I truly could not imagine a Margaret Ann writing any of these books, which would be the truth, had Lionel Shriver not legally changed her name. The easily recognizable voice she carries in all her novels has wit, sarcasm, candor, and a dark side a "Margaret Ann" simply could not carry. Alas, we as readers fortunately do not need to worry about that.To begin with, this novel is about two things, arguably in equal doses. First, the relationship between warm-hearted, Goody Two Shoes, "I am a burden for living at all" Eleanor & almost complete opposite sarcastic, apathetic, sociopath, proudly eleven years celibate, "I do not care about anyone/anything" Calvin. Eleanor, in a classic opposites attract/want what you cannot have scenario, sticks to Calvin like glue, gallivanting after him even though he treats her with little respect and his own version of care, because, of course, he cannot care about anyone, least of all some altruistic woman. As expected, there is a story. Calvin's heart was hardened when his one love, Panga (an African arms expert/mercenary/hired murderer) drowned to death, possibly due in some part to his negligence. Less expected, she floats around his & Eleanor's lives, literally. As some very "present" spirit.Secondly, demography. Demography is defined as. Well, Doctor Calvin here believes that, well, the right solution to our world's population problems is to murder two billion individuals, by random mandatory Russian Roulette by the year 1999 (takes place in the early 1990s?). Let me state what seems obvious to me. His deplorable, unkind (to say it generously) personality got really old, really fast. Probably by the second chapter, the novelty was gone, I was done listening to his claims that he was "pre-dead", that he could therefore not have any sexual intimacy, that he cared for no one, nothing. His only reason for living is Pachyderm, the name for the yet-to-be-discovered magical formula that will mass murder the precise number of individuals his company has deemed ideal. Pachyderm is now seven years in the making. Why so long? Well, there are many parameters, mostly created by Calvin. For example, The AIDS virus will not work because it targets at an unequal distribution on the socioeconomic strata, while the "correct" airborne virus will leave a sufficient adult workforce. In other parameters, Calvin has decided to find a way to exclude all Jews. He feels they have already paid their dues.His team, QUIETUS (Quorum of United International Efforts at Triage for Ultimate Sustainability), has over three hundred employees, quarantined in a secret lab, accessible only by air. No one can ever leave.This great man, so vain, so unlovable except by this pretty unbelievable Eleanor, started as a representative for The USAID's Population Division. That is, until he was discovered sending birth control, vacuum aspirators, and the like to countries where they were illegal. Since then, clearly, his aspirations have only become much more ambitious.And so, what do we have? Not much to love unless demography is a passion of yours. It is therefore not shocking that this was one of Shriver's least successful ventures, losing her a publisher for a couple titles, according to her. We have one easily hateable main character, supposedly hero. An almost equally hateable heroine if for nothing else her stupidity; her willingness to do everything for said lead male. Then a lot of research on the world's population problems, demography, epidemiology, how life is in Africa these days. Thus, as an educational, informational source? Excellent. As an endearing, even fun fictional story? Not so much. Average at best, only because Shriver knows how to write.
Would the world — and, specifically, the Third World — be better off if poor people just disappeared?Lionel Shriver, a North Carolina-born woman living in London, presents a grimly amusing, though-provoking, seriously frightening look at population control, AIDS in Africa, and wildly contradictory research centering around a man named Calvin Piper — who wants to kill two billion people (all over the social and political map) for the benefit of humanity — and the female family-planning worker, Eleanor Merritt, who falls in love with him in spite of herself. Piper and his secret organization in Kenya are trying to produce a virus that will cull mankind's herd — throw our excess over the keel to save the boat. He thinks the scourge of AIDS falls short: "I think AIDS is the best thing since sliced bread. It's just inadequate, that's all."There's some grim satire going on here, but the book is so prodigiously researched, there's so much uncertainty in the "experts'" viewpoint, that it's a little more creepy than funny. Piper is not portrayed as a foam-at-the-mouth madman but as a wounded, haunted man. The book is more talk than action, but some of the pointed arguments and dialog about population control are fascinating. And does Piper just talk a good — if deadly — game, or does he really mean it?"Game Control" is early Shriver and she's not at the top of her game. It doesn't all work — could Eleanor really fall in love with this man? (though I suppose the humor in this is part of the point). But it certainly is thought-provoking.
What do You think about Game Control (2007)?
A bit disappointing -- I keep trying to get through everything that Lionel Shriver has written, but apart from We Need to Talk About Kevin and The Post Birthday World (both of which I adored), I've been slightly let down. This book (similar to So Much For That) ended up being a diatribe. I felt like I was reading (or talking to) a political activist/extremist for most of it. I found myself just wishing that the preaching would stop. Repetitive? Um, yes. When she finally decided to wrap it up, she had to resort to a contrite and convenient ending that seemed just about as plausible as the original idea for the book. Could have skipped this one.
—Grace
Shriver pulls readers out of complacency and confronts them with the consequences of status quo strategies and the cost-benefit balance of population growth. Thankfully, she also pulls away from the brink of mass murder, but not without leaving its apparent justification unresolved. What should "responsible" people do in the face of shortage, starvation, and suffering?
—Sam
This was an intriguing concept for a book, and it engaged me, made me laugh and, mostly, was a page-turner. I really, really like Lionel Shriver, but sometimes I think she is slightly too clever. The dialogue doesn't feel realistic, even though the characters are highly educated, and the sentences are often long and verbose (this wasn't helped by the fact that the version I read was appallingly edited and riddled with typos). It's a funny book in places and I think it could be even funnier if it were terser. Shriver, though, is fantastic at sending up the people who deserve it most - in this case, the self-righteous academics who think they know how to 'save' Africa.
—Hayley Gullen
