Lauren Beukes's new speculative novel imagines a world stripped overnight of men. Do women do a better job of running things?
By Sally Adee
Getty Images
Afterland
Lauren Beukes
Michael Joseph (UK) and Mullholland Books (US)
Advertisement
IF ALL the human cells in your body were to suddenly dematerialise, your outline would briefly persist, in all its exquisite detail, in the form of the billions of bacteria and viruses that colonise your every nook and cranny, still suspended in the shape of the frame your body provided.
Something analogous happens in Lauren Beukess novel Afterland, available in July worldwide and in September in the UK. Over about two years, a pandemic kills nearly every man in the world, leaving its patriarchal systems staffed exclusively by women. Cole, the mother of one of the precious few surviving boys, needs to get him out of the US and back to their home in South Africa. Her sister, meanwhile, wants to sell him. This gives the novel its structure and speed: it is a deceptively simple heist caper, with Cole on the run across the US from both her sister and the Department for the Protection of Males.
The organisation is charged with imprisoning the few males that remain, probing them to find whatever biological quirk has spared them from the plague and using that knowledge to find a vaccine for the virus. Its aim of jump-starting society back to normal will be uncomfortably familiar as we too languish in a pandemic limbo between the Before and the After, hoping for our own vaccine. The misguided waiting game in the novel results in a few temporary accommodations to reality: straight women negotiate awkward first dates with one another, while fake baby bumps become the hottest fashion accessory.
So who gets to maintain civilisation now, and do women run a better society than men? This is where the book shines as one of the best thought experiments of its kind, in which Beukes has stitched together the surprise matriarchy of The Power, the millenarian despair of Children of Men and the deeply intelligent questions of Ursula Le Guins The Left Hand of Darkness.
The Power in which women develop the ability to give electric shocks, ending their status as the weaker sex once and for all concludes that women are just as bad as men when in ultimate control.
Beukess take is more ambiguous. Like Le Guin, she seems to conclude that it doesnt much matter if it is women or men in charge of society, as it is the structures themselves that turn us into monsters. You have to be bigger and meaner as a woman to claim your turf, Coles sister tells herself, negotiating her nephews kidnapping on behalf of the widow of the kingpin she used to work for. The widow has slid into his place, just as easily as the thugs around her have shifted from being vicious beauty queens to vicious enforcers. The Sisters of Sorrow, the religious community in which Cole and her son take refuge, somehow figures out how to make Christianity even more violently misogynistic in a world without men.
There is no guarantee that the once-oppressed will wield power any more judiciously than their oppressors
Yet it isnt all nihilism. Beukes seeds the book with hopeful rumours of matriarchal societies that have sprung up in other countries. There are never many details beyond the promise, like mirages just over the horizon. They say the matriarchal societies have been a lot better about getting rid of the homosexuality laws, promises an email from a friend trying to help them escape across the Atlantic. It is a promise of a better body politic.
Afterland is that rare creature, a ripping tale that neither shies away from big questions nor interesting answers. What happens when the powerless get power? There is no guarantee that the previously oppressed will wield it any more judiciously than those who oppressed them. It isnt about the individuals. It is about the society they need to maintain.
More on these topics:
Read more:
Afterland review: A thought-provoking tale of life without men - New Scientist News
- Nihilism Wikipedia - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- Nihilism | Meaningness - December 10th, 2016 [December 10th, 2016]
- Nihilist movement - Wikipedia - December 22nd, 2016 [December 22nd, 2016]
- Therapeutic nihilism - Wikipedia - December 22nd, 2016 [December 22nd, 2016]
- Nietzsches Analysis of Nihilism | The World Is On Fire - December 26th, 2016 [December 26th, 2016]
- Moral nihilism - Wikipedia - December 26th, 2016 [December 26th, 2016]
- Nihilism @ American Nihilist Underground Society (ANUS) - January 14th, 2017 [January 14th, 2017]
- Nihilism Nihilism - January 25th, 2017 [January 25th, 2017]
- The boredom of nihilism - The Tablet - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- The Chinese Ford Raptor Website Is Profound And Crazy At The Same Time - Jalopnik - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- 'Fatal,' by John Lescroart - San Francisco Chronicle - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Troy Reimink: 'This Land Is Your Land' doesn't mean what most people think - Traverse City Record Eagle - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Brendan Kelly on politics, nihilism, and the benefit of intimate shows - BeatRoute Magazine - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Sampha's Process Review: Drifting Through Space - The Picket - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Nihilist KMOX Reporter Discusses Existential Horror of February in St. Louis - Riverfront Times (blog) - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- Why the White House's nihilism is so troubling - Los Angeles Times - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- Teen Nihilism Erupts in LA Premiere of Fierce, Funny PUNK ROCK by Simon Stephens - Broadway World - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Faking It: The Rise of Political Nihilism - Study Breaks Magazine - Study Breaks - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Descartes, Nihilist - First Things (blog) - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Still Waking Up - First Things (blog) - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- [ American Nihilist Underground Society (ANUS) :: Nihilism ... - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Pissed Jeans Why Love Now review: 'nihilism and cynicism' - Evening Standard - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Editorial | By any means necessary including dancehall - Jamaica Gleaner - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- Reader E-Mailbag: Pussy Hats vs Asshats, How to Save Obamacare, Nihilism in the White House - TheStranger.com - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- The fight between Nigel Farage and Douglas Carswell is the definition of political nihilism - The Independent - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Eye in the Sky: Where Nihilism and Hegemony Coincide - Antiwar.com (blog) - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- NieR: Automata Starts With Nihilism and Futility at the Installation Screen - Geek - March 8th, 2017 [March 8th, 2017]
- I used to love the working-class nihilism of Sleaford Mods no longer - Spectator.co.uk - March 9th, 2017 [March 9th, 2017]
- Mereological nihilism - Wikipedia - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Four Big Critiques - China Digital Times - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- What Colony Gets Right About Living in an Apocalypse - Gizmodo - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- We're all political nihilists now - Washington Post - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Love, Western Nihilism and Revolutionary Optimism | Global ... - Center for Research on Globalization - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Occupy Wall Street: Nihilism And Communism - The Liberty Conservative - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- What Is Nihilism? History, Profile, Philosophy and ... - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Changing This Bumbling Narcissist Impossible, So We Must Depose Him - Common Dreams - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- A Defense for Moral Absence - Daily Utah Chronicle - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Withdrawing from the Paris Accord: Trump is behaving like a nihilist, not a nationalist - Los Angeles Times - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- China bans 'Soft Burial', a novel about deadly consequences of land reform - Business Standard - June 8th, 2017 [June 8th, 2017]
