In Slow River, we are presented with a protagonist who is rarely who she says she is, yet always remains herself. Frances Lorien van de Oest is the kidnapped heir to a multi-billion dollar company working as a grunt in a sanitation plant for little pay. Nicola Griffith uses Slow River to present Identity as a two-fold concept, where one is defined by a legal classification, yet also by the set of morals and experiences they carry with them.

I was very impressed by Slow River's depiction of the near-future applications, and consequences, of developing biotechnology and nanotechnology. The novel uses accurate, technical terminology to create a sense of reality; even for those readers who are not familiar with the technology Griffith is discussing, her faculty with it is obvious and lends authenticity to the novel. Furthermore, it is this background of science and its economics which makes the novel more than a simple, plot-driven work of fiction.

I noticed today in class that the issue of excessive wealth hit some nerves on both the social justice and economist side of the thought spectrum. Some people were offended by the notion that someone who works just as hard as an executive (or some other high earner) could be living in squalor while that single executive could have so much money that he doesn't know what to do with it. Others seemed offended by the thought that people could hold that executive in contempt for earning so much money. I just want to add my two cents.

So my first reaction on finishing Slow River: "What? That's it?!?"

There were a few things that prompted that reaction. First, I didn't feel like Griffith really pulled off the conspiracy with Greta very well. There was only the mention that she "had to have secret power" there at the end, and that she had been perverted by Katerine to explain any of her conniving and plotting. The secret conspirator at the plant was not very interesting, basically since we never really met him or knew anything about him.

The most obvious thing that I noticed about Nicola Griffith's Slow River was the variance in storytelling styles. Not only are there three different storylines ( Lore's life with Spanner, her work at the purification plant, her childhood flashbacks ), but they are told in three different ways ( third person past-tense, first person past-tense, third-person present-tense ). It was incredibly jarring for me at first, as it went against everything grammar school had taught me about sticking to one style of narration and one time frame.