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The Death of Grass 2 - Interpersonal relationships
In London, Roger seems more forceful than John, but by the end, John is the group leader, sort of parallel to his brother David but with differences in the degree of control over their respective groups. What did you think of the shifts in group dynamics?
Comments
I think it was key to the theme Christopher wanted to explore, to contrast these individuals. I found it effective.
I wasn't overly convinced by John becoming the leader. I couldn't see why Pirrie didn't take over, beyond not caring to.
The other thing that didn't sit right was how Pirrie shot his wife then essentially abducted a girl, and the rest of the group just stood by and let it happen. That rapid and total descent into barbarism didn't ring true to me.
None of the characters seemed that well-drawn to me. They were all rather bland.
These guys reminded me a little bit of the two guys from The Dog Stars - though I liked the gritty gun guy (Bangley) from The Dog Stars more (liked in terms of the character - I don't know that I would really like to spend time with him). I do think all of the characters were little bit flat in this story overall. This felt more like a story where the characters didn't need to be much more than slightly bumpy caricatures to demonstrate a point.
I mentioned this already but the relationship between John and his wife is one I found interesting. She resents who he has become to save them but how would things have gone without him being that way? Which set of two choices is best? I don't know. Maybe his behaviour didn't actually save them from anything considering the trauma they went through.