Caught Napping?

'The Second Sleep' by Robert Harris (Hutchinson, 2019)

So, with the Coronavirus pandemic causing panic across the globe, what do I pick up from the TBR pile?  Something that provides comfort, relaxation and escapism perhaps?  No.  I pick Robert Harris' post-apocalyptic tale 'The Second Sleep'.  Obviously.

When Father Thomas Lacy dies unexpectedly, the young priest Christopher Fairfax is despatched to his remote parish to conduct the funeral.  Although Fairfax expects his work to be straightforward and his time in the insular Exmoor village to be brief, it's not long before he realises that Lacy was no ordinary parson and this will be no ordinary visit.  At first he ignores signs of Lacy's heresy - the library of forbidden books, the display case of ancient artifacts in plastic and metal - but it's not long before curiosity gets the better of him, and he finds himself exploring possibilities previously undreamt of.  Why is the area a hotspot for unearthing strange and mysterious historical objects?  Was Lacy's death really an accident?  And, above all, what is the secret of 'The Devil's Chair'?

I've read a few Robert Harris novels and he's clearly someone who can be relied upon to create an involved and tense plot.  'The Second Sleep' is no exception.  Although it does read a bit like an aging man's rant about the failings of the modern world at times, once he stops hammering that point home and gets on with the story, it's diverting enough.

On the other hand, I didn't feel that this story was as tight as it could've been.  I don't think much harm would be done by ditching one of the sub-plots, plus the lead female character is quite cliched and becomes a two dimensional, objectified, male-fantasy pretty quickly.  Fairfax's faith seems to crumble very easily and with the minimum of internal turmoil too, which felt a bit of a missed opportunity.

Also, call me picky, but in a world where getting to 50 is considered an achievement, why does a man in his mid-twenties keep being called 'young'.  He's literally middle aged!

Overall, 'The Second Sleep' often reads like a book for older men, bitter about the modern world they're not quite in charge of any more and turned on by fantasies of imaginary wantons who turn up in their beds in the middle of the night.  This is a real shame, because I really liked (most of) the ending and enjoyed thinking back through the story and reinterpreting some of the breadcrumbs cleverly left by the author.

'The Second Sleep' is too thinly plotted to be a classic of dystopian literature, but it was just about absorbing enough to distract me at a time of real crisis, so in other circumstances I think it would actually be quite enjoyable.  Perhaps one to save for a few months' time, though, eh?

Now, what next...?

'The Second Sleep' by Robert Harris was published in September 2019 by Hutchinson, part of Penguin Random House.  This post is based on the hardback edition.