The heart goes last

Hardcover, 320 pages

English language

Published Nov. 6, 2015

ISBN:
978-0-385-54035-3
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
900030923

View on OpenLibrary

(41 reviews)

"Stan and Charmaine are a married couple trying to stay afloat in the midst of an economic and social collapse. Job loss has forced them to live in their car, leaving them vulnerable to roving gangs. They desperately need to turn their situation around and fast. The Positron Project in the town of Consilience seems to be the answer to their prayers. No one is unemployed and everyone gets a comfortable, clean house to live in...for six months out of the year."--

13 editions

Review of 'The heart goes last' on 'Goodreads'

No rating

This is no Oryx and Crake or Alias Grace or Blind Assassin or any of the other heavy hitters from my probably favorite writer in the world but it might be the funniest Margaret Atwood book I have ever read. It is not as detailed as it might have been and sometimes I wanted some more fleshing out. However it was uproariously hilarious. The world needs more fabulous satire of the prison industrial complex. Some of the delights include a twisted take on revenge porn, sex dolls- why and how we love them, some musings on sex with chickens, Elvis, harvesting organs, prisoners and citizens and prisoner citizens and a prostitute and her teddy bear paramour. It is hard to make it in this dystopia.
Despite it being a minor work, like a bagatelle or minuet rather than her full on symphonies, I feel like The Heart Goes Last could …

Review of 'The Heart Goes Last' on 'Goodreads'

I love Margaret Atwood; this is not my favorite Margaret Atwood novel. Still compelling and finished in 24 hours. Rather jarring ending. Weak transitions between what were, I have since learned, were the serialized portions of this novel. Central characters not particularly likable--Stan is an Angry Man and rather misogynistic, and Charmaine is absurdly childlike as a weird consequence of ptsd. I was never really convinced by the Positron Project itself--why is the prison component necessary for this planned society? There's no reason everyone couldn't live in their little non-prison houses all the time--other than the darker motives that come to light later in the book. But how would the salesmen ever be able to sell this to potential residents? Because, on the surface at least, the prison isn't necessary.

avatar for maese_richar

rated it

avatar for damefolledechat

rated it

avatar for mttktz

rated it

avatar for ericmcdaniel

rated it

avatar for captain_acab

rated it

avatar for seanbala

rated it

avatar for TidePoolParty

rated it

avatar for michjnich

rated it

avatar for 73pctGeek

rated it

avatar for pithypants

rated it

avatar for susurros

rated it

avatar for rain

rated it

avatar for AndySoc1al

rated it

avatar for Caboose

rated it

avatar for MayaAngel82

rated it

avatar for flimflam

rated it

avatar for thursday

rated it

avatar for ginkgo

rated it

avatar for Shtakser

rated it

avatar for daveb

rated it

avatar for PineappleButtonUp

rated it

avatar for shawn

rated it

avatar for barryfujii

rated it

avatar for Se3wall

rated it

avatar for tirasdenaranja

rated it

avatar for punitlad

rated it

avatar for cygnoir

rated it

avatar for ssatl

rated it

avatar for eriolfox

rated it

avatar for pngwen

rated it

avatar for EsmeGodfrey

rated it

avatar for LazyKisama

rated it

Subjects

  • Fiction
  • Man-woman relationships
  • Unemployment
  • Prisons

Lists