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UID:108@sciencefictionbookclub.org
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20150413T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20150413T220000
DTSTAMP:20240925T104504Z
URL:https://www.sciencefictionbookclub.org/events/215883502/
SUMMARY:The Unit - Ninni Holmqvist (Our first Swedish SF!!)
DESCRIPTION:\n\nAt the Science Fiction Book Club we try to introduce reader
 s to the wide range of international SF that is regularly published and th
 is time we are very proud to schedule an amazing work from the acclaimed S
 wedish writer Ninni Holmqvist.\n\nOn her fiftieth birthday\, Dorrit Weger 
 is checked into the Second Reserve Bank Unit for biological material: a st
 ate-of-the-art facility in Sweden where she will make new friends\, enjoy 
 generous recreational activities and live out her remaining days in comfor
 t with people who are just like her. Here\, women over the age of fifty an
 d men over the age of sixty who are single and childless are saved from a 
 life devoid of value and converted into productive members of society. The
  price? Their bodies\, harvested piece by piece for the 'necessary' ones (
 those on whom children depend) and sometimes their minds\, as they take pa
 rt in social and psychological experiments\, until the day comes when they
  make their Final Donation and complete their purpose in life. Despite the
  ruthless nature of this practice\, the ethos of this near-future society 
 and the Unit is to take care of others. Resigned to her fate as a 'dispens
 able'\, Dorrit finds her days there to be peaceful and consoling. For the 
 first time in her life she no longer feels like an outsider - a single wom
 an in a world of married couples with children. But when she meets a man i
 nside the Unit and falls in love\, everything changes...\n\n\n\n\n\n“Cre
 epily profound and most provocative.”\n(Kirkus Reviews)\n\n“[A] chilli
 ng\, stunning debut novel … Holmqvist’s fluid\, mesmerizing novel offe
 rs unnerving commentary on the way society devalues artistic creation whil
 e elevating procreation\, and speculation on what it would be like if that
  was taken to an extreme. For Orwell and Huxley fans.”\n(Booklist)\n\n
 “The power of The Unit is its subtlety. Highly recommended.”\n(Readmor
 ebooks.wordpress.com)\n\n"An exploration of female desire\, human need\, a
 nd the purpose of life.”\n(Publishers Weekly)\n\n“The Unit rattled me 
 in a way few dystopian novels have … It’s a story that will stick with
  me.”\n(shelflove.wordpress.com)\n\n“Beautifully haunting … This is 
 one of the best books I’ve read over the past two years … Thought-prov
 oking and emotionally-moving\, The Unit is a book you’ll be discussing w
 ith others long after you’re done reading it.”\n(Orlando Sentinel)\n\n
 ‘A haunting\, deadpan tale set vaguely in the Scandinavian future\, Holm
 qvist’s turns the screw\, presenting a set of events so miraculous and a
 bominable that they literally made me gasp.’\n(Washington Post)\n\n“Ho
 lmqvist handles her dystopia with muted\, subtle care…Neither satirical 
 nor polemical\, 'The Unit' manages to express a fair degree of moral outra
 ge without ever moralizing…it has enough spooks to make it a feminist\, 
 philosophical page-turner.”\n(Time Out Chicago)\n\n‘Haunting… Holmqv
 ist evocatively details the experiences of a woman who falls in love with 
 another resident\, and at least momentarily attempts to escape her fate.
 ’\n(The New Yorker)\n\n"Savagely dystopian … remarkably deft."\n(Barne
 s and Noble Review)\n\nAtwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale\, this novel imagi
 nes a chilling dystopia: single\, childless\, midlife women are considered
  dispensable.”\n(More Magazine)\n\n“Holmqvist gives us a lesson in hum
 an nature and social engineering through a story that is spare\, compellin
 g\, and all too human.”\n(Psychiatric Services)\n\n“Compelling\, chill
 ing in spots\, and at times heartbreaking.”\n(Flashlight Worthy)\n\n"A r
 emarkably thought-provoking novel."\n(Reading Matters)\n\n"Holmqvist paces
  her revelations superbly and the reader is gripped by the atmosphere of s
 lowly mounting claustrophobia."\n(New Internationalist)\n\n"For a debut no
 vel I thought it was stunning" Zoe Page\n(Bookbag - www.bookbag.com)\n\n"T
 his dystopian world is described with such exquisite balance between its l
 uxuries and cruelties that the reader is emotionally drawn in and made to 
 face up to often uncomfortable and challenging ethical dilemmas. I cannot 
 recommend this novel\, nor signal Holmquist’s evident talent as an autho
 r strongly enough\; it is an excellent book."\n(What's On UK?)\n\n"I found
  this one riveting from start to finish. It could happily find a place on 
 school reading lists alongside Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four." "Chilling\,
  humorous\, poignant\, thought-provoking\, and immensely readable\, this i
 s perfect reading-group material which cannot fail to provoke discussion."
 \n(New Books)\n\n"What a striking\, remarkable book -- one of the best I'v
 e read in a long time."\n(Frank Huyler)
LOCATION:Mug House\, 1-3 Tooley Street\, London Bridge\, London\, SE1 2PF\,
  United Kingdom
GEO:51.506486;-0.087755
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