The F-word discussion

Welcome to March! Our selection this month will be Christina Dalcher's 2018 novel, Vox.

Goodreads description:

Set in an America where half the population has been silenced, VOX is the harrowing, unforgettable story of what one woman will do to protect herself and her daughter.

On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed to speak more than 100 words daily, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial—this can't happen here. Not in America. Not to her.

This is just the beginning.

Soon women can no longer hold jobs. Girls are no longer taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words a day, but now women only have one hundred to make themselves heard.

But this is not the end.

For herself, her daughter, and every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice.

Has anyone read this already? Let's chat about it!

Yes, I read it and really liked it; scarily timely.

I'm about midway through the audiobook right now. It really is eerie because it no longer seems impossible.

Did anyone else find this just too derivative? Once Tolstoy told Chekhov "You are like Shakespeare ... only worse" and I felt the same about this and The Handmaid's Tale. Vox has much of the same atmosphere and thought provoking menace that Atwood produces but Dalcher doesn't add enough to make it her own. And I won't give any spoilers but I thought some of the closing scenes were very implausible.

I had similar concerns when I read it, Tim. A lot of books are now being compared to The Handmaid's Tale because of their bleak atmospheres and dystopian backdrops, and especially because of the way women are portrayed. I almost worry that writers are seeking that sort of comparison, which then makes the writing/stories a bit derivative.

At the same time, I found it very readable. I agree with both Lynn and Angie that the topics are very timely with a lot of what is going on in the current administration.

I hope you come back, Tim, as the month wraps up and share your thoughts on the closing scenes. I don't want to spoil anything for people reading it right now but we are safer discussing those things towards the end of the month. I had my own frustrations but I have a feeling that they're different than your issues about implausibility.

Lynn wrote: "Yes, I read it and really liked it; scarily timely."

I just started it last night and I'm finding it uncomfortably timely. Especially since I just read Jackie's plea to our mc to come out of her bubble and start caring before it's too late, and Jean reflects on the drastic decline of women in Congress over the next 15 years. In the current divisive political climate, I find it a plausible social response to our historic Congress. Which is what makes this book's seemingly ridiculous silencing scenario quite scary.

... about halfway through and its plausibility is (thankfully) dwindling. Still, I'm enjoying it better as a fiction read. I have much more faith in mothers and American women than this book allows. I continue...

So, I finished. I really liked the premise of the book, but there was plenty about the delivery and characters that I didn't like. I feel 3 stars is generous.

Anita wrote: "So, I finished. I really liked the premise of the book, but there was plenty about the delivery and characters that I didn't like. I feel 3 stars is generous."

That sounds about right, Anita. I felt the same.

This weekend we can open it up for spoilers, but if you have anything you want to say now, and it might be a spoiler, feel free to put it behind a spoiler tag. :)

Mostly I'm curious how people felt about the end.

I lost it with the end. The bit where they manage to spend ages in an evacuated lab despite being in a building crawling with senior military personnel was mad. I gave it two stars.

@El, what were your qualms about the ending?

Hi Tim, in part my annoyance came from the fact that a man was still used to "save the day." But mostly there was too much focus on the fact that Jean was a mother - the implication being that she might not have even cared as much about what has happened in society until it affected her children. This is totally just a "me" thing, but there's so much pressure (still) put on women to have families and raise children. It felt like a very convenient plot point in this book and it made me a bit fussy and frustrated.

El wrote: "Hi Tim, in part my annoyance came from the fact that a man was still used to "save the day." But mostly there was too much focus on the fact that Jean was a mother - the implication being that she ..."

You make a great point El. It absolutely put motherhood at the forefront of Jean's motivation, and used threats against family as the catch all for all the scientists working the gold team.
I personally didn't like the rush at the end. Although nothing was very fleshed out throughout the book, imo. Her affair was cold until they were suddenly passionately making out. It just wasn't... expressed well on the page.

What was this memo that alerted the board (albeit belatedly) to the plot and neatly tied up Jean's "affair problem." I had such issue with the "your man is waiting" comment. It was really weird...

And Tim, I'd agree with finding it derivative. At first I was skeptical because pretty much every dystopian gender politic book will be held up to THT, but I don't think you're wrong here.

