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Harmony
In a perfect world, there is no escape
In the future, Utopia has finally been achieved thanks to medical nanotechnology and a powerful ethic of social welfare and mutual consideration. This perfect world isn't that perfect though, and three young girls stand up to totalitarian kindness and super-medicine by attempting suicide via starvation. It doesn't work, but one of the girls--Tuan Kirie--grows up to be a member of the World Health Organization. As a crisis threatens the harmony of the new world, Tuan rediscovers another member of her suicide pact, and together they must help save the planet...from itself.
In the future, Utopia has finally been achieved thanks to medical nanotechnology and a powerful ethic of social welfare and mutual consideration. This perfect world isn't that perfect though, and three young girls stand up to totalitarian kindness and super-medicine by attempting suicide via starvation. It doesn't work, but one of the girls--Tuan Kirie--grows up to be a member of the World Health Organization. As a crisis threatens the harmony of the new world, Tuan rediscovers another member of her suicide pact, and together they must help save the planet...from itself.
252 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2008
79 people are currently reading
4064 people want to read
About the author
Project Itoh
37 books105 followersProject Itoh (伊藤 計劃 Itō Keikaku?), real name Satoshi Itō (伊藤 聡 Itō Satoshi?, October 14, 1974 – March 20, 2009), was a Japanese science fiction writer.
Born in Tokyo and graduated Musashino Art University. While working as a web designer, he wrote Gyakusatsu kikan and submitted to Komatsu Sakyō Award contest in 2006. Although it did not receive the award, it was published from Hayakawa Publishing in 2007 and was shortlisted to Nihon SF Taisho Award. A poll by the yearly SF guidebook SF ga yomitai ranked Gyakusatsu kikan as the number one of the domestic SF novel of the decade.
Since 2001, he had to be hospitalized time to time for recurrent cancer. He died at age 34 on March 20, 2009. The video game Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker was dedicated to his memory.
Born in Tokyo and graduated Musashino Art University. While working as a web designer, he wrote Gyakusatsu kikan and submitted to Komatsu Sakyō Award contest in 2006. Although it did not receive the award, it was published from Hayakawa Publishing in 2007 and was shortlisted to Nihon SF Taisho Award. A poll by the yearly SF guidebook SF ga yomitai ranked Gyakusatsu kikan as the number one of the domestic SF novel of the decade.
Since 2001, he had to be hospitalized time to time for recurrent cancer. He died at age 34 on March 20, 2009. The video game Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker was dedicated to his memory.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 190 reviews
December 6, 2010
The best SF novel I've read in yonks, this literary reaction to contemporary Japanese (and international) society presents a dystopian future masquerading as a utopian one. Disease and crime are virtually unheard of in the "civilized world" due to society's obsession with health and the implantation of devices that monitor not only the physical well-being of every citizen but also their mental state, and the World Health Organization controls the world with a loving latex fist. We follow a dissatisfied, rebellious agent of the WHO as she becomes embroiled in a case that may mean the downfall of not just the WHO but of all humankind, and the deeper she goes the more personal the case becomes. Itoh, who edited the final manuscript in a hospital bed where he was dying of cancer, delivers a novel that manages to be both dense but incredibly easy to read, beguilingly simple to understand yet complex and whip-smart. The world of Harmony is one of the most topical, plausible futures I've ever encountered in fiction, which makes the seemingly idyllic future--and the novel's resolution--all the more chilling.
December 20, 2015
This was a fantastic book. I really enjoyed the pacing and the plotting and the nods to classic SF. I felt that it dealt with some issues that are especially concerning to Japanese culture in regards to membership in society and what it means to value your place as part of a whole against the value of your individuality. But it also brought into play some other interesting concerns. I loved the framing and formatting and think that if you like Orwell's 1984 or Naam's Nexus or Huxley's Brave New World, you'll probably like this. The only drawbacks were some inconsistencies with the characters and a few minor hiccups here and there in the plot that covered up some issues. Overall, definitely worth a read.
September 3, 2010
The book is far more complex and amazing than the cover copy or product description makes it sound.
In a world where human life is a precious global resource that must be protected at all costs, everything about a person -- choices, emotions, biochemistry, cell metabolism -- is monitored and assessed by computer systems, 24/7. A variety of complex feedback loops are in place to ensure optimum conservation of that resource, including everything from good old-fashioned peer pressure to mandatory inpatient psychiatric treatment.
The story focuses around Tuan Kirie, and flashes back and forth between her troubled adolescence in a utopian/dystopian Japan and the global crisis she's trying to unravel as an adult working for what is essentially the police and investigation arm of the World Health Organization. Their society conditions everyone to focus on the social welfare of everyone around them, even to the extent of utilizing nanotechnology to trigger internal warnings when your emotions are reaching socially inappropriate levels. Tuan has never fit in, though, and has long sought out ways to harm herself as an act of rebellion, and frequently beats herself up for never having been strong enough to complete suicide.
I don't want to go into much of what actually happens with the plot beyond this set-up, because I don't want to spoil the experience of having it all unfold. I will say that the book does a great job of bringing together technology, philosophy, cognitive science, and sociology, and does so through the lens of a main character that is developed in a very tangible way.
There are a few plot points that irritated me, mostly in the way of unnecessary scientific black boxes. There are a few scenes that seem too neat and contrived. But as a whole, the book pulls together beautifully.
In a world where human life is a precious global resource that must be protected at all costs, everything about a person -- choices, emotions, biochemistry, cell metabolism -- is monitored and assessed by computer systems, 24/7. A variety of complex feedback loops are in place to ensure optimum conservation of that resource, including everything from good old-fashioned peer pressure to mandatory inpatient psychiatric treatment.
The story focuses around Tuan Kirie, and flashes back and forth between her troubled adolescence in a utopian/dystopian Japan and the global crisis she's trying to unravel as an adult working for what is essentially the police and investigation arm of the World Health Organization. Their society conditions everyone to focus on the social welfare of everyone around them, even to the extent of utilizing nanotechnology to trigger internal warnings when your emotions are reaching socially inappropriate levels. Tuan has never fit in, though, and has long sought out ways to harm herself as an act of rebellion, and frequently beats herself up for never having been strong enough to complete suicide.
I don't want to go into much of what actually happens with the plot beyond this set-up, because I don't want to spoil the experience of having it all unfold. I will say that the book does a great job of bringing together technology, philosophy, cognitive science, and sociology, and does so through the lens of a main character that is developed in a very tangible way.
There are a few plot points that irritated me, mostly in the way of unnecessary scientific black boxes. There are a few scenes that seem too neat and contrived. But as a whole, the book pulls together beautifully.
May 12, 2015
< frustration >
Uhh. Tömény, és bőségesen ad gondolkodnivalót...
Egy új, modern, vészterhes 1984, és egy jövő, amit nem akarok megérni.
< / frustration >
http://pupillaolvas.blogspot.com/2015...
Uhh. Tömény, és bőségesen ad gondolkodnivalót...
Egy új, modern, vészterhes 1984, és egy jövő, amit nem akarok megérni.
< / frustration >
http://pupillaolvas.blogspot.com/2015...
