Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Harmony” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Harmony

by Project Itoh, Alexander O. Smith (Translator)

3.92 · Rating Details · 719 Ratings · 90 Reviews

In a perfect world, there is no escape

In the future, Utopia has finally been achieved thanks to medical nanotechnology and a powerful ethic of social welfare and mutual consideration. This perfect world isn't that perfect though, and three young girls stand up to totalitarian kindness and super-medicine by attempting suicide via starvation. It doesn't work, but one of the ...more

Paperback, 252 pages

Published July 20th 2010 by Haikasoru (first published 2008)

More Details... edit details

Get a copy:

Or buy for

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Harmony, please sign up.

Be the first to ask a question about Harmony

Lists with This Book

Sword and Laser Sci-Fi list

115th out of 569 books — 1,179 voters

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

Diverse Sci-Fi

4th out of 99 books — 28 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 2,333)

filter | sort: default (?) | Rating Details

Dec 06, 2010 Jesse Bullington rated it it was amazing

The best SF novel I've read in yonks, this literary reaction to contemporary Japanese (and international) society presents a dystopian future masquerading as a utopian one. Disease and crime are virtually unheard of in the "civilized world" due to society's obsession with health and the implantation of devices that monitor not only the physical well-being of every citizen but also their mental state, and the World Health Organization controls the world with a loving latex fist. We follow a dissa ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

May 12, 2015 Pupilla rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: in-hungarian, zsákmány-2013, 2015, vcs-2015

< frustration >
Uhh. Tömény, és bőségesen ad gondolkodnivalót...
Egy új, modern, vészterhes 1984, és egy jövő, amit nem akarok megérni.
< / frustration >

http://pupillaolvas.blogspot.com/2015...

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Sep 03, 2010 Miki Garrison rated it it was amazing

The book is far more complex and amazing than the cover copy or product description makes it sound.

In a world where human life is a precious global resource that must be protected at all costs, everything about a person -- choices, emotions, biochemistry, cell metabolism -- is monitored and assessed by computer systems, 24/7. A variety of complex feedback loops are in place to ensure optimum conservation of that resource, including everything from good old-fashioned peer pressure to mandatory in ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Dec 20, 2015 Tara rated it really liked it

This was a fantastic book. I really enjoyed the pacing and the plotting and the nods to classic SF. I felt that it dealt with some issues that are especially concerning to Japanese culture in regards to membership in society and what it means to value your place as part of a whole against the value of your individuality. But it also brought into play some other interesting concerns. I loved the framing and formatting and think that if you like Orwell's 1984 or Naam's Nexus or Huxley's Brave New ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jun 08, 2015 Sabrina rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, japan, speculative, read-in-2015

Probably more of a 4.5, but whatever.

This is a fascinating speculative novel that takes place in a post-nuclear society wherein life is a public resource and medicine is worshipped like a religion. It questions the role of technology and human consciousness, questioning what even makes us human at all. Thought-provoking and an interesting examination of conformity, especially coming from a Japanese author, for Japan is a country that culturally values conformity over individuality. This is my ty ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jul 14, 2011 AmandaSOTP rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-2011

This is truly an amazing book. It's a full book, plenty of action, great characters, and a unique style. It's written as though you're experiencing it from a computer in that it is full of HTML and it uses that to its advantage. The reader is given emotions and insight through the tags and this helps to really bring the book to life. I'm sorry I put it off on my TBR pile for so long.

In more ways than one, this book makes a lot of valid points about our society and where its potential lies. It is ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 17, 2011 Miz Moffatt rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, dystopia, translation, speculative-fiction, japanese

How can one feel alive without knowing the pain of living? Does disease and suffering create our consciousness and our sense of humanity? Harmony creates a world in which human ingenuity has eradicated illness through the use of medicules, a clever injection of molecules that police our bodies and report our health to world authorities. With tailored diets, expert fitness routines, and regular psychological assessments, all of humankind have traded an individual-driven existence in order to live ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 11, 2015 Peter rated it really liked it

In the future, life is precious. Maybe too precious. Virtually everyone has medical nanotechnology that monitors their status, and anything that is potentially harmful is banned or at least heavily socially discouraged. Privacy is a word from the past, your medical records are open. The dominant philosophy is that your life does not belong to you, it belongs to society. Three teenage girls, still too young to get the nanotech, and social misfits, form a bond and as an act of rebellion, a suicide In the future, life is precious. Maybe too precious. Virtually everyone has medical nanotechnology that monitors their status, and anything that is potentially harmful is banned or at least heavily socially discouraged. Privacy is a word from the past, your medical records are open. The dominant philosophy is that your life does not belong to you, it belongs to society. Three teenage girls, still too young to get the nanotech, and social misfits, form a bond and as an act of rebellion, a suicide pact. Years later, Tuan Kirie, one of the survivors of that pact, has fit herself back with society, although somewhat uneasily, even working for the World Health Organization. But a shocking new crisis develops that she must investigate, and she believes that it may have some ties back to her own past, and her decisions may shape the future of humanity.

This is a novel written in Japanese and translated into English. I've read a number of these put out by the Haikasoru imprint of Viz Media, and while this isn't my favorite, it's right up there at the top of them.

