REVIEW: The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon
In a near future, where even the smallest of appliances are sentient, a young Roomba vacuum sets out to save the humans of her house from a rising technological power in this compelling, original novel.
In a self-running, smart house, a young and sentient Roomba listens as her owner, Harold, reads aloud to his dying wife, Edie. Mesmerized by To Kill a Mockingbird and craving the human connection she witnesses in Harold’s stories, the little vacuum renames herself Scout and embarks on a journey of self-discovery.
But when Edie passes away, Scout and her fellow sentient appliances discover that there are sinister forces in their midst. The omnipresent Grid, which monitors every household in the City, seeks to remove Harold from his home, a place he’s lived in for fifty years.
With the help of Adrian, a neighborhood boy who grows close to Scout and Harold, as well as Kate, Harold and Edie’s formerly estranged daughter, the humans and the appliances must come together to outwit the all-controlling Grid lest they risk losing everything they hold dear.
CW/TW – death from cancer
Dear Mr. Dixon,
I couldn’t resist this title even though I’m not all that excited about the idea of futuristic sentient appliances. Hell will freeze before I program a refrigerator. But this title plus the cover art seemed to promise me brave, and cute, little appliances. Scout is, indeed, such an appliance. Despite the setting in which the Grid runs all, whether or not we like it, the book is heartwarming if a little predictable.
It is the near future and humanity has turned itself over to the Grid. I’m not sure if a conscious decision was made or if the Grid just slid into our lives and made things so much easier that humanity just shrugged and said, “Yeah, let it order my groceries, drive my car, and lock the door at night.” Wait, isn’t that now? Anyway, everything is connected and thus everything is watched. In the Winters household, Edie and Harold have reached early old age. But Edie is now slipping away and Watch – sort of the butler of the house – makes the decision to get Kate, the Winters’ estranged daughter, back from her exile.
Once, long ago, and she says due to reading “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” Kate rebelled against the Grid just because she wanted to see what was out there in the world. In an effort to reverse climate change, travel is by lottery only and the Grid is trying to decrease the human population. Kate tried, and failed, to escape and is now working the job the Grid tells her to do. When she gets home, she knows that the Grid will remove her father from his home as it’s far too large for just one human. It will also confiscate any of his belongings it feels are worth keeping.
When the household appliances realize what’s going on, Scout, Clock, Fridge, Watch, and Auto have something to say, and do, about it.
Things start a bit slowly as everyone is introduced and the world explained. Appliances are not supposed to interact with humans unless the humans initiate things. They do listen though and through listening to Harold read “To Kill a Mockingbird” to Edie, the little Roomba (clearly the Main Character) chooses a new name. Scout really wants to understand human emotions and endlessly questions the others about them. The older appliances give Scout lessons, advice, and warnings about how appliances don’t have feelings plus constantly remind each other that they’re being monitored at all times.
The reason to read the book is for the appliances. Scout is adorable and brave. Fridge is a bit stodgy and thinks first of the temperature of his food but once that is okay, he chats with Scout and Clock. Clock is older and has seen some things and also fears what may happen if they all talk too much or too loudly. Watch runs the household and keeps things ship-shape. Auto lives a bit apart and is plugged into both the Grid and the House – sort of a no-appliance’s land. Thermometer? No one is quite sure whose side it’s on.
It’s the humans who let me down here. Harold is just sort of there for a lot of the book and his actions and feelings pop in when needed to advance the plot. He’s often sad and merely drifting until he needs to be outraged. Plus the future must have better hip replacement recovery because, dang, Harold is soon up and hopping around with one or even no crutches after his surgery. Finally towards the end, he perks up but, well, I will try not to spoil things but we get no closure for him for Reasons.
Adrian the little boy who shows up to practice on Edie’s piano (she was teaching Adrian before her death) is there to get Harold and later Kate to think about immigrants who aren’t plugged into the Grid, don’t get a universal basic income, and question, with big eyes, what’s going on. He also does an Elliot from E.T. move at the end, which, cool.
Kate, who works for the Grid and thus has insider knowledge, is there to point out what is going to happen when the Grid decides to make its move and also bond a bit with her father. Kate is given this backstory of rebellion and angst but during the story she is sort of beaten down and colorless. The Grid, despite everyone’s hushed and worried comments about how it’s listening, never seems to do anything based on what it hears about their plans and only has a few times when we see much action from it and thus fizzles as a villain.
So yeah, the appliances are the stars of the book. The story has beats it hits but ends up being a bit low stakes. I can see it being made into a movie though. I guess the lesson is, be kind to your appliances and keep them charged because you never know when you’ll need them to fight for you. It’s sweet and earnest but I liked this one rather than loving it. C+
~Jayne
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