Feed Them Silence, by Lee Mandelo
wow. yeah, god damn that sure was a book.
I really enjoyed the way the two 'lives' were connected. Seans ongoing disconnect with the human world and her perceived connection with the wolf pack were a really neat contrast–there's definitely something to be said about the connection being addictive, especially with how ambiguous the implants damage on her brain was.
Sean and Riyas relationship, I think, mirrors the research group's relationship with the funding corporation (Chilson-Reed). The research group, like Riya, is engaging in this activity (being in a relationship/researching the wolves) because they genuinely want to, they genuinely want the study to help the way the public perceives wolf behavior/want to be in a committed, happy, active relationship. However, Sean–and Chilson-Reed–are there for the image. Sean has to maintain the illusion of being in a relationship, while not putting in genuine effort, just like the funding group gets the benefits of a study (the press release, their name on the study) while not putting in the effort.
However, the parallels end at the conclusion of the book–Chilson-Reed breaks up with the researchers while the researchers desperately try to maintain contact, while Sean actually attempts to bridge the gap between her and Riya. It's fun.
The dog is an interesting character to me. Hes the narrative showing the audience that Sean isn't lacking unconditional love or connection or anything a family gives, she just isn't willing to accept it in her own body holy shit is this a trans allegory. (joke?).
I find the Riya cheating plotline to be genuinely fascinating. The nonchalance in which it is discovered is so unlike the majority of cheating narratives I see–it actually made me pause and reread a few pages to make sure I understood it right. I think it's both exploring the apathy Sean has towards Riya (perhaps hinting at the apathy Chilson-Reed would have at Sean publishing her account, or perhaps that'd be an opposite, given the ending) and their mirroring of each other–Sean is emotionally disinvested in Riya and invested in the pack, Riya is emotionally invested in Sean and disinvested in the person she cheated on Sean with.LOVED how the interfacing worked. The first person account of being a wolf while still having human commentary, but the human commentary was experiencing being a wolf, it worked really well. I especially enjoyed how, when the wolves confronted the bear, Sean was way less connected to the experience, she wasn't as flooded (find exact wording?). To me, this is showing her disconnect with the wolves. For them, yes, the experience is horrible, but every time they leave their den they accept it as reality. For her, she has to, in a way, disassociate to make it through.
I'm very interested in the initial conflict between Riya and Sean. There's obviously the ever-growing divide between them, but just for discussion I'm more interested in the ethical implications of the interfacing that Riya opposes. Riya argues that the money given to the project would be better spent elsewhere, where it could directly impact those affected by climate change. She also believes that if people can see the effects of climate change in their day to day lives–which they can–that having an account of what it's like for a charismatic species won't help. They don't care for themselves, why would they care for others?
I found these arguments very fun in the context of the book. Obviously the protagonist of a book doesn't have to be in the right, but to have access to the mind of someone who wants to go through with the interfacing experiments, despite valid and well thought out arguments from her own wife, is SO much fun. As the reader you see the criticisms of the study and yeah, they all make sense. We don't have as much emotional investment in the study as our point of view character, but we see the desperation Sean has to interface, but we want Sean and Riya to find a common ground–it's a really nice way of getting the reader to have a similar perspective as Sean does, but opposite, in a way? Sean wants to interface and doesn't really care about her home life, we care about her home life and aren't as invested in the interfacing. That's how it was for me, at least.
The name of the book (feed them silence) does somewhat confuse me. I think I've settled on it being a call for people to leave the world (in this case, the wolf pack) alone? But I could be convinced otherwise.
Overall, very fun. I enjoyed it. I'm frightened to look at reviews but that's what I'll do now.
Alright, it seems like generally people either liked the character study aspect or didn't like it. It's at 3.45/5 stars on goodreads, I don't know what I'd rate it? I thought it was really well done, the plotlines meshed together very well and I never felt that something was overly unbelievable (other than maybe Riya's willingness to stay with Sean), but it also made me sad. A solid 4? 4.5? I enjoyed it, but I also haven't read anything in a while so I don't have a good comparison.