The Panopticon

I recently finished a new book by Jenni Fagan called The Panopticon. It's based on the model conceived by philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham and later adopted by Michel Foucault, of a circular prison with a watchtower in the middle, so that the prisoners can be observed at all times. There are no lights in the tower so no one is ever really sure when it is staffed; this turns the prison into a sort of self-policing unit. In theory.

While I had some issues with the Panopticon in the book--mainly I thought it was misused--I thought the book itself was fantastic. The narrator, Anais Hendricks, is a juvenile delinquent raised in foster care. She is thoughtful and hilarious and completely complex. Without giving anything away, here is one of my favorite moments of the book, in which Anais is hearing the charges against her for the first time in court:

"Well, first on the agenda is the gratuitous vandalism against Lothian and Borders police department. This included deliberate destruction of police property and costing the police department thousands of pounds' worth of damages. Also, there is the second time that you have stolen a school minibus from outside Rowntree High School, but this time you"--the woman scrolls her pen down the report in front of her--"drove it into a wall?"

     "I drove it into the wall both times."

     "Something was different the second time, Miss Hendricks?"
     She raises her eyebrows, stops, like she's asking a pub-quiz question. The other three panel members look to see what I'm gonnae say.
     "The second time it was on fire," I respond after a minute.
     "Correct."
     Brilliant. A correct answer. What do I win?

Amazing, right? You should all go read this book.