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Andra
Sub-City One: 2000 years from now. A young woman, Andra, has had a brain-graft operation and has been given the brain of a boy who died in 1987.
Through the boy's mind, she comes to realise that her world is restrictive. The laws are rigid, the rulers suppress individuality. Andra turns against such totalitarian authority and inspires the young people of Sub-City One to rebel with her.
This is the story of their fight. A fight for freedom.
Through the boy's mind, she comes to realise that her world is restrictive. The laws are rigid, the rulers suppress individuality. Andra turns against such totalitarian authority and inspires the young people of Sub-City One to rebel with her.
This is the story of their fight. A fight for freedom.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1971
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About the author
Louise Lawrence
39 books57 followersElizabeth Holden, better known by her pen name Louise Lawrence, is an English science fiction author, acclaimed during the 1970s and 1980s.
Lawrence was born in Leatherhead, Surrey, England, in 1943. She became fascinated with Wales at a young age, and has set many of her novels there. She left school early on to become an assistant librarian. She married and had the first of her three children in 1963. Her departure from the library, she recalls, gave her the potential to turn toward writing: "Deprived of book-filled surroundings, I was bound to write my own."
Lawrence was born in Leatherhead, Surrey, England, in 1943. She became fascinated with Wales at a young age, and has set many of her novels there. She left school early on to become an assistant librarian. She married and had the first of her three children in 1963. Her departure from the library, she recalls, gave her the potential to turn toward writing: "Deprived of book-filled surroundings, I was bound to write my own."
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
February 7, 2012
"Andra" was originally published in 1971, and adapted as an 8 part TV series in Australia in 1976. The book was apparently intended as mainstream SF, not YA SF, though I suspect for today's readers its ideal audience would be early teens.
The voice of the story is almost naive, and the science shaky, with several side-trips into what might be classed as magic realism. I read the book several times when I was a teen, and remembered it as a bittersweet tale, engrossing without being a book that one loves absolutely.
On an adult reading, it is a very strange tale. A young, below-average intelligence woman receives a head injury in a post-nuclear world where life is rigidly controlled, stratified by IQ, homogenised so that everyone is blue-eyed, blonde-haired, and oh so obedient. At 60, all but the high tier IQ's are euthanised, as are all people with any disability, including blindness. The highest of high IQ's have their brains transplanted into younger bodies, and there is at least one character who is 300 years old. All this is accepted with little sign of unrest, as the whole of society is rigidly brainwashed from birth, and anyone who shows too much resistance is mind-wiped into compliance.
Andra, the region of her sight damaged, becomes the subject of an experimental operation - a slice of a brain in storage is spliced into hers - and if the operation does not succeed in restoring her sight she will die even if she survives. The section of brain which is transplanted is from a high-IQ boy who died in 1987 (before the nuclear war and a rather unlikely 2000 years before).
I enjoyed re-reading this book, but doubt I would have liked it originally if I hadn't been in my early teens when I first read it. Andra comes across as child-like and (at least socially) idiotic, for all her charm.
It's a quixotic, somewhat illogical story about the desire for freedom and invokes a piquant sense of longing, and loss. But I doubt it would work at all for today's audience.
The voice of the story is almost naive, and the science shaky, with several side-trips into what might be classed as magic realism. I read the book several times when I was a teen, and remembered it as a bittersweet tale, engrossing without being a book that one loves absolutely.
On an adult reading, it is a very strange tale. A young, below-average intelligence woman receives a head injury in a post-nuclear world where life is rigidly controlled, stratified by IQ, homogenised so that everyone is blue-eyed, blonde-haired, and oh so obedient. At 60, all but the high tier IQ's are euthanised, as are all people with any disability, including blindness. The highest of high IQ's have their brains transplanted into younger bodies, and there is at least one character who is 300 years old. All this is accepted with little sign of unrest, as the whole of society is rigidly brainwashed from birth, and anyone who shows too much resistance is mind-wiped into compliance.
Andra, the region of her sight damaged, becomes the subject of an experimental operation - a slice of a brain in storage is spliced into hers - and if the operation does not succeed in restoring her sight she will die even if she survives. The section of brain which is transplanted is from a high-IQ boy who died in 1987 (before the nuclear war and a rather unlikely 2000 years before).
I enjoyed re-reading this book, but doubt I would have liked it originally if I hadn't been in my early teens when I first read it. Andra comes across as child-like and (at least socially) idiotic, for all her charm.
