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naza16's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
stenaros's review
4.0
Another futuristic tale from Piercy concerning a woman, her son and a robot. I love how Piercy imagines the world mid-century. I hope it isn't like that, but you never know.
datadog1's review
5.0
Loved this book right from page one. Definitely a slow read, but packed full of things. Corporate power, ecological disaster, nature of humanity, feminism. Lots of philosophy and political material.
There are two parallel story lines, one in Prague, the 1600, and one in a near-future dystopia. As you switch back and forth between the stories, they reflect upon each other. Especially lending itself to contrast is the role of women in both times, the relative value of human life, methods of government. A constant is both storylines take place within a Jewish community providing some continuity.
Really well written well thought out book. Not as easy or quick a read as some SF dystopia, but tons of food for thought.
There are two parallel story lines, one in Prague, the 1600, and one in a near-future dystopia. As you switch back and forth between the stories, they reflect upon each other. Especially lending itself to contrast is the role of women in both times, the relative value of human life, methods of government. A constant is both storylines take place within a Jewish community providing some continuity.
Really well written well thought out book. Not as easy or quick a read as some SF dystopia, but tons of food for thought.
hazy_amber's review
1.0
You know that great feeling when you run across a book that holds up no matter when it was written?
Well, this is not one of those.
I was very excited about it. Usually i only read the description and look at the average, but don't read reviews - to keep an open mind. So i was very excited about it - potential of great female leads! feminism! history! AI! what's not to like?
Little did i know that i won't be able to go through first 50 pages without cringing constantly.
Written in early 90s and set 70 years later in late 2050s, the first 50 pages have shown me in the essence exactly zero speculation as to what future would be like, zero society development, zero curiosity of mind from the author. But wait, one can say, there is a new society structure, and the layout, and new "countries", cities, corporations running them, etc, how is that not "what future would be like"? Well, that's exactly my point - the author changes the decorations yet puts society of 90s in there. Marriage is now a 5 or 10 year contract - yet this is society where they take younger spouses and leave the older ones rot somewhere - no explanation why.
The main character fails to clearly mention her line of work, yet somehow we know exactly what her ex-husband does. The author creates this stereotypical/archetypical wife and mother and tries to colour her a little with a "well, she has a job".
Sorry, not buying it - we manage to find out about her despair about lost custody for her son, we manage to have the full scope of her reasoning to enter a completely unhealthy and dysfunctional marriage, yet we fail, time after time, to have a clear understanding of her line of work?
She enters a city of her childhood and the first thing she thinks of is her ex lover?
She appears on the doorstep of the woman who brought her up after years and years and the first thing she says is "I failed to bring my son here"?
Again - sorry, i am not buying that the only thing in a mind of a woman is this emotional turmoil over love affairs and children, so turbulent that she forgets to ask what her new job entails before accepting it.
I am surprised to read the comments about it being feminist, because feminism is the last thing i got out of it, and that's me not even getting to the actual plot.
So far i have seen a very narrow viewpoint from the author, so i guess i'll move on to someone more daring when it comes to "how future could be".
Well, this is not one of those.
I was very excited about it. Usually i only read the description and look at the average, but don't read reviews - to keep an open mind. So i was very excited about it - potential of great female leads! feminism! history! AI! what's not to like?
Little did i know that i won't be able to go through first 50 pages without cringing constantly.
Written in early 90s and set 70 years later in late 2050s, the first 50 pages have shown me in the essence exactly zero speculation as to what future would be like, zero society development, zero curiosity of mind from the author. But wait, one can say, there is a new society structure, and the layout, and new "countries", cities, corporations running them, etc, how is that not "what future would be like"? Well, that's exactly my point - the author changes the decorations yet puts society of 90s in there. Marriage is now a 5 or 10 year contract - yet this is society where they take younger spouses and leave the older ones rot somewhere - no explanation why.
The main character fails to clearly mention her line of work, yet somehow we know exactly what her ex-husband does. The author creates this stereotypical/archetypical wife and mother and tries to colour her a little with a "well, she has a job".
Sorry, not buying it - we manage to find out about her despair about lost custody for her son, we manage to have the full scope of her reasoning to enter a completely unhealthy and dysfunctional marriage, yet we fail, time after time, to have a clear understanding of her line of work?
