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Eat your heart out, Kazuo Ishiguro.
Niche conspiracy theory: this novel isn't popular or easily accessible in the west because it is suppressed by the publishers of Never Let Me Go and Klara and the Sun. I joke, I joke, but if you love those amazing books... You'll be a fan of this one.
Membranes follows an esthetician named Momo in the year 2100. Momo lives under the sea (the earth is on fire), has a painful relationship with her estranged mother and long-lost childhood friend Andy, and has an even more complex with MacroHard (Microsoft's main competitor).
Tackling solitude, surveillance, gender, sexuality, climate change, capitalism, totalitarian regimes, capitalist totalitarian regimes, medical experimentation, posthumanism, transhumanism, organ harvesting, medical ethics, AI, and-did-i-mention-surveillance, this novel is ridiculously ambitious. It's nearly 30 years old now and reads fresh. I had the pleasure of reading the French translation, but I suspect the English one is equally well-written.
It's a "no plot just vibes" book that reminded me most of Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun, and I was left feeling similarly after finishing both of these novels: impressed and terrifyingly empty. I enjoyed-but-didnt-love my reading experience, yet the book wormed its way into my thoughts and I hope it continues to do so.
Recommended if you love speculative fiction that explores the nuances of what makes a human being, enjoy books that peel characters and situations layer by layer (can we start calling these "onion books"?), and can get your hands on a copy (good luck!!).
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/CQjXPtxuYVo
Niche conspiracy theory: this novel isn't popular or easily accessible in the west because it is suppressed by the publishers of Never Let Me Go and Klara and the Sun. I joke, I joke, but if you love those amazing books... You'll be a fan of this one.
Membranes follows an esthetician named Momo in the year 2100. Momo lives under the sea (the earth is on fire), has a painful relationship with her estranged mother and long-lost childhood friend Andy, and has an even more complex with MacroHard (Microsoft's main competitor).
Tackling solitude, surveillance, gender, sexuality, climate change, capitalism, totalitarian regimes, capitalist totalitarian regimes, medical experimentation, posthumanism, transhumanism, organ harvesting, medical ethics, AI, and-did-i-mention-surveillance, this novel is ridiculously ambitious. It's nearly 30 years old now and reads fresh. I had the pleasure of reading the French translation, but I suspect the English one is equally well-written.
It's a "no plot just vibes" book that reminded me most of Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun, and I was left feeling similarly after finishing both of these novels: impressed and terrifyingly empty. I enjoyed-but-didnt-love my reading experience, yet the book wormed its way into my thoughts and I hope it continues to do so.
Recommended if you love speculative fiction that explores the nuances of what makes a human being, enjoy books that peel characters and situations layer by layer (can we start calling these "onion books"?), and can get your hands on a copy (good luck!!).
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/CQjXPtxuYVo