Author: Rachel Kushner
Published: 2023
Pages: 416
Prize: Shortlist, Man Booker 2024
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Creation Lake follows Sadie Smith, a morally dubious American spy tasked with provoking a group of French eco-activists into violent rebellion. Initially dismissive, she becomes captivated by their leader Bruno’s primitivist philosophy. Blending dark humor and political intrigue, this parodic novel explores humanity’s clash between past and future, offering a profound reflection on history, idealism, and personal transformation.
Complexity
CEFR: B2-C1
Plot Complexity: moderate
Language Complexity: moderate
Ideas Complexity: moderate
Blurb
Sadie Smith–a sardonic, strikingly sexy, 30-something American undercover agent of questionable morals–is sent by her mysterious but powerful employers to a remote corner of France. Her instructions are to infiltrate a commune of radical eco-activists and coax them into violent action, provoking the French state to crush them and their dangerous ideas for good. At first Sadie finds Bruno’s idealism laughable–he lives in a Neanderthal cave and believes the path to enlightenment is a return to primitivism–but over time she falls for his narrative. His ingenious counter-histories, his artful laments, his own devastating story become impossible to turn away from.
Beneath this parodic spy novel about a woman caught in the crossfire between the past and the future lies a profound treatise on human history. Written in short, vaulting sections, Creation Lake is Rachel Kushner’s finest achievement yet as a novelist–a work of high art, high comedy, keen insights and irresistible pleasure.
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