Reviews with content warning for Murder - Under the Skin

The film version is one of my all-time favourites, I’d always known it was a loose adaptation but the thematic priorities of both versions are fascinating in their own ways: the film is a disturbing take on loneliness and what it means to be human whereas the novel succeeds in depicting humans as the most alien things in the universe (humans are called vodsels and the alien race are confusingly called “humans” I suppose to underline their normality). The detailed descriptions of what happens to vodsels after Isserley has taken them is rather chilling, recalling to mind what I’m sure it’s like for livestock on animal farms in real life and the industrialisation of abattoirs and slaughterhouses. The ending scenes of the book and film are very different but they reach the same metaphorical idea of Isserley finally becoming one with Earth at last. I prefer the film overall but this is a terrific book!

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mdpenguin's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was a decent story and well written except that it didn't really seem to commit to saying anything about its themes. Part of it is that the main character doesn't really grow much and is rather bitter and antisocial through the whole thing. But part of it is that it brings up issues of hierarchy and class but doesn't really do anything much with them. It would have been pretty easy to use the conversations with hitchhikers to draw parallels between Isserley's situation and those of her victims. And there's a point at which severe trauma causes issues but doesn't lead to any long-term changes in the way that the character relates to others. I guess you could say that it is a portrait of a person so affected by the brutality of class in her society that she cannot break herself out of a mentality that reinforces it even when isolated from the society and invited to do so by one of her "betters." However, it doesn't give enough for us to really understand why she would entrench herself so heavily into her own subjugation. There's just not enough food for thought in it for me.

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