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Surveillance: A Novel
In the not-too-distant future, national identity cards are mandatory, and America has become obsessed with intelligence-gathering. The government’s scrutiny is omnipresent, civilians freely indulge their curiosity on the Internet, journalists pursue their investigations with relentless determination, and children both snoop on their parents and manipulate new technologies.
In Seattle, the unfulfilled actor Tad Zachary now performs mostly in the Department of Homeland Security’s fictional disaster scenarios, while his friend and neighbor Lucy Bengstrom struggles to support her eleven-year-old daughter, Alida, on a freelance journalist’s meager income–with their landlord providing additional threats. Then Lucy is assigned to write a profile of August Vanags, a retired professor turned best-selling author with his memoir of a childhood ravaged by World War II, but the validity of his account grows questionable, even as Lucy and Alida are charmed by both Vanags and his lonesome wife.
Everyone here is under surveillance or conducting it, and at risk of confusing what might be true for what actually is–a distinction not easily honored in a time of personal stress and widespread panic, when terrorist attack and literary fraud lurk around every corner. With precision and compassion, Jonathan Raban captures not only a peculiar period in our ongoing history but also a rich variety of lives caught up in fault lines that reach throughout society.
In Seattle, the unfulfilled actor Tad Zachary now performs mostly in the Department of Homeland Security’s fictional disaster scenarios, while his friend and neighbor Lucy Bengstrom struggles to support her eleven-year-old daughter, Alida, on a freelance journalist’s meager income–with their landlord providing additional threats. Then Lucy is assigned to write a profile of August Vanags, a retired professor turned best-selling author with his memoir of a childhood ravaged by World War II, but the validity of his account grows questionable, even as Lucy and Alida are charmed by both Vanags and his lonesome wife.
Everyone here is under surveillance or conducting it, and at risk of confusing what might be true for what actually is–a distinction not easily honored in a time of personal stress and widespread panic, when terrorist attack and literary fraud lurk around every corner. With precision and compassion, Jonathan Raban captures not only a peculiar period in our ongoing history but also a rich variety of lives caught up in fault lines that reach throughout society.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
13 people are currently reading
181 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Raban
56 books190 followersBritish travel writer, critic and novelist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
March 24, 2020
I have been putting off writing this review while trying to figure out whether I actually liked this book or not. I am still undecided and haven't reached a conclusion.
This, by the way, seems to me to be the main focus of this book. As other post 9/11 books it deals with surveillance, the limits of freedom, the 21st century habit of everyone spying on everyone, but the most original issue this book touches is the impossibility of reaching conclusions. We have so much information that, ironically, we can't get to the bottom of things because they are too complex to be just black or white.
All the characters of "Surveillance" show a whole spectrum of attitudes but Lucy seems to be the only one that got it right: she admits she doesn't know, she is somewhat in the middle. The book portrayed its theme very well, however that meant it was also boring and inconclusive. So even though the idea was good, readers will still want some wrapping up.
This, by the way, seems to me to be the main focus of this book. As other post 9/11 books it deals with surveillance, the limits of freedom, the 21st century habit of everyone spying on everyone, but the most original issue this book touches is the impossibility of reaching conclusions. We have so much information that, ironically, we can't get to the bottom of things because they are too complex to be just black or white.
All the characters of "Surveillance" show a whole spectrum of attitudes but Lucy seems to be the only one that got it right: she admits she doesn't know, she is somewhat in the middle. The book portrayed its theme very well, however that meant it was also boring and inconclusive. So even though the idea was good, readers will still want some wrapping up.
June 15, 2007
Let me point out a few of the things I liked before I address the big problem(s). The writing itself was really nice, dealing with complex issues so that the average reader could understand it, but not spelling it out to make you feel dumb. The characters, while not completely developed, all had flaws and more than one demension to them, thus helping you become invested in them.
Now with that out of the way let me talk about the problem, which I think can be covered by one thing. The book was very underdeveloped, it was not flushed out enough. I'm saying that despite the acting not really starting to pick up until the latter half of the book. The entire first half I kept asking myself, "What's the point?" There was really no clear conflict, rather several small ones lazily floating around. The only main idea I could pull out was the idea of security and where it really lay. What could really make someone safe?
