Status
Available
Collections
Publication
Riverhead Books (2020), Edition: 1st, 256 pages
Description
"A visionary novel about the collision of technology and play, horror and humanity, from a master of the spine-tingling tale. They've infiltrated homes in Hong Kong, shops in Vancouver, the streets of Senegal, town squares of Oaxaca, schools in Tel Aviv, bedrooms in Ohio. They're following you. They're everywhere now. They're us. In Samanta Schweblin's wildly imaginative new novel, Little Eyes, "kentukis" have gone viral across the globe. They're little mechanical stuffed animals that have cameras for eyes, wheels for feet, and are connected to an anonymous global server. Owners of kentukis have the eyes of a stranger in their home and a cute squeaking pet following them; or you can be the kentuki and voyeuristically spend time in someone else's life, controlling the creature with a few keystrokes. Through kentukis, a jaded Croatian hustler stumbles into a massive criminal enterprise and saves a life in Brazil, a lonely old woman in Peru becomes fascinated with a young woman and her louche lover in Germany, and a kid with no mother in Antigua finds a new virtual family and experiences snow for the first time in Norway. These creatures can reveal the beauty of connection between farflung souls - but they also expose the ugly humanity of our increasingly linked world. Trusting strangers can lead to unexpected love and marvelous adventure, but what happens when the kentukis pave the way for unimaginable terror?"--… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member SamSattler
No one would ever call Argentinian author Samanta Schweblin, who at one point in her career was estimated by Granta to be “one of the 22 best writers in Spanish under the age of 35,” a particularly prolific author. Between 2002 and the present, the author has published just three short story
So what are Kintukis? Well, as it turns out, they are little toy-like animals on wheels that at first glance appear to have been created to amuse small children. But these little guys are a whole lot more than toys. The little rabbits, moles, dragons, crows, etc., all come equipped with cameras and microphones that allow their human controllers to observe, and sometimes manipulate, everything their owners do. In an age when most of us are wondering just how closely we are being watched by our own smart devices – think Amazon Alexa and smart TVs, among other devices – this is a terrifying proposition.
Schweblin tells her story in a manner that allows readers to observe for themselves several rotating relationships between Kintuki “dwellers” (those who purchase a tablet that controls one particular Kintuki from afar) and Kintuki “keepers” (those who choose to allow a Kintuki into their home) as the relationships evolve over time. The pairings are randomly assigned, meaning that a dweller cannot choose the location of the Kintuki they control, and that a keeper knows nothing at all about the real person following them around. The pairings, too, are largely international ones, giving dwellers (whose tablets all have built-in translators) a distinct advantage over their keepers.
In short, alternating sections, readers watch budding relationships between people from all over the world (Beijing – Lyon; Lima - Erfurt; Zagreb – Cartagena; Antigua – Honningsvåg, for example) evolve into troubling manipulations, dependencies, extortions, and the like, that negatively impact the real worlds of both the dwellers and the keepers. It may sound farfetched, but is it really? We already live in a world dominated by social media through which “dwellers” burrow their way inside the heads of “keepers” so desperate for approval they allow themselves to be negatively impacted by perfect strangers, sometimes even to the point of suicide.
Who can say that something like this is not the next logical step in social media evolution?
Bottom Line: Little Eyes is a terrifying glimpse into a future just one or two steps evolved past what the world accepts as perfectly normal today. And that is a terrifying thought.
Show More
collections and two novels in addition to having stories published in magazines such as Harper’s and The New Yorker. Two of her books have been considered for the prestigious Man Booker International Prize: her first novel, Fever Dream, as a finalist, and her second short story collection, A Mouthful of Birds, as a longlisted candidate. Little Eyes, published in Spanish in 2018 under the title Kintukis, has only now been translated into English by Megan McDowell.So what are Kintukis? Well, as it turns out, they are little toy-like animals on wheels that at first glance appear to have been created to amuse small children. But these little guys are a whole lot more than toys. The little rabbits, moles, dragons, crows, etc., all come equipped with cameras and microphones that allow their human controllers to observe, and sometimes manipulate, everything their owners do. In an age when most of us are wondering just how closely we are being watched by our own smart devices – think Amazon Alexa and smart TVs, among other devices – this is a terrifying proposition.
Schweblin tells her story in a manner that allows readers to observe for themselves several rotating relationships between Kintuki “dwellers” (those who purchase a tablet that controls one particular Kintuki from afar) and Kintuki “keepers” (those who choose to allow a Kintuki into their home) as the relationships evolve over time. The pairings are randomly assigned, meaning that a dweller cannot choose the location of the Kintuki they control, and that a keeper knows nothing at all about the real person following them around. The pairings, too, are largely international ones, giving dwellers (whose tablets all have built-in translators) a distinct advantage over their keepers.
