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Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang Kate Wilhelm 9780099148005 Books

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Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang Kate Wilhelm 9780099148005 Books

Living in a world where everyone looks like you and your four or five closest friends is probably the dream of an extreme narcissist (or a certain family that currently stars in a reality TV series) but it probably presents a multitude of problems beyond trying to coordinate who wears what outfits on which day and how to get someone who likes the same stuff as you a surprising birthday present. The idea of cloning is something that has seemed less like SF with each passing year but even though we've had some success with sheep and dogs and whatnot, we're still a decent ways off from creating a viable human clone. But in the 1970s cloning was definitely something you really only saw in SF and while you had scenarios where old rich people created clones of themselves to harvest organs so they could bwah-ha-ha live forever (or create armies, although if your clones grow at an ordinary wait, you're really looking into the long game unless you figure out a way to take over using homicidal infants) there were plenty of instances where authors looked at the moral or ethical implications of cloning and how that would impact humanity in the future, changing our perceptions and definitions on what it means to be human.

Wilhelm's novel (a Hugo winner for that year as well as a Nebula nominee) isn't so much a look at those elements as extrapolating the concept of cloning and trying to figure out if it's a good idea or not when in the service of keeping mankind alive in one form or another. Here we have an Earth in the not-so far future where climate changes due to pollution are starting to make food very scarce, and while the government is insisting everything is a-ok even as all the McDonald's start to go out of business, a group of scientists is realizing that a lack of food and rampant infertility is going to send humanity to hang out in whatever existential waiting room holds the dinosaurs and passenger pigeons (the latter probably looking forward to the opportunity to go "See how it feels, suckers?") and the only way out is to create a bunch of clones to keep the species going. As far as long shots go, I've heard worse.

While the story touches on the environmental issues, a couple of folks have mentioned Wilhelm's choice of drama over sound ecological theory (if nothing else, the elimination of nearly all animals would send almost any ecosystem into a downward spiral of a tailspin that would take forever to recover from, if it ever did) and while it underscores the proceedings, her focus is really on the concept of cloning and how clones would develop in this new world as humanity seeks to rebuild itself. She structures the story as a three-part linked series that could almost stand as novellas on their own (the first ends in such a way that the whole book feels like a short story that she went and expanded on), with characters from the previous story taking the lead in another section as the years go on, giving the novel a slight sense of sweep, although we're not talking about hundreds of years going by, more like decades.

To that end, Wilhelm explores the evolution of a future society filled with clones and how that society would might revolve around a preference for more clones versus natural births and if society would start to stratify in the process. Her focus seems to be on whether by making tons more copies of ourselves if we would start to lose our individuality, with future people forming tight knit groups that are dependent on each other, a sense of community that come out at the expense of things like innovation or even self-preservation. Her depiction of the lengths a future society would go to keep things just the way they like it never goes as far as Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" (although one section comes close, but the aims of the two novels are quite different) but her insights into the mindset clones might have in terms of what they'd prefer make for interesting tensions, especially when pockets of individuality start to crop up and disrupt things.

She has a way of making a story that consists almost entirely of Asimovian levels of action (i.e. none) move very quickly, with the arguments keeping the story in constant motion and yet never making the story dry . . . for all the science that flies around, the story never loses its sense of humanity and the emotions at stake here, never shying away from the cost of living in a society where everyone has a best friend who looks just like them and what it means for everyone else reacting to someone who likes to do absolutely crazy things like go for walks by themselves. It winds up turning into a debate of individuality versus the good of the collective, but unfortunately she stacks the deck more than slightly, not only extrapolating the problems of the clones into lengths that sometimes come across as absurd but by making the remaining clones go to sometimes villainous lengths to keep society just the way they like it, and clearly showing the benefits of being the lone gun versus being bogged down in fiddly groupthink.

But even with those problems there's still a weight to the science (necessary when you're doing a story about humanity running out of food that doesn't involve the food being you or the raw power of Matthew McConaughey's abs saving the world) and a quiet sweep to the proceedings that borders on elegance, the feel of a world shaking off the damage that was done to it, settling down for a somber nap to heal and allowing us to finally realize how large the world truly is and how small we are faced with the expanse of it, an expanse that's humbling whether we face it with numbers in the hundreds or the millions, and a reminder that if we treat each other properly we don't stand alone even when the face next to us isn't the same as ours. If anything, it's a reason to stand ever nearer.


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Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang Kate Wilhelm 9780099148005 Books Reviews

I first read this book as a freshman in college, as part of a science-fiction English course. I fell in love with it then, and feel the need to reread it every 4 or 5 years. The subject matter is thought provoking, especially in light of today's issues with climate change.
Dealing with the sensitive subject of cloning and its effects on an isolated colony of clones, Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, is a continuous storyline separated into sections with many years in between them. Each segment, so-to-speak, has it's own protagonists and antagonists and crises to deal with and overcome.

Even with the skipping of years in-between segments, the story-line stays pretty continuous and the reader is really able to develop a bond with the characters in a way that I wouldn't think possible with each segment introducing new individuals (or are there actually individuals in a cloned society!)

