The Nuclear Age

Rating:
Summary: O'Brien is a Gifted Storyteller
Review: I was intrigued in reading the plot of this book as it is posted on the back cover. I have read some of O'Brien's other work and was very impressed. This book is among his best work. The best comparison I could give is that it is a combination of Dr. Strangelove and Catch-22. It is both witty and intelligent commentary on the culture of war.

William's Cowling's greatest fear is nuclear war. Since childhood, he has attempted to allude death in a nuclear fallout. It was during childhood that he built a shelter under the ping-pong table in his parents' basement. The consequences of his childhood behavior are among the more amusing scenes in the book. His fear subsides until the Vietnam protests of the 60's reawaken his phobia. He creates a gang of protestors, who eventually go into hiding to avoid the draft with him. Among these characters is Sarah, who is the most vivid character in the book. She is the woman who thinks she knows what she wants, but really has no clue.

After the series of flashbacks, we return to the present in which William is again struck with fear. The fear causes him dig a massive hole for a fallout shelter. His family thinks he has gone insane. His wife, a somewhat distant amateur poet, never speaks to him. The main dialogue in the present is between William and his daughter. His daughter swears like a sailor, but serves as her father's voice of rationality.

William's further breakdown and eventual recovery pose a number of interesting scenarios. "The Nuclear Age" is wildly entertaining and certainly a book I will recommend to many.

Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Introduction
Review: I was introduced to this book by my girlfriend, who picked it up randomly because she liked the cover. Turns out she loved the book, which inspired me to read it as well. This book ended up being a great introduction to O'Brien, in some ways lighter than many of his other works, but it still has of the undertones common to many of his books. Because Vietnam is not as key to this book as many of the other ones, I think it's more accessible to the general populace. So if you are weary about reading war books, you could pick this one up first, and if you like it, maybe move on to some of his other novels.

Rating:
Summary: One of Tim O'Briens best books.
Review: In _The Nuclear Age_ Tim O'Brien explores coming of age in America during the Vietnam War. He poses the question, "What would it be like to stay in the states, and protest?" Tim O'Brien had to make this difficult decision himself. The main character, William Cowling, decides to skip the war, and protest. This book shows the American public what can happen when you disagree with the American government. The book is well written, although, I have a problem with the means by which William gets his money. William Cowling is so oppsed to the war and what not. But yet he makes millions of dollars by selling a mountain containing uranium to Texaco. Other than that minor flaw, the book is an excellent look into the anti-war movement

Rating:
Summary: Pales in comparison to O'Brien's other work.
Review: It is no secret that I believe that Tim O'Brien is one of the finest writers of fiction alive today. Literate and full of fantastic prose, O'Brien usually is able to create complex and original stories. There is plenty original about The Nuclear Age. However, the novel fails to accomplish what it sets out to do. It sublimates nuclear war behind Vietnam-era radicalism, the William Cowling character is more pathetic than anything else, and ultimately one walks away without any real gain.

I was drawn in by the concept: William Cowling just decides to start digging a bomb shelter one day. This creates an alienation between himself and his wife and daughter. The book then segues into William's childhood, where he tries to construct a bomb shelter out of pencils and cardboard boxes. Had the book been about that, I would have thoroughly enjoyed it. But the vast majority of the book deals with his past as a radical activist. He has no real conviction for his cause, but he stays partially out of being intimidated by his passive-aggressive militant girlfriend, for whom he has no stated affection. I really found the Sarah character annoying. Her repetitive catchphrases, especially, annoyed me. She was clinging one second and gung-ho the next. What kind of dope would stay with her under any circumstances? Which brings me to my next point. William is supposed to come off as a sympathetic sane man, but he comes off as a demented milquetoast. O'Brien never creates strong and dynamic protagonists, one is reminded of Paul Berlin in Going After Cacciato. However, Berlin had values that dictated his actions, to some extent. And how sane can a man be that inserts nuclear terms into nursery rhymes and recites them like mantras, not to mention locking up his family. His aversion to nuclear war notwithstanding, he bumbles around with no goal or passion. Then he spends thousands of dollars to pursue a flight attendant he met for an hour to ask to be married by following the trail of jilted lovers she has left in his wake and then is shocked when she cheats on him and wants to leave him, which shows the analytical reasoning of a very bright second grader.

