Worth Reading: Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang

August 14, 2008 at 1:02 pm | In Books, Reviews | 5 Comments
Tags: Cloning, Hugo award, Post-apocalypse, Science fiction

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, Kate Wilhelm (1976)

In this post-apocalyptic novel, civilization has been destroyed by some unspecified means involving environmental degradation, pandemics and famine. But one extended family, seeing the end coming, has used their wealth to isolate themselves in a well-protected valley and has constructed the hospital, labs and mill they will need to survive. Short on food, they develop cloning techniques to produce more livestock. When they find that most of them have become infertile, they start cloning themselves as well, with unforeseen consequences.

The story is told in three parts, each following a similar arc, each ending in a main character leaving the family’s compound. In the first section, a brilliant doctor helps develop the cloning process but is ousted by his own younger clones, who are already exhibiting disturbing behaviors, such as losing their individual identities. In the second part, a clone is separated from her sister clones when she goes on an expedition to look for supplies in the ruined cities. As a result, she develops an individual personality and an artistic vision that the other clones interpret as madness when she returns to the compound. She must flee to keep from living a life as a drugged-up “breeder.” In the final section, her son is being raised by the clones but clearly doesn’t belong among them. Only he has the ingenuity and creativity necessary for continued survival as the machines and systems set up by the original survivalists begin to break down.

What I thought about as I read this book was recent news stories about children so micro-managed by their “helicopter” parents that they have no ability to cope with the real world and break down as soon as they get to college. The young clones in the story reminded me of younger generations so coddled that they cannot make a decision on their own. How can we survive and advance as a species when we lose our individuality and cannot think for ourselves? is the question.

This is exactly the dilemma faced by the clones. They become so used to a life where they never have to think for themselves that they lose all of their creativity and problem-solving abilities. They become dependent on machines they don’t understand, and when those break down, they cannot come up with creative ways to fix them. So they are doomed. Only those who can establish an individual identity through isolation from the main group are able to learn how to survive.

It may seem on the surface that this novel is a somewhat dated horror story about cloning. But look deeper–the story brings up issues that are very relevant today. Wilhelm is raising a warning flag that we should safeguard our individuality and nurture our creativity if we want to survive.

Thanks to Bill the Sci-Fi Guy for turning me on to this book. Read his review.

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This is one of my very favorite post-apocalyptic novels of all time! I like what you said about the clones being like the children of “helicopter parents.” So true! So, this novel is definitely still timely.

Comment by chartroose — August 14, 2008 #
Safeguarding our individuality….. nurturing our creativity….. I like that, that’s an excellent take on the book. I’m glad you liked it.

Although, I still can’t quite bring myself to forgive Wilhelm for the atrocious clone stereotypes.

I recently read an article about Craig Venter (the biologist famous for his work in genome sequencing et cetera), and he said something that reminded me of this book:

When people asked about the ethics of cloning, he complained that people bring science fiction plots to the problem, imagining things like armies of killer clones, destroying everything that came across their zombie-like march. He pointed out that the clones would be no more similar to one another than twins.

I’d recommend that Mr. Venter stay away from Wilhelm… lol.

But of course, as I said in my review, if you let the biology mistakes pass, the book is good in so many other ways.

I still need to find some of her other books to see what they’re like.

Comment by Bill the sci-fi guy — August 15, 2008 #
[...] Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm – post-apocalyptic science fiction [...]

Pingback by Monthly Reading: August 2008 « Books Worth Reading — October 24, 2008 #
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. Cheers! Sandra. R.

Comment by sandrar — September 10, 2009 #
[...] Note: This review was originally published on my blog Books Worth Reading. [...]

Pingback by Review: Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm (1976) « Sci Femme — October 10, 2009 #