The Unit (2006)

This book was lovely - spare and inviting and well translated. Holmqvist reminds me a little of Atwood in that she's not afraid to explore the conflicts and repercussions of third wave feminism. She's not afraid to give her characters voices that reflect a range of difficulties in living out an imperfect ideology. And like Atwood, Holmqvist refuses to settle her characters into any safe place for long. The Unit is lovely and heartbreaking. ( )

This book was lovely - spare and inviting and well translated. Holmqvist reminds me a little of Atwood in that she's not afraid to explore the conflicts and repercussions of third wave feminism. She's not afraid to give her characters voices that reflect a range of difficulties in living out an imperfect ideology. And like Atwood, Holmqvist refuses to settle her characters into any safe place for long. The Unit is lovely and heartbreaking. ( )

The Unit is sure to become a modern classic in the dystopian fiction genre. I was moved by this haunting story about Dorrit, a fifty-year-old woman who is forced to become a living donor because of her age and position in society.

Dorrit is a quiet, unassuming lady who is a bit of an intellectual and loves to write. Her main fault is that she has not become a productive member of society - in other words, she hasn't married or had children. Therefore, in this society, her life is dispensable. She is taken to the Unit on her fiftieth birthday and will live there for the remainder of her days.

Ironically, in the Unit Dorrit develops closer relationships than she's ever had before. She is now faced with the certainty of death by donation and medical experimentation, at the very time when she finds that she has the most to live for.

The Unit is a fascinating story dealing with issues of end-of-life ethics, eugenics and morality. What would happen if lawmakers decided that only the most productive people had the right to freedom; or life? Taking the ideas of eugenics and social engineering to the extreme, The Unit delves into a dark, and hopefully improbable, future.

It was easy to relate to Dorrit, in that I am someone who is more of an introvert with a love of books. I do have children, so under the rules of their society I would be considered "productive," but the story still hit close to home since the intellectual-loner type of people were the most represented segment of society in the Unit.

It was sad to think of how much art and intelligence would be missing from such a society. How many artists and scientists have completed their life's work at the age of fifty?

In a lot of ways The Unit reminded me of George Orwell's 1984 with the constant supervision of authority figures, and the imposition of the government's will on the people. Those who live in The Unit do not have a moment of privacy - everything they say or do is recorded.

If you like dystopian fiction such as George Orwell's 1984, or Logan's Run, then you will probably like this book. ( )

'The Unit' is a place where they take 50 year-old women and 60 year-old men who have not procreated, or received dispensation by being valuable to society.
Dorrit has a lover who is married. She 'asks' him to save her, by leaving his wife. She also 'thought' about suicide. This girl has no spunk and no plan. She is led like a sheep to the slaughter.
Residents of the Unit live in luxury with no financial burdens. There are many recreational facilities, stores, restaurants, gardens. But you are used for medical experimentation until 'the final donation', where all useable parts are harvested.
Dorrit got pregnant, but would have to give up the baby. A worker gave her a key and she escaped- briefly, but returned to give her baby to a single woman, aged 42, director of a small recruitment company. Then she waited for 'the final donation'.
I think the book asked the question- who is disposable in society? the unit is filled with creative, childless people. The artist seems to have no value, but the art is stored. I read the book in one day on my kobo.
Intriguing and disturbing!
Sharron Smith recommended this book. ( )

"but it never ends up being overly sinister partially because there doesn't seem like much is hidden. This is merely how society in this unnamed nation works."
read more: http://www.likeiamfeasting.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-unit-ninni-holmqvist.html ( )