben adapts very quickly to their new life, and this is a source of Hope for Danny. Likewise, Kim gives Danny a reason to go on and their budding romance is used well to give contrast to the bleak, monotonous days that are so numerous in this story.I couldn't recommend this book more highly. It may not be perfect, but it is well worth a read."how's it going to end..." "Not with a bang but a whimper"
—Joanne
