The Olive Readers

by Christine Aziz

I cannot recall the exact moment when I decided to become a Reader. This is unusual for me, as I am always precise about beginnings...Imagine a future without a past, a time without memory, a state in which nationality, ancestry, tradition, language, history have no place. Governing this world is a hyper-organised system of corporations, a network of companies, each responsible for a particular product, each with a workforce conditioned to one end...But, somewhere, a clandestine group is operating to preserve the past...In the Olive producing region of Olea, the Readers are smuggling and storing books in a secret library hidden away in the house of Jephzat and her family. When her sister disappears under suspicious circumstances, and her parents are hastily relocated by the Company, Jephzat is ordered to remain behind. Alone and facing the suspicion and hostility of the villagers, she falls in love with Homer, an olive picker she once rescued from the hands of Company Commissioners - and a long-time member of the Readers. As Homer introduces her to the library, and her hunger for knowledge grows, so do her questions, and soon she finds herself closely involved not only in the recovery and preservation of books, but in a secret plan which endangers Jephzat herself...

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Fantasy, Female Authors

Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off well, with some beautiful writing. The story seemed tantalizing – a different take on the post-apocalyptic saga – and pulled together many different intersecting strands, weaving a country both archaic and futuristic, where people have been uprooted and separated from their homes, their languages and their nationalities, to the point where no one knows their own origins. Governments have been replaced by Companies which produce a particular product, such as olives, or water, and exploit their populations in the process.

It all travels well enough until about halfway, when a romantic interest appears. The story mills about aimlessly for a while, and then never regains its momentum after that. The ending is rushed and obscure, and ultimately unsatisfying. It’s a shame because the first half was written beautifully and kept me reading, but I had to force myself to finish it. I found myself willing the writing to pick up and catch me again, but it just didn't.

[Cath · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book of two halves. It says somewhere in the blurb that she took years to write the first half of this book and two months to write the rest and unfortunately this is entirely obvious when you read it. The first half is beautiful and intriguing, the second half is preposterous.

[Alexandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some beautiful writing early on, but I found myself getting confused by the story. Some bits felt rushed, and I couldn’t really relate other parts to the overall narrative. I think more description of the different settings would have helped me to bring it alive a bit more. Some interesting ideas about the future though! Feels quite prevalent at the moment to be thinking about the importance of water.

[Jeane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jephzat wasn't born in the olive company, her sister was. She doesn't know where she was born.
Everybody has been 'moved' by the company to a new company where they grow olives or wheat. They are taught about the past by the company and aren't allowed to talk about anything not mentioned in the companies history or anything else which they aren't allowed to speak about.
One day, her parents are told they will be going for a while to another company to continue the important work they do. Jephzat stays alone in the bih house and discovers more about the other rooms in the house and about the past and future.

The story is written in the future and tells about the past which is present for us now. I guess we will only find out in the future if what was told in the story about our future will be like that, similar or completely different.
This is a story which absorbed me completely. I lvoed the way it was told and what was told. The different characters and the way Jephzat's character develops. Every little part of the secret puzzle about many 'unimportant' characters that you discover, makes you read on and on.

[Sami · Rating 4 out of 5]

I initially bought this simply because I found the name of the author an interesting one - a clearly Christian forename with an Arab surname.

Growing up, I've become very used to it now, but other than this the book itself did not impress much on me.

Until now.

Unbenownst to me, this book sowed the seed of a fear of multi billion dollar corporations into my head.

And now every time I hear of a corporation such as Amazon buying up Goodreads (the same Amazon that is the reason for so many of my local bookstores going bankrupt because they can avoid millions of dollars' worth of taxes) it's starting to worry me.

Not all dystopian books are realistic anymore (see: Divergent) but this one seems to be a creepy commentary on what is actually happening today and where society is genuinely headed.

I've increased the stars on my rating just for the creep factor.

[Aina · Rating 2 out of 5]

So... Book I to III were a 3,5 star read for me, book IV was kind of a 2,5 and then book V and the very end was just... infuriatingly bad.
Clearly the author had no idea of what she wanted to do with her story and just made some bullshit up.

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off well, then escalated in the final section to an unbelievable climax, all over too quickly like the author wanted to get it over and done with. Disappointed

[Bookphenomena (Micky) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably my first sci-if/utopian read, way before I really discovered this genre in more recent years. I was gripped.

