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A review by anna_hepworth
Beggars in Spain: The Original Hugo & Nebula Winning Novella by Nancy Kress
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a very clever bit of writing that feels like it is in dialogue with a number of works, not least two Kate Wilhelm - Huysman's Pets and Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang (more so the former than the latter). I haven't actually checked the publication dates on those, so I might have the order wrong, but it does feel like a response.
Genetic manipulation was a hot topic in the early 90s, and this is a refreshingly different take on what might be changed. It is not a refreshing take on how the USA as a whole might react to a group who are different, and sadly, that is because it is completely credible.
I loved the fact that the story follows twins, one modified and one not, and the implications that allowed for. Because we see the story from the perspective of the favoured twin, we don't get the full force of the controlling father's personality, but it is certainly deftly sketched in the behaviours of the background characters. (And the throw away line about the treatment and control, and how valuable that was, was very in character for research scientists).
I'm guessing that the longer version of the story has some significant extra events, because I originally looked at reviews of that, and was bemused about references to the ending. This shorter version leaves the whole situation hanging, with our viewpoint Sleepless character reflecting on what they had missed about the details of the social contract, and expanding on their viewpoint, as they work to solve one small issue in a raft of problems.
And as a response to some of the reviews: time works non-linearly in this story, and it is important that it does. This is not an in depth exploration of a sequence of events. Rather, it is a character study, which skips through Leisha's life, picking moments that build the story, the plot, and the philosophical basis of the story. A story where the timing was constant would have spent far too much time in the twins childhood, and I for one would have given up early. Those early sections provide context, but they are not the sum of the story.
Genetic manipulation was a hot topic in the early 90s, and this is a refreshingly different take on what might be changed. It is not a refreshing take on how the USA as a whole might react to a group who are different, and sadly, that is because it is completely credible.
I loved the fact that the story follows twins, one modified and one not, and the implications that allowed for. Because we see the story from the perspective of the favoured twin, we don't get the full force of the controlling father's personality, but it is certainly deftly sketched in the behaviours of the background characters. (And the throw away line about the treatment and control, and how valuable that was, was very in character for research scientists).
I'm guessing that the longer version of the story has some significant extra events, because I originally looked at reviews of that, and was bemused about references to the ending. This shorter version leaves the whole situation hanging, with our viewpoint Sleepless character reflecting on what they had missed about the details of the social contract, and expanding on their viewpoint, as they work to solve one small issue in a raft of problems.
And as a response to some of the reviews: time works non-linearly in this story, and it is important that it does. This is not an in depth exploration of a sequence of events. Rather, it is a character study, which skips through Leisha's life, picking moments that build the story, the plot, and the philosophical basis of the story. A story where the timing was constant would have spent far too much time in the twins childhood, and I for one would have given up early. Those early sections provide context, but they are not the sum of the story.