Published in 2019,
Machines Like Me, Ian McEwan’s fifteenth novel, is a “cautionary fable” (Lucas) set in Britain in an alternative version of 1982, a time when the first twenty-five “plausible” silicon humans, thirteen Eves and twelve Adams, have been “manufactured” (2). The ploy which enables this counterfactual version of events in the second half of the twentieth century is the advancement of technology as a result of the survival of Alan Turing (1912-1954), renowned mathematician and Enigma codebreaker. In 1952, following prosecution for engaging in homosexual activity, the fictional Turing opts for incarceration as an alternative to chemical castration. During his prison term, “war hero” Turing solves the math that leads to technological advancements and eventually…
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Citation: Logotheti, Anastasia. "Machines Like Me". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 October 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38987, accessed 25 November 2024.]
