Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
115th out of 396 books
—
211 voters
Life
"Life" is a richly textured fictional biography of the brilliant Anna Senoz, a scientist who makes a momentous discovery about the X and Y chromosomes. Anna's discovery provokes widespread sexual rage and impacts cruelly on her career, her marriage, and her child. Ultimately, Anna faces a challenge that the practice of science alone cannot meet.
Paperback, 370 pages
Published
August 1st 2004
by Aqueduct Press
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
213)
The lyrical opening was beautiful, and the world intriguing but I almost stopped reading around page 90, it was the kind of story I didn't like, about emotions and relationships and college years and the crowd. I felt stuck in this narrow world, as stuck as the main character unable to see inside of herself or outside. I realise I have very little interest in the grit and grime of the romantic affairs of others, especially people I don't especially like. But suddenly I was deep inside the charac...more
Jan 03, 2011
Kel Sta
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
those who like to read philosophical novels
'...there are men, first-class men in science, who have failed to be ruthless. Where does that leave us? Dominant people behave dominantly. Talent without dominance is a fish on a bicycle.'
'A woman, instead of growing up, gives birth.'
'... the game was up. She had peaked too soon; her genius had deserted her; she had missed the crest of the wave. She would never invent a new concept of humanity. From now on, she was falling, not flying, no matter how long it took to ...hit the ground. But still...more
'A woman, instead of growing up, gives birth.'
'... the game was up. She had peaked too soon; her genius had deserted her; she had missed the crest of the wave. She would never invent a new concept of humanity. From now on, she was falling, not flying, no matter how long it took to ...hit the ground. But still...more
The rating is more for recommendation rather than my own view of the value of the book. Of the books that try to wed feminism with low-key near-future science fiction (a pretty select group), this is the best I've read, but if you're not already interested in that particular slant on the genre, it'll prove a difficult read. The nearest parallel I can think of is Neal Stephenson's Baroque trilogy - books that are not so much about a theme but about lives, with themes making occasional, glancing c...more
a publisher recently said to me that 'big' speculative fiction by women is badly underrated inthe UK, and people don't buy it. Read this book to show you are missing. The book burst with big ideas, big characters and a huge story. Jones has roots deep in classic 'what if'sci fi but takes it so far beyond the straitjacket of conventional late stage capitalist patriarchy in exploring how people might behave as our technological reach extends beyond our ethical capacity. Love 'Life'!
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Jan 16, 2009
karenology
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
self loathing feminists
Shelves:
detested
An interesting premise bogged down by the epic soap drama of self-indulgent characters, alternately as dull as toast (Anna, Spence, basically everyone) or so incredibly annoying that I had to put the book down (Ramona)! This is one of the many books out there in which the ideas dwarf the writing.
I read up to p.66,
then I had to return it to the library.
then I had to return it to the library.
(9/10) I had a nice long review typed up, and then Goodreads ate it. Bah. Anyway, book is good, two thumbs up, yadda yadda yadda.
So far, so brilliant
*****
This book just keeps getting better.
*****
This book just keeps getting better.
Sep 17, 2007
Mara
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
literary nuts who don't mind a little genre with their high-mindedness
Although overwhelmingly bleak and not for the easy-to-blush, Jones's writing is top-notch and her sci-fi elements service her broader implications about women in science, and what the amalgamation of genders might do, both to personal relationships and a broader, unfocused world plagued by terror. It's hard to get through, but you never feel like you're wasting your time.
Nov 30, 2011
Aischa
marked it as to-read
I found this at the thrift store yesterday. It just looked odd enough. One, it is blue, two- it has a lotus on the spine, and I don't think I have ever noticed a lotus on fiction before, and three--for sci fi, the jacket design is utterly bizarre. Nice ex-library edition from Pewaukee Public Library in Wisconsin!!
I don't know whether to give this a 3 or a 5. My soul hurts.
I slogged through this book because I eventually understood the "science" in this science fiction book. Didn't like the characters and but appreciate the woman in science career and facing sexism etc. This book didn't live up to the review I had read that prompted me to read it.
a very promising premise but i couldn't like it. didn't like the characters, didn't feel the string of heartbreaking things they endure was plausible. somehow they never filled out and became real. maybe i just didn't get it.
I finished this quite a while ago actually - some time in April while I was travelling. Can't remember my final views on it apart from it didn't feel very sf-y despite clear sf tropes such as proper AI existing.
I found this book at Powell's Bookstore with the handwritten note saying that it's Margaret Atwood-level good. It so is. If you like bildungsromans from a female perspective, this is fantastic.
Apr 17, 2013
Nika
added it
Apr 07, 2013
Joe Stamber
marked it as no-thanks
Mar 14, 2013
John
marked it as to-read
Feb 24, 2013
Emma
marked it as to-read
Feb 05, 2013
Don
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Gwyneth Ann Jones, born in Manchester, 14th February 1952, writer. She's the author of more than twenty novels for teenagers, mostly using the name Ann Halam, and several highly regarded sf novels for adults. She's won two World Fantasy awards, the Arthur C. Clarke award, the British Science Fiction Association short story award, the Dracula Society's Children of the Night award, the P.K.Dick awar...more
More about Gwyneth Jones...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
