Disappearance I by Jeanette Winterson (1998): A Review
Book: The World and Other Places
Author: Jeanette Winterson
Publication Year: 1998
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Short story, dystopian science fiction, speculative allegory
This story presents what may be the worst dystopian nightmare I can personally imagine.
Winterson creates a hypercapitalist future in which sleep is illegal and everyone is expected to remain productive twenty-four hours a day. Apparently, capitalism has finally defeated the human body, circadian rhythms, and the basic right to close your eyes without committing a crime.
There is, however, one exception: professional sleepers.
Society may have eliminated ordinary sleep, but it has not eliminated the need for dreams. The solution, naturally, is not to let people rest. That would be far too reasonable. Instead, designated sleepers dream on everyone else’s behalf, and those dreams are packaged and sold to the permanently awake population.
Of course they are. Even the unconscious mind has been outsourced, commercialised, and placed behind a paywall.
I could never function in this society. I would either become a professional sleeper or be arrested within the first twenty-four hours for unauthorised napping and crimes against productivity. You do not want to meet me after a sleepless night. Without at least six or seven hours of rest, I would not merely survive a zombie apocalypse; I would personally begin one.
No, Ms Winterson. Absolutely not. Thank you for your brilliance, but I respectfully decline this sleepless economy. Please return me to my bed, my dreams, and my legally protected afternoon nap.
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