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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
I got this book as a free Kindle download. I was intrigued by the reviews and description of the book as a kind of feminist sci fi. The writing is a bit uneven, but the story is compelling. The plot centers around Tedla, a non-gendered "bland" from an alien world who meets Val, a Capellan xenologist. The Capellan society thrives on information, its major currency, and Val is eager to learn more about Tedla and its society (and eventually capitalize on that information).
The book alternates between Tedla's first person narratives of its life on its home world and a third person narrative of Val and her reactions to Tedla. Tedla's society has a radically different approach to gender from Val's Capellan (which is quite similar to a modern Western view of gender). All of the major characters are either trained in the study of alien societies or are social reformers, so there is a lot of discussion between characters about gender and class issues.
The author does a good job of creating internally consistent worlds and you can easily be drawn into the story. As I mentioned, at times the writing is uneven and occasionally clumsy, but not enough to disrupt your reading pleasure. The social and philosophical issues around gender roles, class and caste systems, sexuality, freedom and responsibility, and the ethics of intercultural contact are dealt with intelligently.
I would recommend this book for sci fi fans interested in a thought provoking and relatively quick read.
The book alternates between Tedla's first person narratives of its life on its home world and a third person narrative of Val and her reactions to Tedla. Tedla's society has a radically different approach to gender from Val's Capellan (which is quite similar to a modern Western view of gender). All of the major characters are either trained in the study of alien societies or are social reformers, so there is a lot of discussion between characters about gender and class issues.
The author does a good job of creating internally consistent worlds and you can easily be drawn into the story. As I mentioned, at times the writing is uneven and occasionally clumsy, but not enough to disrupt your reading pleasure. The social and philosophical issues around gender roles, class and caste systems, sexuality, freedom and responsibility, and the ethics of intercultural contact are dealt with intelligently.
I would recommend this book for sci fi fans interested in a thought provoking and relatively quick read.
Certainly a remarkable book, especially given that it is a debut novel for this Author (though written a long time ago - I have come to it late).
Halfway Human is a sensitive investigation into what makes our humanity - in so many ways it challenges and twists what we know and feel, points out our contradictions, and confirms once and for all the hypocrisies and insensitivites which make us human, which make us inhumane to others, and which lead to our desire to refuse to see the humanity in those we choose to oppress.
Tedla is brought up in a socially stratified society which needs more and more serving classes to accommodate the luxuries of the few privileged 'humans', and so s/he is denied gender and allocated to the sexless servile class who are referred to as 'it', and who cater for the every need of their masters, whilst feeling lucky to be allowed to do so. The mastery of the 'human' class in this society over their engineered, dehumanised servants, on this planet, is of course, a pathway to their own brutalisation, whilst the nobility exhibited in the unquestioning loyalty of Tedla and its class, confirms its greater understanding, sensitivity and the injustice of its situation. (irritated and disoriented by my use of the pronoun? - this is part of the brilliance of the style, that our narrator and hero/ine, so clearly human in every aspect, has been reduced to this dreadful status)
The degradations inflicted on Tedla's class are not confined to domestic abuse, though - boundaries are pushed more and more by 'masters' who are unable to resist the temptation of complete power over another creature so attractive in innocence and so uncomplaining in abuse, and Tedla becomes a sexual slave, despite its abusers' awareness that it is completely incapable of any physical gratification. But Tedla can feel love, and does, whilst believing itself to be incapable (due to inferiority) of any meaningful or worthy emotion.
The laying bare of the contradictions and hypocrisies of this society, which in so many ways reflects our own, is a fascinating journey for the reader, and the way Gilman has Tedla examine the society of its new planet (a society a lot more like our own) as an outsider - its observations on our idolisation of knowledge as a kind of religion are all very interesting. Challenging and intriguing and well worthwhile.
Halfway Human is a sensitive investigation into what makes our humanity - in so many ways it challenges and twists what we know and feel, points out our contradictions, and confirms once and for all the hypocrisies and insensitivites which make us human, which make us inhumane to others, and which lead to our desire to refuse to see the humanity in those we choose to oppress.
Tedla is brought up in a socially stratified society which needs more and more serving classes to accommodate the luxuries of the few privileged 'humans', and so s/he is denied gender and allocated to the sexless servile class who are referred to as 'it', and who cater for the every need of their masters, whilst feeling lucky to be allowed to do so. The mastery of the 'human' class in this society over their engineered, dehumanised servants, on this planet, is of course, a pathway to their own brutalisation, whilst the nobility exhibited in the unquestioning loyalty of Tedla and its class, confirms its greater understanding, sensitivity and the injustice of its situation. (irritated and disoriented by my use of the pronoun? - this is part of the brilliance of the style, that our narrator and hero/ine, so clearly human in every aspect, has been reduced to this dreadful status)
The degradations inflicted on Tedla's class are not confined to domestic abuse, though - boundaries are pushed more and more by 'masters' who are unable to resist the temptation of complete power over another creature so attractive in innocence and so uncomplaining in abuse, and Tedla becomes a sexual slave, despite its abusers' awareness that it is completely incapable of any physical gratification. But Tedla can feel love, and does, whilst believing itself to be incapable (due to inferiority) of any meaningful or worthy emotion.
