He, She and It
by Marge Piercy
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Book Summary Information
Author: Marge PiercyEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1993-01-23
ISBN: 0449220605
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Fawcett
Book Reviews of He, She and It
Book Review: The of the two best novels on Cyborgs that I have ever read
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't mean the title of my review title lightly. I truly do believe that this is the best novel on cyborgs or robots that I have ever read, along with Philip K. Dick's masterpiece DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SLEEP? Both books explore the question of personhood not merely by examining a central character who is a artificial human, but by looking at artificiality in human beings as well. Yod is a cyborg who has been constructed by a scientist in an independent Jewish enclave in the late 21st century. But the people in the novel are equally artificial. Some have been technically augmented to such an extent that they can't easily be considered human. Others have been altered in appearance by plastic surgery in order to conform to the latest aesthetic standards. Even the book's major character, Shira, has received multiple enhancements. Early in the book she is able to read the time off ocular implants and she, like most of the characters in the book, can go onto the Net by plugging into a plug attached to her brain. By the end of the book it isn't clear how sharply the line can be drawn between people and machines.
HE, SHE AND IT (originally titled BODY OF GLASS) is both an updating and retelling of the Golem of Prague story. In the past century this story has been communicated most famously in the Paul Wegener film (who also played the Golem), where the Golem is portrayed as more a monster than anything (though not a very good movie, it is visually unforgettable, and was one of the major influences on James Whale's FRANKENSTEIN, especially in the portrayal of the monster). Golems have appeared in a number of books, TV series, and computer games (e.g., Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel FEET OF CLAY introduces a Golem who becomes a member of the Night Watch; an episode of THE X-FILES features a Golem; and golems have features in a number of games, such as the MMORPG Asheron's Call). In Piercy's novel the parallels between the Golem of Prague and Yod are underscored in many ways, not least in Malkah's telling to Yod of the story. Just as the golem Joseph was created by Rabbi Loeb to protect the Jewish ghetto in Prague from pograms, so Yod is created to protect an independent Jewish enclave from encroachment from one of the vast corporations that control the planet. Yod is one of the most fascinating cyborgs in literature.
Many novelists have struggled to depict robots and cyborgs in convincing ways. Most novelists end up making the cyborgs pretty much indistinguishable from people. Others make the robots so mechanical as to be silly and unbelievable (I find this fault with almost all of Asimov's robots). Yod is less mechanical than Asimov's automatons, but more than inhuman. The story isn't completely immune to one of the most absurd assumptions ever made about robots and cyborgs: that they would be normally be made incapable of hurting people. The silly notion that robots would be incapable of hurting people was the fault of Asimov and his laws of robotics, some of the most nonsensical tripe ever put forward. Even a couple of seconds thought would be sufficient to make anyone realize that robots would initially be primarily created to hurt or kill humans. Most of the initial research on robots was done under the funding of DARPA, a branch of the Defense Department. Virtually all of the current research in robotics in the United States is funded by DARPA. And the U.S. military has thousands of robots on active duty. Ironically, PackBots are used in huge numbers in Iraq and Afghanistan in both armed an unarmed versions, and are made by the iRobot corporation (the makers of the Roomba vacuum cleaners), a corporation named in honor of Asimov's famous collection of short stories, stories in which he developed the silly notion of robots that would not hurt people. The most obvious use of robots is military situations where the danger to human life (at least to one's own soldiers) is minimized.
The world that Marge Piercy assumes is a fascinating one. The United States has always been characterized by an almost unreasoning fear of government. At the same time, there is far less fear of companies and corporations. I'm the opposite. I'm terrified of the moral stance of the corporate world. Interestingly, the so-called founder of American conservatism, John Adams, was, like Adam Smith (who felt that those who participated in the market should play no role in government), leery about the influence that market forces and merchants would have on democracy. He feared an economic elite and felt that the most important role of the executive branch was to resist the formation of such an economic elite. So I've always found my country's belief in a benevolent corporate world to be odd at best. While Adams was, I think, wrong in hoping that the executive branch would act as an effective deterrent to corporate influences, I do think that we in the middle class are better off pegging our hopes on government as a deterrent to the corporate world than the corporate world as a deterrent to government. Most Sci-fi writers tend to view the corporate world with a sceptical eye. In Kim Stanley Robinson's great Mars Trilogy the bad guys are the transnational corporations who control the various national governments, and who see Mars as an asset to be exploited.
In Piercy's novel, any semblance of either state or national government is nonexistent. Corporations have taken over the world. Or what is left of the world. The novel reflects the predictions of scientists of what will happen if something isn't done to reverse the effects of global warming. Coastlines are receding; people cannot go out into sunlight without danger to their health; water and air quality is dire; cities are intensely crowded. Corporations control everything and their pursuit of the small independent enclave that Yod protects is based partly on their desire to acquire the research they have been engaged in (primarily Yod himself), but mainly on their outrage of a village that exists outside of corporate influence.
This is a marvelously rich and deeply textured novel. Marge Piercy is not primarily or even especially a Sci-fi writer, even though William Gibson has credited her earlier novel WOMAN ON THE EDGE OF TIME with directly inspiring the birth of Cyberpunk. The problem with many Sci-fi novels is that they usually don't hold up as novels. They often contain many fascinating elements, but they usually do not compare well with the best mainstream novels with the quality of their prose or with character development. This novel is simply a fine novel, not merely a Sci-fi novel. The book has generated a significant literature by feminist literary critics and is frequently cited as an important work in the discussion of cyborgs (Piercy cites Donna Haraway's important essay "A Cyborg Manifesto" as an influence on her book).
I believe that this should be read by anyone who loves books in general, but in particular by those interested in superbly written Sci-fi novels. It will also appeal to those who are interested in dystopian literature or by books that explore questions of gender in a Sci-fi context (it compares nicely with Atwood's THE HANDMAID'S TALE in this regard). And if you are interested in great books on cyborgs and robots, this has to be on the shortest of short lists, even if that list has only one or two items.
Summary of He, She and It
"A triumph of the imagination. Rich, complex, impossible to put down."Alice Hoffman
In the middle of the twenty-first century, life as we know it has changed for all time. Shira Shipman's marriage has broken up, and her young son has been taken from her by the corporation that runs her zone, so she has returned to Tikva, the Jewish free town where she grew up. There, she is welcomed by Malkah, the brilliant grandmother who raised her, and meets an extraordinary man who is not a man at all, but a unique cyborg implanted with intelligence, emotions--and the ability to kill....
From the imagination of Marge Piercy comes yet another stunning novel of morality and courage, a bold adventure of women, men, and the world of tomorrow.
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