The Rats (1974) by James Herbert

"All the lonely people.”

Readers unfamiliar with The Rats may prefer to read these notes only after reading the novel.

The Rats is no "cosy catastrophe." This is not Richard Jeffries, or John Wyndham. This is East End London circa 1974. Our teacher hero Mr. Harris is all man, admiring the fourteen year old female "crumpet" in his art classes, and not afraid to bully to maintain control. This is the neighborhood where he grew up.

The set-pieces in The Rats, even cutaways to one-time characters, are richly imagined, confident, and energizing. They form a vivid collage: daily lives and everyday settings register the expanding scope of the onslaught.

In one of the earliest scenes, a family dog fights to the death to protect the unattended family baby, which also dies. Another takes place on a subway train, where a modern Mr. Pooter gets the chance to prove his mettle. 

Chapter One gives a sympathetic portrait of a middle aged homosexual, drinking himself to death until Rattus rattus arrives to deliver the coup de grâce. A masterpiece in miniature, Chapter Five traces the life of Irish immigrant Mary Kelly, in one of the novel's most poignant and ugly vignettes.