Harmony is obviously in the classic mold of the ambiguous, perhaps even horrific from a certain perspective, utopia, like Brave New World, used to warn against certain trends that presumably the author worried about going too far. But it also goes beyond that, too, and tackles questions like the nature of consciousness and arguably morphs from "warning social commentary" to "full on science fiction" by the end.

It may be tempting to look at this as a book warning of the dangers of political correctness. Indeed, the words "publicly correct" appear quite a few times to refer to the sort of capitulation to the groupthink that is required, by the society. Usually, when somebody attacks political correctness, I'm not all that sympathetic, as I find it a desire to want to keep not caring about whether they're hurting other people. In this case, I think it's not so much against political correctness (and in fact virtually every time "publicly correct" is invoked, it has nothing to do with racist or sexist jokes or even actions towards others, and everything to do with keeping yourself healthy and at a minimum of risk), but rather against the tools being used to extend too far. It is, it seems, more of a reminder of the virtue of moderation than anything else. After all, the main character get into a suicide pact early on, and some of her friends fantasize about murder and terrorism... it's hard to imagine that the author is wholly endorsing their worldview, but rather painting them as an opposite extreme, an over-reaction to the over-reaction the rest of the world has imposed, and the ideal truth being somewhere in the middle. So at times you root for the main characters even when they're advocating extreme actions, and other times you hate them, and really, it's a nice balancing act that may go a bit too far in one direction or another, but keeps you questioning things, which is good. Still, the overall message isn't about the right to hurt other people, but rather the right to choose things for yourself that may not be the best for you.

And, as I said, it's more than just a book to promote a social message, it gets genuinely exciting when the plot kicks off, with moments of extreme creepiness and dramatic choices foisted upon the world, all leading to a conclusion that doesn't look like it was made to fit a message, but rather because the author thought it was a really cool idea. And in a way, it is. It's not necessarily an upbeat ending, either, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless (and, in these kind of books, endings that are too upbeat often feel like cheats anyway).

The book's very good, but it's not perfect. One of the conceits of the novel is that certain parts of it are highlighted in an "emotion-markup language" that looks like HTML, where certain passages might be enclosed in tags, like, say, "I'm fine." The idea of it, at least once the book gets to the ending and the point of them is revealed, might be interesting enough to keep, but in execution in fails, particularly because most of the time it's used to make lists of statements, lists that don't actually really have emotional content, just look ugly. And it's used just frequently enough to be annoying, and yet not frequently that you think it's legitimately used to tag all the emotional text. It's more like the author occasionally remembered to use it, and uses it then, but doesn't go back to make it a completely consistent motif.

There's also a little bit of unfortunate skeeviness, where teenage girls wax nostalgically about the past where men would pay to have sex with teenage girls, and seem to complain that the option is no longer open to them. And when, early on, they make a declaration of their own bodily independence but refer mostly to their sexual characteristics as they do so (when the society controls far more than that, and there's not even that much evidence that sexual freedoms themselves are particularly restricted). I can see valid arguments for these choices that make sense within the plot, and I think trying to read into it any particular opinions on the part of the author would be a mistake, but it is somewhat off-putting. It's actually not a lot, it's not a huge part of the book, but it happens early on and may turn people off, which is a shame. There is something of a revelation towards the end that both potentially explains some of this earlier part, and yet is also potentially a problematic trope of it's own, but on the whole I think it's small enough that the book might have been better off without it.

The only other negative thing I have to say is that sometimes character motivations seem to change abruptly and I'm not entirely sure if I missed some subtle clues or if they just changed their mind, but particularly towards the conclusion it made for a minor off-note.

Still, the book kept me both entertained and thinking all the way through, which is what I want out of books like this.
...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

May 28, 2016 Emkoshka rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror, death, dystopia, science-fiction, bookclub, japan, 2016, translated

Concurrent with a desire to read more books by female authors (to redress the normativity and ubiquity of the white male writer) is a desire to read more books by non-Western writers. It's not just about their ability to offer up different perspectives on life; it's also about being taken out of my comfort zone (though travelling extensively achieves that too, albeit more expensively!). Although I don't know much about Japanese society, I feel like this book was an excellent if savage indictment ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Oct 16, 2010 Nicola Mansfield rated it it was amazing

Reason for Reading: I love post-apocalyptic/dystopian novels and at the same time I was very intrigued in reading a Japanese novel in translation. So far my Japanese reading has been confined to manga.

This book won the Japanese Awards: the Seiun Award and the Japan SF Award and is a highly literary piece of work. A brilliant work of dystopia that looks at a future world that is unlike anything I've ever read before and is also completely viable. The publisher's summary does not do justice to the Reason for Reading: I love post-apocalyptic/dystopian novels and at the same time I was very intrigued in reading a Japanese novel in translation. So far my Japanese reading has been confined to manga.

This book won the Japanese Awards: the Seiun Award and the Japan SF Award and is a highly literary piece of work. A brilliant work of dystopia that looks at a future world that is unlike anything I've ever read before and is also completely viable. The publisher's summary does not do justice to the story at all and I was not prepared for the deep philosophical, scientific, ethical, sociological and technological issues that would be covered in this fairly slim volume.

