The Stone GodsJeanette Winterson
"Why would a man destroy the very thing he most needs?"
This question is central to Jeanette Winterson's novel The Stone Gods, a novel which concerns humanity's destruction of its home planet and its attempt to find another rock on which to live. Of course, humanity never learns; the new home soon faces the same fate as the former one.
Winterson suggests this is a cycle played out many times in humanity's history: we find a home, move from stone-age thought to space-age thought, push the planet to the brink of destruction, and find another planet to colonize. The cycle continues. We never learn from our mistakes, instead destroying the very thing we most need: our planet.
These lessons are certainly important, and I agree with Winterson that our current behavior towards our planet is entirely and utterly lacking, and I doubt we will ever truly learn. Our greed is too great. Winterson deftly proves these points, but unfortunately, her novel does little else, leaving me ultimately cold.
The Stone Gods begins as a new planet, Planet Blue, has been discovered. Humanity has been occupying Orbus, a planet on the brink of destruction. (It's not entirely clear whether Orbus is Earth; it seems as though Orbus is the planet to which humanity moved after Earth's destruction.) The Central Power (one of three world powers, the other two being the Eastern Caliphate and the SinoMosco Pact) plans to colonize Planet Blue.
Planet Blue appears much like the Earth during the time of the dinosaurs. It's pristine, jungle-filled, and totally unpolluted. (Give it time, says Winterson. We'll fix 'er.) Billie Crusoe, a maverick scientist who refuses "Fixing" (a procedure which genetically "fixes" individuals at a certain point to prevent aging), finds herself on the ship headed to Planet Blue. With her is Spike, a beautiful Robo sapiens capable of evolving.
The second section is a historical re-imagining of Easter Island during the 1700s; the natives' destruction of Easter Island becomes an analogy for humanity's treatment of Earth as a whole.
Left: the Gods themselves
The third and fourth sections take us to a post-apocalyptic future controlled by corporations instead of governments. These sections are connected only by Winterson's belief that "Everything is imprinted for ever with what it once was," a message that seems, at times, a bit forced. I couldn't muster much empathy for any character, although Billie's dog, Rufus, abandoned in Section One, did elicit from me a pang of regret.
If anything redeems The Stone Gods, it’s Winterson’s language, which is at times both lyrical and playful. Her prose often reads more like poetry, and I found enjoyment in her use of language even if the plot began to bore.
In a nutshell: Intriguing but ultimately unfulfilling.
Bibliolatry Scale: 3 out of 6 stars
This question is central to Jeanette Winterson's novel The Stone Gods, a novel which concerns humanity's destruction of its home planet and its attempt to find another rock on which to live. Of course, humanity never learns; the new home soon faces the same fate as the former one.
Winterson suggests this is a cycle played out many times in humanity's history: we find a home, move from stone-age thought to space-age thought, push the planet to the brink of destruction, and find another planet to colonize. The cycle continues. We never learn from our mistakes, instead destroying the very thing we most need: our planet.
These lessons are certainly important, and I agree with Winterson that our current behavior towards our planet is entirely and utterly lacking, and I doubt we will ever truly learn. Our greed is too great. Winterson deftly proves these points, but unfortunately, her novel does little else, leaving me ultimately cold.
The Stone Gods begins as a new planet, Planet Blue, has been discovered. Humanity has been occupying Orbus, a planet on the brink of destruction. (It's not entirely clear whether Orbus is Earth; it seems as though Orbus is the planet to which humanity moved after Earth's destruction.) The Central Power (one of three world powers, the other two being the Eastern Caliphate and the SinoMosco Pact) plans to colonize Planet Blue.Planet Blue appears much like the Earth during the time of the dinosaurs. It's pristine, jungle-filled, and totally unpolluted. (Give it time, says Winterson. We'll fix 'er.) Billie Crusoe, a maverick scientist who refuses "Fixing" (a procedure which genetically "fixes" individuals at a certain point to prevent aging), finds herself on the ship headed to Planet Blue. With her is Spike, a beautiful Robo sapiens capable of evolving.
The second section is a historical re-imagining of Easter Island during the 1700s; the natives' destruction of Easter Island becomes an analogy for humanity's treatment of Earth as a whole.Left: the Gods themselves
The third and fourth sections take us to a post-apocalyptic future controlled by corporations instead of governments. These sections are connected only by Winterson's belief that "Everything is imprinted for ever with what it once was," a message that seems, at times, a bit forced. I couldn't muster much empathy for any character, although Billie's dog, Rufus, abandoned in Section One, did elicit from me a pang of regret.
If anything redeems The Stone Gods, it’s Winterson’s language, which is at times both lyrical and playful. Her prose often reads more like poetry, and I found enjoyment in her use of language even if the plot began to bore.
In a nutshell: Intriguing but ultimately unfulfilling.
Bibliolatry Scale: 3 out of 6 stars
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