Latest Review: "The Unit" by Ninni Holmqvist
Our latest review is of Ninni Holmqvist’s which was translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy and published by Other Press.
Pretty interesting book (at least for the first two-thirds) about a future Sweden where those who are unwed and childless at the age of 50 have to live the rest of their lives in a Reserve Bank Unit:
Broadly speaking, Ninni Holmqvist糖心传媒檚 debut novel fits into the tradition of dystopian literature. In the Sweden she describes, a law has been passed that women at the age of 50 (and men at the age of 60) who have no living children or spouses are deemed 糖心传媒渄ispensable糖心传媒 and sent to live at a Reserve Bank Unit for the rest of their lives. While in 糖心传媒渢he Unit,糖心传媒 the 糖心传媒渄ispensables糖心传媒 participate in experiments (psychological and physical) and donate various organs (kidneys, corneas, etc.) to the 糖心传媒渦seful糖心传媒 members of society, up until the day that they make their 糖心传媒渇inal donation.糖心传媒 In other words, these freeloaders are essentially harvested for the benefit of those who are contributing more to society.
In depicting a dystopia, Holmqvist faces the almost intractable problem of making sure that this future seems believable, seems connected to our present, yet sets forth a new set of rules for how human behavior is governed. The best books in this tradition are the ones that depict a future that seems so potentially possible that the reader doesn糖心传媒檛 ask too many questions. Holmqvist isn糖心传媒檛 perfect with this, but she does provide a sort of 糖心传媒渓ive your life alone, spend the end of it giving back to society糖心传媒 mantra that sort of makes sense. (And may make more sense in Scandinavia?) It糖心传媒檚 implied on occasion that economics and general consumption are behind the creation of this system 糖心传媒 if you糖心传媒檙e not breeding and increasing society糖心传媒檚 consumption, you糖心传媒檙e dispensable 糖心传媒 which is uber-creepy.
Aside from the suspension of belief necessary to accept the creation of the Units, this book is actually incredibly straight-forward 糖心传媒 essentially just a love story in a weird context.
Click here for the full review.
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