I couldn't even begin to find the words to describe the plot as it is so intricate and multi-layered nor do I really want to as going into this book without much plot knowledge will only enhance your enjoyment. Instead, let me describe the world. There has been an apocalypse; bombs have dropped and a large portion of the world's population killed. It is now about 60 years later and the civilized world has no governments, or ruling kingdoms, instead the world is managed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and throughout each country there are thousands of admedistration units catering to small sections of the population. People have been implanted with a medical monitoring device which constantly measures physical and emotional health, sending out modules of medications or enzymes to fix the problem straight away. Thus no one in this world is ever sick, hurts themselves, or becomes mentally unstable. Privacy is the ultimate bad word; one you would whisper and make sure no one else heard you say. Everybody has a health output hovering over their head so all can see how each other is doing, and everyone is kind and thoughtful to others because the most precious resource in this population depleted world is human life. As one walks along in life your implant will shield you from emotional distress, should something come up that would interfere with your specific emotional make-up a filtering process would go into place and you would not even see the offending item: painting, magazine, store, etc. Everyone is in perfect health as your diet is streamlined for your consumption, and the correct foods delivered to your home, within your budget. Menus at restaurants bring up a display telling the nutritional content of the food and what is within your parameters. Food with no nutritional value does not exist anymore. And the list goes on ....

Some people are perfectly content with this Utopian society of perfect health, peace and kindness. Never having to make uncomfortable choices and feeling as though they are truly being a valuable resource of society. Others realize this for the totalitarian society that it is and there are a few countries that have not joined the WHO, mainly Russia and then small scattered countries in Africa and the Middle East, which continue to resist. But there are others on the inside who want out, they've read books and found out what life was like before the Maelstorm and recognize individual freedom is missing from their society. Three teenage girls become a part of this resistance when they realize the only way to hurt the establishment is to hurt the most precious commodity, their human life. So they make a pact to commit suicide together. This is only the beginning, though. What will become at risk is the very essence that makes human beings human.

The book is written in a back and forth flow as the main character tells her story now as she works as an agent and flashes back to her childhood and early adult years as she was one of those girls who promised to commit suicide but obviously failed. The book is also written within a sort of HTML code called "Emotional-in-Text Markup Language" and the text is contained within the coded tags and within the text will be other tags with directions, sort of like a play. It's strange at first, but you get used to it as a reader and when you find out it's purpose on the last page ... well it is stunning.

This book really deserves more publicity on this continent. It is one of the best dystopian novels I've read of late and so very different from the other stuff being written today which often has an environmental political agenda behind its cause of the apocalypse. I think I would put this up there with Brave New World, completely different stories mind, but equal in literary merit and psychological impact and thought.

I would like to mention that the very beginning pages do contain some quite vulgar language (which had me thinking I wouldn't be reading the book much further) but it is mostly contained to those pages. Of course, there are expletives here and there throughout the book but don't let the first pages put you off, if language is of a concern to you. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Mar 29, 2013 szellőcske rated it it was amazing

Azt hiszem @irasalgor fogalmazta meg előttem, hogy olyan érzése volt a könyv kapcsán,mintha az író fogta volna a Szép új világot és az 1984-et, és készített volna belőle egy kissé továbbgondolt, rendkívül fogyasztóbarát koktélt (nem pont ez volt a vélemény, de nála olvastam először a párhuzam hatásait). Annak ellenére, hogy ritkán olvasok disztópiát számomra ez a regény egy nagyon pozitív meglepetés volt, mert amennyire beszippantott ez a papírra álmodott világ, annyira el is borzasztott. Volt a Azt hiszem @irasalgor fogalmazta meg előttem, hogy olyan érzése volt a könyv kapcsán,mintha az író fogta volna a Szép új világot és az 1984-et, és készített volna belőle egy kissé továbbgondolt, rendkívül fogyasztóbarát koktélt (nem pont ez volt a vélemény, de nála olvastam először a párhuzam hatásait). Annak ellenére, hogy ritkán olvasok disztópiát számomra ez a regény egy nagyon pozitív meglepetés volt, mert amennyire beszippantott ez a papírra álmodott világ, annyira el is borzasztott. Volt abban valami különösen hátborzongató érzés, hogy olyasvalaki fogalmazta meg ezeket a gondolatokat a tökéletes egészség, a „megdizájnolt” élet világáról,aki maga éveken át halálos kórral küzdött. És rásüti erre a világra, hogy ez a jövő harmóniája…lehetne róla hosszasan értekezni, hogy nem tartunk-e ebben a percben is egy ilyen világ felé,hogy képesek lennénk-e így élni. Lehet ezekre a kérdésekre egyértelmű választ adni? Ha belegondol az ember nem olyan rossz dolog az, hogy vigyáznak az emberre, az egészségre, hiszen nap mint nap mindenféle ellenőrzés vagy behatás nélkül mi magunk is ezt tesszük a magunk módján. De mi van akkor,ha az irányítás a mi kezünkből valami erősebb hatalom kezébe kerül? Statisztikák döntik el, hogy ki,mi az egészséges, a tested többé nem a tiéd egy bizonyos kor után, ha ellene cselekszel bűnt követsz el,amiért megtorlás jár…lehet ekkora árat fizetni egy szép új világért? Elfogadsz vagy lázadsz? Beállsz a sorba és meghúzod magad, vagy megpróbálod az emberi mivoltodat megőrizni egy embertelen világban?
Nagyon sok kérdést magával hoz ez a regény. Sajnos a többségük aktuális is, vagy afelé halad. Nem vitatom egy percig sem, hogy a tudomány fejlődése elengedhetetlen az emberiségnek, mindenféle szempontból. De meddig terjedhet a tudomány? És meddig fejlődés az, amit annak kiáltunk ki,és honnan lépi át a csendes pusztítás határait? Azt hiszem ha ezt a világot hívnánk valóban harmóniának, akkor talán nem vágyom annyira a jövőbe.. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Aug 30, 2010 Josh rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites

I really wish that this book would have changed a few small plot developments later on in the book. I really do. If it had, I would have said this was one of the better books I've read in a long time. As it is, it's still a great boom but somewhat frustrating when all is said and done. On one hand, the world that this novel introduces us to is bot imaginatively thought-out and very well-developed. It was a fun and interesting place to be in so even with the story's slow burn pacing, you still wa I really wish that this book would have changed a few small plot developments later on in the book. I really do. If it had, I would have said this was one of the better books I've read in a long time. As it is, it's still a great boom but somewhat frustrating when all is said and done. On one hand, the world that this novel introduces us to is bot imaginatively thought-out and very well-developed. It was a fun and interesting place to be in so even with the story's slow burn pacing, you still wanted to read on to see just what amusing extrapolations of technology Itoh would throw at you next.

By no means is this a light-hearted novel though- quite the contrary. The book is very bleak and often highly satirical (though played with a completely straight face most of the time, the sure sign of effective satire). The ideas and moral situations brought up in this morass of a society we're privy to, however, echo still in my mind so the bleakness is certainly warranted.

Lastly, Itoh's novel is simply written wonderfully. Not only does the novel playfully mingle HTML with text to create a bizarrely modern prose/poetry fusion that creates a sort of meta, literary soliloquy but the translator has pulled some overtime hours because the language is of the highest caliber. At no point did I feel like I was being talked down to and yet everything was phrased as simply as possible. Itoh did a superb job of balancing the non-linear plot throughout, may I add.

But, to get to the few things I disliked about I refer to late-game Plot developments. Without spoiling anything, I think that specific background plot elements of one of the main characters that arise stretched the credibility of the plot, not to mention the purpose. They didn't quite mesh with the rest of the story and seemed to me like they could have been left out entirely and only slight re-working would have been required. That said, these details do follow somewhat logically from what came before it was just a bit disappointing to me that they didn't seem more cohesive than they did.

Overall though, this is a great novel for the thinking reader. It has grand ideas, a grand vision, and...mostly grand execution. Highly recommended to sci-fi fans and casual readers alike. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Aug 21, 2011 Andrew rated it really liked it

“And the successor to that Catholic dogma? Believe it or not, it’s us, with our all-benevolent health-obsessed society. Bodies once received from God are, under the rules of a lifeist admedistrative society, public property. God doesn’t own us anymore, everyone does. Never before in history has ‘the importance of life’ been such a loaded term.”

Miach was right, of course.

And that was why we had to die.

Because our lives were being made too important.

Because everyone was too concerned about everyon “And the successor to that Catholic dogma? Believe it or not, it’s us, with our all-benevolent health-obsessed society. Bodies once received from God are, under the rules of a lifeist admedistrative society, public property. God doesn’t own us anymore, everyone does. Never before in history has ‘the importance of life’ been such a loaded term.”

Miach was right, of course.

And that was why we had to die.

Because our lives were being made too important.

Because everyone was too concerned about everyone else.

Of course, it wasn’t enough to simply die. We had to die in a way that made a mockery of the health regime we were supposed to uphold by law. At least, that was what we thought back then.

***

As a Brave New World-esque satire of the utopian/dystopian formula, Project Itoh’s Harmony treads disturbing waters through the approach of death being the instigating factor that can offer change for entire social trajectories. Not just death, in fact, but murder and suicide, specifically.

Taking place mostly in a Japan of the somewhat-near future, Harmony envisions a world that has at once sterilized and commodified itself. Following the Maelstrom—the much alluded to nuclear holocaust that nearly wiped out humanity—admedistrations have taken over, treating the health and welfare of citizens as tasks guided by perfectionism. However, all is not well in a medically infused wonderland. Three young women—Miach Mihie, Cian Reikado, and the protagonist, Tuan Kirie—decide, at Miach’s insistence, to challenge the admedistrations and the WatchMe technology that monitors their bodies and minds by committing suicide. They intend to starve themselves to take back their bodies—to own their physical and emotional selves in a way that the admedistrations have all but made impossible. Though the attempt is mostly a failure, it pushes Tuan down a contradictory path as a World Health Organization officer who delights in punishing her body through nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine, which can still be found and acquired in other nations. When Cian re-enters Tuan’s life and their suicide pact is recalled, events unfold that may threaten to not only topple their admedistration-focused society, but to transform the face of the world.

