The Free:

by M. Gilliland

one lonely, abused schoolgirl 'occupies' herself.. and sets off an explosive social and economic revolution.. Read or Download on the blog Adventure/Thriller.. Maxie rebels and runs away, with the anarcha feminists, occupiers and gays.. Set during the collapse of capitalism, amid climate chaos, we live out the social and permaculture revolution, and the dawn of a money-free world What it’s about…laughing and lamenting Accompany Linda through her hilarious, terrible day, as -escapes her useless school and abusive daddy,-changes her name to Maxie and falls in with the anarcha feminists, squatters and gays. The State is going bottoms up, the Climate is going crazy, we’re living the collapse of capitalism, blow by blow, with a rainbow. Maxie and her new friends get free of their traumas,and get into dealing subversive death blows, to a skinhead gang,a bankrupt school and the testerical special police. Next thing they flee to Ragwort CoOp Pool,in a big safe occupied working class area. We play the adventure live through their eyes, laughing and lamenting… inventing social revolution. The PIF soldiers eventually arrive, to restore capitalist chaos, Macker and Maxie are missing, the hunt begins, while the spaced out invaders get subverted, corrupted, swallowed and (burp) digested. Our odd family puzzles with the pieces.. finding a fun lifestyle,a coppice farm, and bright ideas for saving The Planet, but keep your hankies ready, folks.. click on your giant wings, for the fantastic FLYING finale! about the writer …..’here I play around with gardens and mechanics, and, um, look after children and horses. I can cook a deadly vegetarian paella and my hobbies include solar-powered internet and, er, rooting in bins’…. Thanks everyone for your help with this project. also available on Google Books, Scribd, Issuu, Anarchist Library (includes ePub version).. and HERE ON CREATESPACE !

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Feminism, Anarchism

342 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1986

About the author

Free Downloads of 'The Free' (ebook,kindle,epub,pdf)here:
http://thefreeonline.wordpress.com/te...

Read it free online (issuu,scribd,google)here:
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About The writer

Who cares who I am?
Just so the book can be neatly labelled and filed away?.
“I knew it! ...an evil anarchist!
Who I am is not important here, except to show, perhaps,
that I am serious, about these scribbles.
So here goes...

After a boring education (I did Eng. Lit. and a thesis on De-Schooling) I began a rather brilliant career as a layabout. Passing my idle hours on Adventure Playgrounds, Street Theater, Anti Nukes and Subversive Nonsense,.
For several years I shared a magnificent squat in central Amsterdam, before definitively dossing down in Brixton, with a creditable six and a half years on the dole.
While whiling away my life doing Squatters Aid, Pirate Radio and Partying I enjoyed superb park-view accommodation, and jotted down the first version of this book for the class-less Hooligan Press.
Retiring extremely early to Barcelona beach, I was horrified to have to work and even pay rent. But then the occupations took off, and I ended up living in a 'Social Center' (on top of a mountain.).
Here I play around with gardens and old cars, and, um,
look after children and horses... I can cook a deadly vegetarian paella and my hobbies include solar-powered internet and, er, rooting in bins.
We have a wizard windmill and dispose of excellent compost toilets.
I do have one big son, who's 15 years old and speaks 4 languages (not all at once).

Thanks again everyone for your help and support with this project.

Reviews

[Subvert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the old 1992 version that is quite a short book. It's fun read. It does bring across the feeling of being part of a movement where everything seems possible. What actually made this book probably even more fun is that I didn't know what I was reading besides that it was explicitly anarchist fiction. I first thought it was just a coming-of-age story with a young protagonist finding out what is to live truly free. That it was partly autobiographical, a story of a young run away in 80s England, a story from the real world of someone that gets radicalized in the squatting scene and gets involved in co-ops. But it then escalated quite quickly to all-out insurrection. Actually not just an insurrection but a successful rebellion that crushes the state and capital. Alright. That was unexpected but probably more fun as I didn't see it coming. It's a bit forced and sometimes a bit too black and white, but I still found it quite realistic. Only sad thing is that this radical lefty anarchist fantasy still relies on a total economic collapse in order to be realistic, which in an unintended way reinforces the lack of perspective to get out of our mess and really build the world we want to live in.

[M. Gilliland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Free Downloads of 'The Free' (ebook,kindle,epub,pdf)here:

http://thefreeonline.wordpress.com/te...

Read it free online (issuu,scribd,google)here:

http://thefreeonline.wordpress.com

[Marcus Blakeston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this on my TBR pile for over a year now, but only just got around to reading it because it's so flipping long. At 600 pages it's 5 times longer than what I usually choose to read, but it's split into 5 separate "acts" so I thought I'd probably read them over a long period of time, with other books inbetween. But then I got sucked into it and read it all uninterrupted.

I was expecting a political rant, but it's actually quite a sweet story that just happens to take place during an anti-capitalist revolution. Characterisation is very strong, and if you come from either a new age traveller or squat background you'll instantly feel at home with them. It's told (mostly) from multiple first person perspectives, with a few third person sections here and there.

The political nature of it will probably put a lot of people off, it would be better described as near-future utopia fiction. That would reach a bigger audience, and might even change a few minds.

[M. Gilliland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adventure/Thriller.. Maxie rebels and runs away, with the anarcha feminists, squatters and gays.. Capitalism is going bottoms up. The climate is revolting.. our heroes live through the social and permaculture revolution, and the dawn of a money-free world…

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