Tender is the Flesh

I’m in one of those frustrating periods where there’s a lot of work going on in the background, but very little news to share. I hope you don’t mind, therefore, the number of recommendations I’m posting here in order to try and keep your eyes focused on my site. If all goes to plan, I’ll have some book and film related updates to share in the coming weeks.

Today, I want to recommend Argentinian author AGUSTINA BAZTERRICA’S 2017 novel, TENDER IS THE FLESH.

Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.

His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.

Then one day he’s given a a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.

This is a remarkable novel on a number of levels. As a piece of dystopian fiction, it’s a masterclass. I believe the best dystopian visions in film and print come alive because we buy into the nightmare worlds that authors and filmmakers create through the eyes of the people that inhabit them. The most effective dystopian stories, therefore, are those where the focus is on the plight and interactions of the characters, not necessarily the events that have resulted in the world being blighted or poisoned or destroyed or whatever. The apocalypse is secondary to the plot, and the limitations of the changed world are revealed as we follow the character through what’s left of their lives, not through clumsy exposition dumps, flashbacks and the like. If the story is strong and well told, the world will sell itself to the reader.

There’s a brutal matter-of-factness to Marcos’ life working in a processing plant, managing the slaughter of specially bred humans. As in JOSEPH D’LACEY’S 2009 novel MEAT, we’re repulsed by the idea of people eating people, and in being made to confront that disgust, we’re left asking if killing and eating animals is any more appropriate. It’s a sobering and impactful approach.

TENDER IS THE FLESH is the more powerful book. Throughout, we assume Marcos’ story (and his unlawful relationship with a ‘live specimen’) will take a familiar route to an obvious conclusion, but it doesn’t. The final scenes are an unexpected sucker punch. And it’s only when you look back after reading, and consider the novel as the scathing criticism of capitalism it clearly is, that the grim inevitability of that ending really hits home.

I hope I’ve not said too much. TENDER IS THE FLESH really affected me, and I recommend you read it. By forcing us to look at a nightmare vision of the world of tomorrow, it speaks volumes about the problems of the world were living in today.