Employing an HTML mark-up style for memories, emotions, and internal questions, Itoh constructs Harmony as a potentially dishonest narrative—especially given then the book’s welcome yet disheartening conclusion. At first the HTML styling seems cumbersome, disrupting the book’s rhythm with point-form lists. By the book’s conclusion, the HTML styling serves a dual purpose: first, it enforces the pervasiveness of the admedistrations and the WatchMe programming; second, upon completion, it offers a possible alternate meaning to the entire novel, one predicated on the possibility that it has been less a mystery and more a cautionary retelling of events, to instil fear of “unhealthy” motivations in the minds of a technologically placated society. It’s a unique reversal of perspective that feels earned and not in any way meant to pull the rug out from beneath the feet of the readers.

The subject matter of Harmony seems especially prescient given our growing obsession with health, and more importantly, misdirected fear over what is and is not indicative of health. Starvation and gluttony are the parallels most employed in Harmony, perhaps as it is for Miach, Cian and Tuan, because they are two of the least visible ways in which these girls could, at such a young age, attempt to destroy their bodies. Itoh is also making a clear statement that these associative problems are legion, and their impact on children—especially young women—in the future will be as persuasive and deadly as it is today, given the force by which the culture in power seeks to reconcile its own bodily fears and misconceptions.

Harmony works as much as a commentary on current and future health and social practices as it does a story of friendship found, manipulated, and destroyed beyond any point of return. Perhaps most unnerving, given the story’s admedistrative totalitarianism, is knowing that Project Itoh finished this novel while in the hospital, dying of cancer. He passed away in 2009. Harmony is his final work. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Oct 13, 2014 DeeNeez rated it it was amazing

Shelves: scifi

I've been reading Harmony by Project Itoh (real name Satoshi Itō)...translated by Alexander O. Smith

It's science fiction at it's best. Even though I'm reading a translated book, you'd never know it. It's a piece of artwork! I can understand why it won the 2009 Seiun Award in Japan...and is currently nominated for the Phillip K. Dick Award for this year.

Summary from Amazon..product description:
In the future, Utopia has finally been achieved thanks to medical nanotechnology and a powerful ethic o ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jun 01, 2016 Abby Goldsmith rated it really liked it

Shelves: sff, translated, asian, cults-and-religion, advanced-tech

More of an intellectual novel than advertised. Although I found it needlessly repetitive, there are nuggets of buried gold in the narrative. How far can one trust a society that enforces perfect health to the exclusion of all mitigating factors? How important are unhealthy lifestyle choices to the human experience? Where is the line between public safety and public happiness? How do humans make decisions?

And what is consciousness? That question, which fascinates philosophers and scientists, is ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

May 27, 2016 Tom Wright added it

This book reminded me of Starship Troopers. More of a manifesto than a plot-driven story.

Confusing, although I felt like I understood a lot of the points made.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jul 12, 2014 Marco rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: People interested in discussions about liberty and free will; fans of the Metal Gear Solid games.

An interesting dystopian novel that involves themes like public health, liberty and consciousness.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Aug 09, 2010 Stacy rated it liked it

Shelves: 2010

An interesting concept which probably works better in the original Japanese; like many books translated from Japanese, the text has a slightly curt tone which reads a little awkwardly at times.

Utopia of a sort has been achieved via medical technology which constantly monitors and optimizes human health, and takes away the free will to behave in self-destructive but enjoyable ways. Ultimately a meditation on the importance of the individual - or the lack thereof - the novel starts slowly but is ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Apr 09, 2016 Shiki rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: novel, sci-fi, psychological, dystopia

Capek bacanya, itu komen pertama saya buat buku ini.
Bukan karena gaya bahasa sih, tapi lebih ke istilah-istilah asing (kalau nggak mau disebut gaje!) di dalamnya.

Harmony bercerita tentang dunia masa depan, dimana kehidupan manusia sangat dijaga oleh dunia, dengan memanfaatkan teknologi...mungkin semacam nanomachine, ya? Pokoknya, di dalam diri manusia ditanamkan program yang mendeteksi dan menyarankan segala hal, mulai dari nilai gizi makanan, sampai peringatan bahayanya menyentuh benda elektro ...more

flag Like · see review

Oct 01, 2015 Yasuo Itoh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

人の生き死にを扱っている小説ですが、読んでいて暗い感じがするわけでもなく、むしろ美しく感じました。三人の少女（トァンとミァハ、キアン）が自殺を企てるまでのストーリーは、不謹慎だけども、このような世の中だから死ななくちゃねと納得してしまうほど、作者が敷いたレールの上を思考させられた感じでした。死ぬことに悲壮感がないと言うか、理詰めで巻き込まれていく感じです。

物語の前半は結構淡々に進みます。最初に衝撃を受けたのは、キアンがトァンとレストランで食事中に突然自殺してしまうシーン。ここから物語が急展開するのだけど、不意討ちを喰らったような戸惑いを覚えました。物語の最初の方でミァハが自死してしまうのですが、それはストーリー上の必然でした。ところが、キアンの死は脈絡もなく突然に起こるので驚きました。キアンの死に方は想像するとグロテスクですが、文字を追っている限りはグロテスクなシーンも美しく感じられます。筆者の表現力の見事さがなせる技だと思います。

次に衝撃を受けたのは、ラストの方です。ネタバレになるので詳しくは書きませんが、生きていることと死んでいることについて考えさせられます。生きているような死、死人の生き死にを扱っている小説ですが、読んでいて暗い感じがするわけでもなく、むしろ美しく感じました。三人の少女（トァンとミァハ、キアン）が自殺を企てるまでのストーリーは、不謹慎だけども、このような世の中だから死ななくちゃねと納得してしまうほど、作者が敷いたレールの上を思考させられた感じでした。死ぬことに悲壮感がないと言うか、理詰めで巻き込まれていく感じです。