The laying bare of the contradictions and hypocrisies of this society, which in so many ways reflects our own, is a fascinating journey for the reader, and the way Gilman has Tedla examine the society of its new planet (a society a lot more like our own) as an outsider - its observations on our idolisation of knowledge as a kind of religion are all very interesting. Challenging and intriguing and well worthwhile.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Transphobia
extensive bias and violence against a fictional third gender, medical abuse
3.5 rounded up I think. This was an interesting story with some parallels it wants to draw with our own society. It centres around a "bland", a human from another planet who belongs to their third, sexless gender. This gender is raised to become their servant class, who are basically slaves. We find out more about their society and how they approach sex and class divisions via the protagonist, Tedla (who is uncomfortably referred to as "it").
The story felt problematic to me in places, particularly around sex, but perhaps that was the point. In some places I can't tell if things were handled badly or it just intended to make me uncomfortable. Its exploration of sex is certainly interesting in places but not particularly deep, and other books, notably The Left Hand of Darkness, have explored similar ideas better. There was less on sex and gender, and more on "othering" and dehumanisation. In this way I found the parallels between "blands" and historical slavery here in the real world more interesting. There's also some interesting world-building around the society Tedla escapes to, where information is a commodity and copyrights are important assets. This plays a fairly background role, however.
The writing on a micro level is pretty good, although only a few characters beyond the protagonist get the honour of being fleshed out.
On a macro level, the plot is pretty convenient and hand-wavy and mostly a vehicle to explain the world the author has created (in a scifi book? Gasp! That never happens!) and the more I think about it now, the less charitable I feel about it. At the time, it moved at a decent pace and kept me engrossed — I was happy to go along with it.
If you're looking for an exploration of the themes mentioned I'd recommend it, but not otherwise.
The story felt problematic to me in places, particularly around sex, but perhaps that was the point. In some places I can't tell if things were handled badly or it just intended to make me uncomfortable. Its exploration of sex is certainly interesting in places but not particularly deep, and other books, notably The Left Hand of Darkness, have explored similar ideas better. There was less on sex and gender, and more on "othering" and dehumanisation. In this way I found the parallels between "blands" and historical slavery here in the real world more interesting. There's also some interesting world-building around the society Tedla escapes to, where information is a commodity and copyrights are important assets. This plays a fairly background role, however.
The writing on a micro level is pretty good, although only a few characters beyond the protagonist get the honour of being fleshed out.
On a macro level, the plot is pretty convenient and hand-wavy and mostly a vehicle to explain the world the author has created (in a scifi book? Gasp! That never happens!) and the more I think about it now, the less charitable I feel about it. At the time, it moved at a decent pace and kept me engrossed — I was happy to go along with it.
If you're looking for an exploration of the themes mentioned I'd recommend it, but not otherwise.
I had been enjoying it, and then it took a sharp left turn into sexual assault, and it just kept happening.
4.5 stars. Refugee Tedla is a bland, a neuter from an isolated planet whose tripart gender system uses blands as a slave caste. I find that work with the premise "wouldn't it be interesting if [absolutely real facet of queer experience; here, agender/asexual identities] existed in a speculative context" begins at a natural disadvantage, even if it was groundbreaking for its time. This also has issues with structure--the chronological first-person testimony is awfully convenient, and conveniently interrupted by cliffhanger mysteries and plot reveals and found documents.
But yanno what, those cliffhangers may be manipulative but they're also effective; and more importantly this builds into something surprisingly nuanced. It answers almost every flaw in narratives of this type, where a social justice issue is endemic to an alien people encountered by outsiders. It's a developed, thoughtful part of an alien culture, but its repercussions aren't endemic; the protagonist is a complete and complex person as well as an avenue of speculative exploration; outsider "savior" characters are put under intense scrutiny, and change comes slowly & from within.
So I don't like this as much as Dark Orbit, which I loved--distinctly there's no atmosphere, no sense of beauty; beauty here is innately tied to class and exploitation. But it defied all my initial doubts. An engaging read but only grows better as it goes. ...And now I really want to read more Gilman.
But yanno what, those cliffhangers may be manipulative but they're also effective; and more importantly this builds into something surprisingly nuanced. It answers almost every flaw in narratives of this type, where a social justice issue is endemic to an alien people encountered by outsiders. It's a developed, thoughtful part of an alien culture, but its repercussions aren't endemic; the protagonist is a complete and complex person as well as an avenue of speculative exploration; outsider "savior" characters are put under intense scrutiny, and change comes slowly & from within.
So I don't like this as much as Dark Orbit, which I loved--distinctly there's no atmosphere, no sense of beauty; beauty here is innately tied to class and exploitation. But it defied all my initial doubts. An engaging read but only grows better as it goes. ...And now I really want to read more Gilman.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
En la estela de la gran Ursula K. Le Guin, la nueva ciencia ficción, escrita por mujeres en su mayoría, más centrada en inventar una sociedad y explorar como modela a los personajes. La tecnología es totalmente accesoria y aparece muy poco. Suele haber una situación cuya resolución requiere la intervención de alguien capaz de pensar de otra forma y mostrar empatía y no por casualidad suele ser mujer. En esta la trama se construye en base a un sistema de castas y los mecanismos psicológicos que permiten a la casta inferior (y también a las superiores) asumir su condición y defenderla. La más emotiva que he leído de esta autora.
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated