LoveStar: A Novel
『LoveStar』は、情報、広告、恋愛、死までをアルゴリズム化する企業が支配する未来を描くアイスランド発の風刺SF。恋人同士のインドリディとシグリッドは、計算された相性に抗おうとする。
作品情報
自由を奪うために幸福を計算する世界で、恋人たちは偶然と意思を守ろうとする。
Seven Stories Press刊。アイスランド語原著を Victoria Cribb が英訳。通信のワイヤレス化を皮切りに、恋愛判定や葬儀ビジネスまで管理される社会を、奇想とユーモアで描く。
レビュー要約
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奇抜な想像力と社会風刺が強く、オーウェルやヴォネガットを思わせる寓話性が評価されている。滑稽さの中に、自由と選択への鋭い問いがある。
書籍情報
- 出版社
- Seven Stories Press
- 発売日
- 2012-11-20
- ページ数
- 320ページ
- 言語
- 英語
- サイズ
- 13.92 x 2.44 x 20.96 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9781609804268
- ISBN-10
- 1609804260
- 価格
- 3121 JPY
- カテゴリ
- 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Genre Fiction/Satire
2013 Philip K. Dick Award Special Citation of Excellence "Orwell, Vonnegut, and Douglas Adams are felt on every page, though Magnason is never derivative. His satire and insightful social commentary sweeten the pot and the sheer wackiness of Magnason’s oversized imagination is invigorating."— Publishers Weekly, starred review LoveStar, the enigmatic and obsessively driven founder of the LoveStar corporation, has unlocked the key to transmitting data via birdwaves, thus freeing mankind from wires and devices, and allowing consumerism, technology, and science to run rampant over all aspects of daily life. Cordless modern men and women are paid to howl advertisements at unsuspecting passers-by, REGRET machines eliminate doubt over roads not taken, soul mates are identified and brought together (while existing, unscientifically validated relationships are driven remorselessly asunder), and rocketing the dead into the sky becomes both a status symbol and a beautiful, cathartic show for those left behind. Indridi and Sigrid, two blissfully happy young lovers, have their perfect worlds threatened (along with Indridi’s sanity) when they are “calculated apart” and are forced to go to extreme lengths to prove their love. Their journey ultimately puts them on a collision course with LoveStar, who is on his own mission to find what might become the last idea in the world. Steeped in influences ranging from Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, and Kurt Vonnegut to George Orwell, Douglas Adams, and Monty Python, Andri Snær Magnason has created a surreal yet uncomfortably familiar world, where the honey embrace of love does its utmost to survive amid relentless and overpowering controls.
One of Iceland’s most celebrated young writers, ANDRI SNÆR MAGNASON is the author poetry, plays, fiction, and non-fiction, and in 2009 he co-directed the documentary Dreamland , which was based on his own book Dreamland: A Self-Help Manual for a Frightened Nation . In 2002 Magnason’s LoveStar was named "Novel of the Year" by Icelandic booksellers and received the DV Literary Award and a nomination for the Icelandic Literary Prize. It was also shortlisted for the 2013 Philip K. Dick Award. His 2012 The Story of the Blue Planet—now published or performed in twenty-six countries—became the first children's book to receive the Icelandic Literary Prize and received the Janusz Korczak Honorary Award and the West Nordic Children's Book Prize. Magnason is the winner of the 2010 Kairos Award. He lives in Reykjavík.
レビュー
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Great read
Love Star was a hilarious read! All of a sudden the main character is screaming at people just because he has unwillingly been programmed to do so. This is, of course, to sell products. What, I ask myself? What is going on? And then as I read further it all becomes clearer to me, although I did find it confusing in places. But then the author's humor would kick in and I'd be laughing all over again. Of course, selling products is not the only thing the author writes about. But I'll let you determine what is going on as it is well worth the read. It's funny to read and you do get a giggle out of it. It's a wonderful take on commercialism and how ludicrous people can be. It is also a lovely love story. Kind of like Romeo and Juliet in a weird way. Two people who are in some ways opposites, fall in love and people all around them are trying to break them up. Sad, lovely, humorous, fun and in general, a really good read. It's almost haunting in the way I remember it. I read Love Star a number of months ago but didn't write a review. I just thought of it now and it's interesting how many details I've remembered about it. It deserves five stars and it'll be a great read for anyone wanting to veer off into unknown territory.
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Five Stars
Great imaginative development of how the world could change through the use of modern technology and science. Scary.
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A Cautionary Tale
Some have compared Magnason's style to that of Vonnegut, which is apt. This is a cautionary tale, well-written and prophetic to some degree. If you enjoyed Brave New World or 1984, then you'll probably enjoy this novel. If that's not your bag, then you might want to try something else.
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Ludicrous satire
Hilarious and dark in equal measure, was a fantastic book to study in college and a great satire of modern life
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some parts are better than others
Very interesting premise, some parts are better than others, mostly engaging and very clever!
関連する文学賞
- フィリップ・K・ディック賞 第31回（2012年） ・特別賞