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Book Review: The Beauty by Aliya Whiteley
Title: The Beauty
Author: Aliya Whiteley
Published: London: Unsung Stories, 2014
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 100
Total Page Count: 178,525
Text Number: 525
Read Because: reviewed by BookishThoughts, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: All the women of the world are dead, and the men of the Group face a bleak future. And then the graves of the dead women begin to sprout mushrooms that grow into human shape. The Beauty is a strange little book, intentionally so. Whiteley's voice is sparse, almost distant; she slides from dream into nightmare, the atmosphere hazy but the speculative elements growing increasingly grotesque and detailed. The obvious metaphor is gender: its determining factors, the function of gender roles in heteronormative relationships, the relationship between gender and procreation. It leans gender essentialist, and there's something circumspect about eliding horror and gender role reversal. But it's also complex, intimate, and cast in compelling speculative terms. It's not a flawless effort, but I admire how far Whiteley takes such a short work.
Author: Aliya Whiteley
Published: London: Unsung Stories, 2014
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 100
Total Page Count: 178,525
Text Number: 525
Read Because: reviewed by BookishThoughts, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: All the women of the world are dead, and the men of the Group face a bleak future. And then the graves of the dead women begin to sprout mushrooms that grow into human shape. The Beauty is a strange little book, intentionally so. Whiteley's voice is sparse, almost distant; she slides from dream into nightmare, the atmosphere hazy but the speculative elements growing increasingly grotesque and detailed. The obvious metaphor is gender: its determining factors, the function of gender roles in heteronormative relationships, the relationship between gender and procreation. It leans gender essentialist, and there's something circumspect about eliding horror and gender role reversal. But it's also complex, intimate, and cast in compelling speculative terms. It's not a flawless effort, but I admire how far Whiteley takes such a short work.