Ravage by René Barjavel: A Dystopian Novel

Extract

[...] He published the novel Moon Dove in 1962. In 1968, he published The Night of the Times, which was a great success and won the Booksellers' Prize. In 1969, he launched a weekly column in the Sunday newspaper Les Libres Propos. In 1972, he was co-founder of the Apollo Science Fiction Prize and was a member of the jury. In 1981, at 70 years old, he stopped writing his columns in Le Journal du dimanche and returned to writing novels. [...]

[...] He becomes the hero of the story and of the entire country. Choice of the Novel and Personal Opinion I chose the novel because the story leads us to question the role of technology and automation in society, a key theme in current debates on sustainable development. Climate change is caused, in part, by our use of technology, cars, air conditioning, and airplanes, to name a few. Just as technology leads to the downfall of society in Barjavel's novel, we can wonder if technology is destroying our current society. [...]

[...] He was born on 24 January 1911 in Nyons. In 1914, while his father was participating in World War his mother ran the family bakery. She died of sleeping sickness in 1922, when René was just 11 years old. He was then sent to a boarding school in Nyons. In 1923, his father was no longer able to pay the tuition fees to continue his studies. He then became the protégé of the school director, Abel Boisselier, who accompanied him to the Cusset college. [...]

[...] The farmers possess manual skills and can function independently of machines. In contrast, citizens prove completely useless when a global power outage occurs. They are not accustomed to climbing and descending stairs or crossing the city, so they cannot think creatively or practically, and they are unable to perform even the simplest tasks, as they are accustomed to robots doing everything for them." The embodiment of this contrast is found in the characters of François Deschamps and Jérôme Seita, who both hope to win the heart of the wonderful singer Blanche Rouget at the beginning of the book. [...]

[...] It tells the story of a society that is much more modern and technologically advanced than Barjavel's at the time. A society with flying cars and buses, magnetic suits, household robots, and enormous cold chambers designed to preserve the dead. In this book, Barjavel portrays the dependence of the inhabitants on technology and automation. The story revolves around a global power outage that causes chaos and panic among citizens and leaders. In a society dependent on technology, citizens are left unable to function, leading to the collapse of an entire civilization. [...]