| Under the Skin | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Michel Faber |
| Publisher | Harcourt Canongate Books |
| Publication date | 2000 |
| Pages | 304 |
| ISBN | 0151006261 |
| OCLC Number | 042475638 |
Under the Skin (2000) is the first full-length novel by Michel Faber.[1] It is set in northern Scotland and was shortlisted for the 2000 Whitbread Award.
Contents |
The protagonist is Isserley, an extraterrestrial sent to Earth by a rich corporation on her planet to pick up unwary hitchhikers. She drugs them and delivers them to her compatriots, who mutilate and fatten her victims so that they can be turned into meat—human ("vodsel") flesh is a delicacy on the aliens' barren homeworld. The word "vodsel" strongly resembles the Dutch word for food, "voedsel". This resemblance is probably not accidental since Michel Faber is of Dutch nationality.
Isserley later meets Amlis Vess, the "Elite" son of her boss, who changes her attitudes to the hitchhikers and then leaves, breaking her heart. She finally flees her job and commits suicide.
The novel is darkly satirical. It touches on political themes around big business, intensive farming, and environmental decay; and reflects on more personal questions of sexual identity, humanity, snobbery, and mercy.
The Guardian reviewed the book and said "the real triumph is Faber's restrained, almost opaque prose. This is a man who could give Conrad a run at writing the perfect sentence." However, they wrote; "finally, having utterly convinced us of his alien narrator and persuaded us to go along for the ride for nearly 300 pages, Faber doesn't quite know where to go: the miniaturist aims at a big metaphysical moment. Metaphysics are fine, but you can't feed a family on them. Still, the journey alone is worthwhile."[2]
The book is being adapted into film with Jonathan Glazer attached to direct and Scarlett Johansson is set to star as the main character.[3][4]