"Mecanoscrit del segon orígen"

"Mecanoscrit del segon orígen" by Manuel de Pedrolo

First of all, this is a book originally written in Catalan, I don't think there is an English translation of it, but since I just finished reading it, I might as well talk about it.

Well, the story focuses in two kids that survive the extinction of humanity. They are between 8 and 11 years old when the event takes place, and they are left alone in a completely destroyed world. They do everything they can to survive; they learn how to repair stuff, how to treat infections, how to hunt… The story is more about the relation of the two characters rather than the destruction of the world itself, which is ok, I guess.

The kids notice that they might be the last survivors on earth, so the plan from half book onwards is to obtain as much "legacy" of the old times as possible and to have their own children, that then would have children, and so on. Again, the story flows overall well, I think, although there are bits of endless visits to the demolished city to get some more books, or some more paintings, that end up being lesser interesting than what was originally expected.

The characters are ok, they are pretty different from one another at the beginning of the story, and since they are just kids, you get to see how they change over the course of the years. Their relationship was cool (including the corny moments), both characters lead you well enough throw the story, but I must say that had the book been much longer, I don't know if i would have made it to the end.

Overall, it's an interesting post apocalyptic book which does not just focus on the "special effects" side, but in the human, more interesting one. Again, I don't know if there is an English translation, probably not. Which is a shame, because now I feel like I should have reviewed something else. But, whatever. Thanks!

MadHatterSays: It was ok.

                               3/5