I have to say that I absolutely loved this novel, and read it straight through, without interruption. That annoyed my beloved spousal unit a bit until I finished, paged to the beginning, handed it to her, and watched her struggle to not pull an all-nighter with it... because we both wanted to discuss the book without spoilers. I've already recommended it to others and I know the power of the writing and the ideas fueling it, will keep it in my thoughts for some significant time.
John Malthus theorized that a populace will ultimately increase in population until it the total food consumption just exceeds productivity, perpetuating a cycle of crushing want and inequity. He also thought that any technology improvement of productivity would only relieve the matter for a generation or two until population growth erased any margin of benefit.
We have, in the western world, largely managed to keep improving gross productivity through incremental increases of consumables outputs via unsustainable use of natural resources including ground water, fossil fuels, ores, flora and fauna, profligate waste dumping, etc. so that, for most of us, the Malthusian dystopia has proven avoidable....so far.
This novel proposes offering another look at John Malthusian thinking by offering potential immortality for as little as $7,000.... or even $700, an offer apparently just too good to pass on. What it truly is for society as a whole is a threat by each person who actually accepts the offer to consume and consume food, goods, services, etc. at or beyond their highest use before now, and likely even more, on into perpetuity, making ALL commodities dear and inadequate against said perpetual demand. There would never be 'enough' of anything again, with all individuals, families, communities, and nations irrevocably competing to seize what they may in accordance with their own perceived needs and best moral interests. The natural consequences would be horrific... and so they prove to unfold to become in a stepwise reveal almost organic and as daunting as an avalanche coming right at you. This is a natural and obvious consequence, which Magary gradually explores, but which actually accelerates rapidly from market shortages, to political disruptions, to anarchy and complete destruction at a pace which very likely would proceed faster even than Magary's story takes it.
But that is where the power springs from in his writing, how we discover a very relatable and rational understanding of an unfolding event fueled by the sum of the irrational desires of an entire world's populace, each insisting upon choosing to act in what they feel is their own best self-interests, even when doing so assures the destruction of the collective world population's best interests, or possibly their survival. Or they choose to act viciously against perceived inequity and inevitability and where suddenly, the individual is tempted to war with all other individuals who choose self-interest, as likely will all political units of whatever size. All is madness, and yet also all so very sadly human. I defy anyone to not truly feel moved in many different and very memorable ways throughout their reading, from humor, to shock, from hope to despair and back to hope. It's a very unique work you deserve not to miss!
One can't help but to feel for the characters caught in this moral morass, where regardless of your personal choice, those of others assure the descent into madness and destruction, the promise of potential eternal life actually assuring in the real world, the political necessity to end it at any cost. Be careful what you wish for. It might not be all that you'd hoped it might be, or it might cost your humanity, your world, and your life.
So what if technology doesn't save us so much as it divides us and encourages us to consume beyond ANY sustainable means? I think this may be the root question behind a wonderful story which makes a very strong case, albeit in a very entertaining, thought-provoking, and unforgettable way.
This another top 10 title for me among hundreds of books I have read in the last year... probably top 5, really but please don't force me to choose so deliberately among such different but very worthy works!
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This a wonderful novel illustrating how easily getting one's fondest dream granted can lead to absolute horror and destruction.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 26, 2018Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 18, 2012
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 12, 2022
