He, She and It
by Marge Piercy

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Book Reviews of He, She and It

Book Review: A Different Twist
Summary: 4 Stars

The book allows Shira Shipman, the main character, as she moves from the corporate enclave where she works and lives, to the Jewish settlement where she was raised by her grandmother. Central to the development of the story is Shira's interactions with Yod, a "cyborg" (really an android) built to protect the Jewish settlement from coprporate attackers.

When the novel opens, we learn that Shira's marriage is falling apart, and that her life in the corporate enclave is less than satisfying. She loses her son in divorce proceedings, and when her gradmother asks Shira to return to Tikva, the settlement where she was raised, and to accept a job working for a family friend, Shira agrees.

Shira's new job is to train Yod, the cyborg built to protect the settlement. Yod is the tenth creation of Avram, a Tikva resident who works with artificial intelligence defense systems. Unlike his nine predecessors, Yod is almost flawless: he is practically indistinguishable from a human, except for his behavior. Shira is to teach Yod how to be human, so that he can blend in with the population of Tikva. This is crucial, because in the twenty-first century world of Piercey's novel, a creature like Yod is illegal. Artificially intelligent machines cannot resemble humans.

When Shira first begins to work with Yod, she thinks of "it" as a very complex machine, but no more. As the two work together, however, Shira comes to see Yod as something closer to human: he learns, feels, and thinks much like she and the other Tikva residents. Shira and Yod eventually become involved in a romantic relationship, and, after a mission to recover Shira's child, Yod becomes a "father."

Running parallel to the main plot is the story of Jacob As the sixteenth century turned into the seventeenth, rabbi Judah Loew created a golem from clay in order to protect the residents of the Jewish ghetto from the Christian inhabitants of Prague. Shira's grandmother, who programmed Yod, leaves portions of Jacob's story in the settlement's communication network. Slowly, Yod learns the story of the golem, who existed centuries before him and yet with whom he shares so much.

As Yod's and Jacob's stories unfold, Piercey leads her readers through the rich details of her fictional world. Sometimes beautiful, often harsh, the landscape of He, She, and It is a vivid backdrop for Piercey's exploration of life as we may know it. Piercey's novel questions hierarchy, humanity, and community. In the end, Piercey scrutinizes the creative power of humans, and the implications of using that creative power to "play god" by making artificially intelligent beings.

While some of the reviewers of this book thought the paralell stories were confusing or contrived, I think they serve a useful narrative purpose. I found Jacob's story to be as engaging as the main plot. Additionally, one previous reviewer noted that the stereotypes were offensive. I respect this reviewer's opinion, and would like to offer my interpretation. From a practical standpoint, pidgin and creole language varieties are certainly likely to evolve in such a setting. The glop speak, which seems to be derived from no particular ethnic group, but to be a fictional slang-based language variety informed by technology and pop culture, apprears to be the lingua franca of the areas outside of the enclaves. Additionally, portraying a grandmother as a sexual being can be read different ways by readers: I prefer to read her as a woman unafraid to admit that she has desires. That, to me, is empowering.

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