[Xabier Cid · Rating 2 out of 5]

It happens to me very seldom that the book I am reading starts great and goes worse and worse until it sounds like a relief to turn the last page eventually. This is one of those. I'll start with the positive things though.
It is not easy to create a whole dystopian scenario when so many have been created already. All of them have echoes of the pioneers in the genre, and certainly Aziz manages to create a quite distinctive one, resolving in my view the huge problem about technology: how can we imagine a particular technology in the future without the need of building all of it covering every aspect of life. In this novel, the generic destruction of civilisation, the erasure of our daily technology, is well explained, and at the same time it leaves room for the creation of new, revolutionary technology that is the centre of the novel. That said despite that the new technology that Aziz came up with is quite unscientific and weak, but that's not the point now.
I loved some of the characters, some of the situations, particularly in the first two thirds of the book. I think the author is able to create a wonderful story, and very genuine love tales. And that certainly kept me very interested and thrilled. I wasn't that happy with some of the secondary characters, or rather, with how they enter and leave the novel. It looks like at some point the author decides to remove them, or to displace them thousands of miles away, with very little explanation of how that is done or the amount of pain and hope that this creates (for instance, now Homer is the reason for her to live, then is just an undetectable memory fully forgotten; or Lomez, who has the privilege of starting the novel, gains relevance when feels the passion in the corpse's lips, and then disappears for good).
But what really puts me off is the naïvety of the dystopian future (corporations are bad, states are good) and the moralistic approach to the character of the sister, almost a moralistic representation of evil: sex with multiple men, lies, treason, incest!, lack of love to family, conspiracy with the enemy, ambition, etc. That's why the last pages, where the plot's simplicity is more obvious, were a page turner but in the wrong sense: quickly, to start a new, better book.

[Leigh Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Following global climate crises, multinational corporations have usurped governments and divvied up the land and people amongst themselves. A bit 1984-ish and Hunger Games-like at the beginning as we explore the world and its characters. I don't pretend to understand the abstractness of the ending.

The bulk of this novel is the process of radicalization of the main character, Jephzat. Some of the dialog is stilted. Jephzat has a strange way of speaking, very formal and poetical, which could have been a character quirk if it were consistent.

Although I liked the worldbuilding and premise of the novel, I found myself increasingly disappointed by the author's treatment of the only two characters to explicitly have a disability. The trope of disability/birth defect as a signifier of evil or villainy has been worn out for a long time now, and I did not appreciate seeing it.

Joachim, who is "trapped in a child's body" and only his grandmother can communicate with him? He's characterized more like an animal or monkey than a human being, out of control and in need of being put down. Virtually all the descriptions of him call up imagery of an animal: the way he "scampers" after his grandmother and hides in her skirts, for example. Joachim can't reach or climb cabinets very well, yet he is strong enough to behead a grown man. One female character even jokes(?) that because Joachim isn't able to communicate, women can easily and secretly take advantage of him sexually. Abhorrent.

I also do not like the insistence that Hephzibah's harelip, fixable (and fixed!) by surgery, is a "bad omen." Is it worth noting that being born without a harelip isn't a good omen? And Hephzibah is also the main villain. She is the mastermind behind the plans of genociding the Olive Country. Moreover, I don't understand why Hephzibah left her daughter Mariam behind–unless she was secretly murdered and the baby brought back.

I'm not sure I really like the story. Extremely disappointed.

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A complex and horribly believable dystopia where companies have taken over the world more openly than now and everyone is just exploited labour for capitalist empires. Families are ripped apart and destabilised and books (and apparently most recreation) is outlawed. Nevertheless, humanity is as tenacious as life and the people in this book have passions, desires, connections, thirst for knowledge and sometimes dark secrets.

There is an overwhelming theme that literature, spirituality and even just a knowledge of history can rehumanise and liberate. The liberation which is symbolic (via reading and sex) becomes actualised in an act of collective resistance and the figurehead of this resistance is shown to us as not only vulnerable, but also socially constructed (by history and by hope) whereas in actual fact she played a comparatively small part in the revolution (and it was not clear to me why it had to be her who did it).

Family relationships and love are also shown to be complex. One of the weaknesses in the book was that romantic/familial/couple love was shown to be heterosexual only (by omission), I know the book was grappling with so many issues that this is understandable but I am sick of nearly everything being that way. The other issue I had (a small nit) was an overly worshipping stance toward Shakespeare and such writers. But I do love reading too.

It's a good book, because it if very real about our present and future political and ecological dangers, for all that the spirituality-science of the book is fanciful, there is some relatively real hope presented in the way humanity need to overcome the divisiveness of capitalism and form relationships and educate themselves for pleasure and soul-nutrition not just for vocational reasons. I also liked that even misguided love was still a virtue and a triumph in the book.

Highly recommend this one!

[KeenReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this was going to be a four or five star dystopian novel when I started it. I liked the world building, which quickly created a real sense of place. Unfortunately, the book then morphed into a teenage romance. After a short interlude in that genre, it switched into an old workhorse of the Young Adult genre: special-teenager-saves-the-world. This is not suitable for a young adult reader though. It clearly was written for an adult audience.
Actually the age of the main character was never specified. She was old enough to work as her scientist father's lab assistant and initially she read as older than a teenager, but as the book changed genres, she read younger and I spent most of the book thinking of her as a teenager.
As the book progressed the plot became more and more simplistic, until it was frankly irritating, but I enjoyed the writing style, so it ended up as a two star novel, although that may be overgenerous. There were places where it was touch and go whether I would bother to finish it. Having done so, I rather wish I'd have moved onto something else instead.

[Dorian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Several two and three star reviews have already eloquently described the faults of this novel. The writing of the opening few pages shows promise and builds anticipation, but this is very quickly dissipated by some intrusive and clumsy exposition. This strips the novel of its early air of mystery and leaves it as neither credible science fiction nor convincing fantasy. It makes me wonder if the publishers were unsure of who their target audience ought to be. Not the accustomed readers of those two genres I suspect, or the more literary fiction the opening suggests, but a mainstream or younger audience less concerned with immersion in the detail of world building and more interested in a direct and rapid narrative. This does no favours to either author or work, leaves the whole enterprise feeling horribly compromised by commercial considerations, and in the end results in an unsatisfactory novel.

[Danielle Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

It almost made it to 3 stars but was spoiled by latter half and the ending. Interesting premise and some really well written parts - I was very invested for the first half - but the last half felt rushed, and bordering on bizarre at times. Character development was limited and I didn’t really care about or understand any of the characters, especially their choices at the end. In the positive, there were some beautifully written sections.

[Rodeweeks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like I wasted time. In the beginning of the book nothing happens (and I mean literally nothing) and yet I wondered how all this nothing will end - so I read on. Reminds a bit of the Hunger Games - districts and an ignorant heroine. There were parts I got excited about - the Readers and the esoteric explanations of the source... but it is little and far a part.... Will not recommend this book

[Kellie Hatton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I fell in love with the authors writing and the story itself. That is until the last section where things seemed to trail off; the writing less beautiful, more lazy and the story;unsure of where it had intended to go. The ending rushed and disappointing. Never the less, I still really enjoyed the red.

[Judith Paterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book. Knew nothing about it, it's a Book Club read. thought I'd better get on with reading it for a virtual meeting next week, and very quickly found myself totally drawn into this future dystopian world where water is a real issue. Couldn't put it down, it seems like a real parable for our weird times.

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Either 2.5 or 3 stars.

The plot and concept is very promising, intriguing and creative. (This is for the bulk of my rating).

The execution thereof was just sloppy and disappointing. Also...some of the characters were one dimensional and boring.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is overly complicated and I lost the plot a bit at the end... it all seemed too easy to defeat the federation. But the ideas are amazing, I love the premise and the characters are well developed. It just felt like it was trying to do too much.

[Janet Hood · Rating 2 out of 5]

An enjoyable read with some interesting ideas until the last quarter of the book when it felt like the writer had run out of ideas on how to finish the story and the end was disappointing.

[Janet Panter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like some other readers, I did think the writing was much better in the first part of the book. An interesting read though, it makes you think about our future.

[Linandara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book presents an interesting version of a possible future, both rustic and futuristic, rather dystopian. The main characters are well written. But the ending feels rushed and not well explained.

[fliss heywood · Rating 3 out of 5]

'when you say you love someone who is selfish and you want to stay close to them, you always end up trying to please them and that determines how you spend much of your day - even your life'

[Caroline Rowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dystopian fiction not too far in the future where books are the ultimate contraband.