There were a lot of little plots running around, none ever really coming into full light and being addressed. And I didn't feel that any of the feeble conflicts that did come up were ever properly resolved, especially the ending which was so abrupt and out of the blue (especially if you're not paying close attention to the few small hints in the novel) that you feel robbed of something.
I think this novel needed more developement and a lot of cutting down of the various storylines. Raban obviously had a lot to tell, but you could tell his focus was split into too many directions. Had he just focused the novel on one or two of these ideas, he would have been able to add so much more to this story. Ending it with a solid, satisfying, complete feeling.
I would especially like feedback from other people about this book. I would love to know if I completely missed something, or if I'm completely founded in my very critical review.
Now with that out of the way let me talk about the problem, which I think can be covered by one thing. The book was very underdeveloped, it was not flushed out enough. I'm saying that despite the acting not really starting to pick up until the latter half of the book. The entire first half I kept asking myself, "What's the point?" There was really no clear conflict, rather several small ones lazily floating around. The only main idea I could pull out was the idea of security and where it really lay. What could really make someone safe?
There were a lot of little plots running around, none ever really coming into full light and being addressed. And I didn't feel that any of the feeble conflicts that did come up were ever properly resolved, especially the ending which was so abrupt and out of the blue (especially if you're not paying close attention to the few small hints in the novel) that you feel robbed of something.
I think this novel needed more developement and a lot of cutting down of the various storylines. Raban obviously had a lot to tell, but you could tell his focus was split into too many directions. Had he just focused the novel on one or two of these ideas, he would have been able to add so much more to this story. Ending it with a solid, satisfying, complete feeling.
I would especially like feedback from other people about this book. I would love to know if I completely missed something, or if I'm completely founded in my very critical review.
June 28, 2008
I thought this novel was extraordinary. Every layer, every piece, fit together tightly--even the ending, which, if you read carefully, makes perfect sense: More than one character refers to natural disasters, and the themes of infrastructures and what lurks beneath the surface run throughout. And the combination of earthquake and tsunami bring together the earth and water themes.
The novel isn't science fiction, and it's not political commentary. It's about narration, about how we observe and read and devise stories about ourselves and others. So Minna, the only character who doesn't construct narratives of various types, is left questioning at the end; unlike other characters, who devise stories, speculations, and theories, and unlike us, the readers who have been surveilling the various characters and their narratives, Minna won't speculate on "what happens next?" By the end of the novel, we're participating in the narrative construction; in his commentary on narrating and reading, Raban leaves us to finish what he's started, confident in our powers to do so.
The questions about Augie that we have at the end are foreshadowed, too; when Lucy describes her approach to her article, Raban signals his approach to Augie and the novel as a whole.
This book demands much of readers, but if you take the time to read, think, and pay attention, you'll be rewarded.
The novel isn't science fiction, and it's not political commentary. It's about narration, about how we observe and read and devise stories about ourselves and others. So Minna, the only character who doesn't construct narratives of various types, is left questioning at the end; unlike other characters, who devise stories, speculations, and theories, and unlike us, the readers who have been surveilling the various characters and their narratives, Minna won't speculate on "what happens next?" By the end of the novel, we're participating in the narrative construction; in his commentary on narrating and reading, Raban leaves us to finish what he's started, confident in our powers to do so.
The questions about Augie that we have at the end are foreshadowed, too; when Lucy describes her approach to her article, Raban signals his approach to Augie and the novel as a whole.
This book demands much of readers, but if you take the time to read, think, and pay attention, you'll be rewarded.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 13, 2013
I really dig Jonathan Raban and I really dug this book. Strong plotline, well developed characters and contemporary themes... post 9/11 security paranoia and the ironic interplay between the "land of the free" and the "land of continuous surveillance and control". But are these ideas what they seem ? I think not. My personal view is that Jonathan Raban is not preaching about civil liberties and the implication that America is a totalitarian state at all. He is telling it very much in the third person. And what is more the character in third person providing the surveillance state messaging is engaged in some dodgy surveillance himself. No - the real subtext is about comparative risks and as it turns out, it is a natural hazard not a man made one that brings the whole thing down in the very open - ended ending. Masterful, thoughtful and very rewarding.