April 17, 2011
How can one feel alive without knowing the pain of living? Does disease and suffering create our consciousness and our sense of humanity? Harmony creates a world in which human ingenuity has eradicated illness through the use of medicules, a clever injection of molecules that police our bodies and report our health to world authorities. With tailored diets, expert fitness routines, and regular psychological assessments, all of humankind have traded an individual-driven existence in order to live healthy, well-balanced lives. Declining population rates in the aftermath of nuclear fallout have made the human body the world's most precious commodity. The health and continuation of our species outweighs the selfishness of the individual—and yet, suicide rates among those born into this system are on the rise each year. Three girls come of age in this world, and each girl must decide whether to abide by the self-sacrifice of harmony or to rebel against the insulated lives the world expects them to live.
Hard science fans will find ample content to rejoice in—biological tyranny and terrorism combine for a thrilling chemistry of cutting-edge literature. In fact, tech nerds might even find the book's message can be enhanced through e-reader technology—HTML codes are embedded within the text for good reason, folks. Project Itoh delivers an astounding science fiction work that walks a fine line between utopian ideals and dystopian disillusionment, and provides ample brain candy for readers of all backgrounds.
Ideal for: Hard science aficionados and disease thriller diehards; Readers who like a female lead (or three!) in their science fiction; Dystopia worshippers who'd like a taste of the end of the world from a Japanese standpoint.
Hard science fans will find ample content to rejoice in—biological tyranny and terrorism combine for a thrilling chemistry of cutting-edge literature. In fact, tech nerds might even find the book's message can be enhanced through e-reader technology—HTML codes are embedded within the text for good reason, folks. Project Itoh delivers an astounding science fiction work that walks a fine line between utopian ideals and dystopian disillusionment, and provides ample brain candy for readers of all backgrounds.
Ideal for: Hard science aficionados and disease thriller diehards; Readers who like a female lead (or three!) in their science fiction; Dystopia worshippers who'd like a taste of the end of the world from a Japanese standpoint.
June 9, 2015
Probably more of a 4.5, but whatever.
This is a fascinating speculative novel that takes place in a post-nuclear society wherein life is a public resource and medicine is worshipped like a religion. It questions the role of technology and human consciousness, questioning what even makes us human at all. Thought-provoking and an interesting examination of conformity, especially coming from a Japanese author, for Japan is a country that culturally values conformity over individuality. This is my type of speculative fiction. A perfect book? No, but really fun and it definitely made me think.
This is a fascinating speculative novel that takes place in a post-nuclear society wherein life is a public resource and medicine is worshipped like a religion. It questions the role of technology and human consciousness, questioning what even makes us human at all. Thought-provoking and an interesting examination of conformity, especially coming from a Japanese author, for Japan is a country that culturally values conformity over individuality. This is my type of speculative fiction. A perfect book? No, but really fun and it definitely made me think.
March 2, 2019
Smart and well written (the translation is great, too) and poisonous. I can't decide if its philosophy is cynical or simply out and out materialist, but its aftertaste was bitter indeed.
Now, what can I read to wash it away?
Now, what can I read to wash it away?
July 20, 2016
Excelente novela. Como es japo, obviamente hicieron un animé.
Es del tipo de Ciencia Ficción que se centra en como una nueva tecnología modifica la sociedad.
Es del tipo de Ciencia Ficción que se centra en como una nueva tecnología modifica la sociedad.
September 11, 2015
In the future, life is precious. Maybe too precious. Virtually everyone has medical nanotechnology that monitors their status, and anything that is potentially harmful is banned or at least heavily socially discouraged. Privacy is a word from the past, your medical records are open. The dominant philosophy is that your life does not belong to you, it belongs to society. Three teenage girls, still too young to get the nanotech, and social misfits, form a bond and as an act of rebellion, a suicide pact. Years later, Tuan Kirie, one of the survivors of that pact, has fit herself back with society, although somewhat uneasily, even working for the World Health Organization. But a shocking new crisis develops that she must investigate, and she believes that it may have some ties back to her own past, and her decisions may shape the future of humanity.
This is a novel written in Japanese and translated into English. I've read a number of these put out by the Haikasoru imprint of Viz Media, and while this isn't my favorite, it's right up there at the top of them.
Harmony is obviously in the classic mold of the ambiguous, perhaps even horrific from a certain perspective, utopia, like Brave New World, used to warn against certain trends that presumably the author worried about going too far. But it also goes beyond that, too, and tackles questions like the nature of consciousness and arguably morphs from "warning social commentary" to "full on science fiction" by the end.
It may be tempting to look at this as a book warning of the dangers of political correctness. Indeed, the words "publicly correct" appear quite a few times to refer to the sort of capitulation to the groupthink that is required, by the society. Usually, when somebody attacks political correctness, I'm not all that sympathetic, as I find it a desire to want to keep not caring about whether they're hurting other people. In this case, I think it's not so much against political correctness (and in fact virtually every time "publicly correct" is invoked, it has nothing to do with racist or sexist jokes or even actions towards others, and everything to do with keeping yourself healthy and at a minimum of risk), but rather against the tools being used to extend too far. It is, it seems, more of a reminder of the virtue of moderation than anything else. After all, the main character get into a suicide pact early on, and some of her friends fantasize about murder and terrorism... it's hard to imagine that the author is wholly endorsing their worldview, but rather painting them as an opposite extreme, an over-reaction to the over-reaction the rest of the world has imposed, and the ideal truth being somewhere in the middle. So at times you root for the main characters even when they're advocating extreme actions, and other times you hate them, and really, it's a nice balancing act that may go a bit too far in one direction or another, but keeps you questioning things, which is good. Still, the overall message isn't about the right to hurt other people, but rather the right to choose things for yourself that may not be the best for you.
And, as I said, it's more than just a book to promote a social message, it gets genuinely exciting when the plot kicks off, with moments of extreme creepiness and dramatic choices foisted upon the world, all leading to a conclusion that doesn't look like it was made to fit a message, but rather because the author thought it was a really cool idea. And in a way, it is. It's not necessarily an upbeat ending, either, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless (and, in these kind of books, endings that are too upbeat often feel like cheats anyway).
The book's very good, but it's not perfect. One of the conceits of the novel is that certain parts of it are highlighted in an "emotion-markup language" that looks like HTML, where certain passages might be enclosed in tags, like, say, "I'm fine." The idea of it, at least once the book gets to the ending and the point of them is revealed, might be interesting enough to keep, but in execution in fails, particularly because most of the time it's used to make lists of statements, lists that don't actually really have emotional content, just look ugly. And it's used just frequently enough to be annoying, and yet not frequently that you think it's legitimately used to tag all the emotional text. It's more like the author occasionally remembered to use it, and uses it then, but doesn't go back to make it a completely consistent motif.
There's also a little bit of unfortunate skeeviness, where teenage girls wax nostalgically about the past where men would pay to have sex with teenage girls, and seem to complain that the option is no longer open to them. And when, early on, they make a declaration of their own bodily independence but refer mostly to their sexual characteristics as they do so (when the society controls far more than that, and there's not even that much evidence that sexual freedoms themselves are particularly restricted). I can see valid arguments for these choices that make sense within the plot, and I think trying to read into it any particular opinions on the part of the author would be a mistake, but it is somewhat off-putting. It's actually not a lot, it's not a huge part of the book, but it happens early on and may turn people off, which is a shame. There is something of a revelation towards the end that both potentially explains some of this earlier part, and yet is also potentially a problematic trope of it's own, but on the whole I think it's small enough that the book might have been better off without it.
The only other negative thing I have to say is that sometimes character motivations seem to change abruptly and I'm not entirely sure if I missed some subtle clues or if they just changed their mind, but particularly towards the conclusion it made for a minor off-note.
Still, the book kept me both entertained and thinking all the way through, which is what I want out of books like this.
This is a novel written in Japanese and translated into English. I've read a number of these put out by the Haikasoru imprint of Viz Media, and while this isn't my favorite, it's right up there at the top of them.
Harmony is obviously in the classic mold of the ambiguous, perhaps even horrific from a certain perspective, utopia, like Brave New World, used to warn against certain trends that presumably the author worried about going too far. But it also goes beyond that, too, and tackles questions like the nature of consciousness and arguably morphs from "warning social commentary" to "full on science fiction" by the end.
It may be tempting to look at this as a book warning of the dangers of political correctness. Indeed, the words "publicly correct" appear quite a few times to refer to the sort of capitulation to the groupthink that is required, by the society. Usually, when somebody attacks political correctness, I'm not all that sympathetic, as I find it a desire to want to keep not caring about whether they're hurting other people. In this case, I think it's not so much against political correctness (and in fact virtually every time "publicly correct" is invoked, it has nothing to do with racist or sexist jokes or even actions towards others, and everything to do with keeping yourself healthy and at a minimum of risk), but rather against the tools being used to extend too far. It is, it seems, more of a reminder of the virtue of moderation than anything else. After all, the main character get into a suicide pact early on, and some of her friends fantasize about murder and terrorism... it's hard to imagine that the author is wholly endorsing their worldview, but rather painting them as an opposite extreme, an over-reaction to the over-reaction the rest of the world has imposed, and the ideal truth being somewhere in the middle. So at times you root for the main characters even when they're advocating extreme actions, and other times you hate them, and really, it's a nice balancing act that may go a bit too far in one direction or another, but keeps you questioning things, which is good. Still, the overall message isn't about the right to hurt other people, but rather the right to choose things for yourself that may not be the best for you.
And, as I said, it's more than just a book to promote a social message, it gets genuinely exciting when the plot kicks off, with moments of extreme creepiness and dramatic choices foisted upon the world, all leading to a conclusion that doesn't look like it was made to fit a message, but rather because the author thought it was a really cool idea. And in a way, it is. It's not necessarily an upbeat ending, either, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless (and, in these kind of books, endings that are too upbeat often feel like cheats anyway).
The book's very good, but it's not perfect. One of the conceits of the novel is that certain parts of it are highlighted in an "emotion-markup language" that looks like HTML, where certain passages might be enclosed in tags, like, say, "I'm fine." The idea of it, at least once the book gets to the ending and the point of them is revealed, might be interesting enough to keep, but in execution in fails, particularly because most of the time it's used to make lists of statements, lists that don't actually really have emotional content, just look ugly. And it's used just frequently enough to be annoying, and yet not frequently that you think it's legitimately used to tag all the emotional text. It's more like the author occasionally remembered to use it, and uses it then, but doesn't go back to make it a completely consistent motif.
There's also a little bit of unfortunate skeeviness, where teenage girls wax nostalgically about the past where men would pay to have sex with teenage girls, and seem to complain that the option is no longer open to them. And when, early on, they make a declaration of their own bodily independence but refer mostly to their sexual characteristics as they do so (when the society controls far more than that, and there's not even that much evidence that sexual freedoms themselves are particularly restricted). I can see valid arguments for these choices that make sense within the plot, and I think trying to read into it any particular opinions on the part of the author would be a mistake, but it is somewhat off-putting. It's actually not a lot, it's not a huge part of the book, but it happens early on and may turn people off, which is a shame. There is something of a revelation towards the end that both potentially explains some of this earlier part, and yet is also potentially a problematic trope of it's own, but on the whole I think it's small enough that the book might have been better off without it.
The only other negative thing I have to say is that sometimes character motivations seem to change abruptly and I'm not entirely sure if I missed some subtle clues or if they just changed their mind, but particularly towards the conclusion it made for a minor off-note.
Still, the book kept me both entertained and thinking all the way through, which is what I want out of books like this.
December 27, 2021
This book is clearly a reaction to Japanese society, but it's also prescient (given when it was written) about our current situation where no one wants to experience anything that could bother them. It's incredible that he saw this coming 11 years ago. This is not to say that I'm one of those people who rails against "cancel culture" and so forth. I think it's a positive thing, in general, that folks who traditionally did not have a voice in the world now can speak out against injustice. But there is definitely a vocal minority who refuses to deal with anything that might unnerve or challenge them. Of course this thin line (which I imagine myself to be on the correct side of) is why I originally considered starting off this review with the sentence "This book is dangerous." I could definitely see some people taking this book as an example of why everyone should be able to say and do anything; who cares what others think?
As to the Japanese part (I am, admittedly, speaking second-hand), there has been a growing sentiment (certainly extant when Project Itoh was writing this book) that the society has become polite to a fault. That those who express their discomfort or issues with others are committing a faux pas against the greater society. And so Harmony conceives of a Utopia that is also a dystopia for some. The suicides mentioned in the book mirror the increasing numbers of Japanese men checking out and/or committing suicide. (And we see some evidence of the same happening in China and maybe among Gen Z here in America)
The other brilliant aspect of this book is the way it shifts between parts. Originally you think the story is going a certain way and then with each part, it shifts and now you're in a different story than you thought it was going to be.
I think the fact that I liked it so much and had such a hard time truly explaining it to others, means it'll probably be incredibly divisive. Still, I recommend it to folks as more relevant now in 2021 than it was when it came out in 2010.
As to the Japanese part (I am, admittedly, speaking second-hand), there has been a growing sentiment (certainly extant when Project Itoh was writing this book) that the society has become polite to a fault. That those who express their discomfort or issues with others are committing a faux pas against the greater society. And so Harmony conceives of a Utopia that is also a dystopia for some. The suicides mentioned in the book mirror the increasing numbers of Japanese men checking out and/or committing suicide. (And we see some evidence of the same happening in China and maybe among Gen Z here in America)
The other brilliant aspect of this book is the way it shifts between parts. Originally you think the story is going a certain way and then with each part, it shifts and now you're in a different story than you thought it was going to be.
I think the fact that I liked it so much and had such a hard time truly explaining it to others, means it'll probably be incredibly divisive. Still, I recommend it to folks as more relevant now in 2021 than it was when it came out in 2010.
August 26, 2024
The first time I read it, I rated this a 5 star, and now I think it might be 3.5 stars.
I was in love with this book when I finished it, and reading a book important to me again, it was fascinating to note ways I've changed. This book mentions other concepts and literature, which I searched up and read after I was done with this book. I realize now that I search up way more than I used to now, like places mentioned or anything I don't recognize.
I have some criticisms of the book. The characters are super flat unfortunately, which is why I know I won't be mad if I watch the animated movie because it literally won't miss nuance (not that anime doesn't tend to have nuance in it's characters), but this is common for SF and in the relating of ideas. On that note, and ik this won't make for a compelling critique, but I thought something was deeply unconvincing about the ideas it was relating aha. As if the philosophy behind consciousness and whatnot ('whatnot' includes alot of other things) was lacking depth, and the resistance force narrative im also not a big fan of. Not that I think there should be no reason to resist the kind of society showed, it fills me with disgust to imagine a society like that with no basis for art or creation. Another criticism I had was that there was way more telling than showing, like you can SHOW me how oppressive and suffocating the society feels, you don't need to constantly tell me the character's inner monologue about it. It's all rather on the nose.