Overall, this is a wonderful novel filled with adventure, mystery and tough questions regarding what it really is to be either an individual or part of a community. I would highly recommend, not only to science fiction fans but to anyone who wants to be able to have something to think about while also having an enjoyable reading experience.
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm is a post apocalyptic tale following environmental collapse with resulting disease that all but eliminated humanity save for a determined group of preppers. One additional consequence was infertility that was remedied by cloning. This was used as a stopgap measure, but an unintended consequence was a group think mentality. The story unfolds as successive generations become more enmeshed with a group, nearly hive mind mentality. Each generation has an individual who stands apart while the small colony degenerates in competency while at the same time their ability to salvage resources from their surrounding collapsed civilization erodes.

Cloning is the central sci-fi element which was rather topical at the time of this writing, although few hard details are provided. At the same time, there is considerable focus on the psychological aspects of multiple clones of the same age which leads to a dysfunctional fear of separation. In addition, there is an implied degradation in biologic quality such that each successive round of cloning yields clones of diminished capacity such that abstract thinking and creativity are gradually lost and subsequent generations becomes less educatable and merely trainable. This is contrasted with the individual spirit constantly learning and pursuing new ideas and aesthetic aspects.

Ultimately, the tale is a story of human survival and the celebration of individual differences that serve to strengthen, rather than alienate group members.
Living in a world where everyone looks like you and your four or five closest friends is probably the dream of an extreme narcissist (or a certain family that currently stars in a reality TV series) but it probably presents a multitude of problems beyond trying to coordinate who wears what outfits on which day and how to get someone who likes the same stuff as you a surprising birthday present. The idea of cloning is something that has seemed less like SF with each passing year but even though we've had some success with sheep and dogs and whatnot, we're still a decent ways off from creating a viable human clone. But in the 1970s cloning was definitely something you really only saw in SF and while you had scenarios where old rich people created clones of themselves to harvest organs so they could bwah-ha-ha live forever (or create armies, although if your clones grow at an ordinary wait, you're really looking into the long game unless you figure out a way to take over using homicidal infants) there were plenty of instances where authors looked at the moral or ethical implications of cloning and how that would impact humanity in the future, changing our perceptions and definitions on what it means to be human.

Wilhelm's novel (a Hugo winner for that year as well as a Nebula nominee) isn't so much a look at those elements as extrapolating the concept of cloning and trying to figure out if it's a good idea or not when in the service of keeping mankind alive in one form or another. Here we have an Earth in the not-so far future where climate changes due to pollution are starting to make food very scarce, and while the government is insisting everything is a-ok even as all the McDonald's start to go out of business, a group of scientists is realizing that a lack of food and rampant infertility is going to send humanity to hang out in whatever existential waiting room holds the dinosaurs and passenger pigeons (the latter probably looking forward to the opportunity to go "See how it feels, suckers?") and the only way out is to create a bunch of clones to keep the species going. As far as long shots go, I've heard worse.

While the story touches on the environmental issues, a couple of folks have mentioned Wilhelm's choice of drama over sound ecological theory (if nothing else, the elimination of nearly all animals would send almost any ecosystem into a downward spiral of a tailspin that would take forever to recover from, if it ever did) and while it underscores the proceedings, her focus is really on the concept of cloning and how clones would develop in this new world as humanity seeks to rebuild itself. She structures the story as a three-part linked series that could almost stand as novellas on their own (the first ends in such a way that the whole book feels like a short story that she went and expanded on), with characters from the previous story taking the lead in another section as the years go on, giving the novel a slight sense of sweep, although we're not talking about hundreds of years going by, more like decades.

To that end, Wilhelm explores the evolution of a future society filled with clones and how that society would might revolve around a preference for more clones versus natural births and if society would start to stratify in the process. Her focus seems to be on whether by making tons more copies of ourselves if we would start to lose our individuality, with future people forming tight knit groups that are dependent on each other, a sense of community that come out at the expense of things like innovation or even self-preservation. Her depiction of the lengths a future society would go to keep things just the way they like it never goes as far as Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" (although one section comes close, but the aims of the two novels are quite different) but her insights into the mindset clones might have in terms of what they'd prefer make for interesting tensions, especially when pockets of individuality start to crop up and disrupt things.

She has a way of making a story that consists almost entirely of Asimovian levels of action (i.e. none) move very quickly, with the arguments keeping the story in constant motion and yet never making the story dry . . . for all the science that flies around, the story never loses its sense of humanity and the emotions at stake here, never shying away from the cost of living in a society where everyone has a best friend who looks just like them and what it means for everyone else reacting to someone who likes to do absolutely crazy things like go for walks by themselves. It winds up turning into a debate of individuality versus the good of the collective, but unfortunately she stacks the deck more than slightly, not only extrapolating the problems of the clones into lengths that sometimes come across as absurd but by making the remaining clones go to sometimes villainous lengths to keep society just the way they like it, and clearly showing the benefits of being the lone gun versus being bogged down in fiddly groupthink.

But even with those problems there's still a weight to the science (necessary when you're doing a story about humanity running out of food that doesn't involve the food being you or the raw power of Matthew McConaughey's abs saving the world) and a quiet sweep to the proceedings that borders on elegance, the feel of a world shaking off the damage that was done to it, settling down for a somber nap to heal and allowing us to finally realize how large the world truly is and how small we are faced with the expanse of it, an expanse that's humbling whether we face it with numbers in the hundreds or the millions, and a reminder that if we treat each other properly we don't stand alone even when the face next to us isn't the same as ours. If anything, it's a reason to stand ever nearer.