The great P.D. James didn't write today's headlines

But, with "The Children of Men," the novelist offered a scary take on the (near) future

Is anyone out there looking for a timely Christmas present for a reader — young adults and up — who can handle hard questions?

In this case, we are talking a prophetic masterpiece by one of the great British writers of the 20th Century, the late P.D. James. She kept writing into her 90s, releasing “Death Comes to Pemberley” in 2011.

But the book that people need to read, right now, is “The Children of Men” — a sobering masterpiece published in 1992. I hear that Alfonso Cuarón’s movie version is fine, in its own way, but that it stripped away (#Surprise) the Christian language and metaphors at the heart of the novel. Several people who truly love the book, and saw the movie, warned me not to buy that multiplex ticket.

Why are people recommending this James classic, at this moment in time? It has something to do with years of reports about plunging First World fertility rates. But there is also this news from Great Britain, as stated in a rather mild Associated Press headline: “British lawmakers give initial approval to a bill to allow terminally ill adults to end their lives.”

In his omnipresent Substack diary, my friend Rod “Living In Wonder” Dreher had this to say in his post: “Dark Day in Post-Christian Britain.”

I am grieved by what happened … in Great Britain: Parliament legalized assisted suicide. It put restrictions on the practice, but if things continue in the UK as they have in other countries that have taken this diabolical step, they won’t stop there. As others have observed, in societies that, as this century progresses, face the inevitability, given fertility decline, to take even more from the smaller population of young and productive and give to the larger population of old and dependent, there will be resulting pressures on the old to kill themselves, to reduce the collective burden. Can you imagine now that the old have to fear their own children and grandchildren? And that the children and grandchildren, even if they hate euthanasia, will face the hideous task of convincing their aging and sick parents not to kill themselves, that no, Mum, we want you around, we will care for you?

What does this have to do with “The Children of Men”? Here is a short summary of the novel, posted at Amazon.

A modern science fiction classic from an acclaimed bestselling author: The year is 2021. No child has been born for twenty-five years. The human race faces extinction. …

Civilization itself is crumbling as suicide and despair become commonplace. Oxford historian Theodore Faron, apathetic toward a future without a future, spends most of his time reminiscing. Then he is approached by Julian, a bright, attractive woman who wants him to help get her an audience with his cousin, the powerful Warden of England. She and her band of unlikely revolutionaries may just awaken his desire to live . . . and they may also hold the key to survival for the human race.

Told with P. D. James’s trademark suspense, insightful characterization, and riveting storytelling, The Children of Men is a story of a world with no children and no future.

Is this “science fiction”?

Not really. It’s simply a prophetic novel set in the near future (which is now the past, sort of). Readers: What genre would you choose, if forced to pin a label on this vision from James?

As you would expect, some scribes have, when discussing recent news from Britain, made the obvious connection. This is from a Graeme Archer piece at Unherd: “What the death bill tells us about life The British state is happy to kill you.”

I had not — Oh. My. God. — heard about the creepy subway platform advertisements in British cities (see the video embedded with this post).