As A Visit to the Goon Squad illustrated, our culture changes constantly, and it doesn’t take long for anyone to look around and think–how did we get here? Computers in our pockets are now a given. Social media has made it possible to communicate with millions of people, all at once, in seconds. We can now look up any information that comes to mind–except our own memories. But wait, what if a technology existed that allowed us to transfer all the memories in our minds to a device that showed us our lives, like a movie? The price? We’d have to share our memories to a collective. One more invasion of privacy.
Bix Bouton, of Mandala fame, has a new idea: Own Your Unconscious ™ . Many people will find this fascinating, then tempting. . Eventually, most people will happily accept this and their memories will become part of the collective.
Jennifer Egan creates a world in which we the people have been so minutely studied that there are algorithms that can predict our actions and reactions with very close accuracy. Even conversations are broken down to algebraic codes. And there are people who are employed to perfect the system–and then, there are eluders, or people who view Own Your Unconscious as a very bad idea for everyone.
Indeed, it becomes challenging to feel and express authentic feelings and thoughts. But people all have a need to do just that, and have a variety of ways of hearing their own voices over the den. There are enough characters in this novel to be challenging, as their stories scatter and converge over decades. This story is populated with souls I found to be likable, their stories compelling. There are too many wonderful plots to begin to discuss in a review. This book is pure genius, which may be what one character in the story called a “word-casing,” but it is an authentic thought, nonetheless!
Thank you to Scribner and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this superb novel.
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