Surveillance (novel)
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| Surveillance | |
| Author | Jonathan Raban |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Pantheon Books |
| Publication date | January 30 2007 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 272 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-0-375-42244-7 |
Surveillance, a 2006 novel by Jonathan Raban, explores the current political climate set in a near-future Seattle.
[edit] Plot summary
Freelance journalist Lucy Bengstrom has been hired by GQ magazine to write a profile of August Vanags, the bestselling author of Boy 381, an account of his childhood as an orphan making his way through the charred landscape of World War II Europe. As Lucy researches Vanags's life, she begins to suspect he has falsified the entire account. When she receives a picture that purports to show the author as a child safely ensconced on an English chicken farm during the war years, she's almost sure he's a fake.
Meanwhile, Lucy's daughter, Alida, struggles with being raised by a single mom; the gay man next door, Tad Zachary (also Lucy's best friend and surrogate father to Alida), may or may not be dying of AIDS and spends much of his time finding fuel for his political rage in what Raban calls "the virtual counterworld"; Vanags's wife is in the early stages of Alzheimer's; and a grim U.S. government escalates its police-state techniques to defend against the terrorism threat.
[edit] References
- The Guardian 20th May, 2006 "We have mutated into a surveillance society - and must share the blame" [1]
- The Guardian 30th September, 2006 "We're all spooks now" [2]
- The Telegraph 12th September, 2006 "The Insider: don't smile, you're on camera" [3]
