Lucas reviewed We Who Are About To... by Joanna Russ (The Women's Press science fiction)
One thing dying people usually know, if they have any sense left, is what they want
4 stars
Joanna Russ' We Who Are About To... has two parts to it: the first is a short sharp shock, a feminist New Wave (of sf) story kicking and screaming against colonial, patriarchal myth. The second is an arduous stream of consciousness as the narrator's mind eats itself while she starves to death.
Odd to discover very strong parallels with Atul Gawande's Being Mortal; that the extension and perpetuation of life is often more horrific and anti-life than pro-.
"One thing dying people usually know, if they have any sense left, is what they want; and that is so rare in the human condition that it commands a certain kind of respect."
