Tatiana's Reviews > Amatka

I didn't think I would like another dystopia any time soon, but here I am. This was pretty good.

I am not surprised to learn this novel was written by a Swedish writer, because the basis of this story is deeply rooted in the pipe dream of perfect socialism, you know, total gender and class equality and adherence to group needs at the expense of individual. I am not trying to disparage Scandinavian socialism, I am all for it. The dystopia of this world is the theoretical socialism, the type I personally learned from early Soviet movies and fiction filled to the brim with propaganda. Even approved poetry in this story reminded me of the Soviet wordsmith Vladimir Mayakovsky. The ideal of communal living and sacrificing for the community's good never worked in real life, like it doesn't in Amatka. After reading the ending a couple of times (it is a tad vague), I am not sure if the revolution was the right choice though (not enough information, only time will tell, I guess).

To me, the science fiction angle wasn't that interesting (the alien gloop thing was done better in Solaris), but the depiction of the conflict between personal and societal good is quite stark here. As is the power of naming things.