The thing is, despite being a bunch of fascinating ideas, the ideas imo are not executed well. There is no lack in the world for interesting ideas.
OH I NEEDED TO MENTION. I did not appreciate the Baghdad chase scene lol, made in typical 'Middle East market gun fight chase' fashion. It wasn't very annoying because a Japanese guy wrote this book, and not an American, though this feels like it was influenced by American media.
I was in love with this book when I finished it, and reading a book important to me again, it was fascinating to note ways I've changed. This book mentions other concepts and literature, which I searched up and read after I was done with this book. I realize now that I search up way more than I used to now, like places mentioned or anything I don't recognize.
I have some criticisms of the book. The characters are super flat unfortunately, which is why I know I won't be mad if I watch the animated movie because it literally won't miss nuance (not that anime doesn't tend to have nuance in it's characters), but this is common for SF and in the relating of ideas. On that note, and ik this won't make for a compelling critique, but I thought something was deeply unconvincing about the ideas it was relating aha. As if the philosophy behind consciousness and whatnot ('whatnot' includes alot of other things) was lacking depth, and the resistance force narrative im also not a big fan of. Not that I think there should be no reason to resist the kind of society showed, it fills me with disgust to imagine a society like that with no basis for art or creation. Another criticism I had was that there was way more telling than showing, like you can SHOW me how oppressive and suffocating the society feels, you don't need to constantly tell me the character's inner monologue about it. It's all rather on the nose.
The thing is, despite being a bunch of fascinating ideas, the ideas imo are not executed well. There is no lack in the world for interesting ideas.
OH I NEEDED TO MENTION. I did not appreciate the Baghdad chase scene lol, made in typical 'Middle East market gun fight chase' fashion. It wasn't very annoying because a Japanese guy wrote this book, and not an American, though this feels like it was influenced by American media.
September 4, 2020
Tiene ideas buenísimas, pero el desarrollo de la novela, tanto personajes como trama me ha resultado muy insatisfactorio. Especialmente los personajes protagonistas. Insufribles. Sería un libro de 2 estrellas, pero la subo a 2,5 porque el planteamiento me ha gustado lo suficiente como para aguantar todo el libro.
October 16, 2010
Reason for Reading: I love post-apocalyptic/dystopian novels and at the same time I was very intrigued in reading a Japanese novel in translation. So far my Japanese reading has been confined to manga.
This book won the Japanese Awards: the Seiun Award and the Japan SF Award and is a highly literary piece of work. A brilliant work of dystopia that looks at a future world that is unlike anything I've ever read before and is also completely viable. The publisher's summary does not do justice to the story at all and I was not prepared for the deep philosophical, scientific, ethical, sociological and technological issues that would be covered in this fairly slim volume.
I couldn't even begin to find the words to describe the plot as it is so intricate and multi-layered nor do I really want to as going into this book without much plot knowledge will only enhance your enjoyment. Instead, let me describe the world. There has been an apocalypse; bombs have dropped and a large portion of the world's population killed. It is now about 60 years later and the civilized world has no governments, or ruling kingdoms, instead the world is managed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and throughout each country there are thousands of admedistration units catering to small sections of the population. People have been implanted with a medical monitoring device which constantly measures physical and emotional health, sending out modules of medications or enzymes to fix the problem straight away. Thus no one in this world is ever sick, hurts themselves, or becomes mentally unstable. Privacy is the ultimate bad word; one you would whisper and make sure no one else heard you say. Everybody has a health output hovering over their head so all can see how each other is doing, and everyone is kind and thoughtful to others because the most precious resource in this population depleted world is human life. As one walks along in life your implant will shield you from emotional distress, should something come up that would interfere with your specific emotional make-up a filtering process would go into place and you would not even see the offending item: painting, magazine, store, etc. Everyone is in perfect health as your diet is streamlined for your consumption, and the correct foods delivered to your home, within your budget. Menus at restaurants bring up a display telling the nutritional content of the food and what is within your parameters. Food with no nutritional value does not exist anymore. And the list goes on ....
Some people are perfectly content with this Utopian society of perfect health, peace and kindness. Never having to make uncomfortable choices and feeling as though they are truly being a valuable resource of society. Others realize this for the totalitarian society that it is and there are a few countries that have not joined the WHO, mainly Russia and then small scattered countries in Africa and the Middle East, which continue to resist. But there are others on the inside who want out, they've read books and found out what life was like before the Maelstorm and recognize individual freedom is missing from their society. Three teenage girls become a part of this resistance when they realize the only way to hurt the establishment is to hurt the most precious commodity, their human life. So they make a pact to commit suicide together. This is only the beginning, though. What will become at risk is the very essence that makes human beings human.
The book is written in a back and forth flow as the main character tells her story now as she works as an agent and flashes back to her childhood and early adult years as she was one of those girls who promised to commit suicide but obviously failed. The book is also written within a sort of HTML code called "Emotional-in-Text Markup Language" and the text is contained within the coded tags and within the text will be other tags with directions, sort of like a play. It's strange at first, but you get used to it as a reader and when you find out it's purpose on the last page ... well it is stunning.
This book really deserves more publicity on this continent. It is one of the best dystopian novels I've read of late and so very different from the other stuff being written today which often has an environmental political agenda behind its cause of the apocalypse. I think I would put this up there with Brave New World, completely different stories mind, but equal in literary merit and psychological impact and thought.
I would like to mention that the very beginning pages do contain some quite vulgar language (which had me thinking I wouldn't be reading the book much further) but it is mostly contained to those pages. Of course, there are expletives here and there throughout the book but don't let the first pages put you off, if language is of a concern to you.
This book won the Japanese Awards: the Seiun Award and the Japan SF Award and is a highly literary piece of work. A brilliant work of dystopia that looks at a future world that is unlike anything I've ever read before and is also completely viable. The publisher's summary does not do justice to the story at all and I was not prepared for the deep philosophical, scientific, ethical, sociological and technological issues that would be covered in this fairly slim volume.
I couldn't even begin to find the words to describe the plot as it is so intricate and multi-layered nor do I really want to as going into this book without much plot knowledge will only enhance your enjoyment. Instead, let me describe the world. There has been an apocalypse; bombs have dropped and a large portion of the world's population killed. It is now about 60 years later and the civilized world has no governments, or ruling kingdoms, instead the world is managed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and throughout each country there are thousands of admedistration units catering to small sections of the population. People have been implanted with a medical monitoring device which constantly measures physical and emotional health, sending out modules of medications or enzymes to fix the problem straight away. Thus no one in this world is ever sick, hurts themselves, or becomes mentally unstable. Privacy is the ultimate bad word; one you would whisper and make sure no one else heard you say. Everybody has a health output hovering over their head so all can see how each other is doing, and everyone is kind and thoughtful to others because the most precious resource in this population depleted world is human life. As one walks along in life your implant will shield you from emotional distress, should something come up that would interfere with your specific emotional make-up a filtering process would go into place and you would not even see the offending item: painting, magazine, store, etc. Everyone is in perfect health as your diet is streamlined for your consumption, and the correct foods delivered to your home, within your budget. Menus at restaurants bring up a display telling the nutritional content of the food and what is within your parameters. Food with no nutritional value does not exist anymore. And the list goes on ....
