Annie Bot and Kairos
Annie Bot ~ Sierra Greer
Annie and Doug live in New York City. Her singular goal is to keep him happy, which is not always easy. She cooks and cleans, but not to his exacting specifications. She is always ready for sex, eager to please him in any possible way. Eventually he gets tired of the fact that she doesn’t keep the apartment clean enough, so he brings in a maid, with whom he also sometimes has sex. Annie isn’t jealous though. Annie is a robot. Doug has set her into auto-didactic mode, and she is learning about herself and the world in which she lives. She is starting to come to sentience. Doug likes this, he finds it exciting and interesting, but at the same time, she is his property, and he wants her to fit his exact specifications in order to please him. He doesn’t want his friends to know that he is having sex with a robot. He takes her in for regular maintenance, and requests that they increase her breast size and shave off 6 pounds. Let’s just get it out there. Doug is a misogynistic pig, which is probably why he can’t find a human girlfriend.
The book is told in the 3rd person, though it is a close 3rd person. Annie is exploring her feelings, even as she tries to walk the tightrope of trying to please Doug. How to cope with complex situations when they are presented to her, how to bring his anger from a 7 down to a 1 or 2, how to become more independent while still deeply craving Doug’s approval and pleasure.
In Annie Bot, Sierra Greer explores the nuances of toxic masculinity, of an abusive relationship with a damaged man who wants control over his woman, who wants them to be and act a certain way, but does not want to be seen as controlling. Several times he is angered because her efforts to please him make him look like a cruel jackass. To which I say, if he doesn’t want to look like a cruel jackass, he shouldn’t act like one. I was really sucked in by this book, and found myself thinking about it for weeks afterwards. Highly recommended.
Kairos – Jenny Erpenbeck
I had to add a second book review today because I finished this book yesterday and couldn’t wait to talk about it. I was listening to it on my walk on Friday, and stopped to make this note in my phone: “Obsessive fucktard shithead manipulative hypocrite”. Yeah. I don’t remember where I heard about this book, I assume it was from one of you, and whomever reviewed it, Thank You. I was completely sucked in.
The year is 1986, and Katharina is a 19 year old student living in East Berlin. A chance meeting on a bus begins a torrid affair between Katharina and Hans, a writer and radio employee who is 34 years her senior. Hans is married and has a son, and has had many affairs over the years. Katharina and Hans fall desperately in love, though their love is fairly obsessive. When things begin to go wrong in their relationship, his level of assholery is next level, and I hated him.
Alongside their relationship is the drama of the Berlin Wall coming down, and the reunification of Germany. Katharina feels the loss of her world, of her culture and beliefs, as East Germany is devoured by the West.
I think this book would especially resonate with readers familiar with German history in the post World War II era. I loved it, and am going to listen to it again. Erpenbeck is a gifted writer, this book was lyrical and engrossing. It reminded me in tone of 2 books that I read (and adored) when I was in my early 20s, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera, and The Lover, by Marguerite Duras. Wonderfully translated from the German by Michael Hoffman. Erpenbeck and Hoffman won the 2024 International Booker Prize. Highly recommended.
38 Comments
Kyria @ Travel Spot
These sound like interesting reads and I have not read (or even heard of) either of them before! I am putting Annie Bot on hold, and will report back once I have read it!
J
I hope you enjoy it, it’s disturbing for sure!
Karen Meg
These look really interesting ! The first reminds me of ex machina the movie, don’t know if you’ve watched that! I should get back into audio books, I read a lot on audio on my walks during the pandemic. Lately I’ve been listening to podcasts. So little time for everything and I’m not even working full time ?
J
Do you use a library app to listen to books? I listen to 90% of mine that way. I will buy a book on Audible if I can’t get it from the library.
Sarah
I had a HORRIBLE grad school professor for classical theory– so bad I almost dropped out of my PhD program. He was crazy about kairos as an analytical emelemnt, so the title of this book is off-putting for me… I LOVED Annie Bot.
J
Maybe you could pretend it’s called something else? If you got a physical copy, you could get a paper grocery bag and make a book cover for it, like High School. You could title it “Obsessive fucktard shithead manipulative hypocrite”, but that might not be so good with the kids…
Jenny
Ooh! I’m VERY interested in the second book. I recently finished Ken Follett’s Century Trilogy, and one of the storylines was Berlin in the 60s-80s (well- Berlin in the entire 20th century, but the third book was during the Cold War and that one is freshest in my mind.) I’m putting Kairos on my TBR.
J
It was really good, I hope you like it!
Tobia | craftaliciousme
I have heard of Anni Bot somewhere and wondered if I would like it. Well, maybe like is not the right word because it sounds exhausting just reading the summery. It would probably anger me.Guess it’s a book I would need to read at the right time.
