Man – that doesn’t sound tasty
Bazterrica wrote about a world where eating meat is equal to cannibalism, but is as common as it is today. What happened to the other animals? Another zoonotic pandemic simply did not come under control, the only option was to get rid of cows, pigs, dogs, cats and the rest of the fauna. Even a short contact with the pet could kill, an open morning was enough. And so we find ourselves in an era of great silence, without chirping, barking or meowing, but with someone else’s hands (“hands”) and legs (“feet”) on the plates. “Human” is a tremendously non-marketing name, so you had to come up with something nicer. Make society crave for animal protein, and by the way, as is customary, not ask about its origin and fate. Hence “special meat” and new names for the individual pieces of the corpse. This is a commodity.
Stretched? The history of the pandemic and the marketing and social campaigns that led to a cannibalistic society being formed instead of a vegan society is not the strongest element in Bazterrika’s book. At this point, you can simply remind yourself that this is a dystopia, and they can be stretched, exaggerated, because they are a thought experiment and a warning. I was ready for it, reaching for this novel.
The Age of Special Meat
The main protagonist of The Choosing Corpse is a meat specialist, a butcher, a quality controller. Together with him, you will see a slaughterhouse, breeding farm, butcher shops, even hunting grounds. Everything is described in detail, because Tejo has to make sure that all procedures are followed and hygiene is maintained. Meat can only come from “pieces” (not people, right?) Specially “produced” for this purpose. It cannot be so barbaric that one citizen will think of the other as a food product.
As you’d expect, it’s not that easy not to notice who you’re eating. Bazterrica thus shows new crimes occurring in the meat industry and the changing interpersonal relations. Everything is lined with the thought that man is not a noble being, but rather an ordinary primate, driven by life drives and instincts. This is even true of people trying to stay alert in this brave new world.
Don’t eat while reading
The Good Dead is an obvious dystopia critical to the industrial, institutionalized exploitation of others. People or animals. It shows pathologies resulting from the drive to survive at all costs, satisfy hunger and ensure genetic continuity. Literally and without undue faith in man, he studies theories of evolutionary psychology, making the worst of them. The Mad Max Universe in this book is an image of a functioning country fit for life. As I mentioned at the beginning, it can be disgusting, it does not lack detailed descriptions of processing and eating others.
This novel is also very brutal at times, it will not spare you violence against people and animals. It hits you, it worries you, it terrifies you. It does so in a very predictable manner. This is a disadvantage for me, but I also understand that dystopia is not a genre that is meant to surprise the reader. On the contrary, it shows us the consequences of changes or beliefs that are already born today and can develop up to their pathological, final form.
Bazterrica tells about the meat industry and interpersonal relations in A Wyborny Troupe . About an organized society, perhaps temporarily, around the great idea of feeding yourself with wholesome protein. This is a post-apo, or maybe just a vision of the end of the world, because as readers we have to ask ourselves at some point how much such a life would be worth. The book does not have a complicated plot or exaggerated twists, but its predictability can even strengthen the pessimism that emanates from its pages. It was beautifully published by Mova (imprint of the Women’s Publishing House), but I doubt if you will want to come back to it to enjoy the anatomical sketches that decorate it.
