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Godbody
When Sturgeon died, in 5/85, he left behind an ouevre that included some of the best stories & novels in the sf genre. His later work was weak, however, & this last novel demonstrates the author at both his best & worst. The plot is skimpy, the characterizations virtually nonexistent, but this short novel is written with an energy & conviction that make it...more
Hardcover, 1st, 159 pages
Published
April 3rd 1986
by Donald I. Fine, Inc.
(first published 1986)
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Feb 12, 2012
Charles Dee Mitchell
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
late-20th-century-sf
The minister of a small congregation in a small New England town is driving home through the countryside when he notices a naked young man sitting by the side of the road. Every physical aspect of the young man is a shade of red, but not unpleasantly so. The colors blend together nicely, The idea of cinnamon comes to the minister's mind. He stops and asks the young man if he needs any help. The young man, unashamed and natural in his nakedness, approaches the minister's open passenger side windo...more
One misty, Sunday, Vancouver, B. C. autumn morning, 2004, after I'd completed an overnight shift at the traumatically-brain-injured, long-term, rehab-care facility where I used to work; I put on my fringed-suede coat and woollen toque and drove to the Capilano Indian band R.V. park, located beneath the Lion's Gate bridge which spans the Burrard inlet and walked among the many mobile homes until I found the "pad" (concrete) where Matthew McConnaughey was still sleeping in his 20ish foot Streamlin...more
GODBODY is about how a messiah-like entity transforms a small, repressed town in the Katskills.
I remember reading this, or attempting to (I'm not sure I was able to finish), back when I was a teenager and it had first been published. I hated it, and then forgot about it for years. Then somehow I thought of it again, and I realized that I had been far too young to understand or appreciate the book. (I don't just mean the sex parts. Back then I wouldn't have recognized a Christ figure if you'd nai...more
I remember reading this, or attempting to (I'm not sure I was able to finish), back when I was a teenager and it had first been published. I hated it, and then forgot about it for years. Then somehow I thought of it again, and I realized that I had been far too young to understand or appreciate the book. (I don't just mean the sex parts. Back then I wouldn't have recognized a Christ figure if you'd nai...more
Thematically I loved this book--and, knowing that Sturgeon was at the end when he completed it, I admire that it's more message than story. On the other hand, as a novel, it doesn't really work. It follows that indie film motif where the characters just run into each other and follow a predictable plotline that culminates exactly how you'd expect it to. Basically, Godbody is "The Bible, Part III: Second Coming" as Whitman and maybe a younger William Blake might have written it. I admire the fuck...more
The most beautiful account of the second coming that I have ever come across. Sturgeon had a hard time getting the novel right, but in this, his last, he hit it on all cylinders. As life affirming and full of painful, bleeding love for humanity as the rest of his works, this will leave you with a lump in your throat and a glow in your heart.
An excellent book. In addition to Stranger in a Strange Land, The Last Temptation of Christ, and Phenomenon, another look at the more physical side of the Messiah archetype. This, I'd say, is the one that most integrates spirit and holiness and sexuality. The writing is flowing, and told from many different points of view. Sturgeon bravely attempts to get at the heart of Christianity, to when it first started, scraping past the blindnesses and hypocrisies and over-complications of institutionali...more
Heinlein's Introduction to Sturgeon's swan song "novel" Godbody helped brace me to for this one, for one can easily misjudge this based on one's assumptions rather than the author's intent.
Written in Sturgeon's sensitive and elegant fashion -the style is more like that of the later to come Ursula Le Guin than of his golden age contemporaries Heinlein, Asimov, Williamson or van Vogt- and though more sexually explicit at times than necessary, it tell the tale of a perceived messiah in the guise o...more
Written in Sturgeon's sensitive and elegant fashion -the style is more like that of the later to come Ursula Le Guin than of his golden age contemporaries Heinlein, Asimov, Williamson or van Vogt- and though more sexually explicit at times than necessary, it tell the tale of a perceived messiah in the guise o...more
Mar 25, 2012
Erik Graff
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Sturgeon fans
Recommended to Erik by:
Larry Santoro
Shelves:
literature
This, Sturgeon's last novel, was published posthumously the year after his death. Although usually a science fiction writer, he works on the Messiah theme in this book. As the title suggests, his modern-day saviour does not come, as Jesus purportedly did, "to destroy the works of the female" by ending the cycle of births and deaths. Rather, he clears the minds of those lucky enough to encounter him so that they come to appreciate the workings of nature, including the fulfilment
their own emotion...more
their own emotion...more
This book is basically porn. I remember my mother lent this book to me back in High School when I was looking for a book to read. I don't think she knew what it was, just knew the author. I gave it to my brother when I was done and then it was given back to my mother. I was always curious what she thought when she finally got around to reading it.
