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steveatwaywords's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
While this book falls into the category of science fiction, it is better understood as speculative fiction (and social commentary). A woman who is forced into mental institutions (in the early 1970s) is able to time travel to a future utopic society. To be sure, the utopia has come about only following the worst practices of apocalyptic consumption-capitalism: it struggles in the aftermath; but its people have learned an ethic (and matched morality) about sustainability and life which--for its time, especially--is hugely forward-looking, especially in terms of gender, sexuality, and child development. These sections, coupled with a future language which is at once as familiar as it is paradigm-shifting, make the book a valuable experience.
Where Piercy has more trouble is in sustaining the story and its significance across past and future. There are some tempting discussions about the malleability of time, of the power of "responders" like our protagonist Connie, and of the responsibility we have to ourselves. Implementing these future-thinking ideas into the 1970s, however, was often forced and at times neglected or forgotten. The resolution to the novel feels equally . . . irresolute in this way. Yes, our Connie grows into her moment, but its nature is quickly narrated and left unexamined. One wonders if she needed "the future" at all to enact it and what might we have said had she done so. (And this is not because the novel is brief; its nearly 400 pages with long asides into the descriptions of meals, bandages, and the biographies of minor characters.)
It is, in part, the nature of a lot of science fiction from this era to offer its themes through "heady" trips into other-spaces; and readers are often left to make of the experiences what they will. I'm thinking of almost all of Huxley, a lot of Heinlein, Daniel Keyes, Harlan Ellison, and even some of LeGuin. In this sense, Piercy's novel has like company. But I could not help thinking that its resolution fell somewhat short of the author's future vision.
Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Medical trauma
Moderate: Medical content, Domestic abuse, Grief, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual content, Abandonment, Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and War
jisse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Racism, Child abuse, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Confinement, Medical trauma, Addiction, and Classism
Moderate: Suicide, Abortion, Body horror, and Domestic abuse
gbentley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Confinement, Child abuse, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Medical content, Physical abuse, Drug use, Violence, Sexual violence, Racism, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Suicide
anita1812's review against another edition
Graphic: Violence and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Abortion, and Mental illness
peteredout's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Classism, Ableism, Racism, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Colonisation, Child abuse, Body horror, Violence, and Forced institutionalization
arlaubscher's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicide, Blood, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Medical content, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Body shaming, Drug use, Blood, Colonisation, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Rape, Infertility, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual assault
racheldefriez's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Sexual content, Addiction, Abortion, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, and Violence
mar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Drug use, Medical content, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Racism, and Confinement
Moderate: Death, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia
Minor: Suicide, Police brutality, and Racial slurs
aeonidon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Confinement, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: War, Suicide, Pregnancy, Murder, Police brutality, Child abuse, and Blood