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somebunny23's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
beckys_book_blog's review against another edition
3.0
I loved the concept of this book and I was immediately intrigued as to what was going to happen when I started reading this. The story is about a group of people suddenly being taken to 'a facility' against their will. As you read on you find out more about the place they have been taken to and why they are there (the government are trying to keep it a secret.)The main character has a wife who is desperate (with the help of a journalist) to find her husband who suddenly disappeared. This was an interesting read but I would have liked a different ending to the story.
hayesstw's review
4.0
"Kafka meets Orwell in contemporary England" says the blurb on the cover.
Well, not quite, but one can see how they arrive at the comparison. [a:Simon Lelic|3220121|Simon Lelic|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1335398039p2/3220121.jpg] simply extrapolates some trends in British society and politics into the near future, and the picture he gives is generally quite believable. All it needs is the detention-without-trial legislation that some British politicians desperately wanted, but didn't get.
[a:Franz Kafka|5223|Franz Kafka|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1287463493p2/5223.jpg] and [a:George Orwell|3706|George Orwell|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1175614486p2/3706.jpg] wrote about dystopian futures in which there are extreme changes in every aspect of society. [a:Simon Lelic|3220121|Simon Lelic|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1335398039p2/3220121.jpg] writes about a society that is deceptively normal.
In that respect this book more closely resembles [b:A Dry White Season|65249|A Dry White Season|André P. Brink|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170631767s/65249.jpg|63299] by [a:Andre Brink|6168903|Andre Philippus Brink|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]. For the first 50 pages of [b:The Facility|13542689|The Facility A Novel|Simon Lelic|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1340734084s/13542689.jpg|13924685] I thought it was about a Britain that resembled South Africa c1968, after the passing of the Terrorism Act. It was a Britain transformed into Vorster's South Africa.
After the first 50 pages the plot is slightly different, and there are a few plot holes that make it fall short of Kafka, or Orwell, or Brink, but it is still a pretty good read. And scary, too. This is something that could happen, and something that some British politicians are on record as wanting to happen.
See, for example, here Notes from underground: The swing to fascism in the USA and the UK, when the British media lauded Tony Blair's attempts to turn Britain into Vorter's South Africa as "the moral high ground". And [b:The Facility|13542689|The Facility A Novel|Simon Lelic|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1340734084s/13542689.jpg|13924685] shows how very easily that could happen.
Well, not quite, but one can see how they arrive at the comparison. [a:Simon Lelic|3220121|Simon Lelic|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1335398039p2/3220121.jpg] simply extrapolates some trends in British society and politics into the near future, and the picture he gives is generally quite believable. All it needs is the detention-without-trial legislation that some British politicians desperately wanted, but didn't get.
[a:Franz Kafka|5223|Franz Kafka|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1287463493p2/5223.jpg] and [a:George Orwell|3706|George Orwell|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1175614486p2/3706.jpg] wrote about dystopian futures in which there are extreme changes in every aspect of society. [a:Simon Lelic|3220121|Simon Lelic|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1335398039p2/3220121.jpg] writes about a society that is deceptively normal.
In that respect this book more closely resembles [b:A Dry White Season|65249|A Dry White Season|André P. Brink|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170631767s/65249.jpg|63299] by [a:Andre Brink|6168903|Andre Philippus Brink|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]. For the first 50 pages of [b:The Facility|13542689|The Facility A Novel|Simon Lelic|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1340734084s/13542689.jpg|13924685] I thought it was about a Britain that resembled South Africa c1968, after the passing of the Terrorism Act. It was a Britain transformed into Vorster's South Africa.
After the first 50 pages the plot is slightly different, and there are a few plot holes that make it fall short of Kafka, or Orwell, or Brink, but it is still a pretty good read. And scary, too. This is something that could happen, and something that some British politicians are on record as wanting to happen.
See, for example, here Notes from underground: The swing to fascism in the USA and the UK, when the British media lauded Tony Blair's attempts to turn Britain into Vorter's South Africa as "the moral high ground". And [b:The Facility|13542689|The Facility A Novel|Simon Lelic|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1340734084s/13542689.jpg|13924685] shows how very easily that could happen.
elaine_millan's review against another edition
1.0
Got just over a third of the way through it and had absolutely no interest in the plot or the characters. One star because I wasn't enticed to finish it even after reading so much of it.
dreesreads's review
3.0
Modern day dystopia that takes place in England.
People are disappearing off the streets. Why? Who is taking them, where, and why? Will they be seen again? Who is in charge?
An interesting idea for a story, but it pretty much peters out. In the end, unsatisfying.
People are disappearing off the streets. Why? Who is taking them, where, and why? Will they be seen again? Who is in charge?
An interesting idea for a story, but it pretty much peters out. In the end, unsatisfying.
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