Mar 10, 2012
Kathleen
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Everybody
Deceptively simple, yet each time I read this little book I find something that I either missed or that didn't touch me in previous readings.
I love this book! I have loaned and lost it several times. It's the only book that I have purchased multiple times over the years as I can't bear to be without a copy in my bookcase.
I love this book! I have loaned and lost it several times. It's the only book that I have purchased multiple times over the years as I can't bear to be without a copy in my bookcase.
“Did you ever talk to someone who simply and totally listens? Do you know how rare that is? Haven’t you ever realized that nobody wants to listen except to get ready for the next thing they’re going to say, or to catch their breath, or to get ammunition from you for their next sentence?”
Profound.
This book is deceptively simple and its message of love is pretty clear. It didn't change my life, but its broken down gospel of "love one another" gets straight to the heart of this life's greatest test...more
Profound.
This book is deceptively simple and its message of love is pretty clear. It didn't change my life, but its broken down gospel of "love one another" gets straight to the heart of this life's greatest test...more
This is probably one of the first books that really made me want to write -- to be able to connect with someone I'd never met in the way this book made me feel Sturgeon had connected to me.
Like all of Sturgeon's work, there is genius here; the characters shine and sparkle and come to life on the page, and it is filled to overflowing with the beauty and ugliness of who and how we are, us humans.
There is so much more I want to say about this book, but I can never capture how it touches me in the...more
Like all of Sturgeon's work, there is genius here; the characters shine and sparkle and come to life on the page, and it is filled to overflowing with the beauty and ugliness of who and how we are, us humans.
There is so much more I want to say about this book, but I can never capture how it touches me in the...more
A modern-day messiah story and one of my favorites. I re-read it when I want to feel good. By the way, there's sex in this book, but it's sex of the highest order between two loving human beings. It's what sex should be and so often isn't.
Please, don't compare this to Jonathan Livingston Seagull. It's more like a softcore mash up of the Jesus myth and Hair, but in Sturgeon's hands is beautiful, simple, skilled, compelling. Maybe a bit hokey at times, earnest. Overall, a quick potent read, quite worthwhile.
Not sure what to think of this one. The author basically makes a point in preaching to the reader that the bible clearly states that love and sex are the same thing, and it was after the death of Christ that the Church reorganized religion to control people and to make money. I learned from the book that, according to the authors point of view, the bible tells us what we can and cannot do; if there are scriptures preaching to us what we cannot do it must be because people were in fact doing thos...more
I read this years ago and kept it for a future read; glad I did! There are similarities between the theme of this novel and Stranger in a Strange Land, but also some major differences. Godbody is a marvelous character, however you view him.
Spiritual and sexy, I enjoyed it. Though I was hoping it wouldn't head towards Jesus, it was a nice reinvention of the idea of Jesus' teachings. Or maybe more of a reminder of the original message.
If I was forced to choose only one book to be my favorite book, this would be the one I would choose.
Visionario.Trascendental. Veinte años de espera para tocar el cielo.
I love Theoodore Sturgeon. I highly recommend anything by him.
Love Theodore Sturgeon
I read this book again and again. It's unique and riveting. A handsome naked young man has enormous powers, just in his touch, his glance, but of course, given his oddness, is hardly welcomed in the community in which he is spending the time of this novel. Strange, odd, evil and confused characters surround him, some who seem to understand, others who are extraordinarily touched by his presence and actions.
It's a short book, easy to read, and an experience you won't soon forget, I reckon.
It's a short book, easy to read, and an experience you won't soon forget, I reckon.
Apr 06, 2013
Tim
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
science-fiction
Wow!
The free-love messiah drifts into a town full of sexually repressed and obsessed and otherwise sexually messed up people and he heals most of them, sexually, with sex.
I am a great fan of Theodore Sturgeon, and I understand he was trying to stretch the boundaries of SF by dealing frankly with sexual issues, but the results here are kind of ludicrous.
I am a great fan of Theodore Sturgeon, and I understand he was trying to stretch the boundaries of SF by dealing frankly with sexual issues, but the results here are kind of ludicrous.
A well-written story about a Christ-like figure.
Feb 24, 2008
Krista the Krazy Kataloguer
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-adult-fiction
This is my least favorite of his books.
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Theodore Sturgeon (1918–1985) is considered one of the godfathers of contemporary science fiction and dark fantasy. The author of numerous acclaimed short stories and novels, among them the classics More Than Human, Venus Plus X, and To Marry Medusa, Sturgeon also wrote for television and holds among his credits two episodes of the original 1960s Star Trek series, for which he created the Vulcan m...more
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Jan 30, 2008 03:09pm