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Phil Leader (619 KP) rated 2084 in Books
Nov 8, 2019
Set in an a future that in many ways is all too plausible, David Churchill is about to take the test that determines his future life like everyone else his age. Everybody's present and future is controlled by the all powerful Ministries to the betterment of all mankind. Or so everyone is told.
Following his selection for work in one of the Ministries David very soon finds out the truth. The wider populace are controlled by fear, propaganda and lies. The workers in the Ministry are controlled by greed, power and lust. He soon learns that the whole system is corrupt, rotten to the core, despite the all-powerful and dispassionate AIs that are supposed to only benefit mankind. But as one man there is little he can do, and certainly nobody he can trust. But there are plenty who want to use him as a weapon is their political infighting and power battles.
Clearly a more technological update on 1984, Hogan tackles this grim subject matter from the human perspectives of David and his childhood friend Juli, who is also pulled into the dark world of the power and corruption. Like peeling a rotten onion, layer after layer is removed, finally revealing the rotten heart. Along the way there are some huge plot twists, shocking events and reveals that completely change how the reader understands this future vision. The ending, which it comes, is certainly cataclysmic.
As with the best science fiction, this casts a light on the world we live in with certain current events clearly used as a basis for how Hogan constructed his dystopia. Sometimes the subtext isn't as subtle as it could be, but there is no denying the chilling warning it delivers.
Note: This book contains multiple scenes and themes of a sexual nature
Following his selection for work in one of the Ministries David very soon finds out the truth. The wider populace are controlled by fear, propaganda and lies. The workers in the Ministry are controlled by greed, power and lust. He soon learns that the whole system is corrupt, rotten to the core, despite the all-powerful and dispassionate AIs that are supposed to only benefit mankind. But as one man there is little he can do, and certainly nobody he can trust. But there are plenty who want to use him as a weapon is their political infighting and power battles.
Clearly a more technological update on 1984, Hogan tackles this grim subject matter from the human perspectives of David and his childhood friend Juli, who is also pulled into the dark world of the power and corruption. Like peeling a rotten onion, layer after layer is removed, finally revealing the rotten heart. Along the way there are some huge plot twists, shocking events and reveals that completely change how the reader understands this future vision. The ending, which it comes, is certainly cataclysmic.
As with the best science fiction, this casts a light on the world we live in with certain current events clearly used as a basis for how Hogan constructed his dystopia. Sometimes the subtext isn't as subtle as it could be, but there is no denying the chilling warning it delivers.
Note: This book contains multiple scenes and themes of a sexual nature
Eilidh G Clark (177 KP) rated Goblin in Books
Jul 2, 2019
Brilliant book, well wriiten, original
Winner of the Saltire Society first book of the year award 2017, Goblin, by Ever Dundas is a brilliant and brave first novel. Set in both London during WW2 and in Edinburgh in 2011, the story is told in flashback. For me, the first half of the novel is the best, we meet Goblin as a nine-year-old tomboy with a love for animals and a passion for storytelling - both of which the protagonist collects.
Goblin has a difficult family life; a mother who doesn’t want her, 'Goblin-runt born blue. Nothing can kill you. [...] You're like a cockroach,' (p.5) a father who mends radio’s and barely talks and a brother (David) who spends most of his time in his bedroom. Left to her own devices, the protagonist, her dog Devil, and her two friends Mac and Stevie roam the neighbourhood and hang around in an abandoned worksite. As a collector of stories, Goblin enthusiastically attends the local church with Mac, 'I loved the stories, turning them over in my head, weaving my own.' (p.24) before meeting The Crazy Pigeon Lady who tells her tales of Lizards people from the realm below. The childhood innocence in these chapters, mixed with magic realism, break down the walls of adult reasoning and creates a wonderful suspension of disbelief.
But without giving away the story plot, the suspension of disbelief serves another purpose; to divert the reader (as well as the adult protagonist) from the truth. So, while the adult Goblin searches amongst her tangled past, she takes the reader along for the ride. We meet multiple parents, live life on the road, come alive on the streets and in the circus, explore love, death, desire, and hate – and somewhere in the middle we meet an impressive collection of animals - Goblin has it all. And as far as strong female protagonists go, she’s right up there with Anais Hendricks from Jenni Fagan’s Panopticon, to Janie Ryan in Kerry Hudson’s Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma, characters who are so real you might just walk by them on the street.
The only teeny tiny criticism about the novel is that the second half spans over a lengthy period of time and it felt a little rushed. However, there is so much to say about this novel, so many angles to discuss, from Queer Theory to Religion, from Myth to Realism, and as a graduate of English Literature I could have a field day studying this book but for now, as a lover of good books, I’ll give it a big thumbs up and a huge recommendation, it’ll be finding a space on my ‘keep’ book shelve.
Goblin, Ever Dundas (2017) published by Saraband
Goblin has a difficult family life; a mother who doesn’t want her, 'Goblin-runt born blue. Nothing can kill you. [...] You're like a cockroach,' (p.5) a father who mends radio’s and barely talks and a brother (David) who spends most of his time in his bedroom. Left to her own devices, the protagonist, her dog Devil, and her two friends Mac and Stevie roam the neighbourhood and hang around in an abandoned worksite. As a collector of stories, Goblin enthusiastically attends the local church with Mac, 'I loved the stories, turning them over in my head, weaving my own.' (p.24) before meeting The Crazy Pigeon Lady who tells her tales of Lizards people from the realm below. The childhood innocence in these chapters, mixed with magic realism, break down the walls of adult reasoning and creates a wonderful suspension of disbelief.
But without giving away the story plot, the suspension of disbelief serves another purpose; to divert the reader (as well as the adult protagonist) from the truth. So, while the adult Goblin searches amongst her tangled past, she takes the reader along for the ride. We meet multiple parents, live life on the road, come alive on the streets and in the circus, explore love, death, desire, and hate – and somewhere in the middle we meet an impressive collection of animals - Goblin has it all. And as far as strong female protagonists go, she’s right up there with Anais Hendricks from Jenni Fagan’s Panopticon, to Janie Ryan in Kerry Hudson’s Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma, characters who are so real you might just walk by them on the street.
The only teeny tiny criticism about the novel is that the second half spans over a lengthy period of time and it felt a little rushed. However, there is so much to say about this novel, so many angles to discuss, from Queer Theory to Religion, from Myth to Realism, and as a graduate of English Literature I could have a field day studying this book but for now, as a lover of good books, I’ll give it a big thumbs up and a huge recommendation, it’ll be finding a space on my ‘keep’ book shelve.
Goblin, Ever Dundas (2017) published by Saraband