You'll know whether you like this book in the first ten pages. I really needed a laugh. Normally I don't read much fiction, especially not satire, but...moreYou'll know whether you like this book in the first ten pages. I really needed a laugh. Normally I don't read much fiction, especially not satire, but I greatly enjoyed this novel. I'd seen (not read) Thank You for Smoking and picked this book up at a Goodwill for two bucks. Why not? Witty author known for ripping Washington to shreds, colorful cover, cheap asking price. Done.
Yes, the characters are two-dimensional. I can deal with that because Boomsday was a light read with some serious politics going on throughout: the end of social security, commonplace corruption, PR spinning, saving face. It's all in there and if you can't laugh at these caricatures, what else can you do. It's striking how close he gets to describing Occupy years before it happened. Is it perfect? No but it's certainly fun, quick, over the top, and thought-provoking.(less)
This was an easier read than I anticipated. Usually fiction is tougher for me to absorb than fact-based books. In any case, it was generally enjoyable...moreThis was an easier read than I anticipated. Usually fiction is tougher for me to absorb than fact-based books. In any case, it was generally enjoyable. I thought that the resolution felt rushed and that there wasn't a ton of attention paid to growth within individual characters. Even Sutty as the main character didn't have much going on in the middle of the book. There were a number of great little moments, highlighted by attention to detail. There were many languages in this multi-planet society. Some more accepted as educated and some nearly eradicated. It really helped make the story feel real.
The thing about this story that resonates most with me isn't the fact that it takes place in a purely rational future, but the serious similarities to current struggles, especially in the West. This book was published in 2000, pre-9/11. I had to keep checking the copyright page to ensure that this was true. Ursula K. LeGuin mentions drone warfare as a norm, even going so far as to describe military workers in the midwest dropping bombs and going home right after. She also talks about a new type of war without clear enemies, ethics, or a clear end. It's a logical conclusion to draw given the cyclical nature of social problems, like education and its link to power. Or power and its link to militarism. The themes if this book are well thought out and presented well.
On a still important but lesser note, it was nice to see characters who aren't straight as part of a storyline that didn't eat up the entire book. It provided and interesting perspective and made this imaginary world feel more full.(less)
I tend to have issues with fiction, especially sci-fi, so I'm honestly surprised that I've made so much progress on this book. That being said, it was...moreI tend to have issues with fiction, especially sci-fi, so I'm honestly surprised that I've made so much progress on this book. That being said, it was hard to get into the first 50 pages or so because it placed the reader into the future right away with no explanations. It's comforting and weird at the same time because explanation requires remembering what's going on but also distances me as a reader from the characters so I can judge them easier. Reading about a future where people have burned out the Earth's resources and are considering colonizing a new planet to resume the status quo was almost too close to home. And that's totally the point, which is why I admire Jeanette Winterson for writing this book.
She does an excellent job of providing social commentary throughout the text on issues from terrorism to an obsession with youth that borders on pedophilia to nuclear war. She ponders what a world without resources (even money) can be and goes the extra mile of comparing it to other time periods in the past. Isn't conquering a new planet similar to British explorers "discovering" Polynesia? She goes there.
On top of that, she incorporates literary elements into a genre that tends to be more action-based. There isn't much action in this book and I appreciate that. It's less about the world ending or restarting as it were, and more about observing people struggling with a changing world. There's a great sense of repetition throughout the novel. Certain phrases are highlighted and mentioned over and over or the same sentiment is repeated but the phrases change or the language becomes more antiquated. Characters from different time periods share similar experiences and names to emphasize how closely linked these situations are.
While it might have been a little out there for me at times (not from a realist standpoint but from a what am I reading standpoint), this book was definitely a challenging one to read. That's wholly intentional. Maybe that's why there's a bisexual robot? To ease the discomfort of looking privatization and paranoid governments in the face? Maybe to remind us that there are no easy answers.(less)