The first time I came across the concept of living in a bunker was through the TV series, The 100. The challenges of living in an enclosed space and the dependency of the people on each other seemed like something that would naturally evolve due to dire situations like nuclear collapse or inhabitable environment. What is interesting about Wool by Hugh Howey is while the book is about living in a silo, no one really remembers when that happened and why. All they know is that going outside is futile and only criminals with a death sentence make that trip. The synopsis of the book is short and mystifying. Read on for my thoughts.
Thousands of them have lived underground. They’ve lived there so long, there are only legends about people living anywhere else. Such a life requires rules. Strict rules. There are things that must not be discussed. Like going outside. Never mention you might like going outside.
Or you’ll get what you wish for.
Content Notes: Depiction of suicide, murder, death, warfare.
Thoughts on Wool
When I first started reading Wool, I was curious and fascinated. The underground world that was coming together in my head was like learning about life in any city. The beginning is ominous and sets the tone for the rest of the book – the Sheriff is climbing to his death while the children are playing. As Holston takes the steps necessary to end his life in the official capacity by going out in the open, his home is revealed to the reader. Holston’s choice to go outside, clean the windows that give the top floor a glimpse of the outside world (called the “cleaning”) that cannot be inhabited sets in motion events that will likely be erased from memory, just like every time this has happened before.
On the Silo
A society that lives underground, believing that there is no one else out there will have its unique set of rules and regulations. Wool is divided into five parts, the first two following Holston to the end of his life and then the next Sheriff, Jules, to the end of her term as Sheriff. How does a society like this function? There is technology – there are floors dedicated to servers and people who work in IT. The deepest floors in the silo are dedicated to machinery that runs the silos, electrical and mechanical. There are farms in between, hospitals wings along the way. A long spiral staircase that one must climb up and down to go wherever they need to be.
There are many key players in this story – the Major, the IT Head, the Sheriff, the Head of Mechanical, and everyone who has ever been in these roles. Why is it taboo to ask what happened and how we came to be here? Why were the servers wiped? Why are only certain couples allowed to have children? The vague ideas that The 100 formed in my head about living in a silo (it was way more bloody in the show) were refined to a new level with Wool.
On Lives
Wool is the story about finding the truth and then making hard decisions about what to do with them. It is the tale of circumstances and people who together challenge the system and face multiple losses along the way. At some point, whether it takes decades or centuries, something will happen and someone would have to reveal the knowledge they have.
Holston’s wife is sent to cleaning, leading him down a path of research and self-destruction. He is unhappy about the choices that have led him there and decides to follow her. When Jules takes over as the new Sheriff, she is haunted by him and follows a similar trail for the truth. But the truth can be dangerous and while the people who are trying to hide it, try to get rid of her, their failure leads her to a whole new world that they were told did not exist.
There is a lot of anger in this story. Anger for being stuck where they are. Anger that their lives are being toyed with. I love how the plot is revealed and there were so many times when I cheered for the characters and cried at the misfortunes. The book reminded me a bit of the Divergent series where it all ended up being an experiment. Who is to say if that was the case in Wool too?
On Wool
I am always fascinated by the names of books and my quest with every book is to make sense of the name. Wool is what is used to do the cleaning I mentioned above. Wool is the material that lets the people inside the silo see what’s outside, letting them see. But are they truly seeing what they see? And can you really believe what you are being shown because it could be skewed by the person who is showing it to you? And why do they even bother cleaning the windows when they are being expelled from the silo?
The first half of the book is gripping and hard to put down. The questions I had as a reader are questions that Jules tries to answer in her time as a Sheriff. But as time passes and secrets are revealed, the plot starts to slow down and drag on. I loved the first half of the book but the second half did not entice me to read the next book in this series. The book ends at a good point and can be read standalone if you are ok with some big picture questions left unanswered. As a post-apocalyptic dystopia, I would recommend this book – it is a unique concept that is well done!
** Wool is available in stores. I got my copy from the local library so be sure to check yours, they will likely have this book. **
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Cover image: Photo by David McCumskay on Unsplash
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