The Dog Stars von Peter Heller – Eine Endzeit, die ans Herz greift, nicht an den Puls - Buchrezension

Peter Hellers Endzeitroman: spoilerarme Handlung, Motive (Trauer, Moral, Natur), Stilprofil, Stärken/Schwächen – plus Update zur Verfilmung 2026.

Lesering.de
I recently read that Ridley Scott is going to direct a film based on this book. So I read it. I think it has the bones of a good screenplay, with accelerations into high energy action sequences and decelerations into flashbacks and contemplative musings, but overall the story was a bit thin.

Heller has a nice style which tread into literary territory while staying grounded in popular writing. His protagonist, the widower Hig, is an appealing one, with a big heart — almost naively so. And the story reads more like a memoir than an adventure novel. We are handed plenty of passages about the inner emotional life of Hig, both from his past as well as present. But the challenge our author was not able to meet was to construct more of the context this individual was residing within. One doesn’t get a sense there’s any critique of disease control in modern society, or civilization’s tenuous existence, or a commentary the tension between humans’ base and higher abilities. These opportunities appeared to be passed over to where I wonder if the book really could only exist within this post-pandemic societal collapse context. I bet a period western might be able to be crafted just as easily, for example.

In most instances, the book is better than the movie. I’m eager to see the movie in mid-2026 to see if this plays out or if fortune will reverse the normal stereotype.
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#thedogstars #peterheller #sciencefiction #scifi #apocalypse #pandemic #cessna #airplane #colorodo #widower #ex_libris_jz
🎧 Burn by Peter Heller #PeterHeller #MarkDeakins ‏‏@PRHAudio #LoveAudiobookshttps://ift.tt/8gTuJy6
🎧 Burn by Peter Heller - Books of My Heart

Burn has some things in common with The River which I read a few years back.  The two main characters are male, one from Colorado, one from Vermont, and they like nature, the outdoors, hunting and fishing.   Our two guys here have been friends since childhood, growing up together.  Jess is our point of view […]

Books of My Heart
🎧 Burn by Peter Heller - Books of My Heart

Burn has some things in common with The River which I read a few years back.  The two main characters are male, one from Colorado, one from Vermont, and they like nature, the outdoors, hunting and fishing.   Our two guys here have been friends since childhood, growing up together.  Jess is our point of view […]

Books of My Heart

@geekaren

Picking one is impossible :).

The favourites from my reading year 2022 (only a few were actually published in 2022, I suppose that doesn't matter).

#DemonCopperhead by #BarbaraKingsolver
#TheLastChairlift by #JohnIrving
#TheArbornaut by #MegLowman
#TwoYearsEightMonthsAndTwentyEightNights by #SalmanRushdie
#TheDogStars by #PeterHeller
#Clade by #JamesBradley
#NooitMeerSlapen by #WillemFrederikHermans
#OurMissingHearts by #CelesteNg