“Return to Pleasure Island”
by Cory Doctorow
A Place So Foreign and Eight More (2003)
* * * * (Great) Fantasy
Working as a candied floss spinner at an amusement park for stolen children, George – the strongest of three golem brothers – notices the changes in the children, and his family, and starts to question his place on this paradise island.
This story reminded me very much of Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, the first of Doctorow’s works I read. Both offer twisted, and yet seemingly truthful extrapolations of the future and purpose of amusement parks. George, the strong golem, serves as a tragic tour guide in this cautionary tale about the pursuit of a life of pleasure. You feel sorry for George as all those around him succumb to their every desire, while he stands stoically unfulfilled, but safe. There were some repetitive and unpolished sentences throughout the story – actually making it quite difficult to get invested in the tale early on – but in the end, the story won out, and I was entertained.
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