The Death of Grass

John Christopher

1956

March, 2024

3.5/10

The writing is insufferable; the story is told in a "this happens, then that happens" style. The dialogue is overwhelmingly stiff, leaning towards feeling forced. It reminds me of No Exit and Three Other Plays regarding the forced awkwardness: things are said for the sole purpose of making points or advancing ideas — and not conversation. It's not dialogue at all, rather a sociopolitical treatise. The whole point was "people do bad things and become monsters." As expressed through overwhelmingly forced misogyny and profoundly unrealistic luck that just happens to push all the book's ideas.