A quixotic, overcrowded fable that investigates the contradictions between technology and humanity.
A coalition of Earth’s animals launches an expedition to Mars and a plot to revive the nearly extinct human species in this debut philosophical novella.
In a wildly colorful futuristic society, humans are no longer in charge, and intelligent animals have come to the fore. The story opens as a motley crew of creatures prepares to embark on a space mission to colonize the neighboring red planet and save humans from extinction. Lazy Fellow, the animal group’s historian, begins the narrative by recounting the origins of the revolution of the “Animal Kingdom,” made possible by humans’ tendency to abuse and neglect his fellow creatures, as well as their profligate dependency on technology. The animals, by contrast, value moderation in all things, represented by their devotion to Aristotelian principles. As the forces of artificial intelligence, the Technox, invade humanity, turning most people into “BWSH” (“brainwashed soulless humans”), the animals seek a solution in space, under the leadership of their lion captain, Leon de Ponso, and his consort, Ginesse. Their stalwart crew of rabbits, kangaroos, walrus, dogs, insects, rodents, and two of the few remaining unaffected humans, each have special skills that aid their mission, along with individual personality quirks. Winsloe’s premise is intriguing and her text is dense and thought-provoking. However, a lot of universe-building is packed into a brief page count, and some ideas are so abbreviated that they become garbled. For example, Lazy Fellow’s explanation that “The extinction of human Organics was the result of systemic, granular personality profiling, due to excessive data acquisition and retention” will likely leave readers wishing for clarification that isn’t provided. Also, the story doesn’t sufficiently elucidate the “Mesotes” principles of Aristotle, which is mentioned frequently as the key element of intelligent animal thought. Readers who aren’t students of classical philosophy may find such references confusing.
A quixotic, overcrowded fable that investigates the contradictions between technology and humanity.Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4787-9317-5
Page Count: 86
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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