Book Review: The Postman

On Alicia’s recommendation, I bought The Postman for my kindle. It’s a short science fiction read that retells the post-apocalyptic adventures of Gordon Krantz as he adopts the persona of a United States mailman.

The book starts off beautifully. Gordon’s role as a mailman helps the desperate villages of our future fallen country feel established and connected with one another. Author David Brin does a great job of describing the people’s inspiration and hope that come with this unexpected man in uniform. Unfortunately, halfway through, Brin drops the hope theme to focus on a massive unrealistic battle against violent survivalists. I’m not sure I liked the change in direction.

What made me appreciate the book most was Gordon’s internal monologue as he struggled with his role of leadership. As he was never an actual mailman, he believed his position was based on a lie. While the lie undermined his confidence, it didn’t stop him from taking action when action was required. Is leadership something that’s taken because of necessity, belief, or internal values?

Apparently this was made into a film with Kevin Costner. Apparently it was horrible. If anyone’s seen it I’d love a recap!

I recommend the book. You should probably avoid the movie.

8 thoughts on “Book Review: The Postman

  • 4/7/2010 at 11:09 am
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    I read it in highschool. I thought the survivalist part was good; I thought the cyborg element was ENTIRELY unnecessary though.

    I enjoyed the supercomputer bit too.

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      • 4/7/2010 at 11:16 am
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        Cyborgs are Never Lame. NEVER.

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        • 4/7/2010 at 8:47 pm
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          It was the worst use of cyborgs I’ve ever seen. It made Universal Soldier look Shakespearean.

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  • 4/7/2010 at 11:54 am
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    Tom Petty was in the movie. So how can it be bad?

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  • 4/8/2010 at 10:12 am
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    The Postman movie was very similar to your description of the book. Except you have to make it 3 hours long, take out Gordon’s monologue, and make it into a guy just doing stuff…that’s pretty much the movie. Think Waterworld – (water and boats) + (sand and old letters).

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  • 4/22/2010 at 8:38 am
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    I just read this book about a month ago. I was on a David Brin kick. Read three of his books in three weeks. The Postman was a good book. I didn’t much like the war stuff either, but having seen the movie version, I thought it was great. And short.

    The movie kinda sucked, but I liked the story itself. Kevin Costner may be nice to look at, but it doesn’t make up for the length of the movie or the boring stuff they added to it. The book is way better.

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