Publisher: Baylor University Press
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: January 26th, 2017
Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository* |
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Blurb from goodreads:
Kecia Ali's Human in Death explores the best-selling futuristic suspense series In Death, written by romance legend Nora Roberts under the pseudonym J. D. Robb. Centering on troubled NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her billionaire tycoon husband Roarke, the novels explore vital questions about human flourishing.
Through close readings of more than fifty novels and novellas published over two decades, Ali analyzes the ethical world of Robb's New York circa 2060. Robb compellingly depicts egalitarian relationships, satisfying work, friendships built on trust, and an array of models of femininity and family. At the same time, the series' imagined future replicates some of the least admirable aspects of contemporary society. Sexual violence, police brutality, structural poverty and racism, and government surveillance persist in Robb's fictional universe, raising urgent moral challenges. So do ordinary ethical quandaries around trust, intimacy, and interdependence in marriage, family, and friendship.
Ali celebrates the series' ethical successes, while questioning its critical moral omissions. She probes the limits of Robb's imagined world and tests its possibilities for fostering identity, meaning, and mattering of human relationships across social difference. Ali capitalizes on Robb's futuristic fiction to reveal how careful and critical reading is an ethical act.
This book is definitely not the Nook's usual, being of an academic bent. But I do like the In Death books and was intrigued. When I got the email about this book, I immediately thought of Nifty. She likes the In Death books too and has an analytical mind. She agreed to read and review the book.
Thanks Nifty!
Nifty's Thoughts:
In reading Human in Death: Morality and Mortality in J.D. Robb's Novels by Kecia Ali, it occurred to me that I was both the right person and the wrong person to write a review of this work.
I'm the wrong person because this is a scholarly analysis of the In Death books, and Ali has conducted extensive research to support her exploration of the themes of Intimacy, Friendship, Vocation, Violence, and Perfection in these novels (as borne out by some eight pages of Works Cited). Yet I don't have a particularly academic bent, so some of her points were probably lost on me. I'm not sure I could appreciate the thoroughness of her investigation or analysis.
Nevertheless, perhaps I am the right person to review this book because I'm a long-time Nora Roberts fan who made the switch to her futuristic police procedurals with the very first book, Naked in Death, published in 1995. Ali tells us that as of the writing of her book, the In Death series spans 53 novels and novellas—pretty impressive (and expansive) for 22 years. I think I might have missed a few installments here and there, but for the most part, I've been a reliable purchaser and reader of these books, which is part of the reason I volunteered to read Ali's analysis.
I did feel, from time to time, that some of Ali's sections or examples overlapped, but she raised points that I had not ever considered or noticed in my own decades-long reading of the novels. For instance, I've often told people (in describing these books) that in Eve Dallas' world in the mid twenty-first century, "mixed race" humans are numerous and common. I've always found this characterization to be somewhat prophetic. Consider, for example, that the U.S. Census bureau reported that "in the 2010 Census, the population reporting multiple races grew by 32 percent from 2000 to 2010, compared with those who reported a single race, which grew by 9.2 percent." And yet Ali points out that Eve's closest circle of friends—especially her female friends—buck this trend and are decidedly white. I'm sorry to say I had never really noticed that before reading Human in Death. Another point Ali makes is that while homosexuality or bisexuality is common in the In Death books, again, Eve's inner circle lean toward heterosexual and, furthermore, aspire to traditional male/female relationship goals; that is, marriage. Ali states in her preface that her goal in writing this book was "critical engagement," not condemnation. True to her word, she does not pass judgment on Robb for the race or sexual orientation of Eve's immediate circle of friends and family.
