En cours de chargement...
Ian McEwan's 'Machines Like Me' covers trodden ground in the novelist's choice of imagining a world where robots become a plausible part of the human experience, a mere piece of merchandise which Charlie Friend orders on internet. Yet instead of rewriting Frankenstein or Asimov's Robot series, McEwan adds a twist of alternative history in imagining a wildly different 1980s Britain defeated during the Falklands War and Alan Turing still around as a vital force in the genesis of artificial intelligence. This chaotic vision of history allows him to highlight the moral dilemma at stake when the cold
logic of Adam, a tailor-made android, challenges his owner's position on sexual morality, capitalism and even the very definition of criminal justice in our imperfect world riven by passion. A mesmerizing novel depicting a world which may resemble our own sooner than we think.
Un prix Booker bien mérité : Coetzee montre avec brio le passage d'une époque à travers la chute sordide d'un universitaire machiste dont la suffisance est un reflet de son aveuglement face à une société sud-africaine en pleine mutation. Âpre et cruel.
Naomi Alderman's 'The Power' is one of those rare novels of political fiction which is simulataneously entertaining and thought-provoking. The author uses a frame story purportedly written by a male novelist to relate the events set in a pre-Cataclysmic times when male domination is called into question after females all over the world find themselves possessed with the power to deliver lethal electrical shocks following a seemingly spontaneous mutation of mysterious origin. As the story progresses against a backdrop of global religious and political upheaval, Alderman never succumbs to simplistic visions of gender relations, reminding one of the old proverb of the female being 'the deadliest of the species'. 'The Power' will definitely call into question readers' conventional visions of male domination in society in a most inventive and unpredictable way. An indispensable read for our transitional times, perfect for fans of quality dystopian fiction.
Si vous aimez les puzzles et des récits riches en variétés, lisez 'Cartographie des nuages'. Mitchell éblouit le lecteur avec son roman qui l'attire dans un livre composé de six parties qui n'ont pas l'air d'être liées, au premier abord. Ce n'est pas un exploit facile à réussir, mais Mitchell ne rate pas son projet de démontrer l'unicité innée de notre existence, d'une manière ludique et engageante.
'Ariane' représente une tranche de vie dans une époque inconnue à la plupart des jeunes adultes au début de notre siècle. Ce sont les années 1990, dans un collège en Belgique, où l'on voit se tisser l''amitié" entre la narratrice bourrée de complexes d'ordre de classe sociale et la mystérieuse Ariane : fille mystérieuse et exotique qui profite de la vulnérabilité de sa camarade pour l'amener vers toutes sortes de transgressions sociales. Leroy montre avec beaucoup de précision dérangeante l'existence du harcèlement et du 'bullying' avant que ces fléaux soient devenus des questions de société avec l'éclosion d'internet et les médias sociaux tout puissants. 'Ariane' démontre avec conviction le mythe d'un âge d'or pour la jeunesse toujours tentée par des expériences borderline avec des conséquences parfois dévastatrices sur les plans juridiques et éthiques.
Canada – Richard Ford
Richard Ford's daring use of the first person narrative to relate Dell Parsons' harrowing story of his dislocated family and his subsequent exile to Canada lends a sense of immediacy to a novel brimming with existential angst. In spite of this, Ford masterfully manages to maintain a high degree of credibility in Dell's rendition of the facts underlying his family tragedy. His sense of lucidity is shot through with a convincing sense of adolescent wistfulness that haunts him until his twilight years. A powerful novel.
Alfred, Decitre Langues du Monde
The botanical metaphor of this spellbinding work of investigation is an extremely apt means of portraying the sinister dynamic characterizing the relations between the newly wealthy Osage Indians and their white American oppressors who exploit the vulnerability of their wards with shocking impunity. This book will interest a wide public : the status of Native Americans in the twentieth America as well as the growth of the nascent FBI under the rule of a young and relentless J Edgar Hoover are two topics treated with bravado, leaving the reader shocked and disturbed by the extent of corruption present in local law enforcement agencies in Oklahoma, at the expense of the Osage people's welfare. A haunting testimony of an encounter between cultures through a glass darkly.
Do believe the hype. Jonathan
Franzen's Freedom is one of those rare voluminous novels surely worthy of the label masterpiece. The author demonstrates a consistently astute sense of observation in this sprawling tale of self-deception in Middle America. I was particularly pleased with the metamorphoses which the characters in Freedom undergo : all sorts of unexpected chemical reactions occur throughout the novel which often border on the absurd and the pathetic. A very stimulating read.
Alfred
Emily St John Mandel's 'Station Eleven' stands out from the slew of dystopian novels written over the years imagining the fate of society following a hypothetical cataclysm. The novel depicts the events preceding and following the emergence of the Georgia Flu, a particularly deadly pandemic leading to the decimation of much of humanity, with the exception of a few clusters of isolated survivors in the Great Lakes region of North America. Mandel displays her finesse and originality by including characters linked to the world of the arts, a deliberate choice which helps to convey the importance of culture to define one's humanity in a fallen world where barbarity is a constant threat. All of Mandel's strongly humanistic message can be summed up in the unforgettably intrepid actress Kirsten's tattoo : "Survival is insufficient", a rallying cry to rise above one's past traumas and basic material needs in the aftermath of a wholesale disaster. A beautiful novel which appeals to both the heart and mind.
The making of a star
One does not have to be a fan of Bruce Springsteen's music to enjoy his candid, warts-and-all story of his gritty rise to fame in the world of rock. A product of central New Jersey's working class, the future Bard of Asbury Park shares with us the wide range of trials and tribulations he had to endure as a young man from a dysfunctional family background seeking to carve his own way in a pitiless environment. This book will appeal to fans of music autobiographies as well as students of the American scene during the post-war period when young people sought their own way to live and express themselves free from the repression of their parents. Informative and fun.