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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I love science fiction books that extrapolate current social issues into the future. And that is exactly what Kress does with Beggars in Spain. She takes the ideas of Ayn Rand and takes them to two extremes. One extreme is a society that becomes totally dependent on the works of others and cannot survive on their own. The other extreme is a society that is focused only on the individual and their personal productivity in which that productivity inherently benefits society. But once that person can no longer care for themselves, society is under no obligation to care for them. Both extremes are pretty depressing.
The book also deals with prejudice and fear of others who are different. It reminded me a lot of the X-Men and New Mutants comic books of the late 80s and early 90s and the way they handled the same issue. Of course, this was written around the same time, so it is easy to see why the similarities would exist as these were issues that society was dealing with as a whole back then.
I enjoyed playing with the idea of a segment of the human race which needed no sleep and the advantage they would have over the rest of society. Kress brings in some interesting tangents that I wasn't expecting such as how might the lack of dreaming for the "sleepless" affect them psychologically.
The book was a series of stories based off Kress's novella which won the Hugo and Nebula Awards. I felt this story, which was the first in this book, was by far the strongest in terms of character development and world development. The following stories vary, but all are good.
I enjoyed this and would recommend reading the first story. That should get you hooked to read the rest.
The book also deals with prejudice and fear of others who are different. It reminded me a lot of the X-Men and New Mutants comic books of the late 80s and early 90s and the way they handled the same issue. Of course, this was written around the same time, so it is easy to see why the similarities would exist as these were issues that society was dealing with as a whole back then.
I enjoyed playing with the idea of a segment of the human race which needed no sleep and the advantage they would have over the rest of society. Kress brings in some interesting tangents that I wasn't expecting such as how might the lack of dreaming for the "sleepless" affect them psychologically.
The book was a series of stories based off Kress's novella which won the Hugo and Nebula Awards. I felt this story, which was the first in this book, was by far the strongest in terms of character development and world development. The following stories vary, but all are good.
I enjoyed this and would recommend reading the first story. That should get you hooked to read the rest.
I really liked the beginning of this book, but I was not able to transfer my interest to the main characters in the second half. I also feel that the original main character acted in ways that didn’t make sense as she aged. I like the concept of this world, but I wanted to know more about the everyday people and less about the politics of a small group of elites.
I have a feeling this was originally a few novellas? At least the "book one" and "book two" feel like they could have been stand-alone pieces. Also, book one is the weakest part of the novel, so if you, like me, are underwhelmed during it, rest assured, it gets better.
A friend complained when I mentioned I was reading this book that "It makes no sense that taking away sleep would make people more productive! They'd just spend more time being unproductive!" I agree with him, but I also think that's a disingenuous complaint to make about this book. Kress set out to write a thought-experiment about "what if there were a caste of genetically engineered people who were naturally superior in intellect and achievement" and so the method by which they get there is meaningless. Case in point - there is very little ever said about how the sleepless would arrange their lives differently, or furnish their homes differently. They even still use beds for sex, when a sofa would have more utility there.
I digress.
The one thing it was missing, in my opinion, was an understanding of how discrimination and minority status work. You can't have a fictional minority and simply wash under the rug the idea of inequality as it exists. The fact is that inequality is often couched in terms of the favored group having "natural superior intellect and achievement" so having a new group that really does have that should directly confront this idea and show how inequities in opportunity, stereotype, and social caste can cause the dullard to achieve greater than the genius.
Rather, Kress opts to ignore discrimination of this sort, to leave the only active emotion in discrimination to be "envy of their betters" which ... ugh ... is historically a charge laid at the feet of the marginalized.
SO that's a big flaw in the book. It does get more nuanced toward the end, and I was grateful for the introduction of high achieving "sleeper" characters, but I am left wondering how much more groundbreaking this book could have been, given the author's excellent command of character, if it had been more thoughtful in portraying social systems.
A friend complained when I mentioned I was reading this book that "It makes no sense that taking away sleep would make people more productive! They'd just spend more time being unproductive!" I agree with him, but I also think that's a disingenuous complaint to make about this book. Kress set out to write a thought-experiment about "what if there were a caste of genetically engineered people who were naturally superior in intellect and achievement" and so the method by which they get there is meaningless. Case in point - there is very little ever said about how the sleepless would arrange their lives differently, or furnish their homes differently. They even still use beds for sex, when a sofa would have more utility there.
I digress.
The one thing it was missing, in my opinion, was an understanding of how discrimination and minority status work. You can't have a fictional minority and simply wash under the rug the idea of inequality as it exists. The fact is that inequality is often couched in terms of the favored group having "natural superior intellect and achievement" so having a new group that really does have that should directly confront this idea and show how inequities in opportunity, stereotype, and social caste can cause the dullard to achieve greater than the genius.
Rather, Kress opts to ignore discrimination of this sort, to leave the only active emotion in discrimination to be "envy of their betters" which ... ugh ... is historically a charge laid at the feet of the marginalized.
SO that's a big flaw in the book. It does get more nuanced toward the end, and I was grateful for the introduction of high achieving "sleeper" characters, but I am left wondering how much more groundbreaking this book could have been, given the author's excellent command of character, if it had been more thoughtful in portraying social systems.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence