 "A novel about wish fulfillment, not about characters" | 2009-10-04 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1WFQKNBTG5XYV |
Piercy sketches a dysfunctional society with delicious imagination. My favorite scenes take place in the savage chaos of the "Glop" (wonderful slang for "megalopolis") and the cruel antiseptic world of the "multis" (multinational corporation-states). Most of the primary novel, however, does not take place in either setting, but rather within the sanctuary of a Jewish collective that has managed to stitch together a highly self-reliant community that has managed to preserve old-fashioned virtues (regard for nature, culture, food) and defend itself against the voracious multis. A sizable part, in the form of a narrated parallel story, also takes place within the walls of the Jewish ghetto within Prague in the 1600s. I found both of these sheltering microcosms interesting, though somewhat less so than the harsher worlds outside.
But while I like this universe, and its interplay between brutality and safety, I cannot think of a single character whom I find particularly compelling. I am sure I am supposed to like Malkah, the matriarch who is by turns genius, grandmother, and libidinous free spirit, but instead I find her self-congratulatory and eventually devoid of surprises for me. I am also encouraged to admire warrior women Riva and Nili, and to empathize with Shira, the "everywoman" protagonist. However, the first two are caricatures, and Shira's thoughts so prosaic, repetitive, and omnipresent that I found it hard to empathize with her. Avram and Gadi are frozen in the male roles of angry father and rebellious foppy son, while Yod and Joseph, the golems of the present and past, exist more or less as the toys of the other characters. Except for the fact that Shira acquires some more self-confidence as the result of her actions, there is little along the lines of character development to be seen.
It seemed to me that wish fulfillment propelled the action: wouldn't it be wonderful to design one's own sexual partner/object, to literally take up arms against one's employer, to build a genius robot to beat back the overwhelming forces outside the ghetto walls for just a while, to join an imminent rebellion against the forces of injustice? And really, there's nothing wrong with that. I certainly enjoyed the journey. But ultimately, it felt just a bit more shallow in the realm of character than it could have been. |
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 "The of the two best novels on Cyborgs that I have ever read" | 2009-09-27 |
| - Reviewed By robertwmoore |
I don't mean the title of my review title lightly. I truly do believe that this is the best novel on cyborgs or robots that I have ever read, along with Philip K. Dick's masterpiece DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SLEEP? Both books explore the question of personhood not merely by examining a central character who is a artificial human, but by looking at artificiality in human beings as well. Yod is a cyborg who has been constructed by a scientist in an independent Jewish enclave in the late 21st century. But the people in the novel are equally artificial. Some have been technically augmented to such an extent that they can't easily be considered human. Others have been altered in appearance by plastic surgery in order to conform to the latest aesthetic standards. Even the book's major character, Shira, has received multiple enhancements. Early in the book she is able to read the time off ocular implants and she, like most of the characters in the book, can go onto the Net by plugging into a plug attached to her brain. By the end of the book it isn't clear how sharply the line can be drawn between people and machines.
HE, SHE AND IT (originally titled BODY OF GLASS) is both an updating and retelling of the Golem of Prague story. In the past century this story has been communicated most famously in the Paul Wegener film (who also played the Golem), where the Golem is portrayed as more a monster than anything (though not a very good movie, it is visually unforgettable, and was one of the major influences on James Whale's FRANKENSTEIN, especially in the portrayal of the monster). Golems have appeared in a number of books, TV series, and computer games (e.g., Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel FEET OF CLAY introduces a Golem who becomes a member of the Night Watch; an episode of THE X-FILES features a Golem; and golems have features in a number of games, such as the MMORPG Asheron's Call). In Piercy's novel the parallels between the Golem of Prague and Yod are underscored in many ways, not least in Malkah's telling to Yod of the story. Just as the golem Joseph was created by Rabbi Loeb to protect the Jewish ghetto in Prague from pograms, so Yod is created to protect an independent Jewish enclave from encroachment from one of the vast corporations that control the planet. Yod is one of the most fascinating cyborgs in literature.