物語の前半は結構淡々に進みます。最初に衝撃を受けたのは、キアンがトァンとレストランで食事中に突然自殺してしまうシーン。ここから物語が急展開するのだけど、不意討ちを喰らったような戸惑いを覚えました。物語の最初の方でミァハが自死してしまうのですが、それはストーリー上の必然でした。ところが、キアンの死は脈絡もなく突然に起こるので驚きました。キアンの死に方は想像するとグロテスクですが、文字を追っている限りはグロテスクなシーンも美しく感じられます。筆者の表現力の見事さがなせる技だと思います。

次に衝撃を受けたのは、ラストの方です。ネタバレになるので詳しくは書きませんが、生きていることと死んでいることについて考えさせられます。生きているような死、死んでいることで生を感じさせること。とても深いと思います。極端に言えば、生きていることと死んでいることの区別はつかないのではないか、ということまで考えてしまう。筆者のあのような人生であるからこそ、このような境地のストーリーを産み出せたのではないでしょうか。

映画も公開されます。映像でこのような読後感を味わえるかどうか分かりませんが、映画を観る予定がある人は、小説を読んでおくべきだと思います。

また、etmlという架空のマークアップ言語で感情を表現した部分があります。Webページの構造を記述するHTMLのようなマークアップ言語です。etmlで表現された部分は、HTMLの知識がないと、意味が分からないかもしれません。ですので、先にHTMLの入門書を読んでおくことをお勧めします。しっかりと勉強する必要はありません。入門書の最初の方を読んでおけば十分だと思います。

私はHTMLの知識を持っていたので、作者が何を表現したかったのか、よく理解できました。万人向けではないですが、etml記法は使えるような気がしました。最初は「読みにくいなあ」と思いましたが、慣れると、感情に色がついたように読めて分かりやすかったです。
...more

flag Like · see review

Jun 21, 2011 Brian's Book Blog rated it it was amazing

Wow. Just wow. I haven't read a book that gripped me like this did. Being a fan of "1984" and "Brave New World" this hits the nail on the head into bringing it into the near future.

Most of the story takes place in Japan, but it is very easily understood and there isn't much written that didn't translate into English well. The story is fast paced and well detailed. The characters are well developed and the world is very believable.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Nov 03, 2014 Anita rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Mégis miért olvasom?
< list:okaim >
< o:Imádom Japánt és a japán szerzőket! >
< o:Imádom a technológiát! >
< o:Kellett még egy sci-fi erre a hónapra valami kihíváshoz >
< o:Belelapoztam és megtetszett a programozói minta. >
< o:Persze már jóval előtte megfogott a borítója, ami Sánta Kira gyönyörű munkája. >
< o:Disztópia. >
< o:Utópia. >
< o:Techno-thriller. >
< /list >

Őszintén szólva nekem baromira bejött ez az (online) betegségmegelőző, betegsé ...more

flag Like · see review

Oct 09, 2015 David rated it liked it

A dark, acerbic dystopian science fiction story set in a world where healthiness and long life are mandated, "Harmony"s central conceit is quite intriguing. Unfortunately the author isn't quite able to quite pull off demonstrating why such a world might be so horrible- instead it just seems kind of annoying and bland, which robs the central narrative of much of it's drama. Nevertheless, there's lots of good stuff to read for: the setting is very original and in this day and age seems quite relev ...more

flag Like · see review

Dec 01, 2015 Iman Aisyah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: my-favourite

<?Emotion-in-Text:version=code-enc:95713>

Harmony, by Project Itoh. I read the translated version and it was great. The twist and turn of the utopia world left me some good impression about this talented author. How health effect in lives and how it could lead to various consequences, I think the story portrayed science fiction world in whole lot different level. No wonder the book won some awards for Japan SF Award. The main character, Tuan Kirie, was my favorite in this story. Her backst ...more

flag Like · see review

Sep 11, 2013 Szil0214 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Nehéz írni erről a könyvről. A legborzasztóbb jövőkép, amit én elképzelni tudok. Örülök, hogy nem ilyen világban élünk. Most valami könnyedet és rózsaszínt kéne olvasnom, aminek happy end a vége.

"
Ugyanolyanok. Egytől egyig.
{…}
<\panic>"

Bővebben: http://mangaolvas.blogspot.hu/2013/01...

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jan 21, 2014 Artur Coelho rated it really liked it

Este curto e muito curioso livro recordou-me um género hoje quase extinto de utopia em ficção científica: a sociedade perfeita (ou a aperfeiçoar-se), reflectindo os melhores valores humanos combinados com tecnologia avançada e engenharia social benéfica que, sendo humana e um salto qualitativo sobre as injustiças do real, acaba por se revelar como fundamentalmente opressiva e baseada em consensos que nulificam o indivíduo face a uma ideia de utopia. Note-se que não estou a descrever distopias. E Este curto e muito curioso livro recordou-me um género hoje quase extinto de utopia em ficção científica: a sociedade perfeita (ou a aperfeiçoar-se), reflectindo os melhores valores humanos combinados com tecnologia avançada e engenharia social benéfica que, sendo humana e um salto qualitativo sobre as injustiças do real, acaba por se revelar como fundamentalmente opressiva e baseada em consensos que nulificam o indivíduo face a uma ideia de utopia. Note-se que não estou a descrever distopias. Estou claramente a pensar nas visões de comunidades científicas, tecnocráticas ou ecológicas representativas de conceitos sociais progressistas e que Ballard satiriza de forma tão corrosiva em Running Wild, romance onde o subúrbio é a utopia humanista provocadora de violência selvática nas crianças que cresceram rodeadas de bonomia.

