The Postman
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Cover of first edition (hardcover)
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| Author | David Brin |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Post-apocalyptic science-fiction |
| Publisher | Bantam Books |
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Publication date
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1985 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 294 pp |
| Award | Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1986) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 12215763 |
| 813/.54 19 | |
| LC Class | PS3552.R4825 P6 1985 |
The Postman is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by David Brin. In it, a drifter stumbles across a letter carrier uniform of the United States Postal Service and, with empty promises of aid from the "Restored United States of America", gives hope to an Oregon threatened by warlords.
The first two parts were published separately as "The Postman" (1982) and "Cyclops" (1984). Both were nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novella. The completed novel won (first prize) the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, both for 1986. It was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel and Nebula Award for Best Novel for 1986. In 1997, a film adaptation starring Kevin Costner and Will Patton was adapted from the novel.
Despite the post-apocalyptic scenario and several action sequences, the book is largely about civilization and symbols. Each of the three sections deals with a different symbol.
The first is the Postman himself, Gordon Krantz, who takes the uniform solely for warmth after he loses everything but his sleeping clothes. He wanders without establishing himself anywhere and performs scenes from William Shakespeare plays for supplies. Originally a student at the University of Minnesota, he has traveled west to Oregon in the aftermath of the worldwide chaos that resulted from several EMPs, the destruction of major cities, and the release of bioweapons. Taking shelter in a long-abandoned postal van, he finds a sack of mail and takes it to a nearby community to barter for food and shelter. His initial assertions to be a real postman build not because of a deliberate fraud (at least initially) but because people are desperate to believe in him and the Restored United States.
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Wikipedia