What do you think?
Rate this book
Black Sheep
This is the story of Isao Dazai, a Japanese-born man who has recently immigrated to Australia with his family. The future that Isao lives in is a world of mass race segregation where each of the world's cities have been divided into three separate walled ghettos, defined by three 'mass racial' categories: Asian, African and Caucasian. Living in Asian-Sydney, Isao knows that simply wanting to cross the city's boundaries is one of the greatest of crimes in this new world, as is his inability to leave his Japanese culture behind. Within months of arriving in Sydney, he is charged with the crime of multiculturalism and sentenced to Assimilation, a radical and invasive punishment created by the Australian Government. This new punishment strips Isao of his personality and skin pigmentation and leaves him with cold, white skin, and nothing but a number to identify himself with.
- GenresFiction
248 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2007
57 people want to read
About the author
Ben Peek
39 books275 followersBen Peek is the author of the Godless, Leviathan's Blood, The Eternal Kingdom, Twenty-Six Lies/One Truth, Black Sheep, Above/Below, and the collection Dead Americans and Other Stories.
His new book will be the novella, The Red Labyrinth, published by Snuggly Books.
He lives in Sydney, Australia.
His new book will be the novella, The Red Labyrinth, published by Snuggly Books.
He lives in Sydney, Australia.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 28, 2007
At 333 pages, the .pdf of Black Sheep is an easy read on a computer. Prime Books have chosen a comfortable default font and my only quibble with the layout would be that, at times, there's a lot of blank space to page through.
Set in a dystopian future, Black Sheep chronicles the downfall of narrator Isao Dazai, who is "convicted of being Japanese" in Asian-Sydney. Multiculturialism is now considered a disease for which the only cure is ruthless segregation. We're in Orwellian territory here, with routine surveillance of citizens by cameras, microphones, and powerful masked Segregators, and a history and culture that's tailored to your ethnic origin, which in turn dictates where you can live.
The story starts with Isao undergoing a show trial, at which he's not permitted to speak, but soon flashes back to show the reader how he got there. For me, this lengthy flashback was the least effective section. All we really learn about Isao is that he's a maybe rebel without a cause: disaffected without knowing why, and ineffectual without being endearing. It's hard to believe that so much effort and manpower needs to be put in to entrapping him--and even harder to believe that, after he's been explicitly warned these tactics are being used, he doesn't for one moment suspect what's coming. Despite the first-person narrative, we never get below the surface of Isao's character, and he's continually driven by events rather than being pro-active. He drifts through this phase of the novel as he drifts through life, and it's hard to resist skipping ahead to find out what happens to him after his trial.
The novel's pace picks up after Isao is Assimilated, becoming a puppet of the state with no will of his own, and controlled by guilt for his 'crime'--the implanted murder of his wife. Although presented with far greater obstacles than in his previous existence, he succeeds in throwing off his conditioning and sets out to uncover the bleak truth about Peek's vision of future Australia. The novel ends poignantly, and not entirely without hope.
Peek's writing is tolerable but not stellar, and is plagued by repeated homophone errors--"too" for "to" being perhaps the most egregious. The future world is well imagined, if implausible--who watches all the footage? listens to all the tapes?--and there's excellent irony here and there, but the plot relies on at least one far-fetched coincidence and the characterisations are not strong. Isao's character in particular can't carry the narrative.
If you're a fan of dystopias, you'll probably want to add this to your collection; otherwise, it's a suitable read for a train journey or rainy night.
Set in a dystopian future, Black Sheep chronicles the downfall of narrator Isao Dazai, who is "convicted of being Japanese" in Asian-Sydney. Multiculturialism is now considered a disease for which the only cure is ruthless segregation. We're in Orwellian territory here, with routine surveillance of citizens by cameras, microphones, and powerful masked Segregators, and a history and culture that's tailored to your ethnic origin, which in turn dictates where you can live.
The story starts with Isao undergoing a show trial, at which he's not permitted to speak, but soon flashes back to show the reader how he got there. For me, this lengthy flashback was the least effective section. All we really learn about Isao is that he's a maybe rebel without a cause: disaffected without knowing why, and ineffectual without being endearing. It's hard to believe that so much effort and manpower needs to be put in to entrapping him--and even harder to believe that, after he's been explicitly warned these tactics are being used, he doesn't for one moment suspect what's coming. Despite the first-person narrative, we never get below the surface of Isao's character, and he's continually driven by events rather than being pro-active. He drifts through this phase of the novel as he drifts through life, and it's hard to resist skipping ahead to find out what happens to him after his trial.