What does one walk away with from the book? Nothing for me. The Things They Carried left me with a greater understanding of Vietnam and a greater perspective on humanity. Well, I guess O'Brien deserves a pass. Babe Ruth struck out a few times, too.

Rating:
Summary: Is insanity the only option we have left?
Review: The human mind can be a fragile object, prone to fits of insanity and hallucinations under periods of extreme stress. Yet even under an intense psychotic episode, the mind still functions, providing the personal motivation for acts the majority of the public would consider at best odd, and at worst dangerous. The manner in which a mind provides rationale for the irrational is a fertile ground for literary discovery, and Tim O'Brien is not afraid to reveal the catalysts for psychosis. THE NUCLEAR AGE is a testament to madness, a diary of the slow loss of one's mind.

THE NUCLEAR AGE begins with a profoundly eccentric act: William Cowling, at age forty- nine, undertakes to dig a nuclear shelter in his backyard. As his wife and daughter watch his progress (first as observers, then as captives), Cowling ruminates on his life thus far; as a child, he built a bomb shelter under his family's ping-pong table, lining it with pencils so that the `lead' will arrest any incoming radiation. As his life progresses into the 1960's, he falls in with Sarah, a past object of obsession, who takes his fear of death, and uses it to transform him into a draft-dodging terrorist.

To tell more would be to tell too much; one of THE NUCLEAR AGE's considerable charms is that it continually takes left turns when the reader expects a right. William's life is nothing if not unpredictable, but it follows a precise logical line when looked at in hindsight. His misadventures as a child with a family doctor lead to unusual complications with later relationships. His fear of death serves as prelude to his obsession with a mysterious poetic flight attendant. O'Brien embroils William in the underbelly of American life in the 1960's, portraying the protests and conflicts over the Vietnam war from the perspective of the seriously disenfranchised. William's dread and paranoia guide him inexorably to the polar opposite of organized government, culminating in a black comedy of warfare training that is the darkest and most twisted characterization of boot camp since FULL METAL JACKET.

O'Brien is not simply a protester with talent; he is a keen observer of the minutiae of life that makes life worth living. His masterpiece in an already exceptionally written novel is his description of the night William and Sarah truly come together. O'Brien captures the subtle nuances of the beginning of a courtship, a full-blooded depiction of one of those nights every
person has, a night we wish would never end. They are initially thrust together during a college dance pair-off, where William confesses his past admiration of her in high school. As the evening progresses, they slowly grow closer, as Sarah begins to see the human underneath the person she studiously avoided. They even kiss, but despite the wonderful atmosphere O'Brien
constructs, Sarah denies that anything will ever happen between them. And then, the next day . . .

`When I looked up, Sarah was there.

`Which is how it always happens - that fast. She was simply there.

`We stood inspecting each other. Her hair was pulled back in a businesslike ponytail. She wore blue culottes and earmuffs and a silver letter sweater.

`"What you remind me of," she said after a moment, "is tooth decay. No sleep, I'll bet. Bad dreams."

`"Surprise," I said.

`"You could've called."

`"I could've. I didn't."

`Her lips brushed across my cheek.

`It was all I could do to nod. There was an absence of symmetry, a strange new tilt to the world.

`"Well," she said quietly, "a girl likes to be chased. Hot pursuit. The feminine mystique, I guess."

`Sarah shrugged. She made a low sound, not quite a sigh, then took a step forward and turned and stood beside me.

`"Don't expect miracles," she said. "You and me. A trial period, understand?"

Something about O'Brien's phrasing, the atypical rhythm to his writing, brings about an air of aching nostalgia that is completely believable. The curious but precise timing O'Brien uses captures William's slowly degrading mind perfectly. And at the height of William's anxiety, O'Brien manages the substantial accomplishment of creating total empathy with William's madness.

