Lights Out in the Reptile House: A Novel - Hardcover

Shepard, Jim

3.79

47 ratings by Goodreads

9780393027846: Lights Out in the Reptile House: A Novel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393027848 ISBN 13: 9780393027846

Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, 1990

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Coming of age in a country reminiscent of Nazi Germany, Karel Roeder grapples with the conflicting forces in his life--the drumbeat of the fascist authority, and his girlfriend Leda, who tempts him into a world of forbidben thought

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From Publishers Weekly:

By the author of Flights and Paper Doll , this is a grim, frightening coming-of-age novel set in a contemporary police state reminiscent of both South Africa and Nazi Germany. Amateur herpetologist Karel Roeder divides his time between working at the zoo, housekeeping for his melancholic unemployed father, and dreaming of Leda, the beautiful and strong-willed girl next door. Against a backdrop of steadily increasing propaganda and violence, Karel works hard to remain unnoticed. But his father disappears, the zoo is taken over by government forces, and Leda grows increasingly intolerant of the murderously repressive regime. When Kehr, a seductively capable and strong-willed Civil Guardsman, is billeted in Karel's house and tries to induct him into service, Karel must decide between personal safety and political ideals, between filial loyalty and erotic love. Gruesome scenes of physical torture add credibility to this nightmarish, politically charged novel in the tradition of George Orwell's 1984.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

Taking a fresh, horrifying look at man's inhumanity to man, the author of Flights (LJ 8/83) and Paper Doll ( LJ 11/15/86) has produced a winner. His new coming-of-age novel features Karel Roeder, a 15-year-old who is growing up in a totalitarian state in an unidentified time and place. Big Brother is truly watching Karel and his inscrutable girlfriend Leda, as they are influenced by the mounting terror of their dictatorial government, a terror that overwhelms their lives and brings about their ultimate loss of innocence. The reptile house is in the zoo where Karel works, an Eden-like haven which is destroyed in an unrelenting barrage of Sturm und Drang . Recommended for adult and young adult collections.
- Dean Willms, Fort Collins P.L., Col.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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