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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
This would have been a great book had the author not made a female character almost immediately forgive and fall in love with her rapist for no valid reason. Disgusting.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
The story is set in a seemingly perfect world ruled by a computer called UniComp. Any deviation from the happiness of being in a world where all decisions are made for you is kept in check by information received from your bracelet or by others reporting your strange behavior to supervisors . The novel runs along the now well known path of a small group of the dissatisfied few rebelling against the system. I was totally surprised to find out the Ira Levin has written anything in this genre and just had to read it. It is a fair read, but feels a little tame when placed against the many more sophisticated dystopian societies that have appeared since it was published in 1970. It is worth reading even if it seems a little quaint at times, especially felt for me when the group discard their bracelets and pass round the dreaded and banned tobacco filled cigarettes and begin to smoke. Better to be a pig satisfied than Socrates with degenerative lung disease?
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's good, but I didn't like it as much as the other ones.
It's the usual scenario of a totalitarian entity - Uni - who's running the planet: I saw some of the Matrix in it. Few people realize that their life is not a real one and they try to fight back. Only Chip will succeed.
To be honest, I don't think that life in Uni is as bad as in other alternative realities. And once in a while Chip is annoying: a know-it-all in infancy and a macho man in his adult, non-sedated life. There is a rape and it doesn't add anything to the story, so why go there?
It's the usual scenario of a totalitarian entity - Uni - who's running the planet: I saw some of the Matrix in it. Few people realize that their life is not a real one and they try to fight back. Only Chip will succeed.
To be honest, I don't think that life in Uni is as bad as in other alternative realities. And once in a while Chip is annoying: a know-it-all in infancy and a macho man in his adult, non-sedated life. There is a rape and it doesn't add anything to the story, so why go there?
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved the story and was able to enjoy it, but the treatment of the women characters was nothing short of infuriating. I expected more from the creator of the Stepford Wives.
adventurous
dark
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:
No
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A particularly well thought out world. It actually feels quite real rather than a collection of clichés. Very Levinesque in it’s exploration of horrible things being done to people without their consent. Also explores moral questions around personal accountability.
Basically, people in the past (our future) have programmed a computer to control the entire population through a combination of drugs, and genetic and social engineering. Basically condemning their own descendents to a half lived life and the end of which they are killed.
There’s a great twist at the end which luckily I’d managed to forgot in the thirty years since I last read it. Be careful what you read about it before starting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Gaslighting
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No