A World Not So Different

A young boy in a world not so different than our own, has one dream and one hope - to have a man, as companion, friend, and pet. "Oafs" run this world, and "mans," as they are called, either run wild as hunters or are domesticated, adopted as pets, eaten, or displayed in zoos and circuses. While oafs are larger, and live longer, than mans, they are not, in the end, nearly as different as they pretend.

The first half of the story tells of the boy's man companions, and it seems like the aim is to set up an allegory of how human beings deal with animals, generally, and pets in particular, that also addresses how humans treat other humans. The last half of the book expands its scope, both in terms of the storytelling and in its thematic reach. The story broadens, and begins to hint how the author imagines the world of the story to relate to our own. In this world, the "mans" who were not in charge of civilization were for that very reason closer to nature, adapting themselves to it rather than it to them. The book seems, at first, like science fiction and then fantasy, and ends up feeling like much more grand, akin to folktale but with the significance of myth or scripture.

Thematically, the book naturally provokes thought on themes such as racism, sexism, war, environmental exploitation, and other forms of oppression. I imagine that it would be quite useful for middle and high school teachers who want to get students talking about social issues through literature - but I found it to be a very worthwhile read and think it would make an excellent focus text for a book club. There are a few points in the book where the message gets a bit heavy-handed -- with some justification as, in these moments, the words come from the mouth of a preacher -- but for the most part the thematic considerations naturally grow out of what is in any case a fascinating story. In that sense it resembles classic stories like Animal Farm and The Giver, Parable of the Sower and Planet of the Apes.

It has a distinctive style - one that resembles that of old folk tales - even, sometimes, the style of the Bible - it is an approach that communicates simply a range of subtleties. I enjoyed reading it quite a bit, and I'm still thinking about it several days later. (Nathan Andersen, from Amazon)