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Why are reviewers not acknowledging the fact that entire premise is utterly ridiculous? A virus that can get past the immune system of every animal except human? The idea that ANYBODY would want to eat people just because they can’t get their morning bacon or cheeky Nandos, let alone enough people to make cannibalism government policy?
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Seb
I know right, that’s why I hate those Marvel films too! All that flying around and super powers - just utterly ridiculous!
Emily Konitzer
it's fiction paul
Trinity
you do know most dystopians tend to fall apart once you look too closely at them, right? the point isn't the plausibility of the actual scenario. but consider how people accept what they are told. we even have recent events like the right-wing American politics telling people "the Corona Virus is a hoax" and people believe them and that's how people die en masse. not only that but systematic cannibalism is almost always used in literature as a commentary of classism. Jonathon Swift's "A Modest Proposal", the 1973 film "Soylent Green", etc... this novel seems to call back to these kinds of things. the point isn't the premise of HOW the system came about. it is that the system of processing humans as meat is a metaphor for how those who are not seen as human (the poor, the disabled, the elderly, the races who have a history of being persecuted and abused (the moments where they keep saying "we need more dark skin", etc)...) are treated by society.
think a little less literally when reading it. even if the whole thing seems absurd, that was how Swift called attention to the fact that the poor was used and abused--satire re: an essay that sarcastically suggests "Hey, instead of eating expensive meats, let's harvest the poor's children!" the point is to shock. not to make sense.
think a little less literally when reading it. even if the whole thing seems absurd, that was how Swift called attention to the fact that the poor was used and abused--satire re: an essay that sarcastically suggests "Hey, instead of eating expensive meats, let's harvest the poor's children!" the point is to shock. not to make sense.
Isabel María
I think it is your objection that is utterly ridiculous:
"The idea that ANYBODY would want to eat people just because they can’t get their morning bacon or cheeky Nandos...?
Excuse me?
People use fast-fashion despite thousands of people are overworked or explited producing it.
People still buy cocaine despite thousands of people being murdered, raped, tortured, in the narc wars.
People use porn, despite many women having been raped and mistreated into producing it.
Worst of all, lots of people pay for prostitution, without caring whether the girl they are fucking is being coerced or obligated into it. The girl tells them she is being forced into it and many of them (according to girls forced into prostitution, ALL of them) say "what a pity!" and give them a tip... but they still fuck the kidnapped girl. So, they still RAPE her.
And you think this premise is ridiculous? No, it isn't. Human beings are capable of this. At least in the books there are activists against this trade, as there would be in real life. The government involvement part is far fetched, but... "utterly" ridiculous? No, it isn't. Human beings do this to sentient animals. It is not so far fetched for them to do it to other humans.
"The idea that ANYBODY would want to eat people just because they can’t get their morning bacon or cheeky Nandos...?
Excuse me?
People use fast-fashion despite thousands of people are overworked or explited producing it.
People still buy cocaine despite thousands of people being murdered, raped, tortured, in the narc wars.
People use porn, despite many women having been raped and mistreated into producing it.
Worst of all, lots of people pay for prostitution, without caring whether the girl they are fucking is being coerced or obligated into it. The girl tells them she is being forced into it and many of them (according to girls forced into prostitution, ALL of them) say "what a pity!" and give them a tip... but they still fuck the kidnapped girl. So, they still RAPE her.
And you think this premise is ridiculous? No, it isn't. Human beings are capable of this. At least in the books there are activists against this trade, as there would be in real life. The government involvement part is far fetched, but... "utterly" ridiculous? No, it isn't. Human beings do this to sentient animals. It is not so far fetched for them to do it to other humans.
Marcus Kovesi
The book itself acknowledges the premise is ridiculous. Most people think it's a conspiracy to deal with issues such as overpopulation, though no one really knows, because anyone who so much as questions the morality of eating "special meat" is shipped off to the slaughterhouse themselves.
People eat other people, in this book, because of a widespread propaganda campaign that has successfully separated how we view humans meant for slaughter and the rest of humanity... Those who had a problem with it, who questioned it and rallied against it, are dead. The remaining people in the world are divided between those who are too afraid not to conform and those who simply do not care that they are eating humans.
People eat other people, in this book, because of a widespread propaganda campaign that has successfully separated how we view humans meant for slaughter and the rest of humanity... Those who had a problem with it, who questioned it and rallied against it, are dead. The remaining people in the world are divided between those who are too afraid not to conform and those who simply do not care that they are eating humans.
Maggie
Have you ever heard of suspension of disbelief? I think as a reader you'd benefit from it.
Brett Minor
Since it is mentioned several times in the book that many people believe the entire thing to be a hoax, that is explained quite easily. Plus, it is also explained that there were years of propaganda to re-educate people. That doesn't mean it is just the way things would really play out, but the symbolism of the class system is pretty evident throughout.
Atrocities are carried out all over the world (in real life) because governments either deflect to other topics or redefine what is actually going on. And the people unaffected either ignore it or are blissfully unaware of how bad it really is for others.
Atrocities are carried out all over the world (in real life) because governments either deflect to other topics or redefine what is actually going on. And the people unaffected either ignore it or are blissfully unaware of how bad it really is for others.
Will Borr
Uh, this is the fiction section. Maybe a good biography is what you need.
Brady Gorman
Give me one widely regarded dystopian novel that actually makes sense
Jon Brady
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Stevie
I've got another "ridiculous" premise...the majority of a country either are involved in, support, or turn a blind eye to thousands of people being herded into camps, branded like cattle and gassed to death until the wider world get wind of it and step in....sounds just as ridiculous except it actually happened. there are tribes in other countries who have practiced cannibalism as a part of their culture until very recently, probably some that still do. geez if 5 years ago you'd said "in the event of a global pandemic the first thing people are going to do is panic buy toilet paper" you would have been thought crazy. impossible things are just improbable things that haven't happened yet
Caro
Well if you have read the book you will notice that even the characters say that the premise is ridiculous and is a conspiracy from the government. Nevertheless is interesting to see that you need to have real facts in a dystopian book. If this is your comment for this book I wonder what you will say about The Stand, World War Z and other dystopian novels...
Leavethegun Takethecannoli
If you care that much about that part of the premise then this novel is not for you.
Taylor Robinson
Someone missed the point.
David
It's a satire on the life we already live. I'm not sure how you missed that.
The "people we eat" are the women working in unsafe Bangladeshi sweatshops so we can have five dollar t-shirts, the 12 year olds harvesting rare earth minerals in some hellhole of a mine in Africa or Central Asia so we can have cheap cell phones, and the migrant labor who has to cross a barren desert in the care of a human trafficking cartel so we can eat cheap vegetables.
Her critique is of modern life as consumption, of capitalism writ large.
The "people we eat" are the women working in unsafe Bangladeshi sweatshops so we can have five dollar t-shirts, the 12 year olds harvesting rare earth minerals in some hellhole of a mine in Africa or Central Asia so we can have cheap cell phones, and the migrant labor who has to cross a barren desert in the care of a human trafficking cartel so we can eat cheap vegetables.
Her critique is of modern life as consumption, of capitalism writ large.
Kristy Alexander
You don't read fiction, do you? I don't think you should, anyway, because it's obviously too much for you to handle.
Phil
Sorry to spoil it for you - but did you know that Harry Potter can't actually fly that broomstick either. Who are these authors? Making up stories that aren't real. Terrible.
Kennie Morrison
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S
Holy shit thank you. The book literally implies that the animal virus is almost certainly a hoax. So you're telling me not a single person has tried to eat an animal????? they just accepted the cannibalism?? its a good book, but the foundations are so shaky
Cally Laz
It’s a major plot point that the virus was likely a government hoax designed to deal with overpopulation.
MacLeod Jay
I mean yeah to what everyone else said but if you've ever been to Texas you will too question the plausibility in people eating other human beings over going vegan.
Shelley
Even though the premise is shaky, I still think it's well written. The whole idea of what would we do if our 'normal meat' source was no longer there. The thing that kept on getting to me was : doesn't eating human meat make you mad? How is everyone not stark raving bonkers?
hellischeaper :)
Of course, is not realistic, every dystopian is unrealistic. It was written to criticizes the meat industry, not for u to relate and think mmm this might happen in the future, no.
Danijel Bogdanović
Regarding the virus, it is speculated on multiple places in the book that the virus is perhaps just a government construction, a part of a plan for a legal depopulation of our planet.
Regarding the cannibalism, slavery is just a step above cannibalism. And when one stops seeing a human being as a human being and starts seeing him as an object, or an animal that can speak, the possibility that one could get an idea to eat that speaking animal isn't that far away.
We had (still have) slavery, and we also had (still have?) cannibalism throughout history.
It would be perfect if the premise of this book was utterly ridiculous.
Regarding the cannibalism, slavery is just a step above cannibalism. And when one stops seeing a human being as a human being and starts seeing him as an object, or an animal that can speak, the possibility that one could get an idea to eat that speaking animal isn't that far away.
We had (still have) slavery, and we also had (still have?) cannibalism throughout history.
It would be perfect if the premise of this book was utterly ridiculous.
MysteriousPanda
yeah this is pretty much why I haven't picked this book up even after coming across it several times. I just can't get past the premise that humans would choose to eat other humans over eating vegetables and legumes. It's ridiculous. And I think a lot of people that have responded here with their "but its not real" commentary are missing the point and overreacting just a tad.
Bookfan
There is a tick-borne virus that causes people to become allergic to meat.
Kitty
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Gabriela
Imposible no hacer analogías con el sistema en que nos comemos unos a otros para mantener la rueda consumista-capitalista. El libro tiene cierta intriga7suspenso y no deja de poner en la mesa las preocupaciones de toda literatura distópica en la que el futuro es más oscuro de lo que esperamos. No creo que sea necesario una explicación creíble para disfrutar de relato, muy bien escrito.
Electric
Paul, I think you are absolutely right in this case. I really wanted to like this book, but could not because everything is set up in a way that makes you look for the plausible explanation. I love Kafka, or Borges, or Poe, or Lem...and I never question the plausibility of their tales because they make it very clear that it is not about that - Kafka does not explain in the slightest, why that poor guy wakes up as a bug. This author, on the other hand, wants to explain everything - but falls short. I still loved the quality of the writing.
Trista Walter
my thoughts exactly that I forgot to put into the review
Leah
it's a work of dystopian fiction, not hard sci-fi.
Radley An
It's almost like you need to use your imagination, a quality you apparently lack.
Paul Carr
Seems like this book was a little over someone's head. Clearly you missed the point
Mario Castrejon
That's the whole point.
tiffany gaylor
LMAO sir stop reading fiction if youre going to try and say its not real
Marc Towersap
I am now intrigued by this book! and I don't think it's that far a leap from eating animals to eating humans. I'm not just thinking of Donner or the soccer team that crashed, they had no food save for the already dead (dunno if Donner party killed), but most of us are omnivores, think nothing of eating cow/pig/fish/deer, or even dog (some cultures are ok with that), but really, if we can no longer physically get our protein from that source, whose to say it's an impossible leap to eat humans? particularly if it's done like how it is now. Since most of us don't hunt nor actually kill to eat, rather, we just buy it at a store. We don't even really see butchers working to cut and package, even if it's at our local grocery store. And besides, it is government policy to ensure that meat sold is safe to eat (FDA), food recalls (so we know food from this source should be tossed if the expiration date is MM-DD-YYYY) etc. I will put it on my to-buy list!
Brooklyn
THIS is why I expected a better twist ending.
ajax
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Gayle Gordon
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Mohammed Kittani
Because it's a satire. You're not on the hunt for plot holes. Rather, you wanna dig out what the author is trying to say. In this case, 'meat is baaaaaad!' Just kidding.
Marzena
Because this is not the point of the book at all. Also, the book itself provides the answer. Cannibalism has been around for years, it still exists in parts of the world. You should read more. It must be nice to live in a world that ignores the governments sanctioning the abuse and inhumane treatment of animals bread for human consumption. The stretch to cannibalism isn't that far fetched.
Uku
First it's fiction. Seconth you should know how propaganda, false news and such work and how genetic engineering works. Also.... the current stuff going around the world totally makes this story semi-plausable as unfortunate as it is. -Also, I do not think that mundane people who aren't part of industry totally or fully know what they are eating. Book has such old fashioned thing such as butcher shops, most would get their stuff from markets most likely and having foor there or other recocnizable part there would be bad business for them. If you remember how people were against taking covid vaxxines, you would know that it would pretty much be same people who would demand their meat on the plate no matter from where it came from. Some even though that covid was a global hoax and what happened.... it wasn't.
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Oct 11, 2022 03:46PM · flag
Oct 18, 2022 08:55PM · flag