Hm. I haven't read Biting the Sun, but it sounds very much as though it is set in the same world as The Silver Metal Lover, which is about the impossibility of maintaining an adult romantic relationship in the society you describe and which is riiiight up there on the list of Most Depressing Books I Have Ever Read. If they are indeed set in the same world, it is possible that some of the metaphysical things get answered, and in fact I remember vaguely that in Lover there were allusions to the fate of an extra-city colony of exiles (it didn't turn out well). But I was enough younger when I read Lover that I don't actually remember whether it was a good book and a well-structured one, or just really emotionally effective at being depressing. So-- qualified recommendation of Lover as maybe fixing some of the flaws of this one, but maybe not.
(Upon trying to look up whether the two books are in fact related, I got lost in the series of retitlings, rereleases, and British vs. American editions that besets anyone trying to track Lee's bibliography. I did however manage to find out that Biting the Sun is a rerelease of what was originally two novels, Don't Bite the Sun and Drinking Sapphire Wine. Why they reversed the message of the title is anybody's guess.)
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Date: 2009-10-26 10:02 pm (UTC)(Upon trying to look up whether the two books are in fact related, I got lost in the series of retitlings, rereleases, and British vs. American editions that besets anyone trying to track Lee's bibliography. I did however manage to find out that Biting the Sun is a rerelease of what was originally two novels, Don't Bite the Sun and Drinking Sapphire Wine. Why they reversed the message of the title is anybody's guess.)