O-Zone by Paul Theroux - Book Review

By
Adonis Monahan
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O-Zone

O-Zone is the future. This 1980’s book sets itself in a futuristic America, where Los Angles was destroyed by draught and an Earthquake and New York is a secured city inside a lawless outer country. “Aliens” plague the nation, but what they refer to as Aliens are really just blacks and Asians in this future of mass racism.

The story follows a group of very rich New Yorkians as they take an excursion into a wildland known as O-Zone. After they run into a pack of savages (aliens), but really just people living in the untamed wilds of the now broken country, their lives are changed forever.

There are two main characters: an annoying boy with super intelligence and an ultra rich young man who has everything in life, but who falls in love with one of the savages. The rest of the book is about growing and overcoming one’s self, and coming to terms with who we are.

Book Details

Title: O-Zone

Format: Hardcover

Author: Paul Theroux

Language : English

Publisher : G. P. Putnam's Sons

ISBN: 0399131868

O-Zone is a fun and thrilling ride from beginning to end. Starting right in the middle of the group’s excursion to the place known as O-Zone, we get an expert view into this cast of completely displaced lunatic rich people.

The futuristic mumbo jumbo jargon isn’t too much to handle. And even though Paul Theroux goes off the rails at points with long pages of descriptions – and the super genius main character becomes unbearable at times – it’s fun to read every word on the page.

But this book about the future is more about humanity’s own insecurities. Even these super rich people are intensely afraid of everything and unsure of themselves. In a way, Paul is trying to tell us that rich people also have problems in life, they’re just different than everyone else’s. 10/10 for creativity and really showcasing the frail human spirit.