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introvertinsane21 's review for:
Universality
by Natasha Brown
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
IT'S A POLITICAL SATIRE ASKING THE QUESTION "WHAT DO WE REALLY STAND FOR?"
Now I was struggling a bit with this because it is very specific towards British politics so it took me some time to process what exactly am I reading. The story begins with a catalyst: someone got unalived with a gold bar and now the gold bar has gone missing.
The story then proceeds to other perspectives and how people react to this story: a symbolic gold bar and the act of unaliving someone, presumably a person of power. We follow the journalist writing the story, what angle they want to proceed with, what kind of feeling to ignite in the people (because yes, journalism in theory is about reporting the truth and let people decide but the reality today it is about manufacturing feeling and consent).
Then we also follow the real owner of the goldbar - the 'amoral banker' whose life is f-ed because of the article.
And finally we get to a politcal debate / interview as we follow the perspective of Lenny Leonard as she explains to us her MO on giving the 'gotcha' moment to the interviewer whom she knows is out to make her look like an idiot on live TV. Not gonna lie, it was satisfying.
But what I love about this book is how none of these people are "just truly evil". Because that's what everyone is mostly are. We all operate based on our own moral compass. Even for the so-called 'evil amoral capitalistic banker' he was written in a way that I have a bit of sympathy for (tbh we all should have a baseline sympathy for everyone as long as they're not psycopath ra-ist murderer genocidal racist maniac or something along the line.
But I find myself drawn to Lenny the most because she's the one who proclaims herself as 'misanthrope' equal-opportunity hater. Is it a grey line for her or is she simply ultra self-aware?
Now I was struggling a bit with this because it is very specific towards British politics so it took me some time to process what exactly am I reading. The story begins with a catalyst: someone got unalived with a gold bar and now the gold bar has gone missing.
The story then proceeds to other perspectives and how people react to this story: a symbolic gold bar and the act of unaliving someone, presumably a person of power. We follow the journalist writing the story, what angle they want to proceed with, what kind of feeling to ignite in the people (because yes, journalism in theory is about reporting the truth and let people decide but the reality today it is about manufacturing feeling and consent).
Then we also follow the real owner of the goldbar - the 'amoral banker' whose life is f-ed because of the article.
And finally we get to a politcal debate / interview as we follow the perspective of Lenny Leonard as she explains to us her MO on giving the 'gotcha' moment to the interviewer whom she knows is out to make her look like an idiot on live TV. Not gonna lie, it was satisfying.
But what I love about this book is how none of these people are "just truly evil". Because that's what everyone is mostly are. We all operate based on our own moral compass. Even for the so-called 'evil amoral capitalistic banker' he was written in a way that I have a bit of sympathy for (tbh we all should have a baseline sympathy for everyone as long as they're not psycopath ra-ist murderer genocidal racist maniac or something along the line.
But I find myself drawn to Lenny the most because she's the one who proclaims herself as 'misanthrope' equal-opportunity hater. Is it a grey line for her or is she simply ultra self-aware?