It's a quixotic, somewhat illogical story about the desire for freedom and invokes a piquant sense of longing, and loss. But I doubt it would work at all for today's audience.
December 6, 2010
This is one of my favourite books of all time. When ever I read it, it makes me question the way things are, and how much individuality really matters.
July 23, 2015
Originally read this as a teen and the ending and the cover stuck with me, as an unusually bleak ending for a YA book of the time (though it was issued when the YA category didn't even exist in publishing and was just shelved in the children's library at my local library). Saw a secondhand copy of this original first edition hardbook a while back - with the abstract painting of Andra with her long hair shown here, totally unlike the paperback cover. Re-read it in one sitting, it is an easy read, and could now see all the flaws not apparent when younger. Won't include spoilers here but one quite unbelievable scene is where they see a film of a distant planet they want to colonise, and the vegetation is identical to earth down to all the various fruits and grains etc. There are quite a few other 'clangers' from a science fiction viewpoint. I agree with other reviews that Andra's character is rather 'fey' and erratic to a rather annoying degree and that the story is very much from various male viewpoints, odd for a book with a central female character. But it also illustrates that the dystopia genre in YA is a lot older than Hunger Games.
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August 17, 2012I encountered this book in an Australian library, and haven't seen it since.
I remember finding the idea of inheriting a dead person's memory through a graft more than a little implausible. But assuming it is a possible outcome, why didn't the medical and scientific establishment of the time realize the risk, and take it into account, and present the risk to the protagonist in the process of obtaining consent?
The growth of a rebellion from the introduction of 'dangerous' ideas (accidentally, in this case) is a common theme in many stories, science fiction or not. The idea that the rebellion fails is not unique, either. But this book is not a very good exemplar of the genre.
It is not a requirement of fiction, or even of good fiction, that characters be congenial, or even that it be possible to sympathize with them. But I really prefer it.
I remember finding the idea of inheriting a dead person's memory through a graft more than a little implausible. But assuming it is a possible outcome, why didn't the medical and scientific establishment of the time realize the risk, and take it into account, and present the risk to the protagonist in the process of obtaining consent?
The growth of a rebellion from the introduction of 'dangerous' ideas (accidentally, in this case) is a common theme in many stories, science fiction or not. The idea that the rebellion fails is not unique, either. But this book is not a very good exemplar of the genre.
It is not a requirement of fiction, or even of good fiction, that characters be congenial, or even that it be possible to sympathize with them. But I really prefer it.
September 13, 2011
I read this book as a teenager, at a time when I never reread a book. Somehow this book had a huge impact and I read it over and over again over the next few years until eventually, about twenty years later, I managed to buy my own copy. I still take it out to read every now and again, but I know much of it off by heart now.
I think what impressed me most was Andra's rebellion, because I had always been a rebel. Then there was the ruined world, back when we were living through the Cold War. It made me appreciate the Earth that we still had, and realize how fragile it was. Plus, I loved the character of Lascaux.
I think what impressed me most was Andra's rebellion, because I had always been a rebel. Then there was the ruined world, back when we were living through the Cold War. It made me appreciate the Earth that we still had, and realize how fragile it was. Plus, I loved the character of Lascaux.
July 26, 2011
An example of Cold War Sci-Fi, unusual by having a female main character. (Who loves the Brontes!!) The rest - distant future, underground bunkers, nuclear war killed the surface, two groups still fighting - is typical. Hell of a downer ending - possible influence on the Matrix triology.
February 17, 2019
I first read this book in primary school (am now 40!!) loved it then and love it now! I have recently re read it with my own daughter and remembered how well it captured my imagination back then- maybe this is why as an adult I love dystopian fiction so much!
The story begins in an operating theatre in a futuristic hospital - thousands of years from now, a young girl (Andra) has been in an accident and requires a partial brain graft so as not to become blind and therefore deemed useless to their society. (The book implies that in this society were someone to become blind they would be ‘retired’ eg killed). An ambitious surgeon gets permission to carry out the graft but the only brain around is from the 1980s and male!
The story (which admittedly is not very scientifically likely haha) then explores what happens to Andra, her personality and her behaviours within a repressive society post brain graft. It’s clear she was already quite rebellious before the accident and the graft tips things over the line a bit!