May 28, 2010
Finished reading this book last night. What a letdown!! Struggled through the first hundred pages of wooden characters and political cant, finally found my footing for the next 140 pages as the plot threads unfurled, got interested in what would happen, and then...Bam! Raban pulls the rug out from under my feet. Not a surprise ending--an abdication of authorial duty. Had he had enough of the book? Had his fictive imagination failed him? I don't know. All I know is I felt cheated. I gave the author my full attention, began to enjoy his book, and then he betrayed me. Raban should stick to non-fiction (e.g. Badland).
June 10, 2011
Library Book Club. It was suppose to be a possible alternative future since 9/11. This book no longer felt as topical since Osama Bin Laden's death occurred while I was reading the book. It is because the homeland security debates are still going strong on the hill. I was halfway through when I realized that nothing was happening and they only thing the kept me reading was the expectation of an ah-ha moment. No such moment occurred unless it was suppose to be the earthquake when despite all the "surveillance" everyone was separate and not in-touch. Not even the fact the book's setting is in places I know; Seattle and Whidbey Island redeemed it.
July 26, 2021
As the title of Jonathan Raban's novel contends, we live in a world where true privacy is quickly becoming a luxury that few of us can afford. Published in 2006, "Surveillance" clearly has the post-9/11 fears compounded by the Patriot Act in mind. The first few chapters introduce some of these dystopian elements and set this book up to be Orwellian in nature; widespread government control of public emotions through constant terrorism drills, characters either disturbingly complacent or maniacal conspiracy theorists, and the presence of technology as a means of separating characters from each other. However, where "Surveillance" sets itself up to be an engaging thriller commenting on the loss of privacy in the wake of the war on terror, the following 200 pages utterly fail to achieve that goal or any other.
The key issue I take with "Surveillance" is incompleteness; none of the characters are fully developed or change in any meaningful way, no plot lines are resolved in any fashion, and the subtle menace that the title screams at us from the bookshelf is relegated to mere annoyances to the characters, rather than becoming a character in and of itself (think "Nineteen Eighty-Four," but if Big Brother was mentioned once and then never again). The plotlines, if one can call them that, revolve around several intersecting stories. There's Tad, the aging gay actor who still mourns his long-dead partner and has retreated in conspiracy theories in a silent protest of the U.S. government; there's Lucy, the middle-aged mother and journalist, who interviews and grows closer to August Vanags, bestselling author of a Holocaust memoir; there's Alida, Lucy's middle school daughter, whose thirst for knowledge is woefully challenged again and again by pervasive technology use and her own naivety; and finally, the only character exciting enough to salvage anything from this novel, there's Charles O. Lee, new owner of the building the other characters reside in, whose greed and desire lead him to obsession. That all being said, I must bring up my key issue again and note that none of these characters or any of the plots tied to them are resolved in any way. Without spoiling anything, Lucy begins to suspect Vanags of faking his tragic past and investigates using various means of *gasp* surveillance; Tad suspects Lee of forging his own identity illegally and follows up using, you guessed it, some means of surveillance; even side characters who are barely mentioned have their lives invaded or changed through lack of privacy, and in this sense, the title almost makes sense.
The novel does foreshadow the growing availability of information about anyone and everything online, as nearly all the characters use the Internet or other comparable technologies to uncover secrets about others. The problem to me is that none of the information anyone collects leads to any major revelations; did Vanags fake his past? The question is never answered, barely addressed, and leads to no development in his character or any other. Even Lucy, who has her own doubts about him, does not confront him or share her knowledge with any character of note. Tad mentions using Lee's status against him, but, yet again, this is never told to Lee himself or pans out in any meaningful way. The most nebulous part of this novel was Vanags relationship with Alida, where her lack of a father and his interest in her blends into a question of whether their budding relationship is merely her finding a father figure and him a daughter or if he is grooming her for something far more sinister. Lucy's lack of care for her daughter in this respect, even as she researches Vanags potentially falsified memoirs, rankled me as a reader and made Lucy a character I could not empathize with in any way (quite unfortunately, as she was the main protagonist).
In the end, "Surveillance" failed to resolve any characters or plot points, and the themes of privacy and distrust were lost among the rubble of this failure. The ending of the book itself stuck out like a sore thumb, a nail in the coffin of a premise unfulfilled. While I agree that loss of privacy is a major issue that should be addressed and explored in fiction, "Surveillance" would not make my list of books to read in that genre.
The key issue I take with "Surveillance" is incompleteness; none of the characters are fully developed or change in any meaningful way, no plot lines are resolved in any fashion, and the subtle menace that the title screams at us from the bookshelf is relegated to mere annoyances to the characters, rather than becoming a character in and of itself (think "Nineteen Eighty-Four," but if Big Brother was mentioned once and then never again). The plotlines, if one can call them that, revolve around several intersecting stories. There's Tad, the aging gay actor who still mourns his long-dead partner and has retreated in conspiracy theories in a silent protest of the U.S. government; there's Lucy, the middle-aged mother and journalist, who interviews and grows closer to August Vanags, bestselling author of a Holocaust memoir; there's Alida, Lucy's middle school daughter, whose thirst for knowledge is woefully challenged again and again by pervasive technology use and her own naivety; and finally, the only character exciting enough to salvage anything from this novel, there's Charles O. Lee, new owner of the building the other characters reside in, whose greed and desire lead him to obsession. That all being said, I must bring up my key issue again and note that none of these characters or any of the plots tied to them are resolved in any way. Without spoiling anything, Lucy begins to suspect Vanags of faking his tragic past and investigates using various means of *gasp* surveillance; Tad suspects Lee of forging his own identity illegally and follows up using, you guessed it, some means of surveillance; even side characters who are barely mentioned have their lives invaded or changed through lack of privacy, and in this sense, the title almost makes sense.
The novel does foreshadow the growing availability of information about anyone and everything online, as nearly all the characters use the Internet or other comparable technologies to uncover secrets about others. The problem to me is that none of the information anyone collects leads to any major revelations; did Vanags fake his past? The question is never answered, barely addressed, and leads to no development in his character or any other. Even Lucy, who has her own doubts about him, does not confront him or share her knowledge with any character of note. Tad mentions using Lee's status against him, but, yet again, this is never told to Lee himself or pans out in any meaningful way. The most nebulous part of this novel was Vanags relationship with Alida, where her lack of a father and his interest in her blends into a question of whether their budding relationship is merely her finding a father figure and him a daughter or if he is grooming her for something far more sinister. Lucy's lack of care for her daughter in this respect, even as she researches Vanags potentially falsified memoirs, rankled me as a reader and made Lucy a character I could not empathize with in any way (quite unfortunately, as she was the main protagonist).
In the end, "Surveillance" failed to resolve any characters or plot points, and the themes of privacy and distrust were lost among the rubble of this failure. The ending of the book itself stuck out like a sore thumb, a nail in the coffin of a premise unfulfilled. While I agree that loss of privacy is a major issue that should be addressed and explored in fiction, "Surveillance" would not make my list of books to read in that genre.
March 28, 2020
"This book revolves around Lucy and her young daughter Alida, who live in a run-down apartment block in Seattle. Lucy is a journalist in print media who has successfully written stories on major players like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. Alida's Father is no longer in their lives, having been no more than a drunken one night stand.
Augie Vanags is an author who has written several books but is famous for his masterpiece, Boy 381. The book is autobiographical about his early years surviving the Holocaust and war in Poland and Germany. He and his wife Minna live happily on an island in the U.S on the beach where they are semi-retired to a self-sufficient lifestyle. Augie is the subject of Lucy's next big story.
Tad is Lucy and Alida's neighbour in the apartment block.
A gay man living alone after the death of his partner, he has become a surrogate family member, almost a father to Alida. Tad is a massive conspiracy believer (Think Mel Gibson in the movie Conspiracy) who trusts nobody, especially Government, banks, and tech companies. Tad hates Augie believing him to be an evil man not at all deserving of his recognition as an author of major works.
Mr Bill O Lee is a Chinese immigrant made good. He owns several parking lots in Seattle and has just bought the apartment block where Tad, Lucy and Alida live. One of Tad's conspiracy theories is that Bill is of poor character and needs to be exposed.
Finn is a boy in Alida's class, a tech nerd with no social skills (cough!! stereotype anyone?). The students pay him with food to set up websites and any other online needs. He pays no attention in class, fails miserably but is a coding genius.
Marjie Tillman is a woman from England who swears she can prove Augie and hi
s book are fakes. She has photographic evidence and believes he needs to be brought down for what he is.
So reading through the list of main characters you can get a line where the story is headed. You can see the little conflicts that may arise and also the people stuck in the middle. WRONG!! Nothing happens in this book. The characters all co-exist, although perhaps unhappily, but given the obvious reasons for hatred and tension there is none more than acknowledged disagreement.
And the title, surveillance? Well, the book is set in post 9/11 Seattle when the Federal Government has decided that the country needs to react quicker and better to terrorist attack. There is a company running TOPOFF exercises. These exercises are a random mock terrorist activity where the forces are put to the test. It may be a plane crash, an exploding shipping container or any other event but actors are hired to be as realistic as possible, the explosions are real and counter-
terrorism swings into full stride. To begin this book you see it heading down a ""what do we do post 9/11 terrorism"" track and SURVEILLANCE becomes what we have today - more cameras, more security checks, more vigilance. All good so far and then the book stops and floats off with the aforementioned characters going about their lives, ready to have the personal collisions that never eventuate.
Just sort of frustrating really.
"
Augie Vanags is an author who has written several books but is famous for his masterpiece, Boy 381. The book is autobiographical about his early years surviving the Holocaust and war in Poland and Germany. He and his wife Minna live happily on an island in the U.S on the beach where they are semi-retired to a self-sufficient lifestyle. Augie is the subject of Lucy's next big story.
Tad is Lucy and Alida's neighbour in the apartment block.
A gay man living alone after the death of his partner, he has become a surrogate family member, almost a father to Alida. Tad is a massive conspiracy believer (Think Mel Gibson in the movie Conspiracy) who trusts nobody, especially Government, banks, and tech companies. Tad hates Augie believing him to be an evil man not at all deserving of his recognition as an author of major works.
Mr Bill O Lee is a Chinese immigrant made good. He owns several parking lots in Seattle and has just bought the apartment block where Tad, Lucy and Alida live. One of Tad's conspiracy theories is that Bill is of poor character and needs to be exposed.
Finn is a boy in Alida's class, a tech nerd with no social skills (cough!! stereotype anyone?). The students pay him with food to set up websites and any other online needs. He pays no attention in class, fails miserably but is a coding genius.
Marjie Tillman is a woman from England who swears she can prove Augie and hi
s book are fakes. She has photographic evidence and believes he needs to be brought down for what he is.
So reading through the list of main characters you can get a line where the story is headed. You can see the little conflicts that may arise and also the people stuck in the middle. WRONG!! Nothing happens in this book. The characters all co-exist, although perhaps unhappily, but given the obvious reasons for hatred and tension there is none more than acknowledged disagreement.
And the title, surveillance? Well, the book is set in post 9/11 Seattle when the Federal Government has decided that the country needs to react quicker and better to terrorist attack. There is a company running TOPOFF exercises. These exercises are a random mock terrorist activity where the forces are put to the test. It may be a plane crash, an exploding shipping container or any other event but actors are hired to be as realistic as possible, the explosions are real and counter-
terrorism swings into full stride. To begin this book you see it heading down a ""what do we do post 9/11 terrorism"" track and SURVEILLANCE becomes what we have today - more cameras, more security checks, more vigilance. All good so far and then the book stops and floats off with the aforementioned characters going about their lives, ready to have the personal collisions that never eventuate.
Just sort of frustrating really.
"
September 1, 2024
This is the weirdest book I have read in a long time. Quite good character development but random story lines that don’t really intersect and don’t come to any satisfying conclusion. I did not enjoy it but persevered and in the last third it seemed that it may be improving. But it didn’t. This is the first book I feel compelled not to inflict on anyone else and throw it out.
April 21, 2025
What is the point? What a waste of my Sunday! All the things I procrastinated about so I could sit and read this. It started out slow. It took me days to get about 83 pages in, but I had hope, and finally it kicked into gear. And then, nothing. Sorry, that's the spoiler. I turned the last page over and it said "Withdrawn from Lawncrest Library". No wonder. Don't bother.
February 10, 2018
Too formulaic and didactic. Half the time I felt like I was reading some scare op-ed piece about the surveillance state created since 9/11. Not nearly entertaining enough to put up with being hit over the head with that over & over.
October 26, 2021
Raban's writing and prose is fantastic as always, he paints such a vivid portrait of his characters. It's a shame that the book itself is a bit of mixed bag very eerie, mysterious - but also a bit pedestrian and waffly.
