Reviews and Comments

I have been trying to find books that defy genre, or what are sometimes called 'slipstream' novels, and this is certainly in that category. It could be Sci-Fi, but it is more like magical realism as Le Guin does not attempt to explain the science at the heart of the main plot driver.

This is quite a short novel, but with a big story tightly wound within it. The spare writing and lack of sub-plots makes it a lively read. The central question is: 'if the only way to change the future is to change the past, then if you had the power to do such a thing, what would you change?' This thought experiment encompasses chaos theory, the ethical choice of making decisions based on moral duty or predicted consequences, and the possibility of just being content with whatever fate has in store for you. It even proposes that passively accepting fate (as most humans did before the modern era) could be deemed a form of psychopathology by our go-getting consumerist society.

The central character has the unique power to change the past, and thus the present and future. But he goes to extreme lengths to avoid using this power, and suffers as a consequence. In our individualist post-religious society, it has become a 'motivational' axiom that you can be anything you want to be if you really put your mind to it. This book tests that theory to destruction.

This funny, provocative and very well-written book is built around a bold proposition - to re-introduce slavery and segregation to America in order to 'save' the ghettoised black community - that appears absurd, and certainly offensive. You assume this is an extreme satire, where the conceit is a 'imagine if' scenario that is too daft to be real. Yet as you read further, you start to sympathise with the protagonist's plan. Indeed, one even starts to see the genius of the idea, even though it is also a repellent proposition. Great books like this manage to change the way you think amount a topic, despite one's own resistance, it facilitates the way in which one can think the unthinkable.
It is also a great read and laugh out loud funny. I got through it in two long haul flights, and earned stern glances from other passengers as a chuckled and giggled my way through the book.