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A review by versionsofv
Sielun silmin by P.C. Jersild
5.0
I didn’t expect to feel so deeply attached by the end of this book. At first, my excitement was sporadic; I’d pick it up, read bits, and then set it aside. But now that I’ve finished, the emotional impact is overwhelming. A Living Soul draws you in with quick-witted humor and some of the most brilliant sentences I’ve ever read, while other lines flow fast and simple, weaving a stream of consciousness that puts you directly into the experience of a mind without a body.
As the story unfolds, the heartbreak seeps in. The novel strips away emotion, making the experience technical and cold—yet, even then, there’s an unshakable glimmer of longing that reminds us of our essential humanity. It suggests that no matter how much we might be "taken apart," something within us will always yearn, dream, and desire. I used to think a life as a “brain in a vat of liquid ” was an ideal escape—a simulated existence free of the world’s struggles. But this book changed that. It made me realize that autonomy and free will aren’t just privileges; they’re at the core of what makes life meaningful. We need to know we can wander, take risks, and even face death on our own terms. Because, in the end, to lose control over our own fate is to lose something deeply human.
As the story unfolds, the heartbreak seeps in. The novel strips away emotion, making the experience technical and cold—yet, even then, there’s an unshakable glimmer of longing that reminds us of our essential humanity. It suggests that no matter how much we might be "taken apart," something within us will always yearn, dream, and desire. I used to think a life as a “brain in a vat of liquid ” was an ideal escape—a simulated existence free of the world’s struggles. But this book changed that. It made me realize that autonomy and free will aren’t just privileges; they’re at the core of what makes life meaningful. We need to know we can wander, take risks, and even face death on our own terms. Because, in the end, to lose control over our own fate is to lose something deeply human.