About this title: The novel centres around a female character, Isserly, who seems to be obsessed with picking up male hitch-hikers, as long as they are muscular and fit. As the story unfolds, the reader comes to realise that Isserly's motives are rather unusual.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: CANONGATE BOOKS LTD
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780862419271ISBN:0862419271
Description: Published by Canongate Books Ltd in 2000. Paperback. Number of pages: 296. Condition: Very Good. May show some slight signs of wear. #8452267 Shipped from UK. Delivery is usually 2-3 working days from order by Royal Mail, International Delivery is by Airmail. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Canongate Books, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780862419271ISBN:0862419271
Description: Fine in Near Fine jacket. Paperback Author's first novel. Very slight nicks to top and bottom of dustwrapper spine. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Canongate Books, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780862419271ISBN:0862419271
Description: Near Fine in Near Fine jacket. Paperback Author's first novel. Slight lean to book. Two very tiny nicks to dustwrapper and sunned to spine. read more
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Ex) Library Copy. Moderate wear. Usual library markings. (W2.2) Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 320 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harvest Books
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780156011600ISBN:0156011603
Description: Acceptable. A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (the dust cover may be missing). Pages can include considerable notes-in pen or highlighter-but the notes cannot obscure the text. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Harcourt
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780151006267ISBN:0151006261
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Dust Jacket has some edgewear present. -, Hard Cover, Very Good / Very Good. read more
Description: Good. Purchasing this item supports Pierce County libraries. Thriftbooks and PCL have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Book shows minor use. Cover and Binding have minimal wear and the pages have only minimal creases. A tradition of southern quality and service. All books guaranteed at the Atlanta Book Company. read more
Description: Fair. Dust Cover Missing. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Very good. Appearance of only slight previous use. Cover and binding show a little wear. All pages are undamaged with potentially only a few, small markings. Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read. Recycle and Reuse! read more
Description: Good. Light shelving wear with minimal damage to cover and bindings. Pages show minor use. Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read. Recycle and Reuse! read more
"I just read this book yesterday in a matter of hours. I literally could not put it down. The story being about an alien race, not a slightly confused reversal of 'animal' and 'human' makes more sense now I have read that this is what Isserley was supposed to be. I loved the gripping story and the real emotions it compelled me to feel of horror and shame and compassion. The story manages to moralise on gender, identity, intensive farming...wide ranging and brilliant. The reversals in the story are fantastic - the gender of the predator and prey - a slight woman luring hulking great young men to their deaths and the feeling you get as a female reader when you've reached a point of horrified sympathy after the 'no concept of mercy' part and then a man attacks Isserley and you want her to retaliate and you understand why, even if she does not recognise the emotion herself, she lashes out in her shock and gets it wrong about William. The breasts Isserley are issued with are a lure and a danger because they believe above all else men are shallow and see nothing beyond the physical 'skin deep' and this will be enough to keep them in the car while she decides whether they are suitable. The idea that Isserley changes in the differing point of view of the men (to her 'human' appearance) - some think she has an ugly face and some see her beautiful eyes and pretty hair. The points of recognition with what they were before they were cattle - the mention of a moustache for example and the attempt to escape by using the last thing they probably remember 'hitching' upset me, really made me have to put the book down for a minute. Comparisons I made whilst reading were obviously Animal Farm but also The Handmaids Tale, 1984, some Kurt Vonnegut, This is a book I will recommend to everyone I know who likes to read, a truly fantastic book.
P.S. I actually only picked this up because I also love 'The Crimson Petal and The White' and think that is an amazing book also."
"I picked up this book thanks to a contributer of the Starshipsofa audio magazine. I am always looking for foreign works that have not yet been translated in French to submit to French editors and this seemed like right up my alley. Unfortunately, I later found out that it's already been translated a few years ago and while I was slightly disappointed at hearing this, I'm glad the book has had the opportunity to read a French audience. This an eery and disturbing book which made ill-at-ease on more than one occasion. It's dark but not in your usual horror kind of way. Quite the opposite, it's all about what's not being told or described to the reader. It's not light reading, it's not something you feel like reading before turning off the light. It's all about appearances, the human body, the way we perceive ourselves, all linked to gender issues and the codes imposed by Western society. It's a fascinating read and I'm really glad I was able to get my hands on it."
"This just may be the best book I've read all year, because it completely left me feeling disturbed and confused. The only confused aspect I had with this book is; what exactly were they? Were they like dogs, or...what? They had a snout, tail, and fur..a number of things have snouts, tails, and fur.. I couldn't even begin to imagine what they must have looked like or what Isserley looked like. I'm still wondering about it, even though I'm already on to my next read. I can't exactly say I felt bad for Isserley when she crashed, because I think she sort of deserved such a thing, but still, I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her, she had a...strangely messed up life. Delivering a horrible service...what can one feel comfortably towards a character like her, or a book like this..? Very interesting, great read. This author was new to me, and I am glad I took the chance on this book."
"Heard this one on unabridged audiobook. Written as a novel of character and plotted like a pulp sci-fi book, "Under the Skin" is a fable about social stratification, the objectification of people, and alienation. The protagonist and narrative voice is a woman from another planet who picks up muscular men so that she can anesthetize them and bring them back to a farm to be fattened and processed as meat animals. Faber goes out of his way to give the aliens thoroughly human personalities. They even refer to themselves as humans, and to actual humans as "vodsels." The term "vodsel" also refers to human meat, which is a rare delicacy on the woman's home planet.
Surgically altered to pass as human, the woman is disfigured and grows estranged from her fellows. Challenged by rich and handsome young alien to re-consider her cruelty to "animals", she grows horrified with the vodsel industry. But this book does not become a Star Trek tale of moral reform and liberation; it is a story of the interplay of emotions, cultural biases, denials, rationalizations and repression in the woman's mind. In the alien woman, Faber has created a simultaneously repulsive and sympathetic character-no small feat!"
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