right_over_easy book club!
Wow, so, it's been awhile.
I recently read the book Unwind by Neal Shusterman. It's a YA sci-fi novel, set sometime in America's future (iPods are sold in antique stores) where "unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts."
The first page describes the Bill of Life.
The Second Civil War, also knows as "The Heartland War," was a long and bloody conflict fought over a single issue.
To end the war, a set of constitutional amendments known as "The Bill of Life" was passed.
It satisfied both the Pro-life and the Pro-choice armies.
The Bill of Life states that human life may not be touched from the moment of conception until a child reaches the age of thirteen.
However, between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, a parent may choose to retroactively "abort" a child...
...on condition that the child's life doesn't "technically" end.
The process by which a child is both terminated and yet kept alive is called "unwinding."
Unwinding is now a common, and accepted practice in society.
They "unwind" teenagers by transplanting every part of the teens' bodies (from teeth to hair to lungs and everything in between), and since every bit of their bodies is technically still "alive," they haven't really been killed, right?
I adored this book, but it was a really hard read for me. It's so disturbing. I have so many thoughts on it, but I'm not really sure how to articulate them all. But I'd love to talk it over with someone else. So...anyone want to do a book club sort of thing?
Also, if no one answers now, but you're reading this post and it's a year from now? Please comment anyway! I have comment notification and I've been thinking about this book for two or three months now and it hasn't left me yet. ;)
ETA: Spoilers and discussion in the comments!
I recently read the book Unwind by Neal Shusterman. It's a YA sci-fi novel, set sometime in America's future (iPods are sold in antique stores) where "unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts."
The first page describes the Bill of Life.
The Second Civil War, also knows as "The Heartland War," was a long and bloody conflict fought over a single issue.
To end the war, a set of constitutional amendments known as "The Bill of Life" was passed.
It satisfied both the Pro-life and the Pro-choice armies.
The Bill of Life states that human life may not be touched from the moment of conception until a child reaches the age of thirteen.
However, between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, a parent may choose to retroactively "abort" a child...
...on condition that the child's life doesn't "technically" end.
The process by which a child is both terminated and yet kept alive is called "unwinding."
Unwinding is now a common, and accepted practice in society.
They "unwind" teenagers by transplanting every part of the teens' bodies (from teeth to hair to lungs and everything in between), and since every bit of their bodies is technically still "alive," they haven't really been killed, right?
I adored this book, but it was a really hard read for me. It's so disturbing. I have so many thoughts on it, but I'm not really sure how to articulate them all. But I'd love to talk it over with someone else. So...anyone want to do a book club sort of thing?
Also, if no one answers now, but you're reading this post and it's a year from now? Please comment anyway! I have comment notification and I've been thinking about this book for two or three months now and it hasn't left me yet. ;)
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hopeful
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thoughtful
numb