The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
New York : Other Press, c2008.
268 p. ; 22 cm.
This novel - translated from the Swedish - was a Booklist Editor's choice for 2009. It is a great read, set in a contemporary/future society where childless women (50 and older) and men (60 and older) in certain (usually artistic) jobs are categorized as "dispensable" and are relocated to a locked unit where they live in pampered luxury while being subjected to medical experiments that range from harmless to horrible and having their tissue and organs harvested for indispensables on the outside. Most resident inmates last about 2-3 years.
The novel follows Dorrit Weger as she enters her new life in the unit. We see her move from her initial shock and fear, to acceptance, to normalcy, and repulsion at life in the unit. Much of the novel revolves around relationships that she forms on the unit.
The novel raises many profound questions about contemporary life - what sacrifices are acceptable for the well being of the society at large, what are the values of the artistic life, what are the rights of the individual versus society, and what are the ethics surrounding tissue/organ donation and medical experiments.
The novel is a bleak and upsetting story to read through. It would appeal to readers who like dystopian fiction and reminded me a lot of Margaret Atwood's fiction. I would not recommend placing this on any curriculum reading lists for high school, given that its mature and controversial themes, and for some explicit - though not sensationalized - sex scenes.
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