Some people are perfectly content with this Utopian society of perfect health, peace and kindness. Never having to make uncomfortable choices and feeling as though they are truly being a valuable resource of society. Others realize this for the totalitarian society that it is and there are a few countries that have not joined the WHO, mainly Russia and then small scattered countries in Africa and the Middle East, which continue to resist. But there are others on the inside who want out, they've read books and found out what life was like before the Maelstorm and recognize individual freedom is missing from their society. Three teenage girls become a part of this resistance when they realize the only way to hurt the establishment is to hurt the most precious commodity, their human life. So they make a pact to commit suicide together. This is only the beginning, though. What will become at risk is the very essence that makes human beings human.
The book is written in a back and forth flow as the main character tells her story now as she works as an agent and flashes back to her childhood and early adult years as she was one of those girls who promised to commit suicide but obviously failed. The book is also written within a sort of HTML code called "Emotional-in-Text Markup Language" and the text is contained within the coded tags and within the text will be other tags with directions, sort of like a play. It's strange at first, but you get used to it as a reader and when you find out it's purpose on the last page ... well it is stunning.
This book really deserves more publicity on this continent. It is one of the best dystopian novels I've read of late and so very different from the other stuff being written today which often has an environmental political agenda behind its cause of the apocalypse. I think I would put this up there with Brave New World, completely different stories mind, but equal in literary merit and psychological impact and thought.
I would like to mention that the very beginning pages do contain some quite vulgar language (which had me thinking I wouldn't be reading the book much further) but it is mostly contained to those pages. Of course, there are expletives here and there throughout the book but don't let the first pages put you off, if language is of a concern to you.
August 21, 2011
“And the successor to that Catholic dogma? Believe it or not, it’s us, with our all-benevolent health-obsessed society. Bodies once received from God are, under the rules of a lifeist admedistrative society, public property. God doesn’t own us anymore, everyone does. Never before in history has ‘the importance of life’ been such a loaded term.”
Miach was right, of course.
And that was why we had to die.
Because our lives were being made too important.
Because everyone was too concerned about everyone else.
Of course, it wasn’t enough to simply die. We had to die in a way that made a mockery of the health regime we were supposed to uphold by law. At least, that was what we thought back then.
***
As a Brave New World-esque satire of the utopian/dystopian formula, Project Itoh’s Harmony treads disturbing waters through the approach of death being the instigating factor that can offer change for entire social trajectories. Not just death, in fact, but murder and suicide, specifically.
Taking place mostly in a Japan of the somewhat-near future, Harmony envisions a world that has at once sterilized and commodified itself. Following the Maelstrom—the much alluded to nuclear holocaust that nearly wiped out humanity—admedistrations have taken over, treating the health and welfare of citizens as tasks guided by perfectionism. However, all is not well in a medically infused wonderland. Three young women—Miach Mihie, Cian Reikado, and the protagonist, Tuan Kirie—decide, at Miach’s insistence, to challenge the admedistrations and the WatchMe technology that monitors their bodies and minds by committing suicide. They intend to starve themselves to take back their bodies—to own their physical and emotional selves in a way that the admedistrations have all but made impossible. Though the attempt is mostly a failure, it pushes Tuan down a contradictory path as a World Health Organization officer who delights in punishing her body through nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine, which can still be found and acquired in other nations. When Cian re-enters Tuan’s life and their suicide pact is recalled, events unfold that may threaten to not only topple their admedistration-focused society, but to transform the face of the world.
Employing an HTML mark-up style for memories, emotions, and internal questions, Itoh constructs Harmony as a potentially dishonest narrative—especially given then the book’s welcome yet disheartening conclusion. At first the HTML styling seems cumbersome, disrupting the book’s rhythm with point-form lists. By the book’s conclusion, the HTML styling serves a dual purpose: first, it enforces the pervasiveness of the admedistrations and the WatchMe programming; second, upon completion, it offers a possible alternate meaning to the entire novel, one predicated on the possibility that it has been less a mystery and more a cautionary retelling of events, to instil fear of “unhealthy” motivations in the minds of a technologically placated society. It’s a unique reversal of perspective that feels earned and not in any way meant to pull the rug out from beneath the feet of the readers.
The subject matter of Harmony seems especially prescient given our growing obsession with health, and more importantly, misdirected fear over what is and is not indicative of health. Starvation and gluttony are the parallels most employed in Harmony, perhaps as it is for Miach, Cian and Tuan, because they are two of the least visible ways in which these girls could, at such a young age, attempt to destroy their bodies. Itoh is also making a clear statement that these associative problems are legion, and their impact on children—especially young women—in the future will be as persuasive and deadly as it is today, given the force by which the culture in power seeks to reconcile its own bodily fears and misconceptions.
Harmony works as much as a commentary on current and future health and social practices as it does a story of friendship found, manipulated, and destroyed beyond any point of return. Perhaps most unnerving, given the story’s admedistrative totalitarianism, is knowing that Project Itoh finished this novel while in the hospital, dying of cancer. He passed away in 2009. Harmony is his final work.
Miach was right, of course.
And that was why we had to die.
Because our lives were being made too important.
Because everyone was too concerned about everyone else.
Of course, it wasn’t enough to simply die. We had to die in a way that made a mockery of the health regime we were supposed to uphold by law. At least, that was what we thought back then.
***
As a Brave New World-esque satire of the utopian/dystopian formula, Project Itoh’s Harmony treads disturbing waters through the approach of death being the instigating factor that can offer change for entire social trajectories. Not just death, in fact, but murder and suicide, specifically.
Taking place mostly in a Japan of the somewhat-near future, Harmony envisions a world that has at once sterilized and commodified itself. Following the Maelstrom—the much alluded to nuclear holocaust that nearly wiped out humanity—admedistrations have taken over, treating the health and welfare of citizens as tasks guided by perfectionism. However, all is not well in a medically infused wonderland. Three young women—Miach Mihie, Cian Reikado, and the protagonist, Tuan Kirie—decide, at Miach’s insistence, to challenge the admedistrations and the WatchMe technology that monitors their bodies and minds by committing suicide. They intend to starve themselves to take back their bodies—to own their physical and emotional selves in a way that the admedistrations have all but made impossible. Though the attempt is mostly a failure, it pushes Tuan down a contradictory path as a World Health Organization officer who delights in punishing her body through nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine, which can still be found and acquired in other nations. When Cian re-enters Tuan’s life and their suicide pact is recalled, events unfold that may threaten to not only topple their admedistration-focused society, but to transform the face of the world.
Employing an HTML mark-up style for memories, emotions, and internal questions, Itoh constructs Harmony as a potentially dishonest narrative—especially given then the book’s welcome yet disheartening conclusion. At first the HTML styling seems cumbersome, disrupting the book’s rhythm with point-form lists. By the book’s conclusion, the HTML styling serves a dual purpose: first, it enforces the pervasiveness of the admedistrations and the WatchMe programming; second, upon completion, it offers a possible alternate meaning to the entire novel, one predicated on the possibility that it has been less a mystery and more a cautionary retelling of events, to instil fear of “unhealthy” motivations in the minds of a technologically placated society. It’s a unique reversal of perspective that feels earned and not in any way meant to pull the rug out from beneath the feet of the readers.
The subject matter of Harmony seems especially prescient given our growing obsession with health, and more importantly, misdirected fear over what is and is not indicative of health. Starvation and gluttony are the parallels most employed in Harmony, perhaps as it is for Miach, Cian and Tuan, because they are two of the least visible ways in which these girls could, at such a young age, attempt to destroy their bodies. Itoh is also making a clear statement that these associative problems are legion, and their impact on children—especially young women—in the future will be as persuasive and deadly as it is today, given the force by which the culture in power seeks to reconcile its own bodily fears and misconceptions.
Harmony works as much as a commentary on current and future health and social practices as it does a story of friendship found, manipulated, and destroyed beyond any point of return. Perhaps most unnerving, given the story’s admedistrative totalitarianism, is knowing that Project Itoh finished this novel while in the hospital, dying of cancer. He passed away in 2009. Harmony is his final work.
April 27, 2020
If Ayn Rand and her works are considered a kind of "poison" to students nearing the end of their high school days and/or beginning their college ones due to the elevation of selfishness and self-interest as the highest good, this book is probably the opposite to that.
It's a different kind of poison to be sure, but poison all the same; one that argues that selflessness through the loss of Ego is the highest Good (yes, with a capital G). Rather than humans evolving to leave their bodies in a common sci-fi cliche and exchanging flesh with synthetic sinew, Harmony argues in contrast that the next step to human evolution is likely the abandonment of "soul". Perhaps the human soul isn't so sacred after all, it states, and in a medical utopia where death only comes by natural causes after 100 or more years, the next logical step may be to evolve beyond a facsimile of "harmony" and instead the humans within the group should truly become as one. Harmony advocates for the destruction of the unit of "self" and "me"; the greatest possible Good can be achieved when each member of society is a member of a whole, and not an individual piece.
I digress. Over the past years I've come to think that Ego is an item that needs to be dispensed of in order for true Good to exist. The same is true for art, I think. For an artistic endeavor to be truly created for the sake of itself, I argue one should remove all traces of themselves from the work. The ultimate "Death of the Author" if you will. This book and the film that makes its counterpart (which, by the way, is incredible and highly worth watching) served to affirm these views more, to an almost eerie degree. My high review and love of this work may be because of that.
Either way, if you're interested, by all means either read the book or watch the movie. By choosing one over the other, I can personally guarantee you're not missing much. If you find the message resonates with you, then consume both. I'm not sure how exactly to put this, but I suggest consuming this book at arms-length. It's easy to get "too involved" with the ideas here (or maybe that's just me). I can feel the toxins spreading through my mind, as primed as I was to receive them (see the above paragraph).
By the by, I have to say here that I believe the society in Harmony is a utopia. Thinking it's a dystopia is a shallow analysis of the world. What makes the story interesting (and what may confuse some on this point) is that the characters are the few that are at odds with the specific way society functions - 99% of the citizens are happy, well-adjusted, and fulfilled.
But that's enough out of Miach Mihie.
August 31, 2010
I really wish that this book would have changed a few small plot developments later on in the book. I really do. If it had, I would have said this was one of the better books I've read in a long time. As it is, it's still a great boom but somewhat frustrating when all is said and done. On one hand, the world that this novel introduces us to is bot imaginatively thought-out and very well-developed. It was a fun and interesting place to be in so even with the story's slow burn pacing, you still wanted to read on to see just what amusing extrapolations of technology Itoh would throw at you next.
By no means is this a light-hearted novel though- quite the contrary. The book is very bleak and often highly satirical (though played with a completely straight face most of the time, the sure sign of effective satire). The ideas and moral situations brought up in this morass of a society we're privy to, however, echo still in my mind so the bleakness is certainly warranted.
Lastly, Itoh's novel is simply written wonderfully. Not only does the novel playfully mingle HTML with text to create a bizarrely modern prose/poetry fusion that creates a sort of meta, literary soliloquy but the translator has pulled some overtime hours because the language is of the highest caliber. At no point did I feel like I was being talked down to and yet everything was phrased as simply as possible. Itoh did a superb job of balancing the non-linear plot throughout, may I add.
But, to get to the few things I disliked about I refer to late-game Plot developments. Without spoiling anything, I think that specific background plot elements of one of the main characters that arise stretched the credibility of the plot, not to mention the purpose. They didn't quite mesh with the rest of the story and seemed to me like they could have been left out entirely and only slight re-working would have been required. That said, these details do follow somewhat logically from what came before it was just a bit disappointing to me that they didn't seem more cohesive than they did.
Overall though, this is a great novel for the thinking reader. It has grand ideas, a grand vision, and...mostly grand execution. Highly recommended to sci-fi fans and casual readers alike.
By no means is this a light-hearted novel though- quite the contrary. The book is very bleak and often highly satirical (though played with a completely straight face most of the time, the sure sign of effective satire). The ideas and moral situations brought up in this morass of a society we're privy to, however, echo still in my mind so the bleakness is certainly warranted.
Lastly, Itoh's novel is simply written wonderfully. Not only does the novel playfully mingle HTML with text to create a bizarrely modern prose/poetry fusion that creates a sort of meta, literary soliloquy but the translator has pulled some overtime hours because the language is of the highest caliber. At no point did I feel like I was being talked down to and yet everything was phrased as simply as possible. Itoh did a superb job of balancing the non-linear plot throughout, may I add.
But, to get to the few things I disliked about I refer to late-game Plot developments. Without spoiling anything, I think that specific background plot elements of one of the main characters that arise stretched the credibility of the plot, not to mention the purpose. They didn't quite mesh with the rest of the story and seemed to me like they could have been left out entirely and only slight re-working would have been required. That said, these details do follow somewhat logically from what came before it was just a bit disappointing to me that they didn't seem more cohesive than they did.
Overall though, this is a great novel for the thinking reader. It has grand ideas, a grand vision, and...mostly grand execution. Highly recommended to sci-fi fans and casual readers alike.
July 14, 2011
This is truly an amazing book. It's a full book, plenty of action, great characters, and a unique style. It's written as though you're experiencing it from a computer in that it is full of HTML and it uses that to its advantage. The reader is given emotions and insight through the tags and this helps to really bring the book to life. I'm sorry I put it off on my TBR pile for so long.
In more ways than one, this book makes a lot of valid points about our society and where its potential lies. It is not hard to see the potential of the WHO of Tuan's world coming to a reality in our not so distant future. I feel I would be like Tuan and break out of society's mold, putting myself out there into potentially dangerous situations for the possibility of securing alcohol or tobacco, vices we take for granted today, just to feel different.
But there is also a part of me that desires what the WHO offers, a way to maintain your existence without having to make all the decisions yourself. The computers tell you what to eat, monitor your vitals, never getting sick, and while that can be good for a while, I wonder if people could really exist like that for any long term period of time. Perhaps if, as Tuan's predecessors experienced, something extremely horrible happens and it is the way found to prevent it happening again.
I suggest you pick this up if you enjoy a good dystopian novel. It is truly amazing and I was looking forward to reading more of the author's work when I finished. Alas, when I read the small blurb at the end about the author, I learned that he passed away a few years ago, and that this was the only book. If nothing else it is a book to read and savor as there will be no more to come. And if that's not enough of a selling point for you, it has received rave reviews and won a number of awards. It's just that good.
In more ways than one, this book makes a lot of valid points about our society and where its potential lies. It is not hard to see the potential of the WHO of Tuan's world coming to a reality in our not so distant future. I feel I would be like Tuan and break out of society's mold, putting myself out there into potentially dangerous situations for the possibility of securing alcohol or tobacco, vices we take for granted today, just to feel different.
