Read: The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist

February 23, 2010

Dorrit, a writer, checks into the Second Reserve Bank Unit. On the surface it sounds like a dream living space:

“You have food on the table, a roof over your head, free access to medical care, dental care, physical therapy and so on, and it won’t cost a thing… There is a library, a cinema, a theatre, an art gallery, a cafe and a restaurant. There is a huge sports complex. And you can pursue more or less any hobby or professional actvity you wish…”

But the Unit’s residents are under constant scrutiny -security cameras watch their every move, even in their bedrooms and bathrooms:

“This meticulous surveillance applied not only to the private apartments, but also to the communal areas. And of course nothing less was to be expected. It was not the intention that those who lived here should be able to take their own lives or harm themselves in some other way. Not once you were here. You should have sorted that out beforehand, if you were thinking along those lines.”

And that’s because these ‘dispensables’ (men and women past the childbearing age who are childless, single and who do not contribute to society in conventional ways) are contained in this unit to provide for society by participating in medical trials and gradually donating their organs:

“Our everyday life in the reserve bank unit really revolved around scientifc humane experiments. That was what we were mainly used for, in reality. They tried to keep us alive as long as possible, in fact, and some individuals who were very fit had lived in the unit for six or seven years before they were taken in for their final donation.”

It is such a bleak existence, their friendships are strong despite the short amount of time they get to spend together. It is a difficult life, and the first few days are shocking and painful. I didn’t quite understand why anyone, Dorrit especially, didn’t try to escape from this disturbing place. The general acquiescence of the dispensables is quite unsettling and a little bit unconvincing. Dorrit kind of explains it, that the Unit is a place where, for the first time, she doesn’t feel like an outcast:

“In here I can be myself, on every level, completely openly, without being rejected or mocked, and without the risk of not being taken seriously. I am not regarded as odd or as some kind of alien or some troublesome fifth wheel that people don’t know what to do with. Here I’m like everyone else. I fit in. I count.”

But I just felt uneasy about the way the dispensables live their lives in the Unit so passively, submitting to their procedures. It made me think of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse series, where the Dolls or Actives are wiped clean after each job, returning them to their blank, child-like state.

The Unit was quite an absorbing book. I reluctantly put it away each night, a little disturbed by the story yet stirred by Dorrit’s strength and the bonds she forms with the other dispensables. I often find myself drawn to dystopian fiction and this one didn’t disappoint as it was thought-provoking and emotional.

Book provided by – my library

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Written by olduvai Posted in Reading, review