Under the Skin (2000)
4 Stars out of 5
Michel Faber
Michel Faber has created a very ambitious first book with “Under
the Skin”. This Scottish national with the German name has written a complex
tale that comes in three parts; three parts that could almost stand on their
own; certainly the first third of the book is a kind of clever puzzle with a
nice twist that I will try to conceal in this review. However, the book’s two
other parts also tell tales worth reading; tales from which one can learn something
meaningful. The book will fall into the science fiction genre just the like the
movie made in 2013 based on the book. Yet, the book just like the movie has
much deeper depths than the superficial story of a young female. To be sure,
Isserley’s story is a painful one, both physically and psychically, but beneath
the skin of the book’s basic story line lies a deeper moral tale; one well
worth reading and thinking about long after one has finished the almost too
short novel (304 pages).
The opening third of the novel introduces the reader to the protagonist,
Isserley. She is a troubled individual, wracked with physical pain. Each
morning upon waking in her decrepit cottage, she performs exercises that
somewhat reduce her constant bone pain. Her pain is not
limited to the physical, though. She works with a group of males that she
perceives find her disgusting in appearance and in typical male pattern
behavior treat her as a second class citizen; one barely, if at all a human
deserving the respect and rights they abrogate to themselves. Or so Isserley
believes. As the book progresses forward though, the reader might be forgiven
for thinking Isserley may well be misinterpreting at least part of the
environment she lives in.
Besides the men she works with on Ablach Farm in Northern
Scotland, much of Isserley’s life includes driving the A9 expressway in the
vicinity of Glasgow. Indeed, as we come to know more of Isserley, we realize
that her driving is in fact her job. With her generous bosom and fair features,
she drives the A9 seeking young, physically fit male hitch hikers. What she
does after she finds such a desirable hitch hiker plays a big role in the novel’s
message and Isserley’s malaise. As she searches for her perfect “hitcher”, someone
she refers to as a Vodsel, we learn more of her and her underlying mental
state. A useful technique in Faber’s storytelling is that once Isserley has a
hitcher in her car, he switches from 1st person Isserley to 1st
person Hitcher. Thus, we learn of her worries and fears, and the near constant
lustful thoughts of her Hitchers; almost all see her only as “prey”; a woman to
be taken for their own purposes.
As the first third of the book ends, the reader is made more
fully aware of Isserley’s true job. Having seen the movie before reading the
book, I knew of her secret and yet it actually helped me enjoy all the more the
technique Faber employs in setting the scenery (so to speak) for the remaining
parts of the novel. Throughout the book Faber employs a succinct style of
writing that tells his tale but does so in a knowing manner in terms of the
limitations of the English language. However, as the reader progresses into the
second part of the novel, such a reader starts to realize that Faber’s apparent
obfuscations actually served a dual purpose: firstly they sketch out the story,
but more to the point they vividly illustrate how form and language can do more
than confuse the reader or viewer; they can just as easily form the bedrock of a
person’s value system. Going back to the definition of Human Being, for example,
one can use this as a descriptive term or use it as a restrictive term. That is
to say, if one is not a Human Being, can all the rules set up by society
to govern behavior can be dropped? Consider the treatment of such advanced
animals as Orcas (or almost any marine mammal) in a Marine Zoo. Are their
personal needs seen to in the same manner as any being accorded the right and
name of “Human Being”? Quite obviously not, but should they, and again if not, how close to Human rights should Orca (or any caged animal) rights be?
This theme is explored in the second part of the book.
Isserley’s nature plus that of her fellow farm workers are revealed through
their actions and thoughts. But just like the manner in which Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s
“Black Fish” (2013) exposed the obscenity of corralling Orcas, there is a
character in the book to take on the role of protector for oppressed animals.
He is a CEO’s son, the very corporation that runs Isserley’s farm. Amliss Vess
comes from the ultra-elite of Isserley’s society. His father is to Amliss not only
the CEO of Vess Industries but also an animate form of Joseph Conrad’s
metaphorical “Heart of Darkness”. As they get to learn of and from one another,
Isserley is able to show Amliss the beauty of Scotland and Amliss is able to
open Isserley’s eyes (just a little) to the moral nature of her occupation.
Amliss will depart from Isserley as determined as ever to stop the activities
on Ablach Farm. He will leave Isserley both pining for Amliss as a lover and
despising him for his opinions. She struggles to find reconciliation between
her job and her newly expanded views regarding its morality. Faber never makes
too terribly clear just where Isserley finally places the metaphorical fulcrum
that balances her sense of duty to work versus an ethical statement on right
and wrong.
Sadly, the book quite frankly fails to reach a satisfactory
conclusion. Throughout parts one and two, the reader is treated to cleverness
in storytelling satire reminiscent of Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal"; satire told with Joseph Conrad-like prose. A satire that has a thought provoking manner of
discussing gender and animal versus human rights; and even asking indirectly whether
the two should be different, but if so, strongly arguing that a carefully
thought out ethical premise must be used to define those rights. Having done
such a nice job, especially for a first time novelist, Faber reaches for but
fails to grasp a conclusion that measures up to the early parts of the novel.
Leaving the Big Picture, he instead focuses on the disintegration of the internal Isserley. Following Amliss’
departure, she goes back to work, but does so in a very troubled state of mind.
She picks up her penultimate hitcher. As before, the reader is allowed to
listen in on her thoughts and those of a red-haired father of two. Unlike her
previous hitchers, this man will be missed and as such is not a good candidate
for Isserley’s ministrations by her own rules of the road. Even more to the
point though, as we listen in, we find this red-haired man cares and worries
deeply for Isserley, based solely on her
appearance. In the overall satirical nature of the book, this example of
irony is hard to ignore. Nevertheless, she takes him and thus precipitates her
ultimate fate; a fate that is finally set into motion by yet another hitcher
equally disinterested in her feminine charms.
The book is well worth reading by anyone interested in
science fiction but especially so by anyone interested in what lies beneath the
skin. How does each of us measure and assess one another: by our words, by our
actions, or by our physical appearance. Are we male or female, fit or fat,
light or dark; do we speak with an accent or maybe not speak your language at
all? Some of these criteria might be indirect indicators of who we are, or they
might like the red-haired hitcher’s sweater be quite deceiving. It is so obviously
a lesson that Isserley and indeed every Human Being should learn, that it
is painful to even consider. At this cynical age in humanity's life cycle, I can only shake
my head and hope; hope without much conviction for an optimistic future where
we each assess one another based on our actions and not our appearance.
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