The other one I have not heard of. Which is sad but unfortunately not surprising. i seem to know about english publishings than german ones.
I just checked my library has both of them. Woudl you reccomend audio or reading?
J
I loved them both via audio! I wonder if you would like Kairos more in German or in English? Which do you prefer? I’ll be interested on your opinion if you end up reading it!
Tobia | craftaliciousme
I try to read the orginal languge if I can – right now I can only read German and English but I hope some day I may be able to pick up a spanish book.
Anyways I would read it in German because I think things will get lost in translation. I let you know if I ever do read it.
J
I hope you do, I’d love your German perspective on it!
iHanna
Thanks for great and just perfectly long enough book reviews J, I appreciate that and will add both these to my TBR but will probably not get to them very soon. I need to finish my book club book today and another book from the library that is already late (oups!). Wish me luck!
J
Good luck finishing your book! If you end up reading either of these I hope you enjoy them.
NGS
I do not think I can read these book, my friend. Why are men like this?!?!
J
Some people are horrible, right? These two characters in these two books angered me so much. And yet I loved the books.
Margaret
There isn’t much told from the East German perspective (at least that I’ve read); have you ever seen the film “Goodbye, Lenin?” Both books sound intriguing and unique.
J
I have heard of Goodbye, Lenin, but I don’t think I’ve seen it yet.
Ernie
I was reading this and I was like, Wait, he’s having sex with her and she’s a robot? What now? I will have to keep these in mind. Your mid-walk text is hilarious.
J
I know, it’s crazy. But also I could totally see it happening. Advanced porn, I guess.
Tierney
I love literature so much. How can two books featuring grade A assholes be so amazing? And yet, that’s the amazingness of books. I have just borrowed both, although I’m more interested in Kairos. Right now, my reading list is very ambitious, but these are worthy additions to the TBR. Thanks for the reviews!
Since these were written in advance (I think you said?), I can’t wait to hear about what you’re reading now. But I guess I’ll just have to wait until December!
J
I know, crazy how books about assholes can be so good! It’s the gifted writing, clearly. Of the two, I think Kairos was better, though I really liked them both.
Yes, I’ve written 30 posts and scheduled them. Perhaps I will pop in other books like I did today. Today’s post was supposed to be just Annie Bot, and I threw in Kairos because I couldn’t wait to talk about it. So maybe there will be 2 books in one post some days, time will tell.
Meike
I am also interested in the 2nd one. I recently joined a book club which has members in the US and in Germany so having a book in German is perfect and it also falls in our page limit of max 400. I find the topic interesting. I was a little young when the wall came down but it is such a big part of German history that happened while I was growing up.
J
I think you might find it fascinating, I hope if you read it you will write about it!
Melissa
I’m intrigued now, but I don’t know whether I can deal with the assholes. I think I’ll put them on my TBR list though and make that decision later.
J
SUCH ASSHOLES. Sometimes I thnk I’d like to read a book about someone who just relaxes and reads her book and drinks tea, but I guess that would be boring. So we have to put the characters into a shitty situation so they can (hopefully) get out.
San
Toxic masculinity is the downfall of society. I don’t know if I want to read that book although you make it sound like a good read.
J
You’re not wrong San! Both books were very good, but yeah, I can see why one might not want to read them as well.
Maya
Both books sound so good and I’m putting them on my list.
I’m sure Annie Bot will make me cry.
It gets me really upset when I think about how all the assistive AI names (Siri, Alexa, etc.) are female-coded. And the news report I read about how the sex robot at some convention was so badly savaged they had to retire her, did make me cry. In my immediate circle, I don’t see much misogyny, so coming face-to-face with it in the world is so jarring.
J
UGH, I’m glad I didn’t know about the sex robot at the convention. Annie Bot is going to get you for sure, it got me.
My husband likes to have his assistive devices with a male British accent. He said he likes to boss the colonizer around.
Maya
That is a perfect postcolonial comeback! (I’m still chuckling.)
J
I know, right?
Daria
Ooofffff my reading list is growing….. Tjank you for the reviews!
J
If you read either of these, I hope you post about it!
Nicole MacPherson
Me! It was me who recommended Kairos! I’m so glad you read it and loved it! It was tricky reading at first – the style, I mean – but then WHOA was it great!
J
Yay! Mystery solved (finally). I need a system where I remember this stuff, but I don’t have any system at all, I just put the book on hold and move on. I actually purchased this one, my library didn’t have it.
Allison McCaskill
I keep looking at Kairos on the Cloud Library website, I love the title and the cover – am now doubly encouraged to jump in.
Annie Bot sounds fascinating – I am always interested in treatments of AI becoming self-aware. And a little afraid, lol. Right now, after some of what I’ve seen after the election, might be a little soon to read without spiking my bp, though.
J
Sometimes truth might be too close to fiction, I totally get that.