Beggars in Spain
by Nancy Kress · first published 1991
65% recommend35% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Thoughtful science fiction about genetic engineering and inequality: engineered Sleepless children who need no sleep and a rich-poor divide. Suits readers who like idea-driven stories about enhancement.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In a world where the slightest edge can mean the difference between success and failure, Leisha Camden is beautiful, extraordinarily intelligent ... and one of an ever-growing number of human beings who have been genetically modified to never require sleep.Once considered interesting anomalies, now Leisha and the other "Sleepless" are outcasts -- victims of blind hatred, political repression, and shocking mob violence meant to drive them from human society ... and, ultimately, from Earth itself.But Leisha Camden has chosen to remain behind in a world that envies and fears her "gift" -- a world
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A similar story is told from a somewhat different perspective in Beggars in Spain, an excellent novel by Nancy Kress. It won both the Hugo and Nebula awards. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68333.Beggars_in_Spain
on “How about an Olympic games for enhanced athletes?” ↗> Why not use this power to secrete chemicals that help you gain more control over yourself? If you haven't tried it yet, you might be a fan of Nancy Kress' Beggars in Spain. Instead of adult use of nootropics, it deals with prenatal gene editing taken to the extreme: the first generation of the "Sleepless", children who don't need to sleep and can function 24/7 at peak of…
on “Cyborgs and Space (1960) [pdf]” ↗Hmm. Are you familiar with "Beggars in Spain" by Nancy Kress? (Hint: past decade Hugo-award winner.) NB: if not, do not go and read it just now. Finish your own work first, then read it.
on “Ask HN: What Novel Are you Writing This Month?” ↗…Imperative Trilogy: Survival, Migration, and Regeneration. Maragaret Atwood, anything, but recently the MaddAddam trilogy: Oryx and Crake, Year of the Flood, and Maddaddam. Nancy Kress' Sleepless series: Beggars in Spain, Beggars and Choosers, and Beggars Ride.
on “What are your favourite sci-fi books?” ↗…sensing RF, or echolocation, etc.). Would we let some people have them, or routinely give them to everyone, or ban them outright? There have been quite a few SF treatments of these themes, Nancy Kress' Beggars in Spain comes to mind, or Kim Stanley Robinson Mars books (for the politics of modifications).
on “We Will End Disability by Becoming Cyborgs (2014)” ↗…heavily or changed my thinking. Some of the ones I felt stood out: "Understand" - Ted Chiang "Reasons to be Cheerful" - Greg Egan "Bicycle Repairman" - Bruce Sterling "The Good Rat" - Allen Steele "Beggars in Spain" - Nancy Kress
on “Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?” ↗Are you into Science Fiction? You may enjoy Nancy Kress' "Beggars in Spain." It's a story with a similar central thesis.
on “Brains Sweep Themselves Clean of Toxins During Sleep (2013)” ↗I recommend Nancy Kress's excellent science fiction trilogy "Beggars in Spain" for a good fictional exploration of this idea
on “Ask HN: What is the best income stream you have created till date?” ↗For a nice thoughtful imagination of said future, Nancy Kress's Beggars in Spain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beggars_in_Spain suggests one possible outcome. It has both gene editing to make better humans and unproductive masses. A short yet powerful read.
on “Baby is healed with first personalized gene-editing treatment” ↗Consider: Beggars in Spain. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68333.Beggars_in_Spain
on “The brain may be about to have its Ozempic moment” ↗Fascinating. Made me think of 'Beggars in Spain', an SF series that is well worth the read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beggars_in_Spain
on “What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep” ↗I highly recomend http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beggars_in_Spain You can find there rich and poor, genetic modifications only rich can afford, one (lack of the need to sleep) so special that it reshapes world. You can find there universal income as payment for voting.…
on “Elysium’s Director Thinks His Hellish Paradise Is Our Future” ↗…new government and army (because it's easier to tax than to manufacture and sell, when you have an army). So even in catastrophic scenario everything is back to status quo. If you like SF I recommend "Beggars in Spain". Nice vision about what might happen if 1% gets immensely more productive then the rest of humanity. > leaving the private sector as the only viable and legitimate provider. This could also undermine…
on “Stephen Hawking Says We Should Really Be Scared of Capitalism, Not Robots” ↗"Beggars in Spain" is exactly this and worth the read. There is a book and a short story but as usual, the short story packs more punch.
on “Engineering Sleep” ↗Nancy Kress wrote Beggars in Spain to explore nearly this exact topic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beggars_in_Spain In the book, the upperclass controls all capital and productivity and, literally and directly, buys the votes necessary…
on “What Happens When a State Is Run by Movie Stars?” ↗