Na utopia de Itoh o mundo recompôs-se após um período histórico confuso que mescla de forma muito intrigante a visão clássica do apocalipse nuclear com o corrente mundo descentralizado e mais sujeito a ameaças de terroristas ou tiranetes regionais do que a confrontos de destruição mutuamente assegurada entre hiper-potências de dedo no gatilho atómico. Houve detonações nucleares que provocaram uma era de doenlas e mutações radioactivas, mas a ciência acabou por triunfar e o mundo reconstruiu-se. Após cientistas japoneses proporem um sistema de controle de doenças a partir da implantação de nanotecnologia controlada por software centralizado uma nova forma de organização política alastra-se num planeta onde estados-nação e organizações trasnacionais cedem terreno a um consórcio global de administrações médicas. Estas assumem a responsabilidade pela vida das pessoas, equilibrando as condições de saúde, erradicando doenças e garantindo uma longa esperança de vida. Nesta nova sociedade os antigos valores que quase levaram ao colapso da humanidade são erradicados através de um rigoroso controle de informação e da instilação de valores de bondade individual e social como filosofia domimante. O resultado é um mundo quase homogéneo, uma espécie de utopia bem educada de conformidade pelo saudável. A rápida evolução desta sociedade depressa fez alastrar o controle da saúde ao campo intelectual, com atitudes e acções fortemente controladas por um consenso de nada fazer que possa de alguma forma magoar ou traumatizar.

Nem todo o planeta vive desta forma. Resistem bolsas de humanidade que sobrevive de formas mais naturais, apesar dos esforços das administrações médicas para os trazer para os seus domínios. Mas a tendência é inexorável e são cada vez menos os locais no planeta onde a harmonia social não chega. Ainda se pode ir mais longe. Os implantes que asseguram o equilíbrio saudável das pessoas são controlados por software centralizado em servidores, que por sua vez pode ser modificado para alterar percepções e estados de consciência. E talvez nulificar a consciência humana, reduzindo a humanidade ao estado de autómatos funcionais de inteligência limitada, capazes de funcionar em sociedad avançada mas incapazes de empatia e sentimento de individualidade. É essa a harmonia do livro, um estado de nirvana social que eliminaria o principal problema de saúde: a individualidade humana em todas as suas infindas variações.

Mergulhamos na história pelo ponto de vista de Tuan Kirie, uma mulher inadaptada, agente das forças de segurança de saúde, organismo supra-nacional que coopera com governos e instituições como braço armado das autoridades médicas. Apesar de representar o rigor médico social, sente-se oprimida pela constante bonomia conformista. As mais fortes recordações do seu passado envolvem um grupo de jovens igualmente inconformista, de entre os quais se destaca Miach Mihie, rapariga culta e rebelde que incentiva as amigas ao suicídio como forma única de libertação da pressão conformizante da sociedade utópica.

Este mundo de perfeição galopante é abalado por uma série de suicídios em massa. Uma organização oculta conseguiu penetrar nos servidores da administração médica e provocar a epidemia de suicídios utilizando os mesmos sistemas de bio-software que mantém a população saudável. Fica no ar a ameaça de piores atrocidades, o que leva os altos escalões da sociedade a entrar em pânico, desenvolvendo os esforços possíveis para travar a potencial queda da sociedade perfeita.

É aqui que Tuan vai embarcar numa aventura de contornos policiais onde irá confrontar o seu passado pessoal, o dos pais e o mais tenebroso de Mihie, que guarda diversos segredos. Adoptada por uma família nipónica, Mihie é oriunda de uma zona remota da Chechénia. A sua etnia tem como característica comum a ausência de consciência de si mas as sevícias sofridas às mãos dos russos despertam em Mihie a consciência do existir da pior forma possível. O trauma é tão grande que as sessões de terapia intensa apenas o conseguem mitigiar, até porque Mihie sabe que é possível ascender (ou decair) a um estado de consciência em suprema felicidade, vivendo o momento sem os mal-estares associados à individualidade. Não sem grande surpresa, é a principal instigadora dos ataques terroristas cujo verdadeiro alvo é o pânico das altas autoridades médicas. O objectivo é fazê-los acreditar que a sociedade se encontra prestes a mergulhar no caos e levá-los a despoletar a sua arma do juízo final: activar os sistemas de controlo cerebral presentes na tecnologia de implantes vigilantes de saúde e mergulhar a humanidade num estado de nirvana harmonioso, dissolvendo a individualidade do ser num imenso colectivo que mantém todas as aparências da humanidade normal mas sem qualquer traço de auto-consciência.

