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A review by jnzllwgr
Under the Skin by Michel Faber
4.0
A third variation on my thematic trend of a human-like alien visiting Earth…but, this time, as it turns out, it’s with friends! I was interested in reading this because I made the effort to see Jonathan Glazer’s (director of the brilliant Sexy Beast) film adaptation and was so completely puzzled. Certainly an art house take on the book. The movie features gorgeous cinematography with minimal dialog and a solo alien, played by Scarlet Johansson. In reading the book, it’s now abundantly clear that Glazer could not have taken more liberties. As far as I’m concerned, they are standalone works, with their own merits.
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In the book, our female protagonist also hides her identity like our Man Who Fell to Earth. However, in a irreversible way. And there is no goodwill in her species intentions with visiting. I really do not want to offer too much in regards to the plot because part of the power of this story is in the manner in which it incrementally reveals the nature of the visitor, why she’s here and the apparatus that supports her purpose. In the end, however, this is very much a companion work to Stranger in a Strange Land and The Man Who Fell to Earth in that it is very light on the sci-fi, and is more about the universality of existence. This book is also very much a contemporary work (published in 2000). The optimism of SIASL is completely non-existent, the cynicism of TMWFTE has matured and given way to a melancholic, isolated individualism. Oh, I cannot help but also draw a correlation here that its set in Scotland…in winter….so, maybe April or May-ish?
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In the book, our female protagonist also hides her identity like our Man Who Fell to Earth. However, in a irreversible way. And there is no goodwill in her species intentions with visiting. I really do not want to offer too much in regards to the plot because part of the power of this story is in the manner in which it incrementally reveals the nature of the visitor, why she’s here and the apparatus that supports her purpose. In the end, however, this is very much a companion work to Stranger in a Strange Land and The Man Who Fell to Earth in that it is very light on the sci-fi, and is more about the universality of existence. This book is also very much a contemporary work (published in 2000). The optimism of SIASL is completely non-existent, the cynicism of TMWFTE has matured and given way to a melancholic, isolated individualism. Oh, I cannot help but also draw a correlation here that its set in Scotland…in winter….so, maybe April or May-ish?