Reader Review: “Universality”

by JanineS (Michigan): I initially chose this book because of the book summary indicated it was potentially a mystery but upon reading it was focused on British politics as its story line. This was unexpected but not necessarily a bad thing as the structure of the book was intriguing and the written was superb. The book is divided into several sections; the first deals with an incident at a remote Yorkshire farm where during a “rave” in the time of COVID a man is “bludgeoned to death with a solid gold bar.”

From there the novella goes into sections dealing with the aftermath of the event on the journalist (Hannah) who wrote about it; the “amoral banker landlord” (Richard); and the “iconoclastic newspaper columnist” (Lenny) who cashes in on her notoriety to write about “woke capitalism.” What we learn in these sections is how the words people used in relating the event from their perspective resulted in either positive or negative reviews by the public – and how things get skewed as a result.

In the “fallout of the dubious article” as one reviewer noted, the people affected by the event appear to be “delusional, unlikeable idiots who converse about identity, lockdown, crime rates and the perils of diversity.” All these things do not make any of them likeable.

That’s the beautiful irony of the book: be careful what you say, how you say it and how you play it.” In our desires sometimes for the “moment of fame,” we forget who we are. One final note: this is not an easy book to read but if read carefully, it can be a worthwhile one.