tommooney's review
3.0
Cynan Jones' writing is very spare and very beautiful. But his stories are often quite surface and intangible. Sometimes that works, other times less so.
This novel began life as a spoken word production for BBC radio, collecting several stories set in a future (or alternate present) world where water had been commodified and water trains serve communities. An iceberg is on its way to London to be docked as a primary water source. We follow several characters whose lives are affected by these events.
I felt there were times when I was desperately grasping for something concrete to grip hold of but came away with empty hands. Other times I sat mesmerized by the bleak, beautiful bluntness of his sentences. And, as ever, there were moments of grim, mechanical brilliance - here, the gutting and preparing of a fish is told with glorious, beguiling simplicity.
So, overall, a bit of a mixed bag. Not my favourite of his novels (see The Cove for that one) but still well worth a go.
This novel began life as a spoken word production for BBC radio, collecting several stories set in a future (or alternate present) world where water had been commodified and water trains serve communities. An iceberg is on its way to London to be docked as a primary water source. We follow several characters whose lives are affected by these events.
I felt there were times when I was desperately grasping for something concrete to grip hold of but came away with empty hands. Other times I sat mesmerized by the bleak, beautiful bluntness of his sentences. And, as ever, there were moments of grim, mechanical brilliance - here, the gutting and preparing of a fish is told with glorious, beguiling simplicity.
So, overall, a bit of a mixed bag. Not my favourite of his novels (see The Cove for that one) but still well worth a go.
bundy23's review
2.0
I’m sure most will say this was beautifully written or hypnotic or some shit like that but to me it was just 12 boring stories that never really went anywhere.
charlottaliukas's review
Set in a catastrophical near future Britain where the water reserves are dwindling and the country sets out to import ice on a train. Looking at the phenomenon from multiple individual perspectives, from the policy person to the farmer and the water activist, from mundane bureaucratic processes and systems that govern the society’s operations to heartbreaking human destinies.
For those who listen to this as a BBC Sounds production, as I did, the changing narrators are really wonderful and round out the novella structure of the story, but can also confuse. The episodes are short, 10 - 15 minutes, so listening to a full episode at one go helps. Music production is superbly eery too.
For those who listen to this as a BBC Sounds production, as I did, the changing narrators are really wonderful and round out the novella structure of the story, but can also confuse. The episodes are short, 10 - 15 minutes, so listening to a full episode at one go helps. Music production is superbly eery too.
jfl's review
5.0
Poetically compressed, intertwined snapshots of a future where people are facing a radically changing climate. The country (presumably England) is experiencing alternating cycles of flood and draught, leading to unsustainable stresses in the rural countryside and growing socio-economic pressures in the urban centers.
In 12 chapters, Cynan Jones sketches with a great economy of words the stresses and emotions of a variety of people—many interrelated—as they face living at a moment when water has become commodified. Among the people whom Jones introduces to the reader:
1) John Branner, whose job is to guard the Water Train that transports water from the reservoir to the distant city. His wife, Anne, is terminally ill.
2) A worker on the Ice Dock who lives with Nita and her daughter, Hillie, in the area the government has condemned for right-of-way to allow passage of the Iceberg. Nita makes paper flowers to sell in the city.
3) David and his wife, Helen, who live on the unstable coast. Their daughter, Ruth, lives in the city, is a nurse and is married to Colin, a local journalist. Their son, Leo, works at the pumping station serving the Water Train and is partnered with Cora, who works as a thermo-fluctuationst.
4) Alan, a bureaucrat, who is overseeing the construction of the Ice Dock that will hold the Iceberg Calf.
5) A crew of tug boat operators who are transporting a calf of an Iceberg into the city for docking at the Ice Dock, still under construction.
6) A professor whose recent discover threatens to temporarily halt the construction of the Ice Dock.
7) Two young brothers, orphans, who track a dog into the right-of-way of the Water Train with disastrous results for one of the boys.
In 12 chapters, Cynan Jones sketches with a great economy of words the stresses and emotions of a variety of people—many interrelated—as they face living at a moment when water has become commodified. Among the people whom Jones introduces to the reader:
1) John Branner, whose job is to guard the Water Train that transports water from the reservoir to the distant city. His wife, Anne, is terminally ill.
2) A worker on the Ice Dock who lives with Nita and her daughter, Hillie, in the area the government has condemned for right-of-way to allow passage of the Iceberg. Nita makes paper flowers to sell in the city.
3) David and his wife, Helen, who live on the unstable coast. Their daughter, Ruth, lives in the city, is a nurse and is married to Colin, a local journalist. Their son, Leo, works at the pumping station serving the Water Train and is partnered with Cora, who works as a thermo-fluctuationst.
4) Alan, a bureaucrat, who is overseeing the construction of the Ice Dock that will hold the Iceberg Calf.
5) A crew of tug boat operators who are transporting a calf of an Iceberg into the city for docking at the Ice Dock, still under construction.
6) A professor whose recent discover threatens to temporarily halt the construction of the Ice Dock.
7) Two young brothers, orphans, who track a dog into the right-of-way of the Water Train with disastrous results for one of the boys.
dianustita's review
4.0
Will have to reread.. much more plot and characters that I am just to from Cynan.
harrietthacker85's review
5.0
Stillicide is a collection of short stories that also relate to a whole, larger narrative. Set in the not-too-distant future, people in Britain struggle to survive as water becomes scarce. They have devised a way of bringing icebergs down from the North to melt and irrigate dry river beds. Terrorists stalk water pipes, species become extinct and illness is rife. Through it all are tales of hope and love, perfectly executed by Cynan Jones.
Stillicide started life as a Radio 4 series (I am currently listening to it on BBC Sounds now) and was subsequently published. As ever Cynan Jones weaves his story succinctly and expertly. Beautiful brevity. His take on the effect of water loss on society is interesting and insightful.
Stillicide started life as a Radio 4 series (I am currently listening to it on BBC Sounds now) and was subsequently published. As ever Cynan Jones weaves his story succinctly and expertly. Beautiful brevity. His take on the effect of water loss on society is interesting and insightful.
ruthiereading's review
5.0
Stillicide is twelve interlinked small stories of climate change, water shortage, overcrowding and the longing, love and loss which make us human. Sparse and mesmerising, Cynan Jones’ latest offering is an intense, compact thing of beauty. Language wielded with care, conviction and the precision of a surgeons knife. The clarity of narrative and gradually accumulation of quiet emotion creating something profound, indelible & quite beautiful.
stella_starlight's review
5.0
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0007n58/episodes/downloads Stillicide Podcast on BBC Radio
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