[YHF]≡ [PDF] Halfway Human Carolyn I Gilman 9780380797998 Books

Halfway Human Carolyn I Gilman 9780380797998 Books

Download As PDF : Halfway Human Carolyn I Gilman 9780380797998 Books

Halfway Human Carolyn I Gilman 9780380797998 Books

Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against "space romps", action packed spaceship battles and some good alien monster, but if you are looking for something a bit more refined that will engage your brain, this is an excellent book. The strength of this book is the character development and of course the fact it touches on difficult themes: is it right to judge other cultures by our own standards? Do ecological imperatives justify gross violations of individual rights? Should all people be afforded the right of self determination or should others step in and take control of them "for their own good and protection"? I find many of these questions very relevant to modern society. Of course the obvious focus is on mistreatment of minorities, but that's only the top layer of the issue, and in a society in which some consider themselves so much more enlightened than the "unwashed masses" that they feel the need to impose their views on what a society should be on others, regardless of what these others want, to the point that some are even claiming democracy has failed, I find these issues more important and pressing than ever.
The book touches on some disturbing issues of sexual nature that might disturb some readers. I found them relevant to the story, not gratuitous, but if that's not your proverbial cup of tea, you may want to steer clear of this book.
The reason I didn't give the book 5 stars is that the author uses a rather cheap trick in an attempt to make her character likable, namely, she makes everybody in the book fall in love with it. Her character is already very likable, she doesn't need to overdo it.


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Halfway Human Carolyn I Gilman 9780380797998 Books Reviews

An interesting book and thoughtfully written. I was between three and four stars. The concept of a group of people being kept down purely to ease the life of others is not new or easy to accept but is a truth throughout human history. The fact that this is hard for intelligent people to accept and live with when their culture does not accept it pushed me to the four stars. I like to think about what the story is really saying and what is acceptable, or not, to me so I enjoyed the book overall although there were times when the reading dragged a little.
Trigger warning for this book some pretty harrowing sexual assault scenes. That said, fascinating and well-written.
Lots of things to think about in this one. The narrative might be worthy of an afternoon talk show, but the issues framed ring deep and true. Yes, there is some uncomfortable carnality but it is not at all gratuitous. Glad to have picked this one up.
When a friend asks me to tell them what the book is about, I say that it is about an alien (Tedla) who was raised asexual, as a servant, and was not consider a full life form on its home planet. Tedla traveled across space and has been living with humans on a planet like ours for 12 years. But Tedla does not understand our culture and the more we reassure Tedla that our motives are not sexual, the more Tedla shows us the levels to which sexuality pervades everything that we do.

The descriptions of this futuristic, interplanetary traveling lifestyle is fascinating. Between air chairs, societies living their entire lives underground, and species with asexual members working among them, the different planets and places are detailed and fully formed in my mind.
I couldn't put this down! I was so compelled by the world that Gilman has created in this novel. I raced through my first reading in just a few days so that I could learn the answers to all the questions that came up in the reading and find out how the stories intersect. I've now read it a second time (more slowly) and I'm finding it even more interesting and thought-provoking than the first read.

There are so many themes that are touched on in this book. Some are brief, some are more fleshed out. This book may appeal to you if you're interested in themes of gender, sexuality, asexuality, class oppression, the ethics and practices of anthropology (or xenology as they call it in sci-fi), or culture clash between alien planets. Not to mention the many other provocative topics that will probably leave you thinking about this book for a long time.

In terms of structure, the book alternates between narrators, switching from third-person to two different first-person backstories. I personally like this style - where the plots intertwine and meet in the middle of the timeline. Tedla's backstory is very compelling, and contains a lot of beautiful and interesting world building. The backstories also have another interesting component the author does a really nice job of introducing the idea that one or both of the narrators may be unreliable. Something that I found wonderful and frustrating about this book is that some ambiguities like that one are never resolved and the reader is left to speculate about what the truth might be. Like I said, I've been thinking about this book so much even after reading it twice.

Some other reviewers may have noted this, but there is some disturbing, graphic material in the book. It's pretty short and isn't referred to explicitly after the scene ends, but it's something to be aware of. Don't let it stop you from reading the book though; it's not a vital scene so you could definitely skip it if you wanted to.

All in all, I recommend this book highly! I'm actually surprised that it isn't more popular, but I hope people will continue to discover it and enjoy it. I think it would make an excellent book club selection, because there is definitely a lot to talk about when you're done.
Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against "space romps", action packed spaceship battles and some good alien monster, but if you are looking for something a bit more refined that will engage your brain, this is an excellent book. The strength of this book is the character development and of course the fact it touches on difficult themes is it right to judge other cultures by our own standards? Do ecological imperatives justify gross violations of individual rights? Should all people be afforded the right of self determination or should others step in and take control of them "for their own good and protection"? I find many of these questions very relevant to modern society. Of course the obvious focus is on mistreatment of minorities, but that's only the top layer of the issue, and in a society in which some consider themselves so much more enlightened than the "unwashed masses" that they feel the need to impose their views on what a society should be on others, regardless of what these others want, to the point that some are even claiming democracy has failed, I find these issues more important and pressing than ever.
The book touches on some disturbing issues of sexual nature that might disturb some readers. I found them relevant to the story, not gratuitous, but if that's not your proverbial cup of tea, you may want to steer clear of this book.
The reason I didn't give the book 5 stars is that the author uses a rather cheap trick in an attempt to make her character likable, namely, she makes everybody in the book fall in love with it. Her character is already very likable, she doesn't need to overdo it.