Noah's Castle [Paperback]

I do enjoy a good post-apocalyptic tale before my bedtime. Nothing like hearing about society as we know it disintegrating into a pile of gibbering goo. Some of these futuristic stories say the end will come with disease. Others say it'll be an enormous war. But far more chilling (perhaps because it's the most realistic of the scenarios) is John Rowe Townsend's deadly, "Noah's Castle". Carefully extending his tale to show the disintegration of a family alongside that of society at large, Townsend's book focuses on one man and his struggle to protect his unwilling kin.

Barry Mortimer doesn't know what to think when his father purchases an enormous house for himself and his family members. As the patriarch of a family of six, Barry's father has been acting particularly strangely as of late. After moving into their new home, Barry and his sister Nessie discover that their pop has been carefully constructing shelves in the basement. After seeing this odd arrangement, Mr. Mortimer explains his reasoning. The economic situation of the world at large has grown significantly unstable as of late. After judging there to be rough times ahead, Mr. Mortimer has taken the precaution of hoarding copious amounts of food and bartering items for the months ahead. As predicted, this turns out to be not a minute too soon. Food prices begin to soar and people grow hungrier and more desperate as the days trickle on. As Barry watches the misery around him (both within the family unit and in the world at large) he must wrestle with his inclinations to betray his father. Should he turn over their food to those that would give it freely to the poor? Or should he obey his dad, thereby keeping the family well prepared for the future?

What the book really boils down to is an examination of how a family's quality of life can disintegrate even if they have their basic necessities. Though Mr. Mortimer is adept at keeping the family well fed and clothed, he is utterly incapable at maintaining their state of mind. As these members begin to disappear from the home, Mr. Mortimer's bafflement is clear. I've rarely read a young adult novel that so clearly examined a domineering father with so much care. The dad in this book is written in such a way that you completely understand Barry's simultaneous disgust, pity, and pride in the man's dealings. I loved how a final glimpse of Mr. Mortimer's past gave such a clear insight into his driving principles. Though he may be old fashioned, a bully, cruel to his wife, a sexist chauvinist pig, and incapable of basic affections, he's still a man that cares deeply for his family members.

I was also impressed by how riveting I found the tension in this tale. As Barry's guilt and wariness increase, so too did my own guilt and wariness. I guess the best way to describe this book is to say that the reader is perfectly in synch with the narrator. How often do you find that to be the case in the books you read? Honestly, I think it's an often sought after and rarely realized goal on the part of writers everywhere. But Barry's the ultimate everyman. You can't find a flaw in his thought process that you wouldn't find in your own were you in the same situations as he.

"Noah's Castle" is one of the best written young adult novels I've ever had the pleasure to read. Engrossing to the point where you begin to wonder about the nature of human civility itself, the story is both believable and a great tale. This book is written expertly. If you want to read something that asks not only "what if" but also "how could", you couldn't do any better than this. A truly wonderful forgotten classic.

I was recently contacted by a publisher asking if I was interested in reading a title that they had available. The book was Noah's Castle by John Rowe Townsend. This offer came from the review I did of One Second After, and Noah's Castle walks in the same general genre. Even though this was initially released in 1975 and was targeted as a young adult offering, it aged well and speaks to all readers regardless of age. I found myself reading "just one more chapter", and this morning I'm suffering a bit for not going to bed earlier.

The story is set in England, and life is hard (and getting harder). There's an economic crisis, and inflation is starting to make it harder to afford basic goods. Barry Mortimer, a 16-year-old typical teenager, lives with his three other siblings, his mother, and a very controlling and autocratic father. Norman, the father, sees the deteriorating economy and buys a large fortress-like home without consulting anyone. He moves the family to their new abode (something that didn't go over well with any of them), and then starts becoming secretive about his activities in the basement. It turns out he's starting to buy and barter to obtain a massive store of food to weather the crisis. As hyperinflation kicks in, millions go hungry, but the Mortimer family is still doing fine. But Norman's dictatorial obsession over hoarding is driving his family away from him as they see others going without. To increase the tension, hoarding is now considered a crime, and Norman knows that a single phone call could destroy everything he's done to provide for his family. As people start to notice his family's lack of activity to gather food, Norman's world becomes more fragile (along with his mental stability).

The reason this is considered a young adult novel is that it's written in first-person from the point of view of Barry. He's been raised to be loyal to his father and to obey, but he has major problems reconciling his abundance with the poverty and need around him. He's walking a fine line between keeping things quiet and helping those who ask (without appearing to have an abundance himself). As the reader, I kept shifting my opinion of Norman between uncaring for others over providing for his family. I was also intrigued by the societal shifts and how easy it is for something like hyperinflation to feed on itself with no conceivable end in sight. Townsend doesn't go into great detail about the mechanics behind why England found themselves in this situation, but it's still a sobering look at how difficult life could be in that situation.

Noah's Castle is a very good read, made even more interesting given the 35 year gap between the original story and today.

Disclosure:
Obtained From: Publisher
Payment: Free

This story was originally published in 1975 by Oxford University Press and was considered juvenile fiction. If I'd read it at that time in my life I would have considered it to be science fiction. Others agreed with my opinion. When the book was translated into German it was part of a science fiction series even though it contains no "science." It's a tale of morality. "Set in England in the midst of a nationwide economic crisis, 16-year old Barry Mortimer is forced to choose between his compassion for others and his sense of duty to his father."
The book is being re-released now because fiction may now become reality. This reviewer had only read the first two chapters before he became uncomfortable and nervous that what was happening in the story was all too real--that the scene being set by the book is now occurring here in America. Irresponsible politicians are spending so much on utopian dreams that they are causing hyperinflation.
So much of what was happening in the story seemed to be happening today, that I stopped reading in order not to get too depressed. When I returned to the book I jumped ahead to the final two chapters to see what was going to occur at the end of the story. I simply wasn't going to finish reading the story if the book ended in total chaos and the collapse of civilization, as we know it.
Fortunately that didn't occur in this story, although what happened in England, which is basically a gun-free society of well-mannered and "grin and bear it" docile and well-behaved citizens, probably isn't what would happen in "armed-to-the-teeth" America. The British culture is simply more stoic than much of the United States of 2010. Americas tend to be much less patient.
After reading the entire book, I was somewhat relieved, but that didn't allay my feelings that America is playing with dangerous economics. Inflation is a hungry, insatiable dragon. One of the stories in the book is about how some people brought a basket of paper money to the store to buy a loaf of bread. When they placed the basket of money on the floor somebody grabbed it, dumped the nearly worthless money onto the ground and stole the basket. The book changes the laundry basket to a bag, but the authors admits that the basket of money story was a true story he'd heard about the 1920's hyperinflation in Germany after WW I.
In this story, the English pound as deflated to the point that when it was replaced a new pound was "equivalent to a hundred million of the old ones." Everyone was broke.
In the book Mr. Mortimer sees the inflation coming and like Noah, takes measures for his family to survive the coming chaos. His actions and the reaction of his family are the moral questions the book explores. The author explains that when he gave talks to school groups about the story and asked the students if they felt the father had done the right things to protect his family at all costs, he was always surprised that the majority felt the father had done exactly what he should have.
The story brings up a lot of questions about government recklessly destroying the currency and then being the only armed force capable of cleaning up their own mess. The story is what happens to the normal citizens because of their irresponsible government's actions. Don't read the book if you are too stressed out about the economy before you start reading. It is amazing how fiction can become reality.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 20 reviews  4.2 out of 5 stars