THE NUCLEAR AGE can be an often unsettling read. As O'Brien demonstrates the apprehension and fear that the nuclear race created in the twentieth century, he inadvertently captures the very real fears of people in the early twenty-first century. We exist on a precipice of destruction and violence, and how we react to the pressure will define who we are, as it defined William. THE NUCLEAR AGE presents one option, one course of action; let's hope that another one exists.

Rating:
Summary: Is insanity the only option we have left?
Review: The human mind can be a fragile object, prone to fits of insanity and hallucinations under periods of extreme stress. Yet even under an intense psychotic episode, the mind still functions, providing the personal motivation for acts the majority of the public would consider at best odd, and at worst dangerous. The manner in which a mind provides rationale for the irrational is a fertile ground for literary discovery, and Tim O'Brien is not afraid to reveal the catalysts for psychosis. THE NUCLEAR AGE is a testament to madness, a diary of the slow loss of one's mind.

THE NUCLEAR AGE begins with a profoundly eccentric act: William Cowling, at age forty- nine, undertakes to dig a nuclear shelter in his backyard. As his wife and daughter watch his progress (first as observers, then as captives), Cowling ruminates on his life thus far; as a child, he built a bomb shelter under his family's ping-pong table, lining it with pencils so that the 'lead' will arrest any incoming radiation. As his life progresses into the 1960's, he falls in with Sarah, a past object of obsession, who takes his fear of death, and uses it to transform him into a draft-dodging terrorist.

To tell more would be to tell too much; one of THE NUCLEAR AGE's considerable charms is that it continually takes left turns when the reader expects a right. William's life is nothing if not unpredictable, but it follows a precise logical line when looked at in hindsight. His misadventures as a child with a family doctor lead to unusual complications with later relationships. His fear of death serves as prelude to his obsession with a mysterious poetic flight attendant. O'Brien embroils William in the underbelly of American life in the 1960's, portraying the protests and conflicts over the Vietnam war from the perspective of the seriously disenfranchised. William's dread and paranoia guide him inexorably to the polar opposite of organized government, culminating in a black comedy of warfare training that is the darkest and most twisted characterization of boot camp since FULL METAL JACKET.

O'Brien is not simply a protester with talent; he is a keen observer of the minutiae of life that makes life worth living. His masterpiece in an already exceptionally written novel is his description of the night William and Sarah truly come together. O'Brien captures the subtle nuances of the beginning of a courtship, a full-blooded depiction of one of those nights every
person has, a night we wish would never end. They are initially thrust together during a college dance pair-off, where William confesses his past admiration of her in high school. As the evening progresses, they slowly grow closer, as Sarah begins to see the human underneath the person she studiously avoided. They even kiss, but despite the wonderful atmosphere O'Brien
constructs, Sarah denies that anything will ever happen between them. And then, the next day . . .

'When I looked up, Sarah was there.

'Which is how it always happens - that fast. She was simply there.

'We stood inspecting each other. Her hair was pulled back in a businesslike ponytail. She wore blue culottes and earmuffs and a silver letter sweater.

'"What you remind me of," she said after a moment, "is tooth decay. No sleep, I'll bet. Bad dreams."

'"Surprise," I said.

'"You could've called."

'"I could've. I didn't."

'Her lips brushed across my cheek.

'It was all I could do to nod. There was an absence of symmetry, a strange new tilt to the world.

'"Well," she said quietly, "a girl likes to be chased. Hot pursuit. The feminine mystique, I guess."

'Sarah shrugged. She made a low sound, not quite a sigh, then took a step forward and turned and stood beside me.

'"Don't expect miracles," she said. "You and me. A trial period, understand?"

Something about O'Brien's phrasing, the atypical rhythm to his writing, brings about an air of aching nostalgia that is completely believable. The curious but precise timing O'Brien uses captures William's slowly degrading mind perfectly. And at the height of William's anxiety, O'Brien manages the substantial accomplishment of creating total empathy with William's madness.

