All Flesh Is Grass

My second Simak after reading City. Gotta say that I'm a bit disappointed by this one.

The best thing I can say about it is that Simak has moments of really elegant and and eloquent prose. I would be reading along and suddenly be taken aback by a really strong few paragraphs that pulled me in and left me thinking. It was really enjoyable to see some of that level of writing that I saw in City again. All Flesh Is Grass has a melancholic and austere tone that pairs well with its condemnation of humanity. Simak makes it clear that he thinks that humanity is not ready for first contact with another intelligence species. The ideas/technology and aliens themselves are also interesting.

My main point of criticism is that it's just so damn boring. There are very few moments of actual excitement or intrigue. Most of the time the reader has to endure the characters hand wringing over the events of the plot, or giving massive text block exposition on background information, other characters, or the way that the world works. This is all exacerbated by the mostly dead simple writing style, and the painfully slow plotline. I don't think it's nessasarily bad, but I just can't get all that excited about anything this book does or has to say because of the drudgery it entails.

Oh, yeah, I should mention the ending too I suppose. F-tier ending. Not only did it resolve so quickly that I nearly had whiplash, but the ending itself was schmaltzy to the point that I laughed. Ah yes, love and ability to perceive beauty, that's what sets us humans apart. If we could only all learn that, and harness its power, we could do anything. Ugh.

This hasn't put me off from reading more of Simak, mostly because of how strong City was, but dang. What a bummer.