The earth is scorched, the heat is almost unbearable, and the drinking water is almost impossible to get. The global warming caused all the ice to melt, overflowing the oceans. What we have here is a sad and hopeless world driven to the brink of extinction by its own inhabitants humans. Still, this novel falls on the side of “OK” rather than “bad but didn’t hate it” of my two star rating.Ĭheck out my Pinterest Inspiration Board!įilled with philosophical themes, existentialism and moments of pure beauty, Memory of Water is a highly original, remarkably intelligent and infuriatingly teasing work of speculative fiction set in a dystopian world. In both, I was expecting more than I got.
Part of it is criticising the what and a part of it is criticising the how. If you’ve read the book, you might think my review slightly contradictory, but it’s not. A refrain repeated endlessly is never as effective as a slow realisation coming from within. I love the fact that Finnish and Scandinavian authors in general seem to trust their readers’ intelligence, but I wish they trusted us a bit more. After all, these are authors living in today’s world relying on peddling their wares to the very people burying their childrens’ children in plastic tombs if these authors are to be believed. That’s fine message to be told, but I don’t appreciate being forced to swallow the utter condemnation of men while turning the pages. Every (other or third) Finnish book that I pick up seems to somehow describe the horrors of natural disasters and a future we as a human race have squandered.
I didn’t feel like Itäranta made the oppression and horrors of a dry future awful and dejected enough to justify the lie told in the epilogue. She uses repetition and a book ending for this small story that-unfortunately-remains small. Itäranta writes beautifully, but her story also falters and stumbles on preachiness in the beginning. That’s what happened to me with this book. You’re waiting for something to happen, something to take the song to the next level and surprise you. Except, you’re waiting for the song to take flight. You stop to listen and the more you do, the more you like it. You don’t know the band, but you like the quiet, melancholic melody. A song comes up you’ve never heard before.
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