THE NUCLEAR AGE can be an often unsettling read. As O'Brien demonstrates the apprehension and fear that the nuclear race created in the twentieth century, he inadvertently captures the very real fears of people in the early twenty-first century. We exist on a precipice of destruction and violence, and how we react to the pressure will define who we are, as it defined William. THE NUCLEAR AGE presents one option, one course of action; let's hope that another one exists.

Rating:
Summary: The best of the best
Review: The Nuclear Age is a compelling story about an overly paranoid man trying to find his way in a hostile world that he has trouble coping with. O'Brien, as usually, supports the text with great prose and interesting timelines. However, I recommend putting the book down twenty pages before it ends because it's not only anticlimatic but also lacks any hint of resolution.

Rating:
Summary: Dull and Disappointing.
Review: This book begins with the interesting premise of a man digging a hole in his backyard to escape from nuclear war. However, the story quickly disintegrates into 4 decades filled with cardboard characters, implausible situations, and worst of all...mind numbing boredom.

The story is told in chapters alternating between the present (1995) and the past going back to the narrator's childhood. The narrator grows up during the height of the cold war, dodges the draft, and joins the anti-war movement. While this should be an exciting time, it instead feels like a drug induced sleep. I never got the impression that any of the characters really cared about anything other than themselves.

Somehow the main character winds up rich with all his dreams fulfilled. Except that his daughter is a whiny brat (I honestly can't stand writers that use italics in every sentence.) So we are left with an anti-climatic ending that resolves absolutely nothing.

This book isn't scary, funny, or insightful. It wanders aimlessly before dying without a whimper.

Rating:
Summary: A life spent in the shadow of death
Review: _The Nuclear Age_ recounts one person's search for safety and sanity in a world that is anything but safe and sane. To develop this theme, Tim O'Brien uses William Cowling, the narrator of this book , as his instrument. The novel opens in 1995 with William, debatably insane, digging a huge hole in his backyard for use as a shelter (or is it meant to be a grave?) for his wife, daughter, and himself against an impending nuclear war.

Growing up in the 1950's I recall being extremely fearful of a nuclear war with the then-Soviet Union. I remember gazing in terror at a photograph on the cover of the New York Daily News of a huge mushroom cloud, with the newpaper reporting the Soviet Union testing a 100 megaton hydrogen bomb that was capable of destroying civilization 1000 times over. Like William, I would occasionally lay awake in bed wondering if the next day would be my last and also, like William, being afraid to share my fears of doomsday with my parents.

A child, naturally vulnerable and unfamiliar with the world around him needs to know that he is loved and protected from danger by his parents. When he is constantly bombarded by the media with the imminence of death from nuclear annihilation, even his parents are rendered totally impotent by that possibility. Building a shelter from a ping pong table with a roof lined with "lead pencils" may seem like the only answer to this child.

Years later William, who is a pacifist by nature, chooses to dodge the draft during the madness and carnage that was the Vietnam War. Even then he cannot escape death: all those who are closest to him, including his parents, all die. Even Sarah, his college cheerleader queen, turned anti-war revolutionary, is completely baffled by her imminent demise. Maybe if William had really chose to love her she could could have been protected. In the present, William's shadowy, former flight attendant wife, can only make fun of his fears by pinning puzzling, inscrutable poems that she composed to his clothing.

I agree with those who say that the best parts of this book are those dealing with William's childhood experiences, which includes his relationship with his parents. The sessions with his equally troubled therapist, Charles Adamson, who identifies and verbally empathizes with William's problems, are just priceless. I also liked the variation in the author's writing style, from a standard narrative during William's childhood to the near post-modern, sometimes stream of consciousness style of 1995. I did feel, however, that the 1995 parts concerning William's digging of the nuclear shelter a bit over the top. Also, I do not think that even someone like William, who grew up with the fear of nuclear war and who, though suffering great loss all around him would carry his fears of nuclear war with him into the present day. Nuclear terrorism and massive contamination from nuclear power plant material meltdowns seem more believable fears.