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Clone
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A revolutionary take on the classic dystopian science fiction novel, Clone inaugurates a new kind of writing in India. Priya Sarukkai Chabria weaves the tale of a fourteenth-generation clone in twenty-fourth-century India who struggles against imposed amnesia and sexual taboos in a species-depleted world. With resonant and allusive prose, Chabria takes us along as the clone hesitantly navigates through a world rendered unfamiliar by her expanding consciousness. This slow transformation is mirrored in the way both she and her world appear to the reader. The necessary questions Chabria raises revolve around a shared humanity, the necessity of plurality of expression, the wonder of love, and the splendor of difference.
Clone’s adventurous forays into vastly different times, spaces, and consciousness—animal, human, and post-human—build a poetic story about compassion and memory in the midst of all that is grotesque.
A revolutionary take on the classic dystopian science fiction novel, Clone inaugurates a new kind of writing in India. Priya Sarukkai Chabria weaves the tale of a fourteenth-generation clone in twenty-fourth-century India who struggles against imposed amnesia and sexual taboos in a species-depleted world. With resonant and allusive prose, Chabria takes us along as the clone hesitantly navigates through a world rendered unfamiliar by her expanding consciousness. This slow transformation is mirrored in the way both she and her world appear to the reader. The necessary questions Chabria raises revolve around a shared humanity, the necessity of plurality of expression, the wonder of love, and the splendor of difference.
Clone’s adventurous forays into vastly different times, spaces, and consciousness—animal, human, and post-human—build a poetic story about compassion and memory in the midst of all that is grotesque.
- GenresScience Fiction
285 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 9, 2018
8 people are currently reading
161 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 9, 2020
When the first few pages of Clone were not to my taste, I looked at all the five-star ratings on Goodreads and decided to give the book another chance. Unfortunately, I was only able to get halfway through the book before I finally decided that the book was not for me.
My biggest criticism is that it is difficult to root for the main character. They exhibit almost no personality (despite being an “aberrant” clone), and the pacing of the book varies too wildly to get involved in the character’s thoughts. For example, the clone’s “changes” are almost discovered in the first 10 pages, in a scene that I suppose is meant to build tension. However, this is before the reader has had a chance to engage with the story yet, so the scene comes off as purely expository.
The rest of the prose is similarly expository in nature with very little character coming through. Sometimes it is not even clear what is being exposed. For example, the scenes with the museum and the dog are seemingly random. Sure, they detail the period of time over which the clone’s changes are enhanced and introduce some important characters, but almost any other setting could have done this as well. Even if they are foreshadowing something in the latter half of the book, they only serve to confuse the first half even more.
There is also a sex scene at some point in the book, where someone is described as having sex with “him”, and for a while I was left wondering who “him” was. The world-building is equally as opaque as this scene is. For the first 43% of the book, it is not clear what the structure of this society is, even though the various “classes” (?) of beings are name-dropped repeatedly. I can’t speak to the last 47%.
Maybe my biggest personal issue with the book is that I picked it up hoping to read Indian science-fiction (because popular sci-fi is overwhelmingly white), but this book could easily have passed as a white sci-fi book just by changing some names. I know this is supposed to be set in the ~future~, but it felt removed from any real-world culture. The references to India (and the spelling of Hindu as Hindoo) were Indian just in name, but alien to the setting.
My biggest criticism is that it is difficult to root for the main character. They exhibit almost no personality (despite being an “aberrant” clone), and the pacing of the book varies too wildly to get involved in the character’s thoughts. For example, the clone’s “changes” are almost discovered in the first 10 pages, in a scene that I suppose is meant to build tension. However, this is before the reader has had a chance to engage with the story yet, so the scene comes off as purely expository.
The rest of the prose is similarly expository in nature with very little character coming through. Sometimes it is not even clear what is being exposed. For example, the scenes with the museum and the dog are seemingly random. Sure, they detail the period of time over which the clone’s changes are enhanced and introduce some important characters, but almost any other setting could have done this as well. Even if they are foreshadowing something in the latter half of the book, they only serve to confuse the first half even more.
There is also a sex scene at some point in the book, where someone is described as having sex with “him”, and for a while I was left wondering who “him” was. The world-building is equally as opaque as this scene is. For the first 43% of the book, it is not clear what the structure of this society is, even though the various “classes” (?) of beings are name-dropped repeatedly. I can’t speak to the last 47%.
Maybe my biggest personal issue with the book is that I picked it up hoping to read Indian science-fiction (because popular sci-fi is overwhelmingly white), but this book could easily have passed as a white sci-fi book just by changing some names. I know this is supposed to be set in the ~future~, but it felt removed from any real-world culture. The references to India (and the spelling of Hindu as Hindoo) were Indian just in name, but alien to the setting.
May 15, 2021
DNF. I powered past the first few chapters hoping it would get better but it kept feeling like a vaguely Indianised version of Brave New World with no characterisation and poor storytelling. I didn't really understand the point of the interwoven stories from previous centuries, either.
Only reason it's not 1 star is because there was some beautiful poetry.
Only reason it's not 1 star is because there was some beautiful poetry.
January 30, 2019
The best read of this year so far-Fabulous imagination by the author and unbelievable sync with content from across eons.
Love being in a state of mind where this story takes me:awespiration(AWE+INSPIRATION).
Kudos to Chabria.
Love being in a state of mind where this story takes me:awespiration(AWE+INSPIRATION).
Kudos to Chabria.
June 27, 2019
I don't know how many years it has been since I last read a work of science or speculative fiction, but I was entirely captivated by this rich tale of a clone in twenty-fourth century India who is mutating and becomes caught up in dangerous currents in a highly structured, violent and divided society. Sarukkai Chabria is a poet and a translator of classical Indian poetry and she weaves in detailed stories inspired by ancient Indian myth and history to create an unusual hybrid work. Passionate and terrifying.
A longer review can be found here: https://roughghosts.com/2019/06/27/cl...
A longer review can be found here: https://roughghosts.com/2019/06/27/cl...
June 4, 2020
I struggled a bit with this one.
October 8, 2019
The concept was very good. This book is quite imaginative and has a lot of different aspects to it. I wish there had been a real plot that justified all the digresses thse book takes. The short stories and the flashback(sort of) in between were the best parts of the book, but it didn't realy relate to the main story at all.
Fine read though, very imaginative.
Fine read though, very imaginative.
August 24, 2019
What a brilliant book! Written in two clear voices, Clone weaves fascinatingly between a dystopian future with many footprints in different pasts. Different ages. Different lives. Different beings. Not reincarnation, but birth regression. Totally fascinating. Very well written. I don't want to give away more!
December 26, 2024
I wrote about this book for the Ignyte-winning, Hugo-winning blog Nerds of a Feather:
http://www.nerds-feather.com/2024/12/...
http://www.nerds-feather.com/2024/12/...
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews