Stephanie Jane recenzis Individutopia de Joss Sheldon
A scarily plausible future
4 steloj
Set in 2084, a nod to George Orwell's 1984 of course, Joss Sheldon takes Margaret Thatcher's famous statement 'there is no such thing as society' and runs that idea to a horrifically dark conclusion. We see future London through the Plense-covered eyes of our medicated heroine, Renee, and discover just how much of her wonderful life isn't perhaps as wonderful as she had believed.
I did find Individutopia to be more heavy-handed in style than I remember from Sheldon's previous novels and I felt some of his points and ideas were hammered home far more frequently than was needed. However this is still an intriguing and interesting novel. I liked Renee and could empathise with her desire to be the best person she could be. Her struggle to then integrate into a completely alien worldview is nicely portrayed. I don't have a particularly good knowledge of Central London so the …
Set in 2084, a nod to George Orwell's 1984 of course, Joss Sheldon takes Margaret Thatcher's famous statement 'there is no such thing as society' and runs that idea to a horrifically dark conclusion. We see future London through the Plense-covered eyes of our medicated heroine, Renee, and discover just how much of her wonderful life isn't perhaps as wonderful as she had believed.
I did find Individutopia to be more heavy-handed in style than I remember from Sheldon's previous novels and I felt some of his points and ideas were hammered home far more frequently than was needed. However this is still an intriguing and interesting novel. I liked Renee and could empathise with her desire to be the best person she could be. Her struggle to then integrate into a completely alien worldview is nicely portrayed. I don't have a particularly good knowledge of Central London so the details of Renee's running between job opportunities was lost on me, but the idea of pointless employment felt very real! Even though I prefer minimal living spaces myself, I couldn't imagine trying to survive in Renee's pod - where would I pile all my books?!