Read Samir and shudder.
The futuristic novel, Samir, instills a promised unease and fear in the reader. Leonie Postma’s debut novel opens with the words of French philosopher Bertrand Jouvenel:
“There is a tyranny in the womb of every utopia.”
After living and working on the outside, the refugee, Samir, accepts the conditions for living inside the “centre”, where physical conditions are optimum, but residents must follow a prescribed way of life and thinking. Indeed, thoughts are not private.
Ironically, Irene, the refugee worker who first interviews Samir, finds herself in a dilemma when offered a position inside the centre. She believes that she could better the lives of others. Why, then, does she have these doubts and questions about the centre, Irene asks herself?
In Samir, we sense danger at the immigrants’ haven which emasculates men, and castrates the spirits of men…and women. Smiling faces sometimes tell lies. Or are they lies to the people telling them? Can anyone be trusted?
Samir leaves us craving more. What happens next?