May 10, 2023
I really enjoy Jonathan Raban’s writing. I can’t quite explain what it was about this book, but I liked the characters. I knew when starting the final chapter that I probably would not have all the answers I wanted, but somehow the ending made this not matter.
July 6, 2019
Good development of character keep me pushing through. Shouldn't have to push your way through a book. Initial promise fades into efforted disappointment.
May 3, 2025
do not want to spoil
July 19, 2025
Awful
September 3, 2025
Was the first book I read in a long time, and was not a great one to get back into reading. Felt like there wasn't really a plot or great ending but was able to read it all relatively quickly.
August 31, 2013
First off, this wasn't at all the book I was expecting it to be. Can't remember where I came across it - on some internet site - but the way it was referenced was: Forget Orwell's 1984, read Jonathan Raban's Surveillance.
So I bought it off Amazon expecting it to be some kind of dystopian-near-future-nightmare-world - or at the very least, some kind of protagonist-caught-up-in-some-kind-of-espionage-tip-of-the-ice-berg type plot.
Needless to say, this is not that book. And at first I was disappointed by this, but then as the book went on I grew to really like it. There was a nice subtle way in which the Surveillance culture, born out of post 9/11 paranoia, permeated the world of the book - and which seemed to fuel the way all the characters in some way or another, distrusted and surveilled each other.
The characters themselves also felt very real and very likable, and as it was I was really enjoying it as a simple tale about these people and their simple life struggles.
Then that fucking ending comes along. Honestly, I don't know what to make of it. Started skimming a couple of reviews before starting this book, but quickly stopped as I immediately got the sense that the book has something of an inconclusive ending, and I didn't want to bias my experience of it.
Still nothing could have prepared me for what almost felt like an abandonment of the story all together. As it goes, I am actually finding myself trying to reason out some kind of potential metaphor for it all. Something to do with ... Argh!!! I don't know. Maybe it was the Authors intention to make me think of it in this kind of way, but it just feels like a frustratingly pretentious ending to a book that I was really enjoying.
A shame. Still, I can't help but feel like it's going to be one of those books that stays with me. Let's call it 3 and a half stars.
So I bought it off Amazon expecting it to be some kind of dystopian-near-future-nightmare-world - or at the very least, some kind of protagonist-caught-up-in-some-kind-of-espionage-tip-of-the-ice-berg type plot.
Needless to say, this is not that book. And at first I was disappointed by this, but then as the book went on I grew to really like it. There was a nice subtle way in which the Surveillance culture, born out of post 9/11 paranoia, permeated the world of the book - and which seemed to fuel the way all the characters in some way or another, distrusted and surveilled each other.
The characters themselves also felt very real and very likable, and as it was I was really enjoying it as a simple tale about these people and their simple life struggles.
Then that fucking ending comes along. Honestly, I don't know what to make of it. Started skimming a couple of reviews before starting this book, but quickly stopped as I immediately got the sense that the book has something of an inconclusive ending, and I didn't want to bias my experience of it.
Still nothing could have prepared me for what almost felt like an abandonment of the story all together. As it goes, I am actually finding myself trying to reason out some kind of potential metaphor for it all. Something to do with ... Argh!!! I don't know. Maybe it was the Authors intention to make me think of it in this kind of way, but it just feels like a frustratingly pretentious ending to a book that I was really enjoying.
A shame. Still, I can't help but feel like it's going to be one of those books that stays with me. Let's call it 3 and a half stars.
July 28, 2011
Interesting and unusual novel which takes an ironic look at the issue of security versus privacy. On the one hand there's the young kids keen to publish their every fart online. The parents of those kids, or some of them, are concerned that the state is watching their every move, and resent it... yet they're perfectly willing to use Google to look anyone up and find out about them in just the same way as they resent the state being able to. The state itself undoubtedly uses turrism to justify intrusive surveillance, checkpoints, mock disasters to check preparedness etc... then there's a whole swathe of people, perhaps particularly those whose sense of American-ness feels less secure, who want the state to come down even harder on those who don't fit in. These themes are explored through some slightly cardboard-like archetypes and then the narrative is abruptly fractured and the story ends. Superficially this feels as though the author got sick of the whole thing... but I think what he's saying is that all of the precautions in the world count for naught faced with the unpredictability of the world itself. The ending will annoy lots of readers, and it did myself. But I do believe it is artistically valid.
January 19, 2008
I agree with the other reviewers who have complained that Raban seems to have gotten tired of writing this book and just stopped at 258 pages without resolving any of the issues he was exploring. I do see what he was trying to do with the ending, but when I read it, I can't help feeling that he kind of took the easy way out.
That said, I enjoyed the book. When I first picked it up I thought it was going to be about the implications of living in a surveillance state, but the book really dealt much more with the ways we all spy on one another (and how matter-of-fact we are about it): there's the incessant googling we do on our acquaintances, as well as our love for personality-driven journalism.
The book was extremely intelligent and thought-provoking, while at the same time an engrossing work of fiction. I wish he had continued on with themes he was in the process of developing...
That said, I enjoyed the book. When I first picked it up I thought it was going to be about the implications of living in a surveillance state, but the book really dealt much more with the ways we all spy on one another (and how matter-of-fact we are about it): there's the incessant googling we do on our acquaintances, as well as our love for personality-driven journalism.
The book was extremely intelligent and thought-provoking, while at the same time an engrossing work of fiction. I wish he had continued on with themes he was in the process of developing...
July 5, 2016
Passed onto me by two friends, both of them gave up after the first two chapters, but I thought, oh it can not be that bad. Yes, it was. Should have listened, I wasted my time reading this, no ending, no final, a book you pick up and throw against the wall with frustration that time, was wasted.
Story, America is under a "big daddy is watching you" period. Illegal immigrants everywhere, cyber terrorists, etc. etc. Story is on a writer who is to do an article on a boy raised in Nazi Germany, or was he, he has written a book, which is going to be turned into a movie, but is it all make believe? A woman in the UK says the child in the story was spending his time with them, as a refuge, and was an ungrateful brat. However, can the writer prove this? She starts out to try.
We never get to find out, because in the middle of an earth quake the story just ends! Don't bother to waste your time, there are other books to read.
Story, America is under a "big daddy is watching you" period. Illegal immigrants everywhere, cyber terrorists, etc. etc. Story is on a writer who is to do an article on a boy raised in Nazi Germany, or was he, he has written a book, which is going to be turned into a movie, but is it all make believe? A woman in the UK says the child in the story was spending his time with them, as a refuge, and was an ungrateful brat. However, can the writer prove this? She starts out to try.
We never get to find out, because in the middle of an earth quake the story just ends! Don't bother to waste your time, there are other books to read.
May 19, 2008
I was all set to give this four stars--the characterization was tight, the plot moved quickly, and the social commentary on living in a surveillance society was timely and non-hysterical. "'We are all spooks'", says one of the characters, and it is an apt statement. The daughter tracks her mother's alcohol intake, the mother investigates the autobiographical story of a writer she's doing a profile on, the next door neighbor runs down information on the new owner of their apartment building, and of course the government investigates us all. But then the ending just....struck. I guess the point was that while the government is giving us "security theatre" they're doing nothing to protect us from disasters of a more prosaic kind, but given how likable the characters were, it was disappointing not to know what happened to them.
December 21, 2008
Opens with a bang, literally, as Homeland Security films an attack video in near-future Seattle for a public safety film (uh huh, we believe that right away). Lucy, single mom and freelancer, is tasked to score an interview witha professor who is enjoying critical success for his memoir as an orphan in post-WWII Europe. Lucy lies to get the interview, winds up befriending the guy, and then discovers he might have made it all up. Meanwhile, lucy's neighbor may be dying of AIDS while developers attempt to purchase the building they live in.
And that is as far as I got, sorry. The sense of menace and paranoia--helped along by car wrecks that may or may not happened--was minimal (but maybe ratchets up later), but I was just bored to tears. The reviews say the end is surprising and will "outrage" many, but i just didn't care enough to get there.
And that is as far as I got, sorry. The sense of menace and paranoia--helped along by car wrecks that may or may not happened--was minimal (but maybe ratchets up later), but I was just bored to tears. The reviews say the end is surprising and will "outrage" many, but i just didn't care enough to get there.
