Reviews

This was good. I think this book was the best I’ve read at conveying what’s going on internally versus what Kall says/does, as often it is him that suggests more totalitarian measures, e.g. expanding the use of Kallocain to everyone to try and catch what Orwell would call “thought-crime”. The omission of the contents of his evenings of military service was interesting too as a reflection of their wider culture of euphemism/omission. Seeing ideas from More’s Utopia being used, e.g. the transferral of people between cities to maintain population, helped me think about the gaps between that and the World State. I don’t know what to make of the relationship between Kall and Rissen (in my head he seems to have become O’Brien) and Kall’s denunciation and repentance with regards to the society’s egalitarianism; it wasn’t as overtly theoretical as 1984 (which does basically have a theory textbook in the middle, to be fair). The narrative was smooth but I didn’t feel particularly driven to read by it, except towards the end, but I think that fits the life of exhaustion/ennui in the World State.

sirithe1st's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Ååååå jättebra! Kortare och bättre än 1984 👍

tetrollet's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

zxcvbnmackie's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Leo Kall is an ambitious scientist who develops a truth telling drug called Kallocain. It inevitably unveils its consumer's hidden and private thoughts and brings them to the surface. A highly efficient tool for the interrogations made on behalf of the World State.

Is this a positive and prime example of a "fellow soldier" acting to enhance his beloved World State... Or does it open to the door to one's own moral questioning and irresolvability?

This acclaimed novel of Boye’s home country is said to be an underrated gem on par with dystopian works published by the likes of Orwell, Zamyatin & Huxley. It was written shortly after the beginning World War II and truly highlights an early prophetic insight into Nazi Germany (I feel) and what may have been the new norm if alternative history would have unfolded and Axis powers had their way. Unfortunately, Boye died by suicide in 1941 (a year after this was published) and did not get to see her work celebrated.

I can understand and appreciate that this is certainly a good book, but I had hoped to connect more deeply with it. It was missing a certain je ne sais quoi. However, my admiration for Boye remains unsullied.

(I was not under the influence of Kall's drug when writing this review).

ed_moore's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

‘“Because then you would see that you’ve been scraped bare, exposed right down to your naked skeleton - and who has the strength to see that? Who wants to see his wretchedness until he is compelled to? Not compelled by human beings. Compelled by the emptiness and the cold”

Karin Boye’s ‘Kallocain’ depicts a totalitarian society similar in power structures to the Airstrip One of ‘1984’. It follows the development of the drug kallocain that forces those accused to speak the truth, a terrifying decay in free speech and free will.

Leo Kall, the protagonist and inventor of the drug remains loyal to the state however has an Oppenheimer-esque guilt complex that he battles with, this exploring the human reaction to the greater effects of one’s creations, something that could be associated to the development of artificial intelligence in the modern day. A limited pool of characters allowed for good development in a not so long book, though Linda is really given the tougher end of things.

Boye’s political vision written in the early years of WW2 does a very successful job of exploring the bleak and likely looking future for society in the wake of Nazi power, and can too be reciprocal of the modern day.

desertmichelle's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

A dark and foreboding warning.
This is my second read of this novel and I'm only more afraid now.

sjacks's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

More...