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A review by readingjas
This Perfect Day by Ira Levin
2.0
I wanted to love this book. Dystopian futures are always appealing to me, and this had a very promising start. Excellent world building and a protagonist questioning everything about his world and trying to find a way to change it.
Ultimately though, Chip is a very boring character. The writing is very dry. There is no subtlety in the writing, it's like being hit over the head with a sledgehammer - "Russia (communism) bad, USA (freedom and capitalism) good."
But what really got me (and here is a spoiler in case you want to stop reading......now).....
WTF is with the rape scene! I know this was written in the 70's, but seriously?! Because raping a woman you've essentially kidnapped generally leads to her falling in love with you and saying 'hey, don't worry about it, it's natural'. And after the rape, it's never mentioned again, she marries him, has his kid, and becomes a nagging housewife. Again, WTF.
This had so much potential. Nowhere near the caliber of 1984 or Brave New World though.
Ultimately though, Chip is a very boring character. The writing is very dry. There is no subtlety in the writing, it's like being hit over the head with a sledgehammer - "Russia (communism) bad, USA (freedom and capitalism) good."
But what really got me (and here is a spoiler in case you want to stop reading......now).....
WTF is with the rape scene! I know this was written in the 70's, but seriously?! Because raping a woman you've essentially kidnapped generally leads to her falling in love with you and saying 'hey, don't worry about it, it's natural'. And after the rape, it's never mentioned again, she marries him, has his kid, and becomes a nagging housewife. Again, WTF.
This had so much potential. Nowhere near the caliber of 1984 or Brave New World though.