I had heard plenty of glowing reviews for this novella, so I was surprised when I ended up finding it only mediocre. The premise behind it is certainly interesting, and Varley does an excellent job of imagining what a community would be like if all of its members (or, at least, the adult ones) were deaf and blind. Unfortunately, that's really all I found interesting about this novella. The main character is clearly just a tool through which Varley can explain to the reader this imaginary society and Varley's own philosophy of life. Ditto with the various characters who are introduced throughout the narrative. But my biggest problem with this novella is with its ending--although the rest of the work seems somewhat rooted in reality (although at times the blind-and-deaf community can sound a little too utopian), the ending comes out of the blue, almost as if Varley simply ran out of things to say.

The book is still interesting for its depiction of a blind-and-deaf community, but I wouldn't recommend it for anything else.

Copyright © 2001 Steven Wu