É intrigante a forma como Itoh desenvolve este romance. A história segue uma estrutura clássica de ficção científica, com infodumps narrados e uma sucessão de peripécias que coalesce na revelação transformativa final. Mas Itoh não se resume ao mero contar de histórias. Nos momentos chave, aqueles que obrigam ou implicam estruturas de pensamento avançadas, empatia ou noção de indivíduo, Itoh substitui a língua literária por uma metalinguagem inspirada em XML, etiquetando emoções e categorizando pensamentos. Este pormenor de escrita experimental sublinha o final infeliz do livro. Supostamente a história é contada pela nova humanidade, imersa no nirvana da colectividade e incapaz de compreender sentimentos ou noções de individualidade, uma vez que a nanotecnologia lhes desligou essas estruturas mentais. A tecnologia metalínguística é a forma artificial que resta a futura humanidade de Itoh para se sentir humana.

O détournement dado ao conceito de futurismo utópico neste livro é qualquer coisa de brilhante. Itoh vai mais longe do que a habitual aproximação à utopia como elemento que requer o totalitarismo de consensos oculto sob o brilho de novas sociedades que enterrem as imperfeições do mundo real. Para Itoh a verdadeira utopia só se consegue desligando, literalmente, o que nos faz sentir pessoa e mergulhando a humanidade numa espécie de enxame colectivista onde a noção de indivíduo é uma recordação histórica, perceptível apenas através de constructos tecnológicos. ...more

flag Like · see review

Jan 23, 2016 Jaka Kun rated it liked it

Shelves: 2016

La idea me parece interesante: una sociedad perfecta en la que existe la cura a cualquier enfermedad a través de la nanotecnología y que tras una catástrofe global, decide vivir en paz y armonía.

Sin embargo creo que se queda corto en mucho de lo que esta sociedad implica y me hubiera gustado leer más sobre ello. El personaje de Tuan me parece innecesariamente insolente, lo que me llevó a no creerle todas; creo que por lo mismo, muchas de los giros que toma el libro me parecen simplones.

Me perd ...more

flag Like · see review

Feb 25, 2011 Eric rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, 2011

I chuckled every time "the old folks" were blamed for mankind's dystopian future. When homo perfectus ushers in a brave new world, you can bet there's some anonymous old geezer behind the curtain pushing the Harmony button.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Mar 17, 2013 Kyle Muntz rated it really liked it

4 1/2. This novel was full of fascinating concepts, and read especially well for being in translation. The treatment of the distopia itself was also highly unconventional and very Japanese.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Feb 25, 2014 Patrice Leonard rated it really liked it · review of another edition

D'un point de vue technique, ce livre est un livre jeunesse et cela se ressent dans l'écriture, un style léger pour une lecture facile.
Par contre, dans les sujets abordés, là, il me semble qu'il faut être bien accroché. D'une part l'auteur aborde de manière claire la question de notre conscience et de sa nécessité avec en question principale: La conscience individuelle est-elle un bien ou un mal? En corolaire, il aborde le thème de la souffrance et de la mort, la souffrance comme vecteur de notr ...more

flag Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 77 78 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend It | Stats | Recent Status Updates

Readers Also Enjoyed

Genres

Science Fiction

63 users

Science Fiction > Dystopia

29 users

Fiction

22 users

Asian Literature > Japanese Literature

19 users

Cultural > Japan

19 users

Science Fiction > Cyberpunk

6 users

Speculative Fiction

5 users

Novels

4 users

Adult

3 users

Science Fiction Fantasy

3 users

See top shelves…

About Project Itoh

Project Itoh (伊藤計劃 Itō Keikaku?), real name Satoshi Itō (伊藤聡 Itō Satoshi?, October 14, 1974 – March 20, 2009), was a Japanese science fiction writer.

Born in Tokyo and graduated Musashino Art University. While working as a web designer, he wrote Gyakusatsu kikan and submitted to Komatsu Sakyō Award contest in 2006. Although it did not receive the award, it was published from Hayakawa Publishing i ...more

More about Project Itoh...

Books by Project Itoh

Phantasm Japan: Fantasies Light and Dark, From and About Japan

More…

Share This Book

+ Share on your website

Trivia About ハーモニー〔新版〕

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Harmony

“The instant the old folks had entered their codes and the Harmony program had begun to sing, suicide disappeared from human society. Nearly all battles ceased. The individual was no longer a unit. The entire social system was the unit. By losing its sense of self and self-awareness, society had been freed from the pain it suffered because its systems had relied on imperfect humans, arriving for the first time at a perfect bliss. I am a part of the system, as you are part of the system. No one felt any pain about that any longer. There was no “me” to feel pain. I had been replaced by a single...” — 8 likes

“For people living in fear, moderation just doesn't cut it. And most of the people in my world are fearful. It's like keeping a piggy bank when you never empty your wallet in the first place.” — 5 likes

More quotes…

title link	preview: Harmony
avg rating	preview: Harmony Goodreads rating: 3.92 (719 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7326876-harmony?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1384023369l/7326876.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7326876-harmony?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Harmony by Project Itoh[/url]

See a Problem?

Preview — Harmony by Project Itoh

Harmony

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

Readers Also Enjoyed

Genres

About Project Itoh

Books by Project Itoh

Share This Book

Share on your website

Trivia About ハーモニー〔新版〕

Quotes from Harmony