Rachel wrote: "And I apologize for the obvious typos, I wrote the above on my phone.
*Embarrassing*"

Happens to me ALL the time. (I've since deleted the app and use the desktop version so I can edit). It's funny that you bring up The Power because I was thinking about that and The Future Home of the Living God as I read this one, in terms of how the group compared them to The Handmaid's Tale. I even revisited the group's discussion thread. I really liked The Power because of the multiple cultural aspects it gave and what I felt were realistic variations of different groups of people handling control over a portion of their own population. But I think I was a little harsh judging TFHotLG against THT, which was wildly popular at the time because of the show. I think I'd like to revisit them.
(I just spent a solid 3 minutes fixing autocorrect typos)

Anita wrote: "El wrote: "Hi Tim, in part my annoyance came from the fact that a man was still used to "save the day." But mostly there was too much focus on the fact that Jean was a mother - the implication bein..."

It kind of annoys me that seemingly all dystopia is now held up against THT - like, we can't all be that... But, in this case I actually get it. They are thematically similar. But, THT is much better, IMO. I thought that Vox was alright, but I agree that the ending was too rushed, and there was waaaay too much focus on her being a mother - I hated her a little for not really caring about anything that was happening around her until it was affecting her/her kids. I feel like this was the result of trying to write something-THT-esque, but you don't actually 100% believe that women are capable of saving themselves without male intervention.

I liked the beginning of this book better than the end. She just wrapped it up and I didn’t think she did a good job. I haven’t read THT or The Power. I need to read something light hearted now.

There has been an intentional delay on my part in commenting on VOX. The premise, early reviews and synopsis put it on my must read list.

The first third of the story I am glad I read. The rest, not so much. An affair with a colleague in this world of repression is just more repression. It comes off as a quick way out to a conclusion. Preferably a woman with the accomplishments and skills of the main character could have been presented with her own solution to the nightmare instead of depending upon an 'exotic foreign man' to solve her problems.

There is another issue in the storyline that is a better cautionary tale. The existence of the voice monitoring, electro shock wristbands. How many of us have or had fitness watches and or now smartwatches? How many of have gifted or been gifted by a partner one of these little portable leashes? They come with tracking software, behavior modification apps, and they record pretty much everything to the or 'a' cloud. Is this a "I love you but you are out of shape, don't get enough exercise, rest, and eat too often" kind of message?

El wrote: in part my annoyance came from the fact that a man was still used to "save the day." But mostly there was too much focus on the fact that Jean was a mother - the implication being that she might not have even cared as much about what has happened in society until it affected her children.

Ah, that makes sense, I hadn't even noticed that ☹ But, going back to The Handmaid's Tale ...

(view spoiler)[Assuming that he is a member of Mayday, doesn't Nick "save the day"? and do you not think Offred's willingness to get in the van without being sure that he is a good guy is motivated in part by her pregnancy? (hide spoiler)]

I'm pleased Rachel and Anita brought up Alderman's The Power, I was going to mention that too. When
Anita wrote: I'd agree with finding it derivative. At first I was sceptical because pretty much every dystopian gender politic book will be held up to The Handmaid's Tale
The Power came to mind. Alderman was mentored by Atwood and I think they ended up friends, but there's no way one could think of The Power as derivative, it's a wonderfully original book. I'm sad you hated it Rachel, I loved it. It doesn't seem everyone's cup of tea: after reading it I recommended it to my family but they were all a bit 'meh'. I read another of her's recently, The Wife, and I was struck by how different it was. It was excellent, but if I had read them blind I would not have guessed they were the same author.

Rachel, when you say (of The Power & Vox)
What exactly can I get from these books that Le Guin or Atwood hasn't covered already, and better?
which Atwood & Le Guin strike you as covering the same ground as The Power?

(N.B. I've not read Future Home of the Living God, I'll check it out.)

Hi, Tim. I have been thinking about your question about THT all weekend. I think the difference for me is (view spoiler)[that Offred had no idea if Nick was actually a savior or not. She actively chose to take the chance to leave with him - as in, it was still her decision. In Vox, however, I felt that it was not so much up to Jean what happened in the end. Things just sort of happened around her and she had very little say or choice in the matter. (hide spoiler)]

Late to the show, I read the book late April and must say I was disappointed. It started off so promising, although simple and the short paragraphs became annoying early on. But it just sunk so much deeper into a YA superhero mum saves the world from dystopian extremists? A bit far fetched.

I would recommend to others but was surprised such a book caused such a stir.

Shaneka wrote: "But it just sunk so much deeper into a YA superhero mum saves the world from dystopian extremists?"

I love this description :D