Rating: 
Summary: Magnificent
Review: I had just read 'the Crimson Petal and the White' and loved Faber's writing style, but like many others was ultimately disappointed. I decided the author was worth another shot and picked up 'Under the Skin', his first novel. What a joy that I did.As you will no doubt be aware by now the storyline of this novel is amazing, unique, and cannot be described in any way as it will ruin the slow revelation for others. But the storyline is a distant second to the writing, the same story would have been laughable in any other writer's hands. Faber's understated style swings from poetry to street slang with the reader hardly noticing. It is completely immersive and vivid, with an almost drug enhanced hyper-reality to it. Most amazing of all is the depth of character, and how we come to know and feel about the characters he creates. You will come to understand Isserley intimately, and care about her deeply. In the context of this novel such an achievement cannot be praised highly enough. It is also gratifying to have the story resolved, something he stole from us in the Crimson Petal. Get this book and read it as soon as you can.
Rating: 
Summary: From one vodsel to another
Review: If this wasn't written so well I'd think I was reading an X-Files script. Faber pens a sympathetic character in Isserly and it's the description of her struggle that pulls this out of the Sci-Fi bin and into literary fiction. It's also what allowed me to suspend my dis-belief with such an unusual (perhaps absurd) plot line and keep reading. The way Faber juxtaposes the day-to-day drudgery of Isserly's working life (albeit very, very unique work) against the life she came from and where her comrades still exist generates the friction that moves this imaginative novel along.
Rating: 
Summary: Another disillusion
Review: The opening chapters promise well, but you will soon be disappointed by the preposterous gratuity of it all. There is not the slightest attempt of an explanation as to why the siituation concerning Isserley and the preying on hapless homeless hitch-hiker should be as it is. ATTENTION, SPOILERS! READ NO FURTHER,if you haven't read the book...
Question One: how could a planet so arid and waterless have evolved an intelligent species, who, to cap it all, is quadrupedal?
Question two: What made necessary the mutilations of the "collectors" , and how can an alien species survive whit a diet of inhabitants of a distant planet. Why not a commercial treaty whit the Earth?
How could the regular landings of the alien spaceships have come forever unnoticed?
The finale is absurd.Why the investigations ensuing after the disappearance of one victim seems to bear so little consequence in Isserley's decisions? And why at the moment of the car crash the emergency explosive charge in Isserley's autombile didn't explode?
These are only some of the gaping holes in the narrative fabric.
But wait! Maybe "Under the Skin" is intended as a socio- political-philosophical pamphlet, like Swift's "A Modest Proposal" or "Gulliver's Travels".
Well, if this is the case, I can only say that Jonathan Swift reputation as one of the major satyrists in the English language remains unchallenged.
Rating:
Summary: Another disillusion
Review: The opening chapters promise well, but you will soon be disappointed by the preposterous gratuity of it all. There is not the slightest attempt of an explanation as to why the situation concerning Isserley and the preying on hapless homeless hitch-hikers should be as it is. ATTENTION, SPOILERS! READ NO FURTHER,if you haven't read the book...
Question One: how could a planet so arid and waterless have evolved an intelligent species, which, to cap it all, is quadrupedal?
Question two: What made necessary the mutilations of the "collectors" (and of the collected), and how can an alien species survive whit a diet of inhabitants of a distant planet (for that matter, why they don't eat the unsentient species, after a commercial treaty, pour example)?
How could the regular landings of the alien spaceships have come forever unnoticed?
The finale is absurd. Why the explosive emergency charge in Isserley's car did not explode at the moment of the car crash?
These are only some of the gaping holes in the narrative fabric. And we really know nothing of the "culture" of the Aliens.
But wait! Maybe "Under the Skin" is intended as a socio- political-philosophical pamphlet, like Swift's "A Modest Proposal" or "Gulliver's Travels".
Well, if that is the case, I can only say that Jonathan Swift reputation as one of the major satyrists in the English language remains unchallenged. And for the message, I surmise is this: "don't hitch-hike in winter, and if you do, beware of sheepish little spinsters whit great eyes".
Rating:
Summary: "I've got you under my skin", said an old song...
Review: Really,this book is terrific and Faber's a marvel.You cannot possibly figure out what's Isserley purpose in picking up hitch-hikers, despite some upsetting consideration she makes in passing. But I assure you: it's nothing ordinary or predictable.
Faber writes like a wayward angel. He reminds me of Trysts of Steve Berman for its exquisitely dark athmosphere, and of the disturbing hyperrealism of Vandermeer's Ambergris.
Rating:
Summary: Bizarre But Addicting
Review: What a bizarre story indeed! I have never been more surprised about the journey this book took me on. I was prepared to read a story about a female serial killer only to be given a science fiction twist. If this is not a problem for you I recommend this book highly. The main character is someone you are trying to understand only to have your eyes opened at the end completely! You are in for a wild ride, one you won't want to get off if you're adventurous!
Rating:
Summary: Thanks for nothing, Sebastien
Review: I was very interested in purchasing and reading this book, after reading The Crimson Petal, but thanks to Sebastien Phenard's (sp?) review I have no need to. Why allow a spoiler review to be posted when other reviews have managed to praise the book without giving away it's secrets? I give the book 5 stars because I imagine it would be an excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: The World Upside-Down
Review: It takes a lot to take the world we now live in and re-imagine it in a completely new way while still remaining believable. Michael Faber takes the greatest ills of today's society and places them on a new species which has been living hidden from humans for many years. This species is as evolved as humans are, with one main difference: instead of breeding animals like cows and pigs, they breed human beings for consumption. One of these creture is Isserly, who's exterior appearence has been altered to resemble that of a human. She now walks amongst us, picking up male hitch-hickers with well-formed bodies. And, if they have no family, she drugs them and brings them back to headquarters where they are harvested. But Isserly's life isn't as peachy as she pretends it to be. As a matter of fact, she is alone, an outcast in both our world and her own. It is only when a rich young man named Amliss comes to the headquarters that Isserly will come to realize how empty and unfulfilled her life truly is. Under The Skin tangles many issues from today's society in a fantasy and horror setting that never ceases to impress. I loved the way the story is constructed; instead of giving you everything you need to know upfront, Faber gives you only bits and pieces about Isserly's world throughout the novel, so that you never get a full picture of her world until the very end. And in the end, the parallels between Isserly's world and our own becomes terrifyingly blurred. Rich in ideas and brilliant in its execution, Under The Skin will do what A Brave New World did so many years ago. IT is a novel that refuse to belong to one single genre, a novel that blends ideas and fiction with suprising ease and power. This is a visionistic story that will leave you completely breathless, and disoriented all at once.
Rating:
Summary: Startling, captivating, warped
Review: Read this book. Michel Faber tells a powerful, graphic story in an elegant, concisely written, halcyon style. Isserley is an indelible protagonist.
Rating:
Summary: fascinatingly different
Review: It is great to read a book that is so out of the ordinary. This book captures one of the basic premises of a writing class: write about a world that is unlike your own and make it real. Can a science fiction book be literature? Here it is. Read this book if you enjoy books/movies like Pi, American Psycho, Vanilla Sky, etc. in which you cannot be sure of the reality.
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