Brunner ranks right up there with Jules Verne in his ability to predict a world and problems that would not emerge for decades. Unfortunately, as a novel, it is held back by its uninspiring characters, lack of a compelling central conflict, and being much too long for the story it tells. Together, that makes it a book that is difficult to get through despite its brilliance.
Norman and Donald, our two central characters, take fully a third of this very long book to set out on their respective conflicts. Once they finally get going, there is a wonderful moment in the middle of the novel when things are happening and it is exciting to see what will happen next. Sadly, that fades quickly, and the novel resumes slogging toward an ending that feels pointless, as the narrative unravels again into a list of things to people we mostly don’t care much about.
The central themes here are genetic manipulation, overpopulation and government control over reproduction, the growing power of AI, and the breakdown of our societal psyche and the drug use and terrorism that result. In particular, computers using logic that is not comprehensible to humans, and the ‘muckers’ who commit mass murder because of mental health problems that seem representative of something wrong deep in the core of society struck very close to home. I hope we can find a way out soon, because Brunner is right – we can all feel the pressure, something fundamentally human that is lacking in our modern world, and the consequences it is causing are too disturbing to ignore.
The novel is horribly sexist. The only female character in the book who is more than a sex object is an incompetent reporter who misses the scoop of the century because she knocks off work at 4pm to get drunk. Other than her, all the “shiggies” are sexy, brainless waifs who float from man to man, moving in and shacking up in exchange for free rent.
It also seems rather self-indulgent that Brunner made the hero of his story a misunderstood writer. Really, the only man who can solve the great mystery who can fix the broken supercomputer in twenty minutes without any training is an alcoholic novelist?
So, all that to say, Brunner was clearly a genius, and predicted a number of things with uncanny prescience. That said, this isn’t a novel I will ever read again – it’s just much too long for the story it contains, and when we get right down to it, that story, even if shortened, isn’t even really compelling.
by brent_323