In short, alternating sections, readers watch budding relationships between people from all over the world (Beijing – Lyon; Lima - Erfurt; Zagreb – Cartagena; Antigua – Honningsvåg, for example) evolve into troubling manipulations, dependencies, extortions, and the like, that negatively impact the real worlds of both the dwellers and the keepers. It may sound farfetched, but is it really? We already live in a world dominated by social media through which “dwellers” burrow their way inside the heads of “keepers” so desperate for approval they allow themselves to be negatively impacted by perfect strangers, sometimes even to the point of suicide.
Who can say that something like this is not the next logical step in social media evolution?
Bottom Line: Little Eyes is a terrifying glimpse into a future just one or two steps evolved past what the world accepts as perfectly normal today. And that is a terrifying thought.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Paul_Samael
Gave up half way through. Didn't really care what happened to any of the characters and there seemed to be no links between the different narratives, so it reads like a series of short stories. Neither of those is necessarily a black mark so far as I'm concerned - I can think of other books where I
Show More
didn't like most (or any) of the characters and/or which had a very episodic structure, but which I still enjoyed. However, I think if you are going down that route, there needs to be something else about the book to keep you reading - for example, the quality of the writing needs to be top notch or there needs to be some really interesting stuff going on in terms of ideas (or a sense of something quite significant being at stake). In this case, the writing on its own wasn't enough for me and I didn't find the concept of the Kentukis particularly original, compelling or well developed. Show Less
LibraryThing member jmchshannon
Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin is another one of those books I could not stop discussing with my family. Every time I stopped reading the book, I had to make a comment to whichever family member was nearest to me, if only to help dispel that creepy-crawly feeling that traveled over my body while
Not that Ms. Schweblin's kentukis are Furbies, but it does not take any stretch of the imagination to imagine that they could be. The difference should be that Furbies were toys, programmed to act and move based on certain interactions by the owners, but Ms. Schweblin has me rethinking that. What if an unknown someone was operating that damn thing remotely and we never knew it? At least in Ms. Schweblin's world, the people who brought kentukis into their homes knew that there was someone behind the camera eyes controlling the thing.
Then again, would Furbies have been as popular if we knew someone was remotely operating them? Ms. Schweblin seems to think so. Her idea of Keepers versus Dwellers and the popularity of her imaginary toy is downright disturbing. It quickly becomes a very pointed commentary on the social-media obsessed society we inhabit today. After all, we allow strangers into our lives with every selfie we take and post online. Is it such a stretch of the imagination to imagine how popular a toy that allows a perfect stranger from somewhere in the world to control a toy that sees and hears everything you do in the privacy of your own home?
The toy's popularity also brings up more fodder for debate about the idea of relationships. For almost all of the Keepers, those who keep the actual toy in their homes, the kentuki becomes a pet, a friend with whom to share your life. But can they ever truly know the person behind the camera? Can you truly interpret the meaning of the growls and purrs this an inanimate object projects based on directions from the remote dweller? Is it a pet? Is it a toy? No one seems to know, and the differences in how each Keeper we meet interacts with his or her kentuki makes for one-half of a fascinating story.
We also see those who make up the Dwellers, those people who buy a connection and control a kentuki somewhere around the world. Sadly, the idea of dwelling - of remotely spying on someone else and seeing into a life completely unlike your own - is not foreign. After all, it is one of the reasons why social media is so popular. Voyeurism is innate to human nature, and dwelling is nothing but voyeurism in its purest form. Here again, though, we immediately hit snags. Some dwellers find the world they view through the camera so compelling as to forget about their real life. Others see horrible scenarios about which they can do nothing. Or so they think. Again, can we really truly understand what we see without a greater context? Does dwelling provide a bit of freedom with its glimpses into another life or does it merely trap us into false understandings?
Every connection in Little Eyes does nothing but prompt more questions about the definition of relationships and of allowing a stranger more visibility into your life. The story itself reads like separate stories collected under one title, allowing readers the opportunity to get an understanding of the infinite scenarios that might happen with these toys. The nontraditional format of the novel drives home the strange connection between Keeper and Dweller while also creating an excellent story in and of itself.
I would love to see Little Eyes become a popular book club selection. The discussion topics are endless, as no reader is going to have the same thoughts about kentukis and the experiences we see occur throughout the book. It would be even better if members of the book club also had Furbies back in the day because I think having had one impacts your reaction to the story. After all, I think the whole thing creepy AF because I remember that damn toy talking in the middle of the night and moving at random, scaring the shit out of Jim and me. Someone who did not have that glorious experience might feel differently.