Other interesting parts of Ali's work, to me, were the long analysis of egalitarianism in the Robb novels, as well as mutuality and, often, gender role inversions. For instance, while the female of the species is more often the nurturer in the relationship, in Eve and Roarke's marriage, this role falls largely to Roarke, and he takes it on without complaint. Ali points out, with several examples, that caretaking is not one-sided. Eve does her own share of it. In fact, the themes of mutuality and reciprocity are discussed in great detail in two of Ali's chapters, Intimacy in Death (in which she explores both sexual and emotional intimacy in the Robb novels) and Friendship in Death. (I had the thought while reading the book that friendship is so closely related to intimacy that perhaps it could have been covered within one chapter. Nevertheless, the separate attention works with the In Death novels. Eve's relationship with Roarke, both the sexual and emotional aspects of it, is a main part of the series, but so too are Eve's friendships with a growing cast of secondary characters whose presence in Eve's life illustrate how far she's come over the course of the series.) In reading these chapters, I was struck by how good a friend Eve really is. Friendship doesn't always come to her naturally, but she steps up. The demands of friendship sometimes make her uncomfortable or cause her great stress, but she understands there are "friendship rules" just as she knows there are "marriage rules," and Eve works hard to maintain the reciprocity necessary to sustain close relationships. As Ali points out, "Intimacy can tolerate asymmetry and even a degree of hostility, but not the complete absence of mutuality" (18).
Ali also explores the "gray areas" of Eve's work. For the most part, Eve follows the rules, but occasionally she steps outside the lines and into a gray area. In my years of reading these books, I've read comments from others (on message boards, etc.) who complain about Eve's willingness to bend the rules when it suits her. I remember one book in particular—although the title escapes me—where I, too, felt a little disturbed by Eve's penchant for stepping right up to the line...and, sometimes, over it. In that book, I thought Eve had gone too far, and I wound up taking a break from the In Death books for a while. Ali acknowledges several of these instances, but also shows us that, overall, Eve's character and commitment to justice remain steadfast.
In her conclusion, Ali states that the In Death series "is at its best when it raises difficult questions without endorsing solutions" (119). I think she also pulls back the curtain on the series a bit and shows us where some of the weak spots in the series may lie. For instance, Ali points out that Robb peppers her books with "repeated, passing reference to grinding poverty and dangerous, violent neighborhoods" and yet "desperate poverty fades quickly from the forefront of storylines"(119). Once this was pointed out to me, I could see how similar this is to the fact that racial and sexual heterogeneity are common in the books overall, but not at all common within Eve's inner circle.
Overall, I think this is a very interesting companion piece to the In Death books. I found myself nodding in agreement throughout and I'm appreciative of some of the nuances I hadn't noticed in my own reading of the In Death series through the years. More than anything, though, I finished Ali's book with a real appreciation for the work Robb has created here. There are more layers and complexity to the series than might be guessed at first glance, and Ali reveals them with both the precision of an academic and the fervor of a fan.
Works Cited
Ali, Kecia. Human in Death: Morality and Mortality in J.D. Robb's Novels. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2017. Print.
U.S. Census Bureau Public Information Office. "2010 Census Shows Multiple-Race Population Grew Faster Than Single-Race Population - Race - Newsroom - U.S. Census Bureau." U.S. Census Bureau Public Information Office. U.S. Department of Commerce, 27 Sept. 2020. Web. 15 Jan. 201
I'm the wrong person because this is a scholarly analysis of the In Death books, and Ali has conducted extensive research to support her exploration of the themes of Intimacy, Friendship, Vocation, Violence, and Perfection in these novels (as borne out by some eight pages of Works Cited). Yet I don't have a particularly academic bent, so some of her points were probably lost on me. I'm not sure I could appreciate the thoroughness of her investigation or analysis.
Nevertheless, perhaps I am the right person to review this book because I'm a long-time Nora Roberts fan who made the switch to her futuristic police procedurals with the very first book, Naked in Death, published in 1995. Ali tells us that as of the writing of her book, the In Death series spans 53 novels and novellas—pretty impressive (and expansive) for 22 years. I think I might have missed a few installments here and there, but for the most part, I've been a reliable purchaser and reader of these books, which is part of the reason I volunteered to read Ali's analysis.
