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Reviewed by Doreen Chombu for Readers' Favorite
Cyberpunk 1876 by Stephen Kagarise is a collection of poems inspired by words and phrases from The Daily Astorian, a historical newspaper. These poems wander through a world chasing after shiny prizes like gold bracelets, falling into habits like opium, and losing people along the way as industry grows. There’s plenty here about crumbling values and how people so often invite trouble into their lives. Kagarise doesn’t hold back when calling out how society judges women, turning their bodies into objects, and he digs into the damage those attitudes leave behind. Read about a man with a secret recipe, overwhelming thoughts of despair and suicide, the contrast between old traditions and new realities, the consequences of crimes, and unchecked desire. The book gives commentary on labor unrest, class conflicts, and state repression of workers, and poor manufacturing and commercial greed resulting in widespread industrial chaos, but also praises intellectual creativity amid societal ruin. Finally, the poems also explore the search for meaning after loss and the acceptance of the unknown.
Cyberpunk 1876 is a collection that is full of satire and societal ironies. It is layered with descriptions of man's own destruction that is often viewed as progress and growth, and how the things that matter, like love, individuality, and creativity, are criticized. Stephen Kagarise’s imagery is unique because it is set at the crossroads of Victorian life and a cyberpunk future, where old traditions clash with new machines—industrial age greed rubbing elbows with technology. He dives into addiction, gambling, sex work; all crimes born from poverty, corruption, and the cold people who cash in by pulling young people into the undertow. For anyone hoping hard work will save them—like in “Half Laden from the Metropolis”—the system seems rigged to trip them up, over and over. These poems make you reflect. This book will make you think about the interplay of progress and decline, and it critiques the failures of political and social structures to protect individuals and the working class.