Show More
reading. Every scene made me flashback to that time I owned a Furby and made me shudder with regret about ever bringing it into my home.Not that Ms. Schweblin's kentukis are Furbies, but it does not take any stretch of the imagination to imagine that they could be. The difference should be that Furbies were toys, programmed to act and move based on certain interactions by the owners, but Ms. Schweblin has me rethinking that. What if an unknown someone was operating that damn thing remotely and we never knew it? At least in Ms. Schweblin's world, the people who brought kentukis into their homes knew that there was someone behind the camera eyes controlling the thing.
Then again, would Furbies have been as popular if we knew someone was remotely operating them? Ms. Schweblin seems to think so. Her idea of Keepers versus Dwellers and the popularity of her imaginary toy is downright disturbing. It quickly becomes a very pointed commentary on the social-media obsessed society we inhabit today. After all, we allow strangers into our lives with every selfie we take and post online. Is it such a stretch of the imagination to imagine how popular a toy that allows a perfect stranger from somewhere in the world to control a toy that sees and hears everything you do in the privacy of your own home?
The toy's popularity also brings up more fodder for debate about the idea of relationships. For almost all of the Keepers, those who keep the actual toy in their homes, the kentuki becomes a pet, a friend with whom to share your life. But can they ever truly know the person behind the camera? Can you truly interpret the meaning of the growls and purrs this an inanimate object projects based on directions from the remote dweller? Is it a pet? Is it a toy? No one seems to know, and the differences in how each Keeper we meet interacts with his or her kentuki makes for one-half of a fascinating story.
We also see those who make up the Dwellers, those people who buy a connection and control a kentuki somewhere around the world. Sadly, the idea of dwelling - of remotely spying on someone else and seeing into a life completely unlike your own - is not foreign. After all, it is one of the reasons why social media is so popular. Voyeurism is innate to human nature, and dwelling is nothing but voyeurism in its purest form. Here again, though, we immediately hit snags. Some dwellers find the world they view through the camera so compelling as to forget about their real life. Others see horrible scenarios about which they can do nothing. Or so they think. Again, can we really truly understand what we see without a greater context? Does dwelling provide a bit of freedom with its glimpses into another life or does it merely trap us into false understandings?
Every connection in Little Eyes does nothing but prompt more questions about the definition of relationships and of allowing a stranger more visibility into your life. The story itself reads like separate stories collected under one title, allowing readers the opportunity to get an understanding of the infinite scenarios that might happen with these toys. The nontraditional format of the novel drives home the strange connection between Keeper and Dweller while also creating an excellent story in and of itself.
I would love to see Little Eyes become a popular book club selection. The discussion topics are endless, as no reader is going to have the same thoughts about kentukis and the experiences we see occur throughout the book. It would be even better if members of the book club also had Furbies back in the day because I think having had one impacts your reaction to the story. After all, I think the whole thing creepy AF because I remember that damn toy talking in the middle of the night and moving at random, scaring the shit out of Jim and me. Someone who did not have that glorious experience might feel differently.
Show Less
LibraryThing member modioperandi
Having just come off of Bubblegum by Adam Levin I was by chance set to the perfect moment to read Samanta Schweblin's Little Eyes. I highly recommend reading both either at the same time or one after the other and in no particular order. Little eyes is about little consumer products called
This is culture-horror. Bubblegum by Adam Levin also is culture-horror. It's totally unsettling story about the scary places that culture and technology and play can take humanity when the absurdity knob is set to just a touch above normal.
The kentukis connect the owner to users. A owner buys the kentuki and a user connects to the cutely designed kentuki via webportal and can move the kentuki on its roller feet and see and hear what the kentuki does via cameras set into the eyes. Little Eyes spans Hong Kong, Senegal, Oaxaca, Lima, Tel Aviv, Ohio, and Vancouver. Tales unravel in short and long pieces where people encounter criminal enterprises, lonely older people connect with young people. The kentuki owner relationships explore trust and love and the tenderness we can have and also the horrific ugliness that is part of what we know in the connected world we inhabit. In the world of Little Eyes its just a little bit worse at the start and things get increasingly horrific from there from moments of tenderness to terrors beyond belief.
Little Eyes explores big ideas in a series of interconnected tales and stories that form a novel that is just beautifully written.
Show More
Kentukis. They are a highly sought after product that has gained popularity all over the globe. However you wont really figure this out until the second or third short section of the book. And this is wonderful. Its a great disorienting effect that makes the story all the more gripping. Its very similar to Bubblegum in that way. From the get go you will not really know or get what is going on but its gripping nonetheless. All of this to say Samanta Schweblin is an astonishingly shocking story teller. This is culture-horror. Bubblegum by Adam Levin also is culture-horror. It's totally unsettling story about the scary places that culture and technology and play can take humanity when the absurdity knob is set to just a touch above normal.
