A story exploring the brutality of perfectionism that manages to be pretty close to perfect.
Our bodies are flawed prisons. We’re stuck with skin that could be clearer, brains that could work faster, and smiles that could be brighter. And some of us go to great lengths to try to improve our bodily prisons so its tolerable. Great sums of money are spent to improve our aesthetics and mentality, but that want can never be satiated. And in a world like Sweet Harmony’s in which people can use nanotechnology to purge flaws, that want becomes heightened. Because what keeps us leveled is knowing that we share flaws. Stories, for example, are better when we identify and feel less alone by characters’ weaknesses. But when less people have weaknesses and tower over us with imposing beauty, our insecurities tornado into something worse and our venture to become better can turn into an impossible pursuit to perfectionism.
Sweet
Harmony follows
Harmony, a young woman living in a world in which nanotechnology (nanos) can
not only improve your health, but your libido, mentality, and physicality. Harmony’s
surrounded by people obsessed with superficiality, and the more she is deemed
unworthy by them, the more insecure she becomes. She becomes beholden to nanos,
with almost all of her expenditures dedicated to keeping her esteemed beauty. But
that obsession comes with a price.
This novella tackles domestic abuse, unattainable beauty standards, familial conflict, selfishness warring with selflessness, and vocational biases. Not one of those themes is undercooked or scattered. The secret is that Claire North uses the nanotechnology as an underpinning to all these themes. The story spotlights Harmony’s experience and growing dependency on the nanos and touches all the themes along the way, never losing focus because as it moves from idea to idea, it’s always grounded in a center.
The nanos also work so well in the story because Claire North uses it as a powerful vessel for the worst of humanity to come out. Humanity’s universal want to be better becomes heightened and distorts people into base, perfectionistic, selfish monsters. Mentality and physicality may improve, but morality is something that’s left unchecked. Money becomes even less of something we use to satisfy our needs and transforms into something that satisfies our wants. Our perspective becomes skewed, our health becomes impaired, and a world of materialism and superficiality festers until a healthy smile is prioritized over a healthy heart.
The way these
themes are communicated is done in a wholly fluid, impactful way. None of the
characters are underdeveloped—they’re distinctly drawn. Nor does the limited
word count dilute the story’s potency. Every word matters and the novella
concludes in a satisfying way that didn’t leave me wanting. It’s wordsmithery and economy of language of the
highest order.
By
exploring the pursuit of flawlessness, Sweet Harmony illuminates so many
of our flaws. It doesn’t arrive at any easy answers, but how can it? Insecurities
are intractable, and every human will always be a different gradation of
flawed. One weakness many of us have is never coming to terms with that. But Sweet
Harmony prods its reader to try to get out of that rut. It pushes you to
see yourself in the mirror or observe your imperfect work, and let you
to be the best you can be, while shrugging off the fact that you’re not perfect.
The key is to work to be better, but understanding you’re not the best. Sweet
Harmony puts you through the ringer. It doesn’t arrive at a bursting light
at the end of the tunnel, but there is a faint glimmer. Even though the light may
not be perfectly iridescent, or even mildly stunning, it asks its readers to
follow it, and is well worth the effort.
The Math
Baseline
Score: 8/10
Bonuses: +1 For never wasting a word or story beat.
Nerd
Coefficient: 9/10
POSTED BY:
Sean Dowie - Screenwriter, stand-up comedian, lover of all books that make him
nod his head and say, "Neat!
North, Claire. Sweet Harmony [Orbit, 2020]
