A long time ago, my sister-in-law, Jenny, lent me Ark Baby, when I ran out of books while I was visiting my brother and her in Pittsburgh. “It’s funny,” she said.Parts of Ark Baby certainly are funny, and it is meant to be both a comic novel and a social commentary. Liz Jensen begins with the premise that it is 2005 in England, and there have been no babies born since a freak storm on New Year’s Eve 2000. Since the British have been unable to have children, they have been coping in various ways, including adopting primates as pets but treating them as surrogate children.The novel moves between 2005 and 1845 and features several main characters, the most prominent are Buck from 2005 and Tobias from 1845. Buck is a veterinarian under an assumed identity in rural Britain, avoiding being charged for putting a monkey to sleep under questionable circumstances. He arrives in Thunder Spit with his priorities clear: find alcohol and women. One leads him quickly to the other.Tobias is a foundling in Thunder Spit, left in the church and adopted by the preacher and his wife. He grows up an outcast and decides to follow in his father’s footsteps, but his unusual origins get in the way.Jensen does an excellent job of twining the characters and stories together, though the results are a bit predictable. A good deal of the humor is misogynist and based on basic gender roles, without fully exploring what the implications of a childless Britain would really be like, especially the effect on men and couples. However, Ark Baby does not seem intent on being a powerful social commentary, but more light hearted and amusing. For that end, I could have been more amused.
This book is a hoot.For a start it is actually a good book about evolution. I could almost shelve it under science. Even structurally, the two time lines coil around each other like a double helix. It is funny - she has a great turn of phrase. 'Carpe Deum', says the newly reinvented Buck De Saville, 'Seize the day. Grab it by the through and rattle its bollocks'. There's the moment when a creationist preacher refutes Darwin with tales of how intelligent his God is. Not only does God make a lobster to feed us, he proclaims, but also to entertain is with the funny way he changes color and waves his claws around when you boil him. I think Ms Jenson's a vegetarian. So am I. This provides a very strong subtext - but don't worry about it - she doesn't preach. But despite the publicity it's not really a comedy. Funny sure, but there is much more to it than that. If there is a big theme it's about humanity, and how those of us who are least 'human' can be the most humane. In fact, the walls we build around ourselves are really exposed for the works of arrogance they are. This is a smart book. And best of all, Liz Jensen shows us that smart can be fun too.
What do You think about Ark Baby (1998)?
Ark Baby is a real oddity, defying any obvious classification and making it tricky to summarise. It's essentially a novel about evolution, featuring three storylines in two time periods; it manages to incorporate elements of sci-fi (an alternate 2005 in which England has hit upon a fertility crisis)and magical realism (most obviously with the inclusion of a ghost) in a highly literary tale of, respectively, a vet on the run from London, a young man searching for his heritage and a taxidermist's daughter. How these disparate strands weave together is expertly crafted, with no sense of contrivance or illogical leaps. With Darwin as a minor character and major influence, intelligent musings on vegetarianism and parenthood and a seam of black humour running throughout, this is a unique and highly satisfying book.
—Rob
There's nobody quite like Liz Jensen, and this - the sixth I've read- is the wackiest romp yet. An intriguing premise, potty cast of characters and fun look at a thorny subject make this a rollicking read. My favourite character had to be the Laudanum Empress, particularly once she'd passed on and taken to haunting her descendants' sofa.It sheds a star due to a few things that niggled: the unutterably sleazy character of Bobby/Buck, who despite the blurb really is quite incidental (and would everyone in the village be so accepting of his threesome with the twins?), the illiterate jottings by the Frozen Woman (any attempts to depict illiteracy are always embarrassing) and all the references to Violet's weight- yes, she's obese, we get it. It's bad enough the character run her down; the narration doesn't have to join in!
—Rachael Eyre