The kentukis connect the owner to users. A owner buys the kentuki and a user connects to the cutely designed kentuki via webportal and can move the kentuki on its roller feet and see and hear what the kentuki does via cameras set into the eyes. Little Eyes spans Hong Kong, Senegal, Oaxaca, Lima, Tel Aviv, Ohio, and Vancouver. Tales unravel in short and long pieces where people encounter criminal enterprises, lonely older people connect with young people. The kentuki owner relationships explore trust and love and the tenderness we can have and also the horrific ugliness that is part of what we know in the connected world we inhabit. In the world of Little Eyes its just a little bit worse at the start and things get increasingly horrific from there from moments of tenderness to terrors beyond belief.
Little Eyes explores big ideas in a series of interconnected tales and stories that form a novel that is just beautifully written.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Dreesie
I liked Schweblin's Fever Dream, but did not love it. It felt short and a little unfinished. Also, the nature of a fever dream gives an excuse to write anything (kind of like the elementary school writing trope "and then I woke up").
I decided to give this one a go because it was nominated for the
Schweblin's premise in this book revolves around a tech gadget called a kentuki. Consumers can choose to "keep" or "occupy" one. The kentuki itself is a rolling plastic/fur critter--rabbit, mole, dragon, panda, etc. Those that keep one buy the object and charge it up. Those that choose to occupy purchase a code and log in, and are then linked to a kentuki somewhere in the world. They can see and hear what goes on in their kentuki's home. They are given as gifts to children and grandparents, purchased by the lonely, the bored, the wealthy.
So while owners treat them as pets or even assistants, there is a human behind the camera. A child? Old woman? Pedophile? Kentukis cannot speak, but many keepers/occupiers devise methods of communication.
It can all get a little creepy and disturbing. There is SO MUCH to discuss about this book.
I decided to give this one a go because it was nominated for the
Show More
Booker International (my favorite literary award). And I am so glad I did. This one is original and creepy. It's sci fi-ish and speculative-ish, but really it almost isn't. But then, I can't believe people allow Alexa and Google home devices in their houses. Too creepy for me, I don't even give apps access to the microphone on my phone and very few (zoom LOL) on my computer. Schweblin's premise in this book revolves around a tech gadget called a kentuki. Consumers can choose to "keep" or "occupy" one. The kentuki itself is a rolling plastic/fur critter--rabbit, mole, dragon, panda, etc. Those that keep one buy the object and charge it up. Those that choose to occupy purchase a code and log in, and are then linked to a kentuki somewhere in the world. They can see and hear what goes on in their kentuki's home. They are given as gifts to children and grandparents, purchased by the lonely, the bored, the wealthy.
So while owners treat them as pets or even assistants, there is a human behind the camera. A child? Old woman? Pedophile? Kentukis cannot speak, but many keepers/occupiers devise methods of communication.
It can all get a little creepy and disturbing. There is SO MUCH to discuss about this book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Citizenjoyce
Samanta Schweblin is an Argentinian writer with a German name. I should look into that. Anyway, we've heard that people in the rest of the world can tell a novel from the USA because we always have a happy ending. This woman is definitely not from the USA. Little Eyes represents kentukis which are
Show More
little mechanical creatures that can be controlled, inhabited by a person connected on the internet. There are Keepers who have these cute, animal shaped pets in their home, and Dwellers who inhabit the pets. So keepers voluntarily let strangers roll around and view their homes, and Dwellers get to experience places they never would have seen otherwise. If it sounds creepy, some of it is. Kentukis can bring out the hope and sweetness of a child and the sadism of a Keeper. They can be superheros or lonely voyeurs. The novel was longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize and is worth a read, even while it makes you itchy. Show Less
LibraryThing member purplepaste
I like this book more the more I think about it. Its organization reminds me of an episode of TAL, though it revisits storylines as the book progresses. The story about the artist's lover stood out to me the most. In some aspects, the book is a lot like an episode of Black Mirror, though it allows
Show More
for more introspection. Also, unlike Black Mirror, not all of the characters are absolutely horrible. I did leave the book sad and thoughtful, but not with absolutely no hope for humanity. Show Less
LibraryThing member ansate
it's not ALL as disturbing as the first chapter. some of it is sweet.
I definitely got caught up in everyone's drama, which says a lot for how well written it is.
I definitely got caught up in everyone's drama, which says a lot for how well written it is.
Awards
The Kitschies (Finalist — 2020)
The International Booker Prize (Longlist — 2020)
NPR: Books We Love (2020)
The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Fiction — 2020)
Notable Books List (Fiction — 2021)
Language
Original language
English