The Few Who Count [Paperback]

Aya Katz (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Inverted a (July 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0938245023
• ISBN-13: 978-0938245025
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Political Themed Novel, With A Coming of Age Story As Well, February 1, 2012

By 

J. Hanna "There is nothing more enjoyable tha... (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Few Who Count (Kindle Edition)

The Few Who Count is a novel to read if you want to understand more behind the motivation of people who believe in a completely unbridled free market economy. Part of the reason I read it is because I do want to understand more behind the Ayn Rand philosophies and such, even though I do not agree with most of its premises. I will preface my review by saying I believe we need to have regulations in place to ensure employers do not mistreat their employees, and pay them a decent wage, so right off the bat I did not agree with some of the political statements in this novel. If you are a Libertarian of the Ron Paul persuasion and agree with him loosening regulations so corporations can function with more freedom - than you may agree with many ideas in this novel.

I personally did not identify with the character Hannibal who is running Carthage Corporation and refuses to pay his employees a decent living wage when they form a union and ask him to do so. Sometimes who is witty, but most of the time he can be a brute who sees himself as the hero of the story. Yikes, I feel for him with his wife Ivy, who is a bit of a nag, but sometimes I feel like it is his little bit of punishment on earth for being so detached when it comes to the needs of anyone but himself.

Hannibal's wife Ivy has lived in a privileged bubble all her life, and her quote from the book exemplifies this "I daresay all they really wanted was a raise. If you'd given them that, you could have avoided the whole dirty affair. After all, they live only for money ... and we have better things to think of." (pg. 105)

Even though Ivy has a form of aloof sympathy for the "common man," this passage from the book illustrates how out of touch she truly is. Yes, Caldwell and Hayley's education paramount, as it should be, but what about the children of Hannibal's employees? This issue is very relevant in our current times because many people are working for employers who do not pay them a livable wage, and more and more some conservatives are clamoring to take away what little benefits workers do have. Not everyone can just start their own company, so with all the resources we have available in this world; I find it imperative that employers are a bit more responsible when it comes to how they treat their employees.

Perhaps a worker would like to make a bit more money so he could afford to get his daughter a tutor like Ivy was able to do, but according to Hannibal they do not deserve to be paid more because their labor has not all of a sudden become more valuable. So who determines the value of a laborer? If you leave that up to a corporation to decide and did not have any state or federal minimum wages, which are barely sufficient, then this could be next to nothing. Thus, I do believe we need some government oversight when it comes to business manners because the history of the American Industrial Revolution demonstrated that employers were not above hiring children, and forcing all their employees to work unbearably long work days under hazardous conditions. Hannibal did not run his corporation this way in the book, but the reality is many do. Actually, there are many corporations that have pushed to have jobs shipped overseas only to employ children in sweat shops. With the reality that many smart phones are being made in sweat shops by high school age children in China, so this is something we really need to think about. We might not be able to control the lack of oversight there, but there is much we can do in our own country.

Besides the political issues I do not agree with in this novel, the story itself is quite engrossing. You automatically feel for Caldwell who is growing up with a mother that is a bit obsessed with religion, and who has no interests in life outside of it. Caldwell is a child prodigy and astute enough to question a lot of what Ivy says, which I think will appeal to many kids who have had a parent that puts blinders on. At least Hannibal mentors Caldwell by letting her see how he runs his business, but beyond that she does not really have any connection with either of her parents. She plays with her sister Hayley, but there are really no other kids involved in either of their lives, which is just a very lonely and isolated childhood really.

This novel can also be a critique on why do people have children if they really do not seem all that interested in their lives? Do some people have children because this is what society says is the norm, or they are afraid their genes will not be spread to posterity? Ivy shows passable interests in her daughter's lives by asking Hannibal to think about hiring more competent tutors for their daughters, but beyond that she could not be bothered. We never really see either parent sit down and share a hobby with either child. I suppose because I had that kind of relationship I had with my parents, I feel for the character Caldwell in this novel, and I truly believe she is missing out on something fundamental in life - a genuine connection with people that truly care about her, not just the material necessities and such.

Even though this novel is geared towards more of an adult audience, I think it would also be of interest to young adult readers that like novels with political themes, or who just want to read something that is not formulaic. If you are tired of reading the vampire novels and would like to explore a new genre, this might be a good book to pick up for young adults. Beyond Hannibal and his Carthage Corporation, in many ways The Few Who Count is a coming of age story about Caldwell.