Noah's Castle

by John Rowe Townsend

Book Overview

The coming winter was going to be a hard oneand not because of the weather. As England descends into economic chaos, sixteen-year-old Barry Mortimer's life turns upside-down when, without warning, his... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0397316542
• ISBN13: 9780397316540
• Release Date: January 1976
• Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.04 lbs.
• Age Range: 11 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 6 and higher

Customer Reviews

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

16-year-old Barry Mortimer is a fairly carefree person, living with his domineering father, Norman, his complacent mother, and his siblings in fair comfort. But a crisis is on the rise - the UK is producing more and more money, yet it gets harder and harder to afford to buy items as prices rise. If matters weren't confusing enough, Barry's father goes and buys the family a large, looming house that's much too big for them, and begins putting up hundreds of shelves down in the basement. When the signs of the crisis begin to show, with food prices insanely high, the old are left to afford almost nothing, and the talk of food rationing begins. Barry's suspicions of his father grow. When he discovers his plans - to hoard several years' worth of nonperishable foods in their basement, hidden from the rest of the community - Barry's met with an important decision: To keep his family safe for the long haul and risk being discovered, or to go against his father's wishes and refuse the stores. NOAH'S CASTLE was originally published in the 1970's, so the book reads as a contemporary-historical novel, though that in no way detracts from the power of the story. Townsend has a great voice in Barry; simple but strong. While readers will identify with him, his sister Agnes, and some other characters that come along, the real star of the novel is Barry's father, Norman. Norman's character is written as amazingly complex, with every emotion and motive shaded grey. There is no easy side for the reader to take, and the excitement over the moral issues alone will keep you wanting to read. Action-wise, the story moves along quickly, each and every scene flowing with tension and emotions that really capture the dystopian setting. The setting, as mentioned, is one of the novel's strongest points. With novels like INCARCERON and HOW I LIVE NOW gaining acclaim in the same genre, this really stands out. What makes it do so is its believability. It has no magic or vampires, just the plain old world going through a realistic crisis. It almost scared me as to how easily I could see this happening. (And indeed, it actually did. Townsend based the events off of a German economic upheaval after World War I.) Every moment seems real, adding a horror novel-like aspect to it that's hard to shake away. Most notably, Townsend managed to write a novel with little fault to it. Some of the characters could have been fleshed out more, especially the women. Understandably, the time period reflects some of these behaviors, so it's not as bad as something that would be written and originally published today, but he still could have done more. What he did do was still intriguing enough to make me enjoy reading about them. Overall, it's an enjoyably quick read that will send your mind whirling. Five Stars and the Gold Award. Reviewed by: John Jacobson, aka "R.J. Jacobs"

Who'll capture the castle?

I do enjoy a good post-apocalyptic tale before my bedtime. Nothing like hearing about society as we know it disintegrating into a pile of gibbering goo. Some of these futuristic stories say the end will come with disease. Others say it'll be an enormous war. But far more chilling (perhaps because it's the most realistic of the scenarios) is John Rowe Townsend's deadly, "Noah's Castle". Carefully extending his tale to show the disintegration of a family alongside that of society at large, Townsend's book focuses on one man and his struggle to protect his unwilling kin. Barry Mortimer doesn't know what to think when his father purchases an enormous house for himself and his family members. As the patriarch of a family of six, Barry's father has been acting particularly strangely as of late. After moving into their new home, Barry and his sister Nessie discover that their pop has been carefully constructing shelves in the basement. After seeing this odd arrangement, Mr. Mortimer explains his reasoning. The economic situation of the world at large has grown significantly unstable as of late. After judging there to be rough times ahead, Mr. Mortimer has taken the precaution of hoarding copious amounts of food and bartering items for the months ahead. As predicted, this turns out to be not a minute too soon. Food prices begin to soar and people grow hungrier and more desperate as the days trickle on. As Barry watches the misery around him (both within the family unit and in the world at large) he must wrestle with his inclinations to betray his father. Should he turn over their food to those that would give it freely to the poor? Or should he obey his dad, thereby keeping the family well prepared for the future? What the book really boils down to is an examination of how a family's quality of life can disintegrate even if they have their basic necessities. Though Mr. Mortimer is adept at keeping the family well fed and clothed, he is utterly incapable at maintaining their state of mind. As these members begin to disappear from the home, Mr. Mortimer's bafflement is clear. I've rarely read a young adult novel that so clearly examined a domineering father with so much care. The dad in this book is written in such a way that you completely understand Barry's simultaneous disgust, pity, and pride in the man's dealings. I loved how a final glimpse of Mr. Mortimer's past gave such a clear insight into his driving principles. Though he may be old fashioned, a bully, cruel to his wife, a sexist chauvinist pig, and incapable of basic affections, he's still a man that cares deeply for his family members. I was also impressed by how riveting I found the tension in this tale. As Barry's guilt and wariness increase, so too did my own guilt and wariness. I guess the best way to describe this book is to say that the reader is perfectly in synch with the narrator. How often do you find that to be the case in the books you read? Honestly, I think it's an often sought