Fantastic story and sure to get young revolutionaries thinking ;)
The story begins in an operating theatre in a futuristic hospital - thousands of years from now, a young girl (Andra) has been in an accident and requires a partial brain graft so as not to become blind and therefore deemed useless to their society. (The book implies that in this society were someone to become blind they would be ‘retired’ eg killed). An ambitious surgeon gets permission to carry out the graft but the only brain around is from the 1980s and male!
The story (which admittedly is not very scientifically likely haha) then explores what happens to Andra, her personality and her behaviours within a repressive society post brain graft. It’s clear she was already quite rebellious before the accident and the graft tips things over the line a bit!
Fantastic story and sure to get young revolutionaries thinking ;)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 8, 2022
A friend loaned me this book - I had never heard of it, nor the author - as a teen, it had shaped her view on the world. I can see why! If I’d have read this as a young girl in the eighties, I’d have been on Andra’s team, rebelling against the regime!
The theme of the book could very much apply now - it is what our world could look like if we took away peoples’ individuality and expression, thoughts and hopes, and destroyed our planet. So in a lot of ways, it would be a great story to have on the modern school curriculum!
Despite its futuristic descriptions and interesting characters, the writing itself is a little dated, and you could say quite sexist. However, you could also put this down to the egotism of the regime.
This was written 50 years ago - technology has come a long way - but I still think Lawrence did a good job of taking the reader into a futuristic dystopia. I was immersed in the book and rooting for Andra!
I really enjoyed reading Andra, it’s message came across loud and clear, and I think it must have been quite a revelation in its day.
The theme of the book could very much apply now - it is what our world could look like if we took away peoples’ individuality and expression, thoughts and hopes, and destroyed our planet. So in a lot of ways, it would be a great story to have on the modern school curriculum!
Despite its futuristic descriptions and interesting characters, the writing itself is a little dated, and you could say quite sexist. However, you could also put this down to the egotism of the regime.
This was written 50 years ago - technology has come a long way - but I still think Lawrence did a good job of taking the reader into a futuristic dystopia. I was immersed in the book and rooting for Andra!
I really enjoyed reading Andra, it’s message came across loud and clear, and I think it must have been quite a revelation in its day.
August 28, 2022
Andra by Louise Lawrence
What if an international conflict ended in the dropping of a bomb so powerful that the Earth was thrown out of its original orbit and a permanent state of deep winter had made life on the surface impossible? What if the last humans had been forced to live in underground cities for the past two thousand years? What if life in the cities had become so regimented that most human rights and opportunities for personal expression had become totally unfamiliar concepts?
This is the background to Andra, a futuristic dystopian tale by Louise Lawrence first published in 1971.
Andra is a teenage girl of apparently average intelligence who possesses non-conformist traits. She sustains a serious head injury in an accident while skipping mandatory classes at the educational facility, and is originally scheduled to be ‘expired’ due to the resulting blindness. An accomplished surgeon, however, decides to attempt a ‘brain graft’ which would be revolutionary if it succeeded in restoring Andra’s sight. The only suitable brain which can be found, though, is that of a boy who died two millennia ago in 1987. While the operation is a success, the transplant gives Andra unsettling visual memories of a beautiful green Earth, and she becomes highly rebellious and refuses to cooperate with the city’s administration. Her nonconformist spirit and the stories she tells infect the other young people, inevitably leading to a serious clash with the leadership.
Andra’s visions are a powerful thread running through the story, and, as is often the case with dystopian fiction, the subterranean city and the irrevocably ruined surface environment to an extent reflect our own reality and serve as a warning. One of the interesting points about this tale is that there seem to be no truly wicked people in the repressive administration (although there is an unexpected twist near the end which reveals one ‘baddy’). Many of the people who staff the upper echelons of the government and the higher social orders may be callous and unfeeling, but they are not in any way violent or sadistic.
This book is something of a curiosity. It is well-written, but some ideas which could have been elaborated with more detail and sophistication are sacrificed in order to focus on the central message. ‘Andra’ is certainly not ‘hard’ science fiction, and at some points even seems to venture into the realms of magical realism. Many readers are likely to find the abrupt ending disappointing, although I doubt that this was a lapse of judgment on the part of the author. Many of Lawrence’s books seem to end pretty suddenly, leaving the readers ‘hanging in the air’ and perhaps therefore compelling them to ponder the meaning of such a finale and its relationship to the rest of the story.
Although Andra by Louise Lawrence is by no means perfect and has been criticized quite severely by some reviewers, I am quite sure that I would have enjoyed it very much if I had read it as a teenager. Even as an adult, I became engrossed in the story, and found many of the points raised piquant and meaningful.