Many novelists have struggled to depict robots and cyborgs in convincing ways. Most novelists end up making the cyborgs pretty much indistinguishable from people. Others make the robots so mechanical as to be silly and unbelievable (I find this fault with almost all of Asimov's robots). Yod is less mechanical than Asimov's automatons, but more than inhuman. The story isn't completely immune to one of the most absurd assumptions ever made about robots and cyborgs: that they would be normally be made incapable of hurting people. The silly notion that robots would be incapable of hurting people was the fault of Asimov and his laws of robotics, some of the most nonsensical tripe ever put forward. Even a couple of seconds thought would be sufficient to make anyone realize that robots would initially be primarily created to hurt or kill humans. Most of the initial research on robots was done under the funding of DARPA, a branch of the Defense Department. Virtually all of the current research in robotics in the United States is funded by DARPA. And the U.S. military has thousands of robots on active duty. Ironically, PackBots are used in huge numbers in Iraq and Afghanistan in both armed an unarmed versions, and are made by the iRobot corporation (the makers of the Roomba vacuum cleaners), a corporation named in honor of Asimov's famous collection of short stories, stories in which he developed the silly notion of robots that would not hurt people. The most obvious use of robots is military situations where the danger to human life (at least to one's own soldiers) is minimized.
The world that Marge Piercy assumes is a fascinating one. The United States has always been characterized by an almost unreasoning fear of government. At the same time, there is far less fear of companies and corporations. I'm the opposite. I'm terrified of the moral stance of the corporate world. Interestingly, the so-called founder of American conservatism, John Adams, was, like Adam Smith (who felt that those who participated in the market should play no role in government), leery about the influence that market forces and merchants would have on democracy. He feared an economic elite and felt that the most important role of the executive branch was to resist the formation of such an economic elite. So I've always found my country's belief in a benevolent corporate world to be odd at best. While Adams was, I think, wrong in hoping that the executive branch would act as an effective deterrent to corporate influences, I do think that we in the middle class are better off pegging our hopes on government as a deterrent to the corporate world than the corporate world as a deterrent to government. Most Sci-fi writers tend to view the corporate world with a sceptical eye. In Kim Stanley Robinson's great Mars Trilogy the bad guys are the transnational corporations who control the various national governments, and who see Mars as an asset to be exploited.
In Piercy's novel, any semblance of either state or national government is nonexistent. Corporations have taken over the world. Or what is left of the world. The novel reflects the predictions of scientists of what will happen if something isn't done to reverse the effects of global warming. Coastlines are receding; people cannot go out into sunlight without danger to their health; water and air quality is dire; cities are intensely crowded. Corporations control everything and their pursuit of the small independent enclave that Yod protects is based partly on their desire to acquire the research they have been engaged in (primarily Yod himself), but mainly on their outrage of a village that exists outside of corporate influence.
This is a marvelously rich and deeply textured novel. Marge Piercy is not primarily or even especially a Sci-fi writer, even though William Gibson has credited her earlier novel WOMAN ON THE EDGE OF TIME with directly inspiring the birth of Cyberpunk. The problem with many Sci-fi novels is that they usually don't hold up as novels. They often contain many fascinating elements, but they usually do not compare well with the best mainstream novels with the quality of their prose or with character development. This novel is simply a fine novel, not merely a Sci-fi novel. The book has generated a significant literature by feminist literary critics and is frequently cited as an important work in the discussion of cyborgs (Piercy cites Donna Haraway's important essay "A Cyborg Manifesto" as an influence on her book).
