Review of 'The Unit'

Book Buzz is a blog produced in collaboration with neighborhood librarians from Houston Public Library, Harris County Public Library and the Bellaire Library.

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist: Translated into English in 2009 and recently reissued, this Swedish novel imagines a dystopian future for the childless in which literally offering pieces of yourself is a legitimate contribution to society. Though I did not plan on it, I read this book in one sitting and was both amazed and horrified during the entirety.

Given that November is Citizenship Month, combined with the resurgence in popularity of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, this book becomes particularly provocative. Not only is it an intimate portrait of creative, single individuals coming to terms with a graphic and imminent death, but their apparent willingness to accept it for the good of others.

We meet 50-year old Dorrit who is obediently waiting for her transport to the Second Reserve Bank Unit, where she’ll be furnished with an apartment in a living community of 50+ women and 60+ men, all of whom are childless, either by choice or circumstance. In their few remaining years, they will be compelled to participate in medical experiments and/or donate their organs and tissue.

Their lives, loves, friendships, dreams and hopes are shared only among each other and then ultimately erased and forgotten. They are, however, allowed to live their remaining years in (relative) comfort, free from responsibility and in the full knowledge that they will at last be contributing citizens upon their “final donation.”

This begs the question: what does it mean to be a good citizen? To whom are we ultimately responsible? How do we, as well as our society, measure worth? What is the value of one life or the cost of another? What are your thoughts?