Self-anointed guru of the Digital Age, Guy Matthias, CEO of Beetle, has become one of the world’s most powerful and influential figures. Untaxed and ungoverned, his trans-Atlantic company essentially operates beyond the control of Governments or the law.
But trouble is never far away, and for Guy a perfect storm is brewing: his wife wants to leave him, fed up with his serial infidelities; malfunctioning Beetle software has led to some unfortunate deaths which are proving hard to cover up; his longed for deal with China is proving troublingly elusive and, among other things, the mystery hacker, Gogol, is on his trail.
With the clock ticking- Guy, his aide Douglas Varley, Britain’s flailing female PM, conflicted national security agent Eloise Jayne, depressed journalist David Strachey, and Gogol, whoever that may be – the question is becoming ever more pressing, how do you live in reality when nobody knows anything, and all knowledge, all certainty, is partly or entirely fake?
I’m sat here writing this review on my notebook PC while my smartphone randomly provides new music based on previous choices I’ve made. Meanwhile, my smartwatch feeds me a constant stream of various e-mails and alerts. Technology is just super convenient isn’t it? That idea that everything you could ever want, or need, is available at the touch of a button is a real lifesaver. If you think about it though, it’s also mildly disturbing. Spotify and Amazon aren’t just giving me what I want anymore, they are telling me what I should want. When you look at it that way, it suddenly becomes a bit more invasive doesn’t. My choices are no longer determined by me.
This week’s review, Zed by Joanna Kavenna, is a wry look at how technology has the ability to help but also frequently hinder when it comes to leading a modern life.
Guy Matthias is a particularly intriguing character. The CEO of Beetle is such a jumble of conflicting emotions, addictions and neuroses that it’s no surprise he craves order in all things. Matthias worships at the altar of technology. In his eyes, it holds the answer to all things. Using his software, Matthias believes every potential action of a human can be predicted, and if it can be predicted, then rules can be imposed. Flawless models of behaviour can be designed, and uncertainty becomes a thing of the past. It all sounds terribly sensible and within reasonable parameters but, of course, humans are far too chaotic for that sort structure to be implemented easily. Life is gloriously messy, bringing order from chaos is not an easy thing for anyone to do.
As Matthias seeks out a sleek, easily manageable answer to his various conundrums, we get to follow various people as they attempt to navigate the pitfalls of this new technological utopia. Can a security officer do her job effectively when partnered with autonomous machines that are supposedly incapable of making mistakes, but frequently do? Is the press still free when every newspaper is owned by the company they may want to investigate? Is it possible to live a life outside the confines of the omnipresent world-spanning conglomerate that is Beetle or is bowing to the corporate machine inevitable? It quickly becomes obvious that every facet of existence has a link to technology in one form or another.
Events spiral further out of control as Matthias becomes more and more desperate to achieve his dreams. He attempts to simplify language replacing multiple words with a single alternative. The subtle nuances of communication may have been removed, but doesn’t that just make everything easier? I’ll give you a quick hint, the answer is a resounding no! Elsewhere, algorithms created at Beetle headquarters, designed by artificial intelligence, are used to offer subtle suggestions and insights into all decisions people make. Before you know it, things are starting to appear far more sinister than they were before. It’s all rather insidious.
I’ll be the first to admit modern life can sometimes feel unnecessarily complicated. We have to wade through such a colossal morass of irrelevant minutiae every day that we never have the time to concentrate on the important details. We spend our time obsessively seeking the best deal on this or the latest version of that. Mass consumerism is the new religion and information drives the world. With each new technological advancement, it seems we willingly give away our freedoms and blindly accept comfy reassurance in return. Ok, I may be ranting a little here, but we’ve already seen the seeds of Beetle-esque changes on the horizon. Insurance companies are pondering the use of smart wearables to determine the best quotes for policies*. Smart fridges are able to re-order your weekly shop, track your calendar and keep an eye on your health. Zed does a great job of tapping into all these fears and following their threads to a logical conclusion.
Joanne Kavenna’s latest novel is a pitch-black satire that unpicks the madness of the modern condition. How can technology and order be the answer to all of our woes when humanity is beautifully erratic and unpredictable even on a good day. I don’t dispute that technology can be life changing in many positive ways, I merely urge caution. The narrative in Zed eloquently illustrates this exact point.
Witty, circular arguments and razor-sharp social commentary delight and inform throughout. This novel highlights, pretty convincingly, that the best way to undermine foolish notions is to eviscerate them in fiction. Humanity is, above all else, nonsensical and Zed quite happily proves that. I always enjoy a book that manages to be both funny and mildly terrifying in the same breath. I can heartily recommend Zed to anyone who has ever pondered where all their data goes when accepting the terms and conditions on a website. I suspect collecting “anonymous” statistics is only the start. Smart, darkly comic and genuinely thoughtful I enjoyed every page.
Zed is published by Faber and Faber and is available now.
The suitably ambient Technobabylon by Nathan Allen Pinard has exactly the right sound that I think compliments Zed so I’m going to recommend this as my musical accompaniment to be enjoyed whilst reading the book.
*I have Google Fit on my watch. I’d imagine it won’t be long until I will have to submit the information it collects for some reason of another.
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