RATING:
Genre: Young Adult > Dystopia | Post-Apocalyptic
Anax thinks she knows history. Her grueling all-day Examination has just begun, and if she passes, she’ll be admitted into the Academy—the elite governing institution of her utopian society. But Anax is about to discover that for all her learning, the history she’s been taught isn’t the whole story. And the Academy isn’t what she believes it to be. In this brilliant novel of dazzling ingenuity, Anax’s examination leads us into a future where we are confronted with unresolved questions raised by science and philosophy. Centuries old, these questions have gained new urgency in the face of rapidly developing technology. What is consciousness? What makes us human? If artificial intelligence were developed to a high enough capability, what special status could humanity still claim? Outstanding and original, Beckett’s dramatic narrative comes to a shocking conclusion.
Literary Awards: New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children & Young Adults, Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Science Fiction (2009)
*****
I think the philosophical air of Genesis almost bored me to sleep. But they made sense. if i were in a brooding moment when i read this, i would’ve have enjoyed the serious banter between Adam and Art more . Unfortunately, i was not brooding that time. I stretched my reading way past midnight, so maybe tiredness was a factor. Still, Genesis blew my mind away to freakdom! Never in wildest dreams will i be able to predict that kind of shattering truth. 😀
I guess Anaximander was very smart. She anticipated most of the questions that the examiner threw at her. and she’s sure and absolute in her affinity with Adam Forde.
The story was pretty short, 150 pages all in. It all centered on Anaximander’s interview with the Examiner to the Academy. Adam’s more alive that i expected. But i like him.
So, what’s more to say? Just read it. Me saying more would eventually lead to spoilers. Last five pages were the bomb! Genesis definitely gave me an out-of-body-or-maybe-space-even experience.