My Book Finished Sa 10/13/12
My post on Good Reads-
THE WHITE PLAGUE is a novel of meticulously calculated revenge. While in Ireland with his family, a man loses his wife and two children to a terrorist's bomb. He is a molecular biologist, and in his grief and ensuing madness, develops and unleashes a deadly pandemic which only targets women.
This is a very long novel, but the best section features John O'Neil, the biologist, and the terrorist who planted the bomb, playing an endless game of psychological 'cat and mouse' while on a trek across Ireland. This is a semi-successful attempt to offer more than the normal 'Scifi/End Of The World' scenario, and examines a fundamental aspect of terrorism. Although enemies, both men share a perceptional weakness in that they only reason in terms of 'black and white', and discern no subtleties whatsoever. 'Either you see it my way, or you will be killed'. And, when this theme is developed within the framework of a global pandemic, it makes clear that modern global conflicts allow for absolutely no neutral positions.
THE WHITE PLAGUE is primarily concerned with the two masterminds of the pandemic- the man who unleashes the plague, and the man who planted the bomb that began the deadly chain of events. I would have liked to learn more of how the 'regular people' dealt with the pandemic, but, of course, this would have changed the thrust of Herbert's novel, but might have made the novel a bit more enjoyable.
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