Foe by Iain Reid
Iain Reid kind of burst on the scene with a novel called ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ it was made into a strange Charlie Kaufman film. I was interested in this one because Reid's second novel was also coming out as a film starring Saoirse Ronan and LaKeith Stanfield from director Gareth Davis who made Lion and the 2018 Jesus snore-fest Mary Magdalene.
I was curious how this dude was 2/2 novel to films. In sports when a team gets a championship and other teams try to replicate the success pundits always say it is a copy-cat league, and maybe that was it because this novel was really not super compelling to me. I wanted it to be. I heard it was near-future SF. I would say this novel is only Science Fiction because it needed to be. It doesn’t seem to me that Reid has any interest in familiar elements of speculative fiction. This is more of a surrealist novel. The plot could have survived just going magical and surreal.
None the less on the surface the plot could be called Phil Dickian to a degree, but if you are looking for a twist don’t read Foe. The ending was clear from a few pages in and that is fine. This book is more about the creepy uncomfortable nature of a long-term relationship. The first-person narrator doesn’t know much about anything. That is your first clue.
If the novel has a mission statement…
“Why do people stay together"? They stay together because it's expected, because it's what they know. They try to make it work, to endure it, and end up living under some kind of spiritual anesthetic. They go on, but they are numb. There is nothing worse than to live your life this way. Detached, but abiding. It's immoral.”
There are moments of actual discovery and interesting examination of marriage…
“Walking is nonverbal communication. Like I can tell if [she's] mad by her footsteps. Walking isn't as overt as other signals, like the way someone smells, their voice, their laugh, their facial expressions. Steps can be frivolous, but they're often distinct from person to person. Familiarity grows over time, slowly, inadvertently. I never tried to get to know her to walk deliberately. This stuff happens unwittingly...”
These moments of character that examine the fine details of the long-term relationship are some of the novel's best moments. There is an argument that the novel requires the cold detachment to express this point, it doesn’t make for a good reading experience. I would find myself wishing for more story and less mood and tone. Those who prefer those elements might enjoy this novel more than I did.
The SF elements are purely McGuffins. Junior is the narrator of the story that takes place in an undetermined location living with his wife Hen. A man comes to visit and tells him that he will be going on a mission to space and will be gone for years. This man tells him not to worry he is being studied so they replace him with an android copy.
Before I get into spoilers let me say this is a cold, creepy affair that takes a look at how strange and alien relationships can become after years. There are some interesting things at play here, the writing is experimental and gives away serious clues. None of the first-person narrators speak tags are in quotes but the other characters are.
The writing is at times very well craft and devoid of emotion. That is why Gareth Davis who directed the Matzah bread flat Jesus movie seems like an odd choice of director. As I was reading I thought well at least actors could breathe some life into this thing.
I know this book is supposed to be out of the genre ghetto and actual capital L – Literature but I was not exactly impressed. This would not be a recommendation but I will see the movie. Now if you are not worried about spoilers….
The fact that Junior doesn’t remember much, or that Hen wants very little to do with him meant I knew the “Twist” right away. If you have not guessed the story we are being told is by the story of the copy, there are a few because of plot things that happen along the way.
Look Reid has won awards, and I am sure to most this book may be an example for high art. The book didn’t work for me and worst it did nothing interesting that Philip K Dick didn’t do better in the Mother thing short story in 1953. I know they are different I talking vibe. None the less not impressed.
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