I believe that this should be read by anyone who loves books in general, but in particular by those interested in superbly written Sci-fi novels. It will also appeal to those who are interested in dystopian literature or by books that explore questions of gender in a Sci-fi context (it compares nicely with Atwood's THE HANDMAID'S TALE in this regard). And if you are interested in great books on cyborgs and robots, this has to be on the shortest of short lists, even if that list has only one or two items. |
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| "What is it to be human?" | 2009-05-25 |
| - Reviewed By schtinky |
Shira works for a large Multi (a domed city in the ruins of the world that houses a specific corporation - in Shira's case the Y-S Corporation), and has recently split up with her husband Josh and is involved in an ugly custody battle over their son Ari. Shira blames herself for going the conventional way of marriage and childbirth for part of her problems. But when the Y-S Multi grants full custody of Ari to Josh, and then moves them offworld to Pacifica Platform where she cannot visit, Shira gives up all hope and returns to her hometown, the free city of Tikva near the volatile and poisoned seas. She's welcomed back by her grandmother Malkah, who raised her from birth rather than her natural mother Riva. Malkah works with old Avram, on accessing the Base (or Net) and has been secretly building a cyborg to be as human as possible.
Shira has to deal with old feelings, a very young and strong love, for Avram's son Gadi, also back in Tikva for some legal reasons involving the "stimmies" he creates. (like virtual reality games). Shira is distracted from Gadi by the presence of Yod, Avram and Malkah's cyborg. She forms a deep love for Yod as she helps along with his programming. But Y-S has learned of Yod, and will use any means necessary, even Shira's son Ari, to get their hands on him.
Interspersed throughout the storyline are tales that Malkah has programmed for Yod to read, of Prague in 1600 and a scientist named Jonah who created a golem made from clay to protect the ghettos from the pogroms. Like Yod falling for Shira, so did Joseph the golem fall for Jonah's granddaughter Chava.
'He, She, And It' is a unique novel of open prejudices. Human feelings abound, even amongst the non-human characters. The characterizations and descriptions are terrific, but the storyline is a little slow, and the ending far too drawn out to be climactic at all. I enjoyed 'He, She, And It' because is was written with a good melding of SciFi and love story. I recommend the book but don't expect to be able to zip through it. Enjoy!
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| "he she it review" | 2007-10-17 |
| - Reviewed By User: A18GOAY7UI54NH |
| A good piece of novel dealing with many issues. gender, feminism, bodies...Sci-fi aspect is just a background but it is woven meticilously |
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| "A longtime favorite" | 2007-08-07 |
| - Reviewed By staartmees |
Ms. Piercy is one of my favorite writers, and this was the first book I read by her. I prefer this and other of her sci-fi writings to her historical fiction and social commentary pieces.
Her continual challenges to gender definitions and boundaries always fascinate. In this story, vanity is a ruling force and helps to enforce the socioeconomic classes that exist in what seems to be a techno-corporate-fiefdom. The naievete and rebelliousness of the characters in Shira's circle are somewhat implausible as far as their innocence in thinking, in line with what one would expect from a heightened consciousness and facilitation through technology. Nevertheless, it prevails as a fun and provocative read. |
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| "Spiritual SF" | 2006-07-10 |
| - Reviewed By tkenyon |
I always enjoy Marge Piercy's books, but I wish she'd write more SF, like this one is. Marge Piercy is at her best when she is unfettered by mere temporal facts.
The cyberpunk world of Marge Piercy's *He, She, and It* future is an environmental wreck where a few domed cities are decent places to live, and the rest of the world is gang-ridden and poisonous. The heroine of this book, Shira, is enmeshed in a bad situation and returns home to a Jewish stronghold domed city. (Although Piercy writes a lot about being Jewish, I really liked that some of the few freehold cities, which are not owned by corporations for their employees, are Jewish. It's like they covered Israel in glass for all posterity.) There, Shira meets Yod, an artificially intelligent robot/cyborg who is, to borrow a phrase, ...fully functional.
Shira lives with her grandmother, whose pithy wisdom becomes angelic at times. One thing that the grandmother said has stayed with me for years and shaped my own spirituality: (paraphrasing), that one cannot pray for things, because that is selfish. One can only pray for understanding. That changed me greatly. Now, when I hear or read that someone is praying "for" something, it sounds to me like a 5-year-old child praying for candy, an utterly selfish and useless prayer.
TK Kenyon
Author of Rabid, coming in 2007 from Kunati Book Publishers |
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