(urth) re: "Unrequited Love"

[Nigel Price]

Just thought it worth mentioning in the context of Wolfe's story "Unrequited
Love" that P D James' novel "The Children of Men" is about a world in which
human beings have stopped having children and the species is in danger of
dying out. In the story, childless couples are depicted as sometimes
consoling themselves with lifelike dolls which they treat as if they were
children.

The book which, though memorable, was not terribly good, was made into a
film recently. I've read the book but not seen the film. Wolfe might or
might not have read the book or seen the film but he may well have read a
review of heard discussion of the film and been struck by the themes of
childlessness and dolls replacing real children. It is after all a slightly
strange take on things in that, globally, the population of the world
continues to increase rapidly. It is true that some groups are not
reproducing at a sufficient rate to sustain their numbers, but their
shortfall is more than made up for by others.

Nigel

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