[hunsrückbücherkätzchen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gute Idee, aber schlechte Umsetzung. Den Schluss hab ich nicht verstanden. Zwischendurch wars ungewollt komisch. Ein Beispiel (Achtung Spoiler) für eine natürliche Reaktion, wenn man die (ermordete) Leiche seines Partners findet:
"Ich streckte die Hand aus, um die Haare zu berühren, die mit geronnenem Blut verkrustet waren. Sein Gesichtsausdruck war friedlich, nur der Mund war ein wenig verzogen - der Ansatz zu einem Schrei vielleicht. Wilde, unkontrollierbare Schluchzer schüttelten mich, fielen über mich her wie Räuber, die mir den letzten Rest Verstand nahmen. Ich stand auf, sodass die krässliche Erscheinung meine Schienbeine anstarrte. Ich riss mir die Kleider vom Leib und ging wieder in die Knie, um die Hände in die Blutlache zu tauchen und es mir auf die Haut und in die Haare zu schmieren. [!!!!] Ich nahm den blutigen Teller, auf dem sein Kopf lag, aus dem Schrank. Er war so schwer, dass ich ihn kaum halten konnte. Ich starrte in Homers blicklose Augen und zwang mich, ihn ein letztes Maol zu küssen. Dann setzte ich ihn behutsam auf dem Tisch ab. Jetzt erst gestattet ich mir zusammenzubrechen. Schreiend rannte ich hinaus in den Garten und lief blindlings immer weiter, nackt und blutbeschmiert wie ich war. Ich wusste nicht, wohin ich lief, aber irgendwann fand ich mich im Dorf wieder ..."

[Hessa Al Awadhi · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story set in the future, where the whole world is ruled by corporations...

what i liked:
- The importance of books & reading, in a world where people are restricted from gaining knowledge.. Books enlighten, books give people HOPE, AMBITION and pleasure.. books open new horizons, creates new perspectives and pleases our curiosity .... a book can build a civilization, and it even has the power to destroy it!

- the fight for freedom, every individual has his/her right to live his life the way he wishes, to choose which path to follow, to decide which directions he wants for himself... a person who is caged will eventually rebel....


What i did not like:

things were pretty much straight forward, most parts were predictive ..... and the idea is kind of worn out, THE FUTURE, many books/movies and even cartoons (Adnan wa Leena for example) were revolved around the same idea of a high tech COLD BOLD ROBOTIC world...



finally, i think the author was able to give me the feeling that Identity was indeed really lost, for example, the mention of OLIVE TREES, Brahman theories, western frocks and many other symbols have made it very hard to decide on where people belonged to, to what culture or background... which is what i believe the author wanted us to live...

[Wicked Incognito Now · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't get very far with this book.

This is a dystopic novel. Set in the near future, after the big evil corporate giants truly take over the world and have everyone locked down to small corporate "camps."

I'm sorry, but this makes so little sense to me that I couldn't finish! For one thing, we're ALREADY controlled by big evil corporate giants. Nothing new or ground-breaking there. But it's not in the best interest of these corporations to "lock-down" societies and make everyone burn all their connections to the past. It makes no sense!!! How are corporations to truly profit from this scenario? They've got it better now, with our illusions of freedom and our rampant need to consume.

For a dystopia to work it needs to be scary, and scarily viable. We need to be all "whoa, that could happen to US!"

Now, this author DOES have a clever way with words. With a more realistic storyline, I see that she could write something really good.

But this novel? No. Not working.

[Alun · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't even recall who gave me this book but it had been sitting on the library shelves for ages so when I started running back through my modern classics, I thought I ought to read this one, too.

It's a curious little tale. At first it seems like it's really just about a small community and how they are affected by matters beyond their control but it is obviously post apocalyptic if books are a banned substance.

As it unfolds and we realise that the central characters have a verymuch more important connection to "big politics", in some ways, it takes something from the story which is not recovered as the tale runs out to its unexpected climactic ending. (unexpected when I read the first chapter, anyway).

Starts better than it finishes but has some nice touches and I quite enjoyed it. Just scrapes a third star although I'd give it a 2.4 if we coud rate in tenths.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story from the future when earth is split into various 'corporations' producing olives, water, machinery etc. Everyone has been transported from their homes and 're-educated' and set to work in their corporation. The story follows the 'Readers' who have rescued, in secret, books, music etc to have a picture of life as it was without 'Corporations'. It follows the sory of Jephzat as she becomes involved with the freedom fighters 'Olive Readers' and her sister Hepzibah chosen path - to take power in the Corporation. It has a good build up, but the fight towards the end happened too quickly and with not enough detail, so it felt shallower than I hoped it would. I loved the idea though (Homer the love interest and Sengita - the healer/midwife who knows it all).

[Felicity Teasdale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many other reviews have said, this book started off well but seem to lose something towards the end.

I wasn't sure about the 'alternative future' set up but, by the end of the first 'book' - the novel itself is divided into five smaller books - I was intrigued by the mystery surrounding Jephzat's sister. Even through the revelation of this in book two, I was still intrigued but after this the whole story seemed to disappear.

Through the second half of the novel, the pace was fat too fast, at the risk of losing the reader, and seemed completely removed from what had been set up in the first half. It seemed to skim over a lot of important events and rush towards a hurried ending.

All in all, a good set up but a very disappointing ending.