The Test

I've heard quite a bit about this author's Themis Files series but as it's sci-fi, I never planned to read it. I can't even remember when this little novella came onto my radar, but I put it on my library hold and finally got it. And I frankly have no right words to describe this reading experience because my mind is totally blank right now.

As the summary is already present here on GR, I'm not gonna rehash it. The citizenship test here is just a plot device - what's important is what the whole process symbolizes and the horde of existential questions it leaves us with. This book is about belonging - how far are you ready to go to belong to a place, especially if you are running from fearful circumstances and want to be a part of a much safer society. If you are made to choose between life and death for others, how will you decide who gets to live. This is a searing commentary on various biases and prejudices that exist, either subconsciously in us as an individual or pervasive in the society; and how much can we overcome them when faced with impossible choices. And finally it's about choices - how each decision we make influences what happens to us next and how it changes us a person - and that's why we should be very careful in every decision we make.

To conclude, this is probably the vaguest review I have ever written but I don't know what else to say. This book a total mindfuck and just leaves you stunned and unsure of everything around you. So, I would definitely recommend this but be sure you are in the right mindset to be able to handle it. If you are someone who is going to be giving a citizenship test in the near future, this book might be very anxiety inducing, so please be prepared for that. And if you are someone who loves reading about dystopian worlds which feel too close to our reality (something like Internment by Samira Ahmed, or even the Handmaid's Tale or 1984), then this book is perfect for you.

The Test was thought-provoking and interesting book that explored the complexities of human morality, especially in the context of immigration and social hierarchy.

While I enjoyed the book, I do believe that the concept would be better suited in a longer novel because my brain is needing answers. I needed something... more?

I can see in other reviews that people say that the author has other works that are worth the read so I definitely think I'll check them out.

4.0 out of 5 stars

25 questions. Pass, you're granted citizenship. Fail, you get a one-way ticket out of town.

Sylvain Neuvel follows up his excellent Themis Files series with this twisted, fast-paced, and thought-provoking dystopian novella. Much like Themis Files, Neuvel employs an unconventional storytelling structure to engage the reader and make the best use of his sharp, sense-of-urgency writing style. There's an added element of reader participation here, as you're left to wonder how you would respond to the events of “the test” as the questions suddenly go off the rails. It's a tight page-turner that really works.

See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

Вариация теста про вагонетку с дулом у виска, множеством подробностей и сломом психики в хлам у главного героя, проходящего его. Эмоции и сочувствие выжимаются “коленом”. Во весь этот компот добавлены вопросы дискриминации, расизма и иммиграции. От концовки у меня вообще нет слов, и начинают появляться вопросы к самому автору. Зачем это произведение вообще было написано? Воспринимается как полный трэш на злобу дня.

The Test - an exercise in superfluousness

“The Test” is a short story about an immigrant taking a citizenship test. What he doesn't know: It's all simulated. When a group of terrorists takes everyone hostage at the test and they put him into difficult situations, his behaviour is actually being evaluated with respect to suitability for citizenship.

The story isn't bad at all but nothing here is new and all of it has already been executed a lot better by other authors. There are even a few things intrinsically implausible that are never explained and before you know it, you've finished the very short novella.

It's a bit like Brecht once wrote: “Indeed it is a curious way of coping: To close the play, leaving the issue open...”

Unfortunately, Neuvel isn't Brecht and can't really pull this off as successfully but wrote a novella that's simply superfluous.

Thus, to quote Brecht to the end, “There's only one solution that we know: That you should now consider as you go What sort of measures you would recommend To help good people to a happy end.”

The measures I would recommend are simple: Find a better book to read.
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