Below are a number of representative quotes from the book:
Her face was white and sad because the things she had seen did not exist. They were beautiful and only a dream. It made her want to cry.
I will tell Daemon about Syrd's song. I'll write to him. It was good, wasn't it?" "Very good, but the words I found a little difficult to understand." "I know what he means," Andra said softly. "I know exactly what he means. You can chase after something all your life, and when you catch up with it it isn't there. It's gone like a dream. I've seen it.
Lascaux was annoyed with himself. He had expired hundreds of thousands of people. Why should he mind just one more? He knew the answer. He would mind because she was Andra, and he would refuse to do it.
When she could she read fiction, for in fiction she told him there were many facts. And yet he felt disturbed. That child enjoyed reading too much.
"I read it because I want to read it. You heard it. You heard the flow of the words. This isn't just a language, it's beautiful. The things in these books are beautiful, but in this whole horrible subterranean place there is nothing, not one thing, I would class as beautiful. The language we speak is empty and void of any real meaning. Beauty no longer exists."
Her sorrow reached out across the vastness of the room and he felt its intensity. She was very young and her feelings were the violence of youth. He, who was old, had learned to accept.
"If you are bitter, Andra, it will not help. The world you read of is gone and no bitterness can make it return."
"There's nothing individual anymore. We work because we have to work not because we want to. And we do the particular work we're assigned to because we can't do any other kind of work even if we want to. We're not people anymore, we're just things. "
"Well, it's difficult to explain. She's a symbol of what we want to be. She's free." "Andra is no more free than we are. She has to do what she's told just as we do." "I know that, but she's free in her mind."
Andra paints pictures she ought not to paint. She teaches you songs you ought not to sing. She rebels against society because she wants to be different. She tells us a way of life that is beyond our conception, but even we in our apathy know it is far pleasanter than life in Sub-city One."
"And the young ones will be wild tonight when they know Andra is not here to read to them. Andra feeds discontent into our minds just by reading Jane Eyre. That book is everything Sub-city One is not. Cromer would go purple in the face if he knew."
Dr. Lascaux is always saying: If you have a hunch, stick to it.
What if an international conflict ended in the dropping of a bomb so powerful that the Earth was thrown out of its original orbit and a permanent state of deep winter had made life on the surface impossible? What if the last humans had been forced to live in underground cities for the past two thousand years? What if life in the cities had become so regimented that most human rights and opportunities for personal expression had become totally unfamiliar concepts?
This is the background to Andra, a futuristic dystopian tale by Louise Lawrence first published in 1971.
Andra is a teenage girl of apparently average intelligence who possesses non-conformist traits. She sustains a serious head injury in an accident while skipping mandatory classes at the educational facility, and is originally scheduled to be ‘expired’ due to the resulting blindness. An accomplished surgeon, however, decides to attempt a ‘brain graft’ which would be revolutionary if it succeeded in restoring Andra’s sight. The only suitable brain which can be found, though, is that of a boy who died two millennia ago in 1987. While the operation is a success, the transplant gives Andra unsettling visual memories of a beautiful green Earth, and she becomes highly rebellious and refuses to cooperate with the city’s administration. Her nonconformist spirit and the stories she tells infect the other young people, inevitably leading to a serious clash with the leadership.
Andra’s visions are a powerful thread running through the story, and, as is often the case with dystopian fiction, the subterranean city and the irrevocably ruined surface environment to an extent reflect our own reality and serve as a warning. One of the interesting points about this tale is that there seem to be no truly wicked people in the repressive administration (although there is an unexpected twist near the end which reveals one ‘baddy’). Many of the people who staff the upper echelons of the government and the higher social orders may be callous and unfeeling, but they are not in any way violent or sadistic.
This book is something of a curiosity. It is well-written, but some ideas which could have been elaborated with more detail and sophistication are sacrificed in order to focus on the central message. ‘Andra’ is certainly not ‘hard’ science fiction, and at some points even seems to venture into the realms of magical realism. Many readers are likely to find the abrupt ending disappointing, although I doubt that this was a lapse of judgment on the part of the author. Many of Lawrence’s books seem to end pretty suddenly, leaving the readers ‘hanging in the air’ and perhaps therefore compelling them to ponder the meaning of such a finale and its relationship to the rest of the story.
