Nekropolis

Rating:
Summary: a sad, sparely told story of love, freedom and free will
Review: "Nekropolis" is a short but moving book set in a future Morrocco governed by a repressive neo-Islamic order. However, the exotic location is almost (but not quite) beside the point, since the true focus of the book is on questions of love, choice, and the divergent natures and needs of the lovers.

The two main protagonists, Hariba and Akhmim, are unlikely pair, since neither one is truly free to love without compulsion. Hariba is a "jessed" servant in a rich man's house. The "jessing" is a psychosurgical procedure that fixes her loyalty on her master. If she leaves, she will sicken and die. Akhmim is a genetically engineered being, a "harni," designed to be the ultimate lover, but unable to be truly happy separated from his own kind. His nature dictates that he will bond irrevocably to a single person and will, if neccesary, sacrifice his own needs and desires for that person's happiness. Hariba's naive love for Akhmim prompts her to leave her master when they are separated, and, because he has bonded to her, Akhmim's love compells him to follow when she runs away. But their new-found freedom cannot give them happiness, and therein lies the sadness of the book.

Much of the action takes place in the characters' psyches, and the narrative focus switches from chapter to chapter between Hariba, Akhmim, and other important figures in Hariba's life. The alternating perpsecives can be disconcerting at first, but they widen the angle of the lens focused on the lovers. This is not the book to read if you're in the mood for space opera or other plot-driven genres of SF. But if you're interested in a more philosophic look at the nature of love then McHugh's novel is a rewarding read.

Rating:
Summary: graphic sex nearly ruins entire novel
Review: I began the book with high hopes, as I had read quite a few positive reviews. Like other reviewers here I do agree that while initially there seemed to be something happening, the science of the book seemed to disappear and then I felt like it was simply an atmosphere piece. I sensed someone trying to be a little like Philip K. Dick but not nearly strong enough (are mad enough, perhaps) to pull it off.

The story disappears after the first shift in who is telling the story, I thought perhaps it would alternate between Hariba and her harni, however, then her mother got thrown in, her friend - all but Hariba's original employer's wife, a crudely drawn depiction of an overindulged woman. I was utterly lost. Where was the story?

And where was the love? I felt I was told more about the love of Hariba and the harni Ahkmim than shown, but it seemed to disintegrate. Especially after he became a male prostitute.

This part of the book TOTALLY seemed out of place with very graphic sexual descriptions that caught me completely off-guard. It was integral I suppose to the plot development (what plot there was), but tainted the story for me, made it seem dirty.

I can understand the authors reasons for having the character be somewhat sexually ambiguous in his orientation, he was not entirely human after all, however, it made it difficult for me to consider his love for Hariba while he was very graphically describing the act of man on man sex.

Not that there's anything wrong with that - but wow I did not see it coming from a longshot and it just sullied the entire experience. I never got back into it and then the rest of the book fell apart.

Hariba never seemed enough of a heroine either. I didn't really like her and I only felt pity for the harni.

It's not even 300 pages though so it's no great loss. This book could have (and should have) been so much better!

Rating:
Summary: One Word of Warning
Review: Most if not all of what has already been written about this book is true, so I will not even attempt to reiterate all of it. I will simply add one commentary for those not familiar with Maureen McHugh's work. While Ms. McHugh is an excellent writer with distinctive and elegant prose, and while exciting things do happen to characters in her books, her books are virtually entirely character centered rather than plot centered. Frequently the "action" part of the plot will be ignored in favor of following what is more personally important to the character being followed. This is particularly evident in her endings, which can be confusing to those of us used to plot-driven novels. Her novels end (and Nekropolis is no exception) at the point where the character makes a fundamental change, rather than at any given point of plot. In China Mountain Zhang, the book ends just when the most interesting plot parts would be starting. Here, the book goes on for a while after a plot driven book would have stopped, and then ends when the main character gets a hair cut - an insignificant point of plot, but a very significant step of assimilation for our protagonist. This isn't a fault in the books particularly, just something to be aware of if you haven't read her stuff before.

Rating:
Summary: BETRAYAL!! Literary Emotional Terrrorism.
Review: My God. My God! I'm going to ignore my dismay at the structure of the book in which the middle half of the book is written by secondary characters, essentially freezing the protags relationship for 60%+ of the book. I'll do that as I found the relationship touching and intriguing...until the last half chapter. Now, 30 minutes after finishing I am feeling betrayed, heartbroken, and furious (I obviously get into my books). I expect, even in the darkest books to find some redeeming message, and sometimes I've even read books that I'd consider light (as opposed to dark)
Maybe I'm missing something, some kind of repressed maternal/sexual anger that is relieved by destroying what little is left of the heroine in the final pages. The only redeeming value I can see is as some kind of harsh social commentary; but since the society in question is 20nth (23rd?) century Morrocco, the relevance is kind of lost on me (or at least severely diluted).
Besides, what message is it to crush poor Hariba, and leave her a sexually crippled emotional void, just because, ultimately, she is or feels she is ugly. Aren't heroes supposed to triumph over these vicisitudes? If not them..?

Rating:
Summary: painfully beautiful
Review: Nekropolis is an excellent novel though painful to read. The story of two misfits wanting to belong is made more powerful by McHugh's minimal prose; the sad emptiness of Hariba and Akhmim resonating in the author's sparse language.