The novel's pace picks up after Isao is Assimilated, becoming a puppet of the state with no will of his own, and controlled by guilt for his 'crime'--the implanted murder of his wife. Although presented with far greater obstacles than in his previous existence, he succeeds in throwing off his conditioning and sets out to uncover the bleak truth about Peek's vision of future Australia. The novel ends poignantly, and not entirely without hope.
Peek's writing is tolerable but not stellar, and is plagued by repeated homophone errors--"too" for "to" being perhaps the most egregious. The future world is well imagined, if implausible--who watches all the footage? listens to all the tapes?--and there's excellent irony here and there, but the plot relies on at least one far-fetched coincidence and the characterisations are not strong. Isao's character in particular can't carry the narrative.
If you're a fan of dystopias, you'll probably want to add this to your collection; otherwise, it's a suitable read for a train journey or rainy night.
July 26, 2012
I found Black Sheep by chance a while back at the Galaxy Bookshop, and given that it was written by an old school friend of mine, I was compelled to purchase it. It most definitely didn't fit into the genre of books I'd usually read, the cover spoke of a dark depressing tale and I felt a bit of trepidation thinking that it might be a struggle to read through.
I was pleasantly surprised though to find that despite the cover being truthful, and it being a dark and depressing tale, the writing was engaging and the book was quite hard to put down. I was quite pleased that the author showed the value of focusing on themes and morals. The book touches many different subjects in a personal manner which is quite refreshing and leaves you thinking about the issues well after you finish the book.
Its interesting to note that the book doesn't confront racism though as the synopsis seems to indicate. All the characters are pretty much bereft of anything other than superficial characteristics which define them of being of a particular race. The main themes revolve around the issues facing the Black Sheep, Isao Dazai, whose only crime is to be incapable of fitting into the world he lives in, and he is betrayed and punished in the most cruel and inhumane way for this. Race seems to be just used as a tool to achieve this outcome.
I suspect the one aspect of this book that will frustrate most readers is the unlikeliness of the world that has been created. It is extremely difficult to see the world transforming to or being sustainable in the future presented in this novel, as well as many aspects of the story just seeming logistically implausible. However if you are able to work around this you will find an enjoyable story that will give you plenty to think about.
I was pleasantly surprised though to find that despite the cover being truthful, and it being a dark and depressing tale, the writing was engaging and the book was quite hard to put down. I was quite pleased that the author showed the value of focusing on themes and morals. The book touches many different subjects in a personal manner which is quite refreshing and leaves you thinking about the issues well after you finish the book.
Its interesting to note that the book doesn't confront racism though as the synopsis seems to indicate. All the characters are pretty much bereft of anything other than superficial characteristics which define them of being of a particular race. The main themes revolve around the issues facing the Black Sheep, Isao Dazai, whose only crime is to be incapable of fitting into the world he lives in, and he is betrayed and punished in the most cruel and inhumane way for this. Race seems to be just used as a tool to achieve this outcome.
I suspect the one aspect of this book that will frustrate most readers is the unlikeliness of the world that has been created. It is extremely difficult to see the world transforming to or being sustainable in the future presented in this novel, as well as many aspects of the story just seeming logistically implausible. However if you are able to work around this you will find an enjoyable story that will give you plenty to think about.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2010
On the cover of my copy of Black Sheep is the subtitle "a dystopian novel" along with a quote from Jeff VanderMeer: "This guy makes Harlan Ellison look like an ice cream vendor."
It is as depressing a book as that implies. As I was reading, I noticed some plot parallels to Brave New World (also implying depressing). However, I don't think that it has as much of a grounding in contemporary trends and fears as BNW did in its own time. I also don't think it will haunt my memory quite as much.
The book had a matter-of-fact style and a dark flavor, but I didn't buy into the world as much as I have with other dystopian works. It failed to chill me.
It is as depressing a book as that implies. As I was reading, I noticed some plot parallels to Brave New World (also implying depressing). However, I don't think that it has as much of a grounding in contemporary trends and fears as BNW did in its own time. I also don't think it will haunt my memory quite as much.
The book had a matter-of-fact style and a dark flavor, but I didn't buy into the world as much as I have with other dystopian works. It failed to chill me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2008
I just couldn't get into this. There are echoes of Never Let Me Go and 1984 and other things that I just love, but this one just didn't work for me. Also, it needs a good (or really, ANY) editor.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews