January’s book group selection.This book is considered a classic science fiction book. In fact, on the cover it is touted as "The most influential science fiction novel of the 20th century". Up until we picked this for book group, I had never heard of this selection, keeping in mind that I’m sure there are many "classical scifi" books I have never heard of.
Welcome to the One State. The Great Benefactor sees all, controls all. D-503 rises when the bell rings, chews his breakfast exactly 50 times before swallowing, don’s his unif for the day and is the Builder of the spaceship Integral. He takes his exercise in his allotted time. He walks four abreast in step during the daily walks. When the bell rings, he lies down and sleeps a dreamless sleep. His world is one of logarithms and mathematical problems. His world is the One State.
Then he meets I-330 and falls madly in love. But there is no place in the One State for love. His pleasant feelings for the other two partners in his triumvirate evaporates as we watch D-503 shoves aside the pleasant O-90 and turn on his freind R-14. As D-503 discovers he has a "soul" he also feels the ravaging effects infatuation and intense jealousy. D-503 discovers there is more to life than the glass walls, the chiming of the bell, the marching four abreast during walks. D-503 discovers emotions and it is the inability to deal with these emotions that eventually bring about his, and the ones he loves, downfall.
This is a dark book. The prose and mental reasoning the main character move through is amazing. It is a look at a different kind of utopian society, where even happiness is dictated and defined by those in charge. I found it to be a fascinating tirade against communism and I wondered if most readers in another 20 years would even understand the passion and conflict that brought about such a story. I now feel and urge to go out and read Brave New World and 1984 - which I confess I have not yet read. Sometimes one just needs a little push to read some of the classics.
1 comment:
It's a good one, isn't it? I had to read it in Russian Civilization in college, and liked it. I've no idea what my classmates thought of it, asd probably most of them weren't SF readers. I think this book does not deserve to be overshadowed by its more famous cousins, Brave New World and 1984, especially as it predates both of them.
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