The Postman
Author: David Brin
Genre: Science Fiction
Year: 1985
Rating: 10 of 10
This book was truly a masterpiece! The first thing that struck me was that it is a post-apocalyptic novel but one who’s major theme is hope, the conflict of having to tell untruths to allow for hope, but hope being the most important thing to hold onto. The story moved quickly through many years showing the evolution of thought processes required of the people who survived the Doomwar and the various ways of coping such devastating events. The protagonist finds a postal worker’s outfit and the uniform becomes a deep symbol of connection and possibility, eventually opening up communications throughout the war torn world through a budding postal system. Of all of the post-apocalyptic novels I have read this one struck me as being incredibly accurate about the way it depicts how people would react and the conflicts that would arise. It is tempting to give spoilers but this book was so full of surprises that I think it best to leave to the reader to discover on their own. Overall, a must read.