I did feel, from time to time, that some of Ali's sections or examples overlapped, but she raised points that I had not ever considered or noticed in my own decades-long reading of the novels. For instance, I've often told people (in describing these books) that in Eve Dallas' world in the mid twenty-first century, "mixed race" humans are numerous and common. I've always found this characterization to be somewhat prophetic. Consider, for example, that the U.S. Census bureau reported that "in the 2010 Census, the population reporting multiple races grew by 32 percent from 2000 to 2010, compared with those who reported a single race, which grew by 9.2 percent." And yet Ali points out that Eve's closest circle of friends—especially her female friends—buck this trend and are decidedly white. I'm sorry to say I had never really noticed that before reading Human in Death. Another point Ali makes is that while homosexuality or bisexuality is common in the In Death books, again, Eve's inner circle lean toward heterosexual and, furthermore, aspire to traditional male/female relationship goals; that is, marriage. Ali states in her preface that her goal in writing this book was "critical engagement," not condemnation. True to her word, she does not pass judgment on Robb for the race or sexual orientation of Eve's immediate circle of friends and family.
Other interesting parts of Ali's work, to me, were the long analysis of egalitarianism in the Robb novels, as well as mutuality and, often, gender role inversions. For instance, while the female of the species is more often the nurturer in the relationship, in Eve and Roarke's marriage, this role falls largely to Roarke, and he takes it on without complaint. Ali points out, with several examples, that caretaking is not one-sided. Eve does her own share of it. In fact, the themes of mutuality and reciprocity are discussed in great detail in two of Ali's chapters, Intimacy in Death (in which she explores both sexual and emotional intimacy in the Robb novels) and Friendship in Death. (I had the thought while reading the book that friendship is so closely related to intimacy that perhaps it could have been covered within one chapter. Nevertheless, the separate attention works with the In Death novels. Eve's relationship with Roarke, both the sexual and emotional aspects of it, is a main part of the series, but so too are Eve's friendships with a growing cast of secondary characters whose presence in Eve's life illustrate how far she's come over the course of the series.) In reading these chapters, I was struck by how good a friend Eve really is. Friendship doesn't always come to her naturally, but she steps up. The demands of friendship sometimes make her uncomfortable or cause her great stress, but she understands there are "friendship rules" just as she knows there are "marriage rules," and Eve works hard to maintain the reciprocity necessary to sustain close relationships. As Ali points out, "Intimacy can tolerate asymmetry and even a degree of hostility, but not the complete absence of mutuality" (18).
Ali also explores the "gray areas" of Eve's work. For the most part, Eve follows the rules, but occasionally she steps outside the lines and into a gray area. In my years of reading these books, I've read comments from others (on message boards, etc.) who complain about Eve's willingness to bend the rules when it suits her. I remember one book in particular—although the title escapes me—where I, too, felt a little disturbed by Eve's penchant for stepping right up to the line...and, sometimes, over it. In that book, I thought Eve had gone too far, and I wound up taking a break from the In Death books for a while. Ali acknowledges several of these instances, but also shows us that, overall, Eve's character and commitment to justice remain steadfast.
In her conclusion, Ali states that the In Death series "is at its best when it raises difficult questions without endorsing solutions" (119). I think she also pulls back the curtain on the series a bit and shows us where some of the weak spots in the series may lie. For instance, Ali points out that Robb peppers her books with "repeated, passing reference to grinding poverty and dangerous, violent neighborhoods" and yet "desperate poverty fades quickly from the forefront of storylines"(119). Once this was pointed out to me, I could see how similar this is to the fact that racial and sexual heterogeneity are common in the books overall, but not at all common within Eve's inner circle.
Overall, I think this is a very interesting companion piece to the In Death books. I found myself nodding in agreement throughout and I'm appreciative of some of the nuances I hadn't noticed in my own reading of the In Death series through the years. More than anything, though, I finished Ali's book with a real appreciation for the work Robb has created here. There are more layers and complexity to the series than might be guessed at first glance, and Ali reveals them with both the precision of an academic and the fervor of a fan.
Works Cited
Ali, Kecia. Human in Death: Morality and Mortality in J.D. Robb's Novels. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2017. Print.
U.S. Census Bureau Public Information Office. "2010 Census Shows Multiple-Race Population Grew Faster Than Single-Race Population - Race - Newsroom - U.S. Census Bureau." U.S. Census Bureau Public Information Office. U.S. Department of Commerce, 27 Sept. 2020. Web. 15 Jan. 201
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