But there is also a part of me that desires what the WHO offers, a way to maintain your existence without having to make all the decisions yourself. The computers tell you what to eat, monitor your vitals, never getting sick, and while that can be good for a while, I wonder if people could really exist like that for any long term period of time. Perhaps if, as Tuan's predecessors experienced, something extremely horrible happens and it is the way found to prevent it happening again.
I suggest you pick this up if you enjoy a good dystopian novel. It is truly amazing and I was looking forward to reading more of the author's work when I finished. Alas, when I read the small blurb at the end about the author, I learned that he passed away a few years ago, and that this was the only book. If nothing else it is a book to read and savor as there will be no more to come. And if that's not enough of a selling point for you, it has received rave reviews and won a number of awards. It's just that good.
September 7, 2016
Seumur-umur, belum pernah rasanya baca novel yang bad endingnya sedamai Harmony ini.
Yang lebih menarik, setiap chapter ditandai dengan markup ala HTML atau XML tapi namanya adalah ETML alias Emotion-in-Text Markup Language. Awalnya jelas aneh, pake banget. Apalagi kadang muncul list, kadang muncul markup berlabel "anger" atau "shock" atau "panic". Memangnya pembaca nggak ngerti emosi2 itu ato pengarangnya dodol gak bisa mendeskripsikan emosi itu?
Ketika sampai di prolog, segalanya jadi masuk akal. Alasan kenapa penulis pakai ETML yg aneh itu pun terjawab dan jawabannya bahkan sebenarnya sudah ada di kover buku ini.
Dan novel ini ditulis tahun 2008, diterjemahkan tahun 2010, tapi kutipan ini rasanya ngena banget:
Everyone in our world had a user review attached to it.
Even people had little social assessment stars stuck on them.
Cafe de Paris in the airport lounge: four stars.
Tuan Kirie: four stars.
Cian Reikado: three.
==
Buat yang udah nonton movie-nya (iya, novel ini diangkat jadi movie anime tahun 2015, bersama dua karya Project Itoh lainnya: Genocidal Organ dan Empire of Corpse) tolong jangan spoiler di komen reviewnya.
Kalau spoiler, kukasih kamu social assessment 1 bintang.
Yang lebih menarik, setiap chapter ditandai dengan markup ala HTML atau XML tapi namanya adalah ETML alias Emotion-in-Text Markup Language. Awalnya jelas aneh, pake banget. Apalagi kadang muncul list, kadang muncul markup berlabel "anger" atau "shock" atau "panic". Memangnya pembaca nggak ngerti emosi2 itu ato pengarangnya dodol gak bisa mendeskripsikan emosi itu?
Ketika sampai di prolog, segalanya jadi masuk akal. Alasan kenapa penulis pakai ETML yg aneh itu pun terjawab dan jawabannya bahkan sebenarnya sudah ada di kover buku ini.
Dan novel ini ditulis tahun 2008, diterjemahkan tahun 2010, tapi kutipan ini rasanya ngena banget:
Everyone in our world had a user review attached to it.
Even people had little social assessment stars stuck on them.
Cafe de Paris in the airport lounge: four stars.
Tuan Kirie: four stars.
Cian Reikado: three.
==
Buat yang udah nonton movie-nya (iya, novel ini diangkat jadi movie anime tahun 2015, bersama dua karya Project Itoh lainnya: Genocidal Organ dan Empire of Corpse) tolong jangan spoiler di komen reviewnya.
Kalau spoiler, kukasih kamu social assessment 1 bintang.
June 29, 2021
I'd heard good things about this book. Sadly, I feel that perhaps I've outgrown the target age group by the time I found out about it.
The fundamental flaw with this novel lies in its core idea. If a society is truly perfect, one in which evil truly can't exist, is it really worth rebelling against? If humans are made morally good and cured of their negative shortcomings, should they strive to throw off such progress? Would they even want to? These were the questions I had within the opening segment of the novel, and by the time I gave up the novel had yet to address, or even raise, these questions.
What was left was a group of selfish individuals who, rather than be heroes, were left to be utter villains. The system of morality of the main characters makes no differentiation between the freedom to choose evil and not act on it, and simply choosing to be evil. They behave in evil fashions as demonstrations of their "freedom" from a system designed to create paradise on earth.
Perhaps I missed something. Perhaps I quit before the point at which the novels justifies itself. But rebelling against perfection, simply because it is perfect, leaves me no room to root for these characters. There's nothing redeemable about pure, unadulterated evil
The fundamental flaw with this novel lies in its core idea. If a society is truly perfect, one in which evil truly can't exist, is it really worth rebelling against? If humans are made morally good and cured of their negative shortcomings, should they strive to throw off such progress? Would they even want to? These were the questions I had within the opening segment of the novel, and by the time I gave up the novel had yet to address, or even raise, these questions.
What was left was a group of selfish individuals who, rather than be heroes, were left to be utter villains. The system of morality of the main characters makes no differentiation between the freedom to choose evil and not act on it, and simply choosing to be evil. They behave in evil fashions as demonstrations of their "freedom" from a system designed to create paradise on earth.
Perhaps I missed something. Perhaps I quit before the point at which the novels justifies itself. But rebelling against perfection, simply because it is perfect, leaves me no room to root for these characters. There's nothing redeemable about pure, unadulterated evil
August 9, 2010
An interesting concept which probably works better in the original Japanese; like many books translated from Japanese, the text has a slightly curt tone which reads a little awkwardly at times.
Utopia of a sort has been achieved via medical technology which constantly monitors and optimizes human health, and takes away the free will to behave in self-destructive but enjoyable ways. Ultimately a meditation on the importance of the individual - or the lack thereof - the novel starts slowly but is definitely worth seeing through to the bitter end.
Utopia of a sort has been achieved via medical technology which constantly monitors and optimizes human health, and takes away the free will to behave in self-destructive but enjoyable ways. Ultimately a meditation on the importance of the individual - or the lack thereof - the novel starts slowly but is definitely worth seeing through to the bitter end.
July 15, 2019
Well, that was bleak.
Compelling, fascinating, weird, and a really effective blend of philosophy, dystopia-angst, and race-the-clock thriller that kept me hooked till the end and made me need to know how it ended.
And the ending was bleak as all hell, but I can't imagine this book ending any other way.
It's kind of interesting - from another author, I'd think this "lifeist" dystopia, where all diseases have been cured by nanomachines in people's bodies that monitor you and engage at the cellular level keep you perfectly healthy and let everyone live long past 100 years, would be a little bit eye-rolling. Perfect, universally available healthcare and therapy for anyone who needs it is dystopian - because it comes with constant government surveillance, assigned healthy lifestyle choices that aren't mandatory exactly but you get socially shamed for not adhering to, and the overarching idea that you don't get to be in control of your life because your body is precious public property that you have the social-pressure obligation to treat as healthily as absolutely possible?
It takes on a really different view when you know that the author was dying of cancer and frequently in and out of hospitals while he was writing it.
I don't quite know what to make of this book. Tuan is a great and amazingly abrasive protagonist, full of deep selfish useless anger that leads her to lash out against this society that's trying to "strangle you with kindness". She cares about her friends and family and is too burned out and bitter to care about the world. I don't think we're always really supposed to agree with her, but her feelings are very real. This is a world that's supposed to stave off death nearly forever, and ends up inviting a new kind of death in its place. There is so much throughout this novel about death and suicide, facing and even embracing your own death, out of spite or pride or resignation or the desire to escape. The whole book is bleak and scarily out-there but seductively fascinating, like the central figure of Miach Mihie herself. (I can also see how, if you're terminally ill and going through a lot of painful procedures to keep you alive, this might be a book you'd want to write.)
