They

They

1977 • 94 pages

Ratings8

Average rating3.4

15

A dark, dystopian portrait of artists struggling to resist violent suppression—“queer, English, a masterpiece.” (Hilton Als) Set amid the rolling hills and the sandy shingle beaches of coastal Sussex, this disquieting novel depicts an England in which bland conformity is the terrifying order of the day. Violent gangs roam the country destroying art and culture and brutalizing those who resist the purge. As the menacing “They” creep ever closer, a loosely connected band of dissidents attempt to evade the chilling mobs, but it’s only a matter of time until their luck runs out. Winner of the 1977 South-East Arts Literature Prize, Kay Dick’s They is an uncanny and prescient vision of a world hostile to beauty, emotion, and the individual.

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January 25, 2023

Perhaps I was misled by the new Carmen Mara Machado foreword, but I found this less chilling than I expected to. There was a lack of ratcheting up of the tension or consequences, when in fact there was instead a sort of tidal feeling, an in, and then inevitably an out.

March 7, 2023