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ivaelo's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
sid_notthesloth's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Ich habe gelitten, aber auf eine produktive Art. Wenn man drüber nachdenkt, kann man doch so einiges Mitnehmen. Nichts für schwache Nerven oder verurteilende Geister.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Rape, Suicide, and Pedophilia
frankieior's review
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
notbenhoy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
dgjorgoski's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
andyagv's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
shoba's review
4.0
“In the midst of the suicide of the West, it was clear they had no chance.”
During the 1960s and 70s there was an easing of economic markets, championed primarily by conservatives, resulting in greater choices in goods and services.
“For society to function, for competition to continue, people have to want more and more, until desire fill their lives and finally devours them.”
However the financial gains from these changes ended up largely in the hands of a few highly skilled, well-connected, and monied individuals.
The loosening of sexual mores, championed by liberals, diminished the power of religion and other social institutions and a decline of the family followed.
“It is interesting to note that the ‘sexual revolution’ was sometimes portrayed as a communal utopia, whereas in fact it was simply another stage in the historical rise of individualism. As the lovely word ‘household’ suggests, the couple and the family would be the last bastion of primitive communism in liberal society. The sexual revolution was to destroy these intermediary communities….”
In this socioeconomic climate, two half-brothers, Bruno and Michel, were raised respectively by their maternal and paternal grandmothers. At a young age, Bruno was sent to boarding school where he was severely brutalized and upon graduation choses to be a teacher. He marriages and becomes a father but later divorces his wife and slowly becomes estranged from his son. Meanwhile his half-brother, Michel, spends his childhood with his grandmother in relative security and eventually becomes a molecular biologist. Later in their lives, Bruno begins a relationship with Christiane, a woman he meets at a summer retreat, and Michel with Annabelle , a woman from his past.
“They sometimes were sad, but mostly they were serious. Both of them knew that this would be their last human relationship, and this feeling lacerated every moment they spent together. They had a great respect and a profound sympathy for each other, and there were days when, caught up in some sudden magic, they knew moments of fresh air and glorious, bracing sunshine. For the most part, however, they could feel a gray shadow moving over them, on the earth that supported them, and in everything they could glimpse the end.”
Both of these relationships end tragically, with Bruno admitted to a psychiatric unit and Michel leaving for a new lab in Ireland. Continuing his biological research, Michel develops the theoretical pathway to the formation of a new kind of human being.
“…that mankind must disappear and give way to a new species which was asexual and immortal, a species which had outgrown individuality, separation, and evolution.”
One day leaving his scientific papers behind, Michel goes missing.
“Having broken the filial chain that linked us to humanity, we live on….As the last members of this race are extinguished, we think it just to render this last tribute to humanity….This book is dedicated to mankind.”