The Year of the Flood Reading Response 1

Posted by on Nov 4, 2013 in Reading Response, Year of the Flood | One Comment

I was never a big fan of science fiction books so I was really surprised that this book has really caught my attention. I think The Year of the Flood does a really good job of portraying real life issues especially issues that women face with futuristic elements. The book starts off by introducing Toby and Ren both who are women with less then ideal situations. Toby is forced to leave her old life behind due to the unfortunate events that happen to her family. You can see how this book also has very primitive ideas ingrained in it as well with Toby talking about how she can no longer be with her boyfriend because of how different they are now economically and how she didn’t feel she was in the same class as him so she decided to break off their relationship without his consent. It shows this idea of class structure and there being no social mobility in terms of marriage at least.

Toby eventually ends up at Secret Burgers where she ends up being a sex toy for her boss Blanco in order to keep her job and essentially not be killed. It’s sad to see that this also happens in reality where employers have this leverage over their employees especially in jobs where workers are more desperate to keep their job. It’s really horrifying to think how in their current society, no one is controlling these people and employees can end up dead in the parking lot with no questions asked. Ren on the other hand is at Scales and Tails which is basically a high end sex club. It’s quite interesting to see how for now she seems to feel that she’s quite fortunate to be there.

The newly innovated technology in this book intrigues me. I must have done a double take when Toby said she didn’t have enough money for a new identity since she needed to buy a DNA infusion and skin color change. Even in The Year of the Flood a lot of the advanced technology seems to only be commonly available to the rich. It’ll be interesting to see how technology is used as we get further in the book.

1 Comment

  1. Myrna Hanna
    November 7, 2013

    The technology in this book really intrigued me as well, but I found even more interesting were the “primitive” methods employed by the Gardeners. When Zeb was injured I was fascinated by how they used the parasites to heal his hounds, creatures that are generally regarded as dangerous. I felt like this accurately displayed the relationship between the Gardeners and their surroundings, and how they were truly in touch with nature. But, I also found it interesting the way they would cut corners. How the Adam’s and Eve’s used laptops to store data, a tool that can be used as a weapon, a tool where words are permanently documented. Also, how they use SecretBurger meat to feed the parasites, or how Zeb dresses up like a pleeb and fights the bad guys, or how Adam One bends the truth here and there. It’s just funny to see how this society that is so hell-bent on their doctrine and their rules, to the point where it seems to be for show, actually can’t go by without a little help from the “outside world.”

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