The Water Thief

The Water Thief by Nicholas Lamar Soutter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I really wanted to love this book.  I first got into dystopian novels in high school in the '60s with George Orwell's 1984, and Animal Farm.  I even wrote a term paper on the works of Orwell, after I also read some of his earlier work including Keep the Aspidistra Flying and Coming Up for Air.  I was the first person to check both of those out from the public library.

I love the concept of fighting against a society where capitalism rules.  Everything is for sale.  Parents sell futures on their children as soon as they are born, and even rainwater isn't free.  I had hopes that the protagonist, Charles Thatcher, would win out against a world maybe Ayn Rand would love.  But like Orwell's Winston Smith, he is brought down by a relationship with a woman.

I did enjoy reading how today's technology is used by the corporation to track Charlie's every move by GPS, and his electronic purchasing, via Ackerman, the corporate version of Big Brother.  That part held my attention.  I started to zone out on the philosophical meanderings.  Heck, I even started counting how many times Charlie said, "Heck."  I probably wouldn't have noticed if he had said, "Damn" fourteen times, or if Andy Griffith hadn't died while I was reading it.  (Gawleee, Sheriff Taylor)

I didn't like the ending.  I was spoiled by Katniss Everdeen.



View all my reviews