Compelling, fascinating, weird, and a really effective blend of philosophy, dystopia-angst, and race-the-clock thriller that kept me hooked till the end and made me need to know how it ended.
And the ending was bleak as all hell, but I can't imagine this book ending any other way.
It's kind of interesting - from another author, I'd think this "lifeist" dystopia, where all diseases have been cured by nanomachines in people's bodies that monitor you and engage at the cellular level keep you perfectly healthy and let everyone live long past 100 years, would be a little bit eye-rolling. Perfect, universally available healthcare and therapy for anyone who needs it is dystopian - because it comes with constant government surveillance, assigned healthy lifestyle choices that aren't mandatory exactly but you get socially shamed for not adhering to, and the overarching idea that you don't get to be in control of your life because your body is precious public property that you have the social-pressure obligation to treat as healthily as absolutely possible?
It takes on a really different view when you know that the author was dying of cancer and frequently in and out of hospitals while he was writing it.
I don't quite know what to make of this book. Tuan is a great and amazingly abrasive protagonist, full of deep selfish useless anger that leads her to lash out against this society that's trying to "strangle you with kindness". She cares about her friends and family and is too burned out and bitter to care about the world. I don't think we're always really supposed to agree with her, but her feelings are very real. This is a world that's supposed to stave off death nearly forever, and ends up inviting a new kind of death in its place. There is so much throughout this novel about death and suicide, facing and even embracing your own death, out of spite or pride or resignation or the desire to escape. The whole book is bleak and scarily out-there but seductively fascinating, like the central figure of Miach Mihie herself. (I can also see how, if you're terminally ill and going through a lot of painful procedures to keep you alive, this might be a book you'd want to write.)
August 31, 2020
Primera novela que leo del autor japonés Project Itoh (proyectito) y me ha dejado una sensación agridulce. Nos encontramos ante una distopía muy interesante en la que el mundo se rige por los principios del "lifeism" (vitalismo) por el cual la vida humana tiene un valor supremo y pertenece a la sociedad y no al individuo gracias a una especia de sistema inmunitario artificial que se encarga de mantener el cuerpo humano en perfectas condiciones.
A partir de esta premisa se va tejiendo un thriller de ciencia ficción muy interesante que se cruza con constantes flashbacks de la infancia de la protagonista con dos amigas. Itoh conoce muy bien los engranajes del thriller y con una premisa distópica muy sugerente nos lanza en un viaje que enseguida capta la atención del lector. Sin embargo, los personajes están bastante estereotipados por un estilo que prima la acción con un estilo muy visual que impiden poder empatizar con ellos. Lo cual se une a un desenlace que no me ha acabado de convencer y que tiene muchas reminisciencias a varias obras de ciencia ficción japonesa. La sombra de Evangelion es alargada.
A partir de esta premisa se va tejiendo un thriller de ciencia ficción muy interesante que se cruza con constantes flashbacks de la infancia de la protagonista con dos amigas. Itoh conoce muy bien los engranajes del thriller y con una premisa distópica muy sugerente nos lanza en un viaje que enseguida capta la atención del lector. Sin embargo, los personajes están bastante estereotipados por un estilo que prima la acción con un estilo muy visual que impiden poder empatizar con ellos. Lo cual se une a un desenlace que no me ha acabado de convencer y que tiene muchas reminisciencias a varias obras de ciencia ficción japonesa. La sombra de Evangelion es alargada.
October 27, 2019
Ezeket a regényeket olvasva néha már félek, nehogy ötleteket kapjanak azok, akiknek nem kéne. De koncentráljunk most jelen regényre. Kezdetben, amikor még csak a fülszövegét olvastam meg láttam ezeket a kódos izéket, azt hittem, a test úgy köztulajdon, hogy osztozni kell rajta egy másik tudattal, ezért vannak a kódos részek. Aztán meg elkezdtem olvasni, és csak szimplán nem értettem, mi célt szolgálnak. Egy idő után feltűnt ugyan, hogy az érzelmek valahogy kimaradnak a párbeszédes részekből (mint pl. „Blablabla – mondta szomorúan.” Biztos ezt is lehet szomorúan mondani :D).
Aztán elolvastam az epilógust, és minden értelmet nyert. Nagyon megrázó volt.
Nem hiszem egyébként, hogy volt értelme annak, hogy „megnyomták” a gombot, hiszen a gyerekekben továbbra sincs WatchMe, és aki eddig nem akart öngyilkos lenni, az nem hiszem, hogy ezek után egy pillanatig is habozna. Mert lélek nélkül az ember olyan, mint egy robot, nem?
Aztán elolvastam az epilógust, és minden értelmet nyert. Nagyon megrázó volt.
Nem hiszem egyébként, hogy volt értelme annak, hogy „megnyomták” a gombot, hiszen a gyerekekben továbbra sincs WatchMe, és aki eddig nem akart öngyilkos lenni, az nem hiszem, hogy ezek után egy pillanatig is habozna. Mert lélek nélkül az ember olyan, mint egy robot, nem?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 7, 2021
It is a book about a medical dystopia where people are bullied into a medical fear anger control hierarchy with implanted chips that monitor everything about a person including every scrap of food they eat.
By the end of the book they also remove people's ability to make their own decisions and claim it is Paradise or something really quite sickening.
Additionally while the protagonist is gendered female they behave in every respect as a male so it is rather confusing.
By the end of the book they also remove people's ability to make their own decisions and claim it is Paradise or something really quite sickening.
Additionally while the protagonist is gendered female they behave in every respect as a male so it is rather confusing.
May 3, 2022
I feel quite sorry I took so long to finish reading this one. Thoughtful in many ways, some sore spots in handling writing about women—luckily it only comes up very rarely.
Interesting plot but the pacing feels odd at times, especially due to the huge chunks of monologue/dialogue exposition. Generally, the book could've used more fleshing out.
Will need to think about the main philosophical thrust for a while. There seems to be some conflict in how ideologies are presented and I'm interested in interrogating the extent of intent in that aspect.
Interesting plot but the pacing feels odd at times, especially due to the huge chunks of monologue/dialogue exposition. Generally, the book could've used more fleshing out.
Will need to think about the main philosophical thrust for a while. There seems to be some conflict in how ideologies are presented and I'm interested in interrogating the extent of intent in that aspect.
August 15, 2024
Interesting examination of consciousness and human community. Scenes with violence often feel out of place and gratuitous. Strange and a bit unsatisfying but with intriguing world-building.
July 28, 2025
A short dystopian novel that explores biological surveillance technology, in a conformist world where disease is eradicated and humans are a valuable resource, and suicides are the main reason for death.
An interesting thought experiment of a novel. And full of Trigger Warnings.
An interesting thought experiment of a novel. And full of Trigger Warnings.
July 6, 2018
MIND. BLOWN.
this is the most riveting and chilling dystopia I've read in the past few years. wow. my mind is still reeling.
this is the most riveting and chilling dystopia I've read in the past few years. wow. my mind is still reeling.
October 29, 2025
I would say this is pretty much a perfect sci-fi book in every way. The concept of a society in which health and longevity are the highest priorities is unbelievably well thought out in terms of both technological and social aspects. The way that this heath first society uses these ideas to limit the freedoms of its citizens is explored in such a fascinating way.
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