Although Andra by Louise Lawrence is by no means perfect and has been criticized quite severely by some reviewers, I am quite sure that I would have enjoyed it very much if I had read it as a teenager. Even as an adult, I became engrossed in the story, and found many of the points raised piquant and meaningful.
Below are a number of representative quotes from the book:
Her face was white and sad because the things she had seen did not exist. They were beautiful and only a dream. It made her want to cry.
I will tell Daemon about Syrd's song. I'll write to him. It was good, wasn't it?" "Very good, but the words I found a little difficult to understand." "I know what he means," Andra said softly. "I know exactly what he means. You can chase after something all your life, and when you catch up with it it isn't there. It's gone like a dream. I've seen it.
Lascaux was annoyed with himself. He had expired hundreds of thousands of people. Why should he mind just one more? He knew the answer. He would mind because she was Andra, and he would refuse to do it.
When she could she read fiction, for in fiction she told him there were many facts. And yet he felt disturbed. That child enjoyed reading too much.
"I read it because I want to read it. You heard it. You heard the flow of the words. This isn't just a language, it's beautiful. The things in these books are beautiful, but in this whole horrible subterranean place there is nothing, not one thing, I would class as beautiful. The language we speak is empty and void of any real meaning. Beauty no longer exists."
Her sorrow reached out across the vastness of the room and he felt its intensity. She was very young and her feelings were the violence of youth. He, who was old, had learned to accept.
"If you are bitter, Andra, it will not help. The world you read of is gone and no bitterness can make it return."
"There's nothing individual anymore. We work because we have to work not because we want to. And we do the particular work we're assigned to because we can't do any other kind of work even if we want to. We're not people anymore, we're just things. "
"Well, it's difficult to explain. She's a symbol of what we want to be. She's free." "Andra is no more free than we are. She has to do what she's told just as we do." "I know that, but she's free in her mind."
Andra paints pictures she ought not to paint. She teaches you songs you ought not to sing. She rebels against society because she wants to be different. She tells us a way of life that is beyond our conception, but even we in our apathy know it is far pleasanter than life in Sub-city One."
"And the young ones will be wild tonight when they know Andra is not here to read to them. Andra feeds discontent into our minds just by reading Jane Eyre. That book is everything Sub-city One is not. Cromer would go purple in the face if he knew."
Dr. Lascaux is always saying: If you have a hunch, stick to it.
July 28, 2016
This is the first Sci-Fi book I read as a child. I absolutely loved it, so different from anything else at the time, I still remember it now over 40 years later. If I am asked what is my favourite book , I always say this one.
November 16, 2024
I read this when I was 12, borrowed from my local library, and have been looking for a copy for about twenty years, to see if it stands up to my memories
September 7, 2018
This is such an intricately woven story and so many emotions are attached to each character.
July 5, 2022
At first I thought I was going to like this more. In the future humanity has been reduced to (at least) two underground totalitarian regimes and there is a need to push back against it. I ended up kind of feeling more and more meh as I read it, it was heavy-handed with ideology (even though the ideology was sort of what I agreed with, except hype individualism and the cult of the celebrity has not been a good turn either). But the characters were unrelatable and not very believable.
It amused me how perfectly Andra fit the "manic pixie girl" trope, given that she was written so far before that became a thing. At least she wasn't reduced to some man's conquest, she retained agency even as she attracted all the men...there were too many male characters in the book it seems an incredible failure of imagination for a female writer not to have a more gender equitable future (or if not then at least make gender an issue). The idea that women will be content to remain just background "girls" for millenia makes no sense and also they alluded to people who are partnered having to match IQ but showed nothing about the lives or careers of high IQ women (one of many world-building holes).
Also even though this book was written in 1971 (it's older than me) and I guess sexual diversity was a huge taboo back then, the presumed heterosexuality of absolutely everyone was not a fun read. I would overlook that though it the book was strong in other ways.
How did humanity end up underground? They overused the earth and squeezed every bit of goodness out of it. Even underground they continue to overuse the planet...this is seen as normal/natural in the book and the answer is to go and colonise some other planet (treated as terra nullius even though it has "savages" on it who are not overusing it properly). Seems like a great way to make all the same mistakes again and yet Andra's whole mission is to hark back to a golden age in humanity rather than looking for a more balanced way of being-with planet. I guess it makes me angry because if people had thought a bit more about sustainability in the 70s things would be better now.
