<![CDATA[Die Entbehrlichen: Roman]]>

false <![CDATA[Die Entbehrlichen: Roman]]>

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One day in early spring, Dorrit Weger is checked into the Second Reserve Bank Unit for biological material. She is promised a nicely furnished apartment inside the Unit, where she will make new friends, enjoy the state-of-the art recreation facilities, and live the few remaining days of her life in comfort with people who are just like her. Here, women over the age of fifty and men over sixty--single, childless, and without jobs in progressive industries--are sequestered for their final few years; they are considered outsiders. In the Unit they are expected to contribute themselves for drug and psychological testing, and ultimately donate their organs, little by little, until the final donation. Despite the ruthless nature of this practice, the ethos of this near-future society and the Unit is to take care of others, and Dorrit finds herself living under very pleasant conditions: well-housed, well-fed, and well-attended. She is resigned to her fate and discovers her days there to be rather consoling and peaceful. But when she meets a man inside the Unit and falls in love, the extraordinary becomes a reality and life suddenly turns unbearable. Dorrit is faced with compliance or escape, and...well, then what? The Unit is a gripping exploration of a society in the throes of a system geared toward eliminating those who don't contribute by conventional means, in which the "dispensable" ones are convinced under gentle coercion of the importance of sacrificing for the "necessary" ones. It also looks deeply into the nature of the female psyche, at its resilience and creativity under dire conditions. Ninni Holmqvist has created a debut novel of humor, sorrow, and rage, that explores love, the close bonds of friendship, and a cynical, utilitarian way of thinking disguised as care.

5902518

2006

The Unit

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195

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5 0 false false Mon Nov 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 10 00:17:08 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 10 00:17:54 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false true Sun Sep 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 04:09:34 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 04:24:17 -0700 2009
The Unit takes place in dystopian Sweden, where childless women (over 50) and men (over 60) who don't have "i...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 17:02:42 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 17:08:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Aug 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 12:24:52 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 12:34:06 -0700 2009 1 The Unit is a well-written dystopia that raises worthwhile questions for readers who might otherwise not have considered them.

There were times, though, when I felt that Holmqvist was a bit too heavy-handed with her anti-leftist imagery. In the world she portrays, for example...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 24 08:44:03 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 24 08:44:03 -0700 2009 1 The Unit is a thought-provoking and beautifully written debut novel for Swedish author Ninni Holmqvist. Dorrit Weger, upon turning 50, checks into the Second Reserve Bank Unit for biological material. Because she has no children, no spouse or lover with whom she households, and no job in a prog...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jul 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 16 15:26:46 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 16 15:35:01 -0700 2009
Anyhow, an interesting book with an all-too-real premise. Those of us who are not con...more...]]> 4 2 false false Wed Jun 10 16:59:37 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 10 17:09:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jun 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 09 15:28:26 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 09 16:58:01 -0700 2009 Dystopian Dreams For Any Reader

At the age of fifty Dorrit Weger is whisked away to a place commonly known as The Unit. Here she will have a comfortable apartment all to herself, access to nice shops and leisurely activities galore, as well as fine meals she doesn't have to prepare for h...more...]]> 4 0 false true Fri May 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 22 04:23:59 -0700 2009 Sat May 23 14:04:27 -0700 2009
1

It was more comfortable than I could have imagined. A room of my own with a bathroom, or rather an apartment of my own, because there were two rooms: a bedroom and a living room with a kitchenette.

For women of 50 and men of 60 if ...more...]]> 3 18 false false Sun Oct 11 08:04:56 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 13 15:38:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 26 14:40:36 -0700 2009 Sun Nov 01 07:48:10 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 24 06:13:35 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 24 06:31:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 2 false false Fri Jun 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 01 00:31:35 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 19:57:21 -0700 2009
When a single, childless person in a non-progressive industry reaches a certain age (fifty for women, sixty for men), that...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Aug 05 16:43:58 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 09:11:23 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Jun 10 09:24:33 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 21:34:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Sep 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 05:38:53 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 05 16:10:21 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 true true Fri Oct 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 08:48:57 -0700 2009 Sat Nov 07 10:13:48 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Oct 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 17:36:02 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 10 05:24:40 -0700 2009
The thing that really bugged me through all of this is that the narrator and everyone else seems s...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 15:24:53 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 15:36:09 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 15 09:45:20 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 15 09:57:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=4543735