Beautiful prose, thought provoking themes, and an inventive scenario. fiction3 s Jan Priddy785 168 Shelved as 'dnf'

On page 65 I stopped. [I have always insisted that any decent novel is bound to trigger someone. This one triggered me. I may return and see if I can get past my issues.]

I should have known better because these dystopian stories all feature a male POV character and women who are mere sketches. The tie to architecture tempted me both as literal landscape and as metaphor for what we make of our society. Most of the so-called classic dystopias offer brutality with little nuance. Perhaps male readers fail to notice? Perhaps I'm unfair to men? Perhaps the autocratic notion feels inevitable to some people? Perhaps it is a relief to find a worst-case scenario in fiction?

Two women with a speaking rolls so far. One is villainous and the second is from his past. The latter exists in order to be humiliated by an apologist for what is clearly a dystopia. It’s just another of the same sort of masculine dystopia, only horror too. Got to the guy masturbating in response to a woman being humiliated and realized... Many people admire this novel. As a horror story, it starts off well. If that is what you're looking for, this will fit the brief. Certainly creepier than novels such as 1984 which are designed to show how society can go wrong.

It is easy to write dystopian stories about manipulation and devastation in the world. Too easy. What I yearn for is solutions. Hope. I want a way through, not doors slammed shut.

I "did not it" because it offered me nothing useful. Instead of brutalizing myself with this novel, I have begun Isabel Wilkerson's Caste. I don't need to read a fantasy version of the reality when the reality is already beastly enough to be frightening.

nitpicking: "The concierge gestured to the hallway behind her and entered through..." (32).
There is an "I" missing ["and I entered through"]; it is the POV character, not the concierge who enters. A great deal of "reinforced concrete" but how does he know it's reinforced concrete? The synthetic meals—so much what he might look for in a meal out here and now—why that nasty "meat" there and then? And how can it be "greasy"? Fats are hard to come by in a vegan world.

And the POV character seems so astonishingly dull. Why go, what is the point? To find the uncle he thought dead? to eat? to escape completing his dissertation? Why not notice the danger that readers recognize immediately. The back cover makes some details clear that are not in the text: "he thinks that he and his friends are bound for the gulag—or worse."2 s Vaidotas Dagys30 1 follower

Va ?ia yra Literat?ra. Also, mind blowing buvo pamatyti kai k? labai artimo (palieku intrig?)1 Toeknee17

Occasionally, a book finds the world at exactly the right time. Considering violence in the Middle East, hate crimes against Jews and Muslims in the US, and fascists on the march, A Brutal Design is that rare book that hits the mark and hits the market at the right time.

Writing a review of this dystopian novel without any spoilers is little making an omelet without breaking any eggs. I was given access to this book as part of an early reader program so I feel especially compelled to gloss over most of the plot points.

In search of his uncle, Zelnik arrives at the “worker’s paradise” of Duma in an unnamed European country. As an architecture student, Zelnik is awed by the city and amazed to find Holocaust memorials built by his old professor, who was herself exiled. These memorials, as the best ones do, both appall and appeal. It slowly dawns on Zelnik that the line between life and art is crumbling in Duma.

Mr. Solomon’s language and style is both direct and liquid. the memorials in the book, his words are gorgeous in their construction and contain actions or thoughts that are dark and disturbing.

The best books on difficult topics (racism, human trafficking, the Holocaust and so on), leave you thoughtful, disquieted, and a little amazed. That’s A Brutal Design.
4 s Shava1 review

A provocative and necessary read, A Brutal Design immerses the reader in an absurdist universe that feels presciently possible in light of today's global events.

Zachary C. Solomon, the first-time author of this tightly written novel, brings us to Duma, an ostensibly utopian city where nothing is as it seems and everything is frightening. Underneath the thinnest veneer of sanity, Duma reveals itself - through the book’s hapless protagonist, Samuel Zelnik - to be a place of abject hopelessness, where art and architecture exist in service to a perverted reality that celebrates fascism and the horrors of the Holocaust.

Solomon is a master storyteller and crafter of soaring prose. A Brutal Design defies genre categorization, simultaneously existing as a work of horror, mystery and dystopian fiction. Its pace is whip-saw fast, and days after finishing the final page I find myself still unwinding its implications, unable to stop thinking about Samuel Zelnik and the dangers of Duma.3 s SaraAuthor 5 books194

My blurb:

With commanding intelligence and dystopian foresight, A BRUTAL DESIGN secures Zachary C. Solomon's place in the world of letters with a voice steeped in history, literature, art, and philosophy and maturity beyond its years. His taut, elegantly written, and exquisitely bleak novel presciently pits fascism against dwindling humanity, asking, "Do we value life little enough that we’d exchange it for advancement and comfort?" This is a haunting, sinister, and brilliant debut. Jack M6

An harrowing heartbreaking read - tragically timeless and continually relevant. Bobby8

This was a brilliant story! A delightfully odd exploration of art, perception, hope, and darkness. Sue2,138 Shelved as 'decided-not-to-read'

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