Hariba tries to escape her lonely life through "jessing," a chemical alteration of a servant's mind that enhances loyalty to the person they are sold to. She hopes the artificial loyalty will satisfy her needs of acceptance and belonging, but finds it isn't enough.

"I learned the sad fact that I couldn't give my life away, that anywhere I went, there I was."

Instead, her loneliness lurks under her manufactured happiness, drawing the attention of the harni , Akhmim. The Harni are an artificial intelligence designed to satisfy the needs of humans. Akhmim can't help but respond to Hariba's sadness and in doing so, is impressed upon her. Being able to sense all her unspoken needs, he creates in himself the ideal lover. Beneath his programmed love for her lies his longing for the completion and comfort of others like him, only with other harni does he feel true happiness. These lives of artificial loyalty and love left me feeling empty, unsatisfied and extremely sad. But that is the wonder of Maureen McHugh's books. She creates beauty from despair. Her stark and penetrating prose pierces the reader's bubble of self satisfied comfort and makes them wonder if they are truly happy. Nekropolis is a story you can never forget.

Rating:
Summary: Quick read but where was it going?
Review: Ok I picked up this book because of the Amazon list suggested it to me. Flew through it just this morning but I'm not certain why. There was good character development, gratuitous sex that actually was useful at building that character. But the thing most missing for me was the flavor of the time that the story takes place in the future, I just wasn't brought into that world. I didn't care about the characters because they weren't all that deep. I've another of the authors books I picked up and hope to report back better.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Concept; Writing Not Srong
Review: The cover states "A Literary novel in Sci-Fi clothing" but, really its the other way around. Characters are not particularly strong. A poor woman's version of Margaret Atwood. The concept: lab-created people and jessed people try to find happiness in a future world should be compelling, but the writing doesn't quite carry it off. This has the look and feel of a pulp novel. It's a little better than that, but it's not "literature".

Rating:
Summary: Great theme--ok plot
Review: This is a hard book to rate because it is not really a "fun" read. It's more like something that you would read for a class discussion. I'll steal someone else's word for it...it is an "unsettling" book.

From reading the reviews, I think that what might irritate people about this book is that the main character is not really that strong. I don't think she is meant to be. Her decision to "jess" herself was one based in a fear of emotion, but also from the a desire to relinquish responsibility for her emotions. She is a "voluntary" slave made so by fear and irresponsiblity--these fears are shaped by personal and cultural experiences.
***possible spoiler to follow***
Akhmim on the other hand was someone who has no choice but to be a slave. He was created for that purpose. Interestingly enough his bond was not of "love" but of slavery as well. Therefore, while she was oppressed, she was also an oppressor. His character was also interesting because he remembers being happiest as part of his "pack" if you will, but he couldn't go back. This is another theme of the book.
***end of possible spoilers***

essentially, this book is meant to make you think...it's not meant to be a light read, or really an enjoyable read. In the end, I think that it does what science fiction does best. Gives us the "what if we could..." and shows how individuals, society and cultures would probably react--and that those reactions might be present here and now.

However, having said all that, I personally get a little irritated when a theme overshadows the story and I think that is what happened in this book. Lots of great points to think about, very interesting ideas, very interesting theme. Not so interesting story. She is much more interesting to discuss than she is to read about.

Rating:
Summary: This Is Science Fiction?
Review: This novel may be classified as science fiction, but it is big on fiction and short on the science part. The story is about a young girl who lives in Morocco, sometime in the future, who has been jessed, which basically makes her a slave and obedient to her owners, and a genetically engineered man who has been designed to please his human owners, he is another type of slave. A love story of sorts develops between these two and causes great strife with the family of the girl. This Morocco of the future is full of prejudice and class divisions which adds to the story.

My inpression of this novel is that it meanders back and forth between different characters and just does'nt really go anywhere, with no redeeming factor to make it worthwhile. However, I will say that Maureen McHugh is superb at giving this novel lots of human interest details, very emotional at times, and she is also good at describing the settings in which the characters find themselves in. Finally, the ending just kind of faded away, I am not critical of this, but just be aware of it.

Rating:
Summary: True love between AI and human!
Review: Well, I guess it was only a matter of time before somebody had to go and write a "deeply moving" love story featuring a human and an AI, while throwing in for good measure the "tough-break" story of a woman's (in general?) lot in life in the world of Islam.

In general, the novel presents a parable of one woman's "jessing" to her master (man in general?) and her struggle to be released from it (the control of her master) in order to "follow her heart " (even if her heart belongs to a life-like AI human replica).

But I am being ungracious here.

Ms. McHugh is obviously a very talented writer: her sparse but incisive prose makes for enjoyable reading even when the plot-line threatens to become hackneyed or the overall symbolism cloying.

Having lived for some time in Egypt, I can sympathize with the humanistic (and gender) issues addressed in this volume. Even so, since I do find these issues of considerable importance, I would prefer to read about them in a more empirical format.

Looking at the author's intentions rather than my own personal preferences, however, it is clear that the social issues raised in this volume are well worth thinking about and are seamlessly incorporated into the story.

As for the issue of love, the novel displays a certain shift from earlier works concerning AI and emotion: rather than focussing on the AI as such, the work concentrates upon the secondary effects of an emotional mismatch as it comes to bear on the human person. The descriptions of the main protagonist's emotional situation are extremely effective, and seemed in places reminiscent of the brilliant prose of Naguib Mafouz.

All in all, a very well-written book.

You may not like the story, or simply have reservations about it, but, unlike many Science Fiction works, this one has substance.