The Hopkins Manuscript

A Novel

By: R.C. Sherriff, Lameece Issaq

Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton

A stunning speculative novel about a small English village preparing of the end of the world.

Edgar Hopkins is a retired math teacher with a strong sense of self-importance, whose greatest pride is winning poultry-breeding contests. When not meticulously caring for his Bantam, Edgar is an active member of the British Lunar Society. Thanks to that affiliation, Edgar becomes one of the first people to learn that the moon is on a collision course with the earth.

Members of the society are sworn to secrecy, but eventually the moon begins to loom so large in the sky that the truth can no longer be denied. During these final days, Edgar writes what he calls “The Hopkins Manuscript”—a testimony juxtaposing the ordinary and extraordinary as the villagers dig trenches and play cricket before the end of days.

First published in 1939, as the world was teetering on the brink of global war, R.C. Sherriff’s classic science fiction novel is a timely and powerful missive from the past that captures human nature in all its complexity.

Critic reviews

"Sherriff’s 1939 dystopian classic about the moon crashing into Earth and the ensuing worldwide unrest springs to life in a compelling performance by Nicholas Boulton. The preface/lecture by an Abyssinian professor 1,000 years in the future, perfectly performed by Lameece Issaq, introduces the action. Boulton flawlessly executes the manuscript left by Edgar Hopkins, a stoic middle-aged bachelor who details his observations for future scholars-as took place with the Rosetta Stone. Boulton magnificently captures Hopkins’s moods as he waffles on telling the secret of the impending crash; observes people preparing for the apocalypse; realizes there are other survivors afterward, and feels disgust at the regrowth of political greed. Quotations by other characters are thoughtfully nuanced. Fans of H.G. Wells will appreciate this timely tale."

1939 or present?

Written in 1939. It's somehow comforting to digest that humanity, then is as it is now, persists still in a perpetual cycle of apathy , self importance and clings to to ignorance. It was a dark pleasure to read in 2023. I highly recommend adding this treasure to your to read list. In terms of predictive science, the content is quite off the mark, the observation of psychology is spot on.

Ultimately a moving look at the end of the British

I found the main character annoying at the beginning, but he's meant to be. He grows in compassion and emotional depth over the course of the novel. The ending is very touching. The plot moves along swftly. The fall of the moon isn't explained, but the story is about the effects of catastrophe, not its causes. The narrator does a great job.

Prescient story about a world off its axis

I loved this book, both the writing and the Audible reading of it. Written in 1939 by a veteran of WW1, you can imagine some of real world events and issues Sherriff brought to a story of the moon falling into the Atlantic Ocean. There are points throughout that might make a reader think of today’s world.

In addition, it is a story of an ordinary man, one who feels he deserves to be more than he is. He is a bundle of insecurities, snobbish attitudes, resentments, and grandiose ideas about himself. He is not very likable and yet I could not help but feel for his vulnerability, his isolation. He never really changes even though he finds love and courage and, through his manuscript, finally inserts himself into history. A wonderful book.

A cosy catastrophe masterpiece

I can’t believe this novel isn’t on all the lists of classic science fiction. An equal to Earth Abides by George R. Stewart.

Mesmerizing

I look at the moon through different eyes. The writing is spectacular. The performance could not be better. While there are many irrational assumptions of science I was willing to abandon realistic skepticism. Set just before WW II, the story is timeless. It could just as well have been written in 2023.