If you like manic pixie girls and political inrigue that doesn't make a lot of sense then you will love this. Otherwise it's a curiosity from the past and no more.
It amused me how perfectly Andra fit the "manic pixie girl" trope, given that she was written so far before that became a thing. At least she wasn't reduced to some man's conquest, she retained agency even as she attracted all the men...there were too many male characters in the book it seems an incredible failure of imagination for a female writer not to have a more gender equitable future (or if not then at least make gender an issue). The idea that women will be content to remain just background "girls" for millenia makes no sense and also they alluded to people who are partnered having to match IQ but showed nothing about the lives or careers of high IQ women (one of many world-building holes).
Also even though this book was written in 1971 (it's older than me) and I guess sexual diversity was a huge taboo back then, the presumed heterosexuality of absolutely everyone was not a fun read. I would overlook that though it the book was strong in other ways.
How did humanity end up underground? They overused the earth and squeezed every bit of goodness out of it. Even underground they continue to overuse the planet...this is seen as normal/natural in the book and the answer is to go and colonise some other planet (treated as terra nullius even though it has "savages" on it who are not overusing it properly). Seems like a great way to make all the same mistakes again and yet Andra's whole mission is to hark back to a golden age in humanity rather than looking for a more balanced way of being-with planet. I guess it makes me angry because if people had thought a bit more about sustainability in the 70s things would be better now.
If you like manic pixie girls and political inrigue that doesn't make a lot of sense then you will love this. Otherwise it's a curiosity from the past and no more.
March 26, 2020
This really feels like 70's scifi. I picked this out to read as I just rediscovered Louise Lawrence's Children of the Dust and was impressed. I think Andra, however, was her first novel and it is much less sophisticated.
The story set up is cold war premise about two rival races trying to escape a planet when a young woman receives a brain transplant from a teenager from 1987. She rejects the establishments rules and rises up starting a youth rebellion. They even have their own theme song.
This appeared in bookshops before the YA section existed but it very definitely aimed at teens.
Huge thanks to the Internet Archive for a loan of this book. They are a great resource for older novels.
https://archive.org/details/andra0000...
The story set up is cold war premise about two rival races trying to escape a planet when a young woman receives a brain transplant from a teenager from 1987. She rejects the establishments rules and rises up starting a youth rebellion. They even have their own theme song.
This appeared in bookshops before the YA section existed but it very definitely aimed at teens.
Huge thanks to the Internet Archive for a loan of this book. They are a great resource for older novels.
https://archive.org/details/andra0000...
July 10, 2017
This book was my middle school intro to dystopian lit. Looking back, I'm not surprised I loved it... female protagonist who charms most around her with her fierce independence and defiant attitude.
It certainly has a few plot holes for me now; I can swallow Andra "seeing" the past through donor eyes, but how did the Dr. have a mystical connection with Andra?
However, I still love it. There are precious few sci-fi books where the woman protagonist is also the head of the revolution and has no love interest. She is no one's object and resists all efforts to reduce her agency as a person.
It certainly has a few plot holes for me now; I can swallow Andra "seeing" the past through donor eyes, but how did the Dr. have a mystical connection with Andra?
However, I still love it. There are precious few sci-fi books where the woman protagonist is also the head of the revolution and has no love interest. She is no one's object and resists all efforts to reduce her agency as a person.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 11, 2020
Read this as a kid and loved it for the longest time. The Giver opened my eyes to sci fi, but Andra made me love it.
December 3, 2023
I really enjoyed this and am disappointed the tv series has not been retained anywhere
January 11, 2025
A little bit dated (threats of spanking), but a fun enough read.
6/10
6/10
September 3, 2017
I think I heard part of a radio adaptation of this book many years ago.
Andra is a teenage girl who gets a graft of the visual cortex of a boy who died 2000 years earlier to replace damaged brain tissue. Andra lives in a totalitarian underground city on a post apocalyptic Earth. Her ground breaking operation has an unexpected side effects: she can remember what the Earth looked like in 1987, unlike everyone else she has a desire for personal freedom and self expression and she has also lost the fear of authority.
The themes of Andra include: the important of freedom and self expression in a largely benevolent totalitarian society, the power and limits of youth in achieving their aims, betrayal and blackmail, authority figures can be reasoned with if you get to the top and might not be as bad as you think and knowledge, especially knowledge of the past is valuable.