She enters a city of her childhood and the first thing she thinks of is her ex lover?
She appears on the doorstep of the woman who brought her up after years and years and the first thing she says is "I failed to bring my son here"?
Again - sorry, i am not buying that the only thing in a mind of a woman is this emotional turmoil over love affairs and children, so turbulent that she forgets to ask what her new job entails before accepting it.
I am surprised to read the comments about it being feminist, because feminism is the last thing i got out of it, and that's me not even getting to the actual plot.
So far i have seen a very narrow viewpoint from the author, so i guess i'll move on to someone more daring when it comes to "how future could be".
eleanorghunt's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
yaburrow's review against another edition
4.0
This was written in 1991, so some of the ideas about the internet didn’t come to fruition in the way that was described in the book, but the ideas about climate change are pretty realistic. The chief strength and interest of the book is in its characters and setting: the people and the town of Tikva, a free Jewish settlement on the shore of North America. The shore has moved inland and there are drowned cities to the east. The town is sheltered by a wrap, some sort of dome that protects people from the ultraviolet (in this future, the ozone layer was irrevocably damaged by CFCs) and the extreme heat. The town is also threatened by the many corporations that want to swallow it up (governments have all collapsed so the main powers in the world are corporations).
The story is interspersed with episodes from the story of the Golem of Prague, and how the great Rabbi Loew’s creation helped to save the people of the ghetto from a pogrom.
The big question at the centre of the book is, if you create something (a golem or an android) to kill, can it ever transcend or escape its nature? Can an android or a golem be a person in the full sense of the word?
There are so many interesting characters in the book: Malkah, who tries to give the android a conscience and a more rounded personality; Avram, the creator of the android; the android himself; Nili, from Israel, who is an artificially-enhanced human (to provide a contrast with the android). I didn’t find the central character, Shira, all that convincing, but she is more than made up for by Malkah. I also enjoyed being immersed in a Jewish perspective on the world for a bit.
The story is interspersed with episodes from the story of the Golem of Prague, and how the great Rabbi Loew’s creation helped to save the people of the ghetto from a pogrom.
The big question at the centre of the book is, if you create something (a golem or an android) to kill, can it ever transcend or escape its nature? Can an android or a golem be a person in the full sense of the word?
There are so many interesting characters in the book: Malkah, who tries to give the android a conscience and a more rounded personality; Avram, the creator of the android; the android himself; Nili, from Israel, who is an artificially-enhanced human (to provide a contrast with the android). I didn’t find the central character, Shira, all that convincing, but she is more than made up for by Malkah. I also enjoyed being immersed in a Jewish perspective on the world for a bit.
lberestecki's review
3.0
Characters: I really liked Nili, and I really didn't like Gadi, but otherwise I was pretty indifferent towards most of the characters. They were fine, but I didn't love them or hate them. I think I would have liked the book more if I had felt more connected to Shira.
Plot: It took me a little bit to get into the story, but I really enjoyed the main plot with Shira as the main character. I also liked the ending a lot. However, I didn't like the chapters narrated by Malkah very much. I don't love stories that jump around in time in general, and I really felt like Malkah's chapters removed me from my investment in the main plot. her chapters were also much more based in religion, which I personally don't love in my fiction. I would have enjoyed the book a lot more if it had just consisted of Shira's story.
Overall: This was definitely an interesting book, and although it didn't always hold my interest I really enjoyed some parts of it.
Plot: It took me a little bit to get into the story, but I really enjoyed the main plot with Shira as the main character. I also liked the ending a lot. However, I didn't like the chapters narrated by Malkah very much. I don't love stories that jump around in time in general, and I really felt like Malkah's chapters removed me from my investment in the main plot. her chapters were also much more based in religion, which I personally don't love in my fiction. I would have enjoyed the book a lot more if it had just consisted of Shira's story.
Overall: This was definitely an interesting book, and although it didn't always hold my interest I really enjoyed some parts of it.
alebzomer's review
5.0
Part cyberpunk, part Chassidic tale with a good dose of young/old woman's memoir. It just hit a lot of my personal sweet spots.
veeyza's review
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
vyxter's review
5.0
This is one of my favorite books. I have reread it more times than I can count. I adore it, and recommend it often.