Read
February 5, 2009Jonathan Raban (Bad Land; Passage to Juneau; Waxwings, ***1/2 Nov/Dec 2003) uses a what-if scenario in his latest novel to examine our nation's most pressing concerns and vulnerabilities. While most critics enjoyed Surveillance, a few noted some problems: the characters that serve as mouthpieces for various political views; the preachy dialogue about freedom, democracy, and civil liberties; and the heavy-handed themes. Still, critics found the characters and their relationships convincing (Tad especially) and the exploration of fiction, truth, and lies in our post-9/11 landscape provoking. The book's ending is a dramatic shocker__for better or worse.
This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.
June 12, 2010
The story is based in Seattle which I thought would be fun to read but, after about the 20th mention of something familiar, it almost became annoying to read about the local venues. Almost as if the story was written around making sure to mention as many places as possible. Odd characters...strange things happening in the city and then the end was totally disappointing. Would not recommend.
Interestingly, in my book club I was the only one who did not like it. Some of the comments, "it reminded me that the big earthquake might come", "I liked all the Seattle references because I could picture them", "wanted to know if the writer living on Whidbey actually was the guy in the picture the woman in Germany had."
Interestingly, in my book club I was the only one who did not like it. Some of the comments, "it reminded me that the big earthquake might come", "I liked all the Seattle references because I could picture them", "wanted to know if the writer living on Whidbey actually was the guy in the picture the woman in Germany had."
January 25, 2017
Wow! What was this guy thinking? A slow start to the story but then a nice flow picks up and a decent storyline develops and then... what?
Also, I didn't really get the whole tie-in to how this storyline fit in with the new surveillance that the author continually refers to during this new era being always on guard against terrorists and the loss of privacy as part of the price for that. That in itself can make for a good book I'm sure. However with the way it's written into this story....well the title is somewhat misleading to me. I may have to try another book by J. Raban just to see what he has to offer because I did get into a good groove in the second half of the book but there's a big gaping hole at the end of it. Not a satisfying read.
Also, I didn't really get the whole tie-in to how this storyline fit in with the new surveillance that the author continually refers to during this new era being always on guard against terrorists and the loss of privacy as part of the price for that. That in itself can make for a good book I'm sure. However with the way it's written into this story....well the title is somewhat misleading to me. I may have to try another book by J. Raban just to see what he has to offer because I did get into a good groove in the second half of the book but there's a big gaping hole at the end of it. Not a satisfying read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Want to read
August 7, 2007I'm intrigued by the number of unfavorable reviews of this book, as the reason I'm putting it on my to-read list is that a bookstore employee whose opinion I respect recommended it because she thought it was really well paced and has a completely satisfying ending. We were talking about how many contemporary books we've read lately that we liked well enough, but couldn't quite love because the authors didn't seem to know quite how to end them. She specifically told me to check out Surveillance because it doesn't have that flaw. But now I see that other goodreaders have had the exact opposite opinion of it. I'll just have to read it for myself, I guess!
April 1, 2008
I planned on giving this book a 5 just based on how much it hooked me, but I just finished it and it simply ended, no closure what so ever. Not that he didn't close everything he didn't close anything. Almost as if there is a part 2 floating around. I don't care for to be continued in the least bit. All that being said he did an amazing job with his characters, I want to know more about all of them.
Did Tad die?
Was August a fraud?
Did the building get demolished?
What did Aidia do with the $1mm?
Did lucy finish the GQ article?
Did Charles get exposed?
Did Tad die?
Was August a fraud?
Did the building get demolished?
What did Aidia do with the $1mm?
Did lucy finish the GQ article?
Did Charles get exposed?
May 12, 2009
Like most of Raban's work, this is set in the Pacific Northwest, specifically Seattle. This one deals with aftermath: not just of 9/11, but of other crises, one in the form of a WWII war orphan (now an old man). In the Age of Paranoia (there are several references to Green Day's "American Idiot" album!) everyone struggles for safety, but the main point of the book is that a crisis can happen any time, any where, with or without warning, and that such things don't care about interrupting the plot of your life.
January 27, 2014
An unusual book. I found it quite gripping and really got to like the characters especially Alida and Augie. The paranoia after 9/11 is carefully developed and as the surveillance culture grows the book becomes more interesting. The very sudden ending is disappointing. It is so abrupt that I had to ask myself why? I suppose he is saying that no matter how much surveillance you have, you are never out of danger which can come from anywhere, in any form and at any time. Nevertheless it left the story hanging and somehow unfinished.
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