Review: The Hopkins Manuscript, by R.C. Sherriff

I spotted The Hopkins Manuscript on the New Books shelves at my local library. This is actually a 2023 trade paperback version of a 1939 novel. I'd never heard of the author, R.C. Sheriff, or The Fortnight in September, the other book of his that's mentioned on the cover, or other books by him. However, he worked on scripts for a bunch of movies I've seen and found pretty interesting: The Dam Busters, No Highway, That Hamilton Woman, The Four Feathers, The Invisible Man, and Goodbye, Mr. Chips, among others. 

I didn't know that when I checked it out, and I don't know why the book has been republished now (although, having read it, I certainly can see some relevancies to current times in governments' behavior and citizens' reactions), but I thought the description on the inside front cover looked interesting: Edgar Hopkins, a retired math teacher and member of the British Lunar Society, learns that the moon is on a collision course with the Earth. He's sworn to secrecy, but eventually the truth can no longer be denied.

I always find these conspiracies of silence a bit maddening, whether they're in books or on TV, about looming environmental/astronomical catastrophes, alien invasions, or whatever. Various governments in the book take some proactive measures, such as digging shelters (but saying they're against bombs, for the next world war), but they don't want to people to panic or have their lives spoiled. 

A little more than half the book is devoted to the lead-up to the event. Everything is filtered through Hopkins' eyes, as he goes to meetings, reads reports, and tries to influence events, while breeding chickens and winning shows. As it turns out, he has little effect on what happens.  He thinks a lot of himself, but other people don't see him as much of a leader. He's really rather narrow in his viewpoint, snobbish and classist, although he means well. He proudly keeps the secret and merely drops some advice that is ignored, since nobody knows he has inside knowledge. 

Once the looming, reddened moon is apparent to the naked eye, Hopkins' neighbors fall into three basic groups:  Those who think it's all just a scare and won't affect England at all, those who think the moon will graze the Earth but not cause much damage, and those who think the end is nigh. Some people quit their jobs and run wild, but many Keep Calm and Carry On (so to speak; that didn't actually become a slogan until the real-life World War II, and actually the saying wasn't really popularized until the 21st century), or join the digging projects and other preparations.

As it turns out, England is not destroyed by the moon, although there are great changes in the world. This is not a spoiler, since the opening frame in the "foreword" of the book is that Hopkins' manuscript recounting the lead-up, the event and its aftermath has been discovered by a scientist from a subsequent civilization, long after Hopkins' final days, sealed in a thermos and hidden in a wall.

After the event, much of the second half of the book is taken up with recovery and rebuilding efforts. Hopkins, who has always been a solitary man, builds a small community. However, although people work together at first, the world once more slides toward war, in a seemingly inevitable competition for resources and access, with tensions stoked by politicians to gain power, or simply out of fear and pride.

There's actually a lot of wry humor in this book, comparing Hopkins' views and expectations with what actually happens. There are moments of quiet heroism. Relationships range from condescension to mild hostility to respect to quietly affectionate caring. However, the end is certainly a bit depressing, even though given some of the events of the last decade, it does not seem at all unrealistic. Sherriff, of course, would have seen the rising tensions of his own time, as World War II began in Europe the year this was originally published.

The Hopkins Manuscript fits the "cozy catastrophe" label for the most part; indeed, I've seen it listed as an influence on John Wyndham's later "cozy catastrophes" such as The Day of the Triffids. Although events affect the world, the narrative is tightly focused on one man's point of view; moreover, although things go badly for many mostly unnamed people, humanity does survive.

I can't recommend this book for everybody. If you're interested in period pieces between World War I and World War II (with a somewhat ironical flavor of classism), if you're interested in disaster fiction, if you're interested in the genre history of science fiction, you may want to give this a try. It's definitely well written; it's just a very particular flavor. Many people will find it dreadfully slow. But I enjoyed it.

Content Warnings: Offscreen deaths, classism, insularity.

Comparisons: John Wyndham's The Kraken Wakes, Arthur Conan Doyle's The Poison Belt.

Disclaimers: None.

 

UPDATE 9/18/23: I really enjoyed the conversation about this book at https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-752-readalong-the-hopkins-manuscript-by-r-c-sherriff/, by Jesse, Paul Weimer, Bryan Alexander, and Terence Blake, except for about 10 minutes of anti-vax diatribing by the host, about 2.5 hours or so into the podcast, after the main discussion had finished and they were digressing.