While being sparse in terms of description, there is plenty of symbolism: living underground and control of clothing is symbolic of repression, blond with blue eyes are good/normal, dark hair and eyes are subversive, young women are attractive to men old and young and this can be a catalyst for larger change, and a Soviet-like enemy.
Aimed at teenagers or younger the story is an easy read, but as it is told from the third party point of view, jumping from one character to another with sparse description, it is difficult to identify with any of them.
While seeming like a "hard-sf" novel it includes several unexplained scenes which seem psycho-magical.
Andra is a teenage girl who gets a graft of the visual cortex of a boy who died 2000 years earlier to replace damaged brain tissue. Andra lives in a totalitarian underground city on a post apocalyptic Earth. Her ground breaking operation has an unexpected side effects: she can remember what the Earth looked like in 1987, unlike everyone else she has a desire for personal freedom and self expression and she has also lost the fear of authority.
The themes of Andra include: the important of freedom and self expression in a largely benevolent totalitarian society, the power and limits of youth in achieving their aims, betrayal and blackmail, authority figures can be reasoned with if you get to the top and might not be as bad as you think and knowledge, especially knowledge of the past is valuable.
While being sparse in terms of description, there is plenty of symbolism: living underground and control of clothing is symbolic of repression, blond with blue eyes are good/normal, dark hair and eyes are subversive, young women are attractive to men old and young and this can be a catalyst for larger change, and a Soviet-like enemy.
Aimed at teenagers or younger the story is an easy read, but as it is told from the third party point of view, jumping from one character to another with sparse description, it is difficult to identify with any of them.
While seeming like a "hard-sf" novel it includes several unexplained scenes which seem psycho-magical.
April 8, 2015
Not Quite What I Remembered I just re-read this book after 18 years. The storyline still fascinates me, but as one of Lawrences earlier books, there are several technical issues with her writing. The head hopping (point of view changes within a scene) was the most bothersome. Although all her books do that, it seemed especially distracting in this novel.
The idea of a girl knowing all the things Andra does simply because of a brain graft of the optical section is fascinating. Can you really separate one function of the brain from the rest? Obviously not. Andra remembers seeing things she couldn't possibly have seen. She understands and knows things she couldn't, and her individuality is heightened. Although, I'm under the impression Andra was well on her way to her own person long before getting a piece of brain from a 2000 year old dead boy.
The book is really quite sad because of the ending. You have to ask, could people be so selfish and cruel?
The idea of a girl knowing all the things Andra does simply because of a brain graft of the optical section is fascinating. Can you really separate one function of the brain from the rest? Obviously not. Andra remembers seeing things she couldn't possibly have seen. She understands and knows things she couldn't, and her individuality is heightened. Although, I'm under the impression Andra was well on her way to her own person long before getting a piece of brain from a 2000 year old dead boy.
The book is really quite sad because of the ending. You have to ask, could people be so selfish and cruel?
July 30, 2014
I read this as a teenager and it is definatly for that age group. I found it amazing and loved the idea of this rebellious spirit from the past resurfacing. The bit that always stuck in my mind was the hair colour change - how dramatic.
I tracked this book down recently, I had to buy it from a dealer. I still enjoyed it but perhaps not as much as an adult. Still its a great read for a teenage girl!
I tracked this book down recently, I had to buy it from a dealer. I still enjoyed it but perhaps not as much as an adult. Still its a great read for a teenage girl!
December 24, 2009
I really liked this book , all through it Andra had spunk and made you like her . My only complaint is it ended very badly for me and I don't like books with bad endings . I do see why the author would go this way though .
July 4, 2010
It was so strange to read a book with a main character that shares my name. Generally not a fan of sci-fi, but it was a gift and with that title, it was a book I had to read. Very simple plot (anti-climatic), and lacks character development. Finished it in 2 sittings.
November 8, 2011
I enjoyed this book - but I'm not sure if it's because of sharing the same name or something else. I loved the connection but hated the ending. Felt a little empty. Maybe that was what the author wanted - to leave the reader wanting more.
March 22, 2011
I read this book as a teenager. I was intrigued that no matter what science can do you can not destroy the human soul.
February 13, 2012
I really enjoyed this book, the only thing I can fault about it is the abrupt ending that left me feeling a bit let down.
December 28, 2016
This doesn't pack quite the emotional punch it did when I was younger, but it's still an interesting look at conformity politics and rebellion.
June 4, 2019
Loved it as a kid but boy it didn't hold up at all! 2.5
May 22, 2024
she's so amazing.
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