Loved it. I feel like it probably could have stopped at the end of Dreamers and left the rest for the reader to work on the implications.

ZB7

In a country where genetic engineering is standard and routine, a new development in genetic engineering has arose – sleeplessness. No longer will a person have to spend a third of their life sleeping, instead, they will be able to stay awake permanently – more time to learn, study, and work, giving those with this trait an obvious advantage over their counterparts. “Beggars in Spain” follows the lives of various people touched by the phenomena of sleeplessness in a variety of ways – some people who are sleepless, some people who are not, all of their lives dramatically changed.

Although the idea of a multi-tier society interesting, I found the portrayal of American society in such a situation to be quite unrealistic. There are those who are sleepless, and those who hate the sleepless, excepting several minor characters. There are no middle grounds, no compromise, nor a shift in the public zeitgeist (which I would hope to see since the book is written over the course of nearly a century), and I find such simplistic take on such a complex issue boring and unrealistic. This staunch opposition does not make a lot of sense, particularly since genetic engineering is so cheap and prolific, and sleeplessness does not cost a great deal to add to a child’s genetic traits. Are Americans so petty and spiteful that they would begrudge those who have more of an opportunity than they do, and so silly that they wouldn’t give their children such an opportunity? There might be some that think that way, but everyone, over the course of multiple generations? I think not.

And, having completely disagreed with the initial reactions of the public as depicted by Kress, the extrapolation that follows from here does not work for me, either. Nearly all of the sleepless want to wash their hands of society, with only a few caring about the world in which they live. The sleepless eventually shut themselves off, and eventually ends up in a similar too manner to what Ayn Rand depicts in Atlas Shrugged for my liking. I’ll grant that Kress doesn’t write so repetitively and boring as Rand, though, but that is an excellent example of damning a book with faint praise.

Another major problem with the book is how many characters are involved, particularly secondary characters. Although this is not a problem in of itself, the lack of characterisation that results from this is. Many of the characters end up largely being stereotypes of the groups that Kress has them belong to, with few characters emerging as unique individuals, rather, merely as an example of the population stereotypes that fill the book.

Although “Beggars in Spain” is a fun read, I completely disagree with Kress’s ideas on what will happen to a mutli-tiered society. It has some interesting ideas, but it’s difficult to agree with Kress’s depiction of this society, and the lack of characterisation does make it a hard book to recommend. ( )

I enjoyed nearly every inch of Beggars in Spain.

Although I'll readily admit that the conceit here is simple and at times simplistic, and that Kress doesn't stretch her premise as far as it could be stretched, I don't find any of these things problematic.

That's because Kress did not write a novel about what would happen if some people didn't have to sleep. This is not a book which takes a premise and twists it and turns it to examine it from all angles, uncovering what could and might and would happen with a fervent glee. Those books can be wonderful (I'm rereading World War Z, which is a fantastic example of this sort of work), but that's not what this book is.

What Beggars in Spain is is an examination of human reaction to change, to difference, to unequality. It's an examination of what we owe our fellow human beings and why. It's an exploration of haves and have nots, of can and can nots, of humanity and inhumanity.

Kress's secondary characters sometimes slip into stereotypes and playing a prescribed role, but her main characters explore and question and, eventually, painfully, change in ways that are fascinating to watch.

This book could have been more solid - Kress could have nailed the premise harder, made it an easier sale, fleshed out a secondary character here or there to escape their forumula - but all in all, I find I didn't care. Because what the book was about, she did very well. I'm willing to take that leap to get to that place with her. ( )

Another book that ranks high on the transhumanism tag page. Together with Margaret Atwood's "Oryx & Crake" it tops the listing, but be aware that there is very little science in both of them. I liked Beggars in Spain better than Oryx & Crake, because it dives more deeply in the social consequences of a certain genetic manipulation that allows for people to not need sleep - granting them a plethora of transhuman abilities. ( )