- Former Grateful Dead Tour Manager Chimes in on Long Strange Trip Documentary - Relix (blog) - June 8th, 2017 [June 8th, 2017]
- 'It Comes at Night' Review - Washington Free Beacon - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- China's Latest Book Ban: An Award-Winning Novel About the Deadly Consequences of Land Reform - The News Lens International (press release) - June 10th, 2017 [June 10th, 2017]
- How Carmen Ejogo Helped Build a Personal Apocalypse in It Comes at Night - Den of Geek US - June 10th, 2017 [June 10th, 2017]
- SMOKERS' CORNER: DEATH CULTS - DAWN.com - June 11th, 2017 [June 11th, 2017]
- Jim Dey: Another fatal shooting raises the same question why? - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette - June 11th, 2017 [June 11th, 2017]
- Why Millennials Love 'Rick and Morty' - Study Breaks Magazine - Study Breaks - June 13th, 2017 [June 13th, 2017]
- Searching for the Last Sincere Festival Experience at Download 2017 - Noisey - June 14th, 2017 [June 14th, 2017]
- The book Christians should read instead of 'The Benedict Option' - America Magazine - June 14th, 2017 [June 14th, 2017]
- Film Review: 'All Eyez on Me' - Variety - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- The Pendulum is Swinging Back Toward Liberal Forward Momentum - HuffPost - June 17th, 2017 [June 17th, 2017]
- Death cults - The Statesman - June 17th, 2017 [June 17th, 2017]
- 5 reasons why 'Wonder Woman' is the superhero movie America needs right now - LGBTQ Nation - June 17th, 2017 [June 17th, 2017]
- Review: Prodigy HNIC - SPIN - June 20th, 2017 [June 20th, 2017]
- The Nihilism of Julian Assange - The New York Review of Books - June 20th, 2017 [June 20th, 2017]
- Atlanta's Videodrome is the Last and Greatest Video Rental Store - Geek - June 21st, 2017 [June 21st, 2017]
- Why Prodigy Was A Once-In-A-Generation Rapper - Complex - June 21st, 2017 [June 21st, 2017]
- Prufrock: How Brainwashing Works, Julian Assange's Nihilism, and Emily Dickinson's Hope - The Weekly Standard - June 21st, 2017 [June 21st, 2017]
- Samantha Bee Mourns the Death of Language - New York Times - June 22nd, 2017 [June 22nd, 2017]
- Trump's bluff on White House tapes wasn't just dishonest it was also a failure - Washington Post - June 22nd, 2017 [June 22nd, 2017]
- In the Almost-Great Baby Driver, Hollywood Goes Asperger's - National Review - June 23rd, 2017 [June 23rd, 2017]
- Against Nihilism - MTV.com - June 23rd, 2017 [June 23rd, 2017]
- Can Robert Mueller be trusted? - Fox News - June 24th, 2017 [June 24th, 2017]
- Opinion: Gingrich admitted Trump was being dishonest - Holmes County Times Advertiser - June 26th, 2017 [June 26th, 2017]
- A Reply to Rod Dreher on Worldview - Patheos (blog) - June 27th, 2017 [June 27th, 2017]
- Vince Staples burns through nihilism and house beats on 'Big Fish ... - Mic - June 29th, 2017 [June 29th, 2017]
- Islamic Terrorists Aren't Nihilists, They're Firm Believers In Evil - The Federalist - June 29th, 2017 [June 29th, 2017]
- On Religion: Wrestling again with the gospel according to Bob Dylan - Herald and News - June 30th, 2017 [June 30th, 2017]
- Wrestling again with the Gospel according to Bob Dylan | Features ... - Bristol Herald Courier (press release) (blog) - July 1st, 2017 [July 1st, 2017]
- Praying for Hemingway | America Magazine - America Magazine - July 1st, 2017 [July 1st, 2017]
- Human Exceptionalism: We Understand Significance - National Review - July 2nd, 2017 [July 2nd, 2017]
- Politics podcast: Anna Krien on the climate wars - The Conversation AU - July 3rd, 2017 [July 3rd, 2017]
- Omnipotence at the price of nihilism - Patheos (blog) - July 6th, 2017 [July 6th, 2017]
- The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers - Film School Rejects - Film School Rejects - July 7th, 2017 [July 7th, 2017]
- Alternative rock comes to Grass Valley - Auburn Journal - July 7th, 2017 [July 7th, 2017]
- Data SheetSaturday, July 8, 2017 - Fortune - July 8th, 2017 [July 8th, 2017]
- Altstadt Echo - Reposed In Nihilism - Resident Advisor - July 11th, 2017 [July 11th, 2017]
- I'd Be A Nihilist If I Weren't A Hedonist - Patheos (blog) - July 14th, 2017 [July 14th, 2017]
- Review: 21 Savage Hits the Limits of Nihilism on Issa Album | SPIN - SPIN - July 15th, 2017 [July 15th, 2017]
- 'Rick and Morty' Creators Explain Why The Show is Horrifying - Inverse - July 22nd, 2017 [July 22nd, 2017]
- Ill Behaviour, review: the chuckles are broad but the grisly nihilism is rather unpalatable - Telegraph.co.uk - July 22nd, 2017 [July 22nd, 2017]