The Demolished Man
by Alfred Bester
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Read in December, 2007
As much as I am a champion of genre related things, there are some problems with these classifications. One of the main problems stems from the stigma those outside of the appeal of genre often thrust upon books associated with a particular genre. That is to say, those who read only “literature” rarely, if ever, travel within the genre-ghettos, even if it means they may miss some truly great and profound works of fiction.
Place a book in the science fiction section of a book store and you...more
Place a book in the science fiction section of a book store and you...more
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Read in June, 2008
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Read in June, 2008
recommended to Lasairfiona by:
the Hugo award winner's listrecommends it for: Everyone!
First of all, the description above does not do this book justice nor does it accurately describe the plot. I might write the teaser like this:
In the future, the newly emerged Espers can read minds. They help out the "normals" by anticipating what they need and what a person wants to do next. Murder is nearly impossible because of these "peepers". But Ben Reich, and powerful and rich normal, wants to get rid of his rival. Reich is driven to get away with murder. What ...more
In the future, the newly emerged Espers can read minds. They help out the "normals" by anticipating what they need and what a person wants to do next. Murder is nearly impossible because of these "peepers". But Ben Reich, and powerful and rich normal, wants to get rid of his rival. Reich is driven to get away with murder. What ...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in November, 2006
recommends it for:
Who wouldn't I recommend this to?
Fantastic,
The Demolished Man goes well beyond the realm of it's genesis as pulp science fiction. In your mind create a mystery story told from the view of the criminal, wrap into that a psychological thriller about a man going insane in his own head, mix liberally with good old fashioned telepathy, you have tried to create The Demolished Man. Alfred Bester published this story as a serial in 1952, in the pulp sci-fi magazine, Galaxy.
Having read The Star My Destination first,...more
The Demolished Man goes well beyond the realm of it's genesis as pulp science fiction. In your mind create a mystery story told from the view of the criminal, wrap into that a psychological thriller about a man going insane in his own head, mix liberally with good old fashioned telepathy, you have tried to create The Demolished Man. Alfred Bester published this story as a serial in 1952, in the pulp sci-fi magazine, Galaxy.
Having read The Star My Destination first,...more
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I remember desperately looking for this book in library after library before finally finding it in a used bookstore on vacation, five minutes before the store was going to close. It was worth the wait.
Bester takes a great SF premise -- a man tries to get away with murder in a society with telepathic police -- and evolves it in a way that transcends its pulpy roots. His future world works because he takes the time to think it through. How would a society with telepaths function? What woul...more
Bester takes a great SF premise -- a man tries to get away with murder in a society with telepathic police -- and evolves it in a way that transcends its pulpy roots. His future world works because he takes the time to think it through. How would a society with telepaths function? What woul...more
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Read in May, 2008
One word review: archetypal.
Old-school sci-fi of the BEST kind: speculative. Truly. "The Demolished Man" was the first to win the Hugo award for best science fiction novel of the year, and I can see why. Bester paints a convincing picture of a future world at a crossroads in history, and the efforts of various characters to either survive or to control where that crossroads takes humanity. If that sounds too high-falutin', it's also a fairly gripping detective story, with chases an...more
Old-school sci-fi of the BEST kind: speculative. Truly. "The Demolished Man" was the first to win the Hugo award for best science fiction novel of the year, and I can see why. Bester paints a convincing picture of a future world at a crossroads in history, and the efforts of various characters to either survive or to control where that crossroads takes humanity. If that sounds too high-falutin', it's also a fairly gripping detective story, with chases an...more
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Read in June, 2008
This is classic sci-fi, winner of the very first Hugo Award in 1953, but you know, I just didn't like it. This was a mystery about a man who tries to get away with murder in a future where mindreading makes such a thing pretty much impossible. Maybe when this was first written it was fresh and thrilling, but fifty-five years later it just seems flat and uninteresting to me. The mindreading "peepers" are boring with their guild and their strict code of ethics that nobody really follo...more
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Read in April, 2008
Have to admit, I was kind of on cruise control towards the end of this. Full respect for winning the first Hugo. But since the first days of new science fiction, its nuts how quickly the ideas have evolved, so ideas about future technology are much better, even in novels not nearly well-written as this one. There's a lot more paper on people's desks in Bester's future. Bester is interested in a fairly primitive notion of what psychoanalysis is, and what it could be in a world of super evolved cl...more
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Read in July, 2008
I do not know my way around detective fiction or science fiction, so I have little to say about the "Demolished Man." I also generally avoid books that would lose nothing in their transition from paper to the big screen. Stories that do not need to be written are uninteresting as texts even if they are entertaining.
I kept having the sensation that I've already seen a film adaptation of Bester's novel; but it is more likely that others have borrowed from this influential writer. He...more
I kept having the sensation that I've already seen a film adaptation of Bester's novel; but it is more likely that others have borrowed from this influential writer. He...more
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An absolutely insane steamroller ride thru the dystopian future, as seen from the 1950s. When crime is quashed by telepaths, a psychotic corporate head conspires to rub out his business rival, and naturally gets more than he bargained for when things get complicated. Overtly sexual and typically chauvinistic for the time, it often reads like a Chuck Jones-era Warner Bros. cartoon; all crashy-smashy violence and great-googly-moogly dialogue(much of it shouted, of course). The resolution gets a...more
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Read in July, 1997
I haven't read that much psychoanalytical stuff since The Interpretation of Dreams. Reich's insanity is infectious while Powell's self-righteousness is remedied only by his rightness. I would've liked to see Dishonest Abe in action more. As usual the love interest seemed telegraphically obvious, but i fell in love with Bester's description of her. Thanks to Harry Harrison's intro: caught and looked for many nuances of language but i totally missed the fact that D'Courtney accepted the off...more
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Read in September, 2007
This was the first book to win the Hugo award. What's brillian t about it is that because it was written so early in the field of Science Fiction, you can really sense how the genre was being invented. Written in 51, Demolished Man reads a little like a hardboiled detective novel. The details of the setting are clever, yet vague, so one is able to create ones own image of this future world. Like so many of it's contemporaries the book focuses on issues of morality, humanity and evolution. Bu...more
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Read in June, 2008
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I have read many great reviews of this book on this site already, so other people already said a lot of what I would have liked to say. I will just add that I first read this book when I was maybe ten years old and had reread it several times ever since.
I first read it in russian translation, and when I got a chance to read it in the original maybe ten years ago, I was amazed at how good translation turned out to be.
I highly recommend this book to any SF lover.
I first read it in russian translation, and when I got a chance to read it in the original maybe ten years ago, I was amazed at how good translation turned out to be.
I highly recommend this book to any SF lover.
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Read in June, 2008
For genre fiction, this is about the top. Bester is completely in control of his world of peepers, its rules and characters in a way most sci-fi authors can only dream about. The account of the psychic cocktail party (and the creative typography) is genius, worth a million exploding spaceships. Some reviewers found this dated, but I loved it, much more than supposedly "up to date" stuff by people who can't write. Writing is the ultimate technology.
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Read in January, 2008
Another fascinating tale by Bester, though not as riveting as The Stars My Destination, however this book did win the first Hugo Award. It is set in the future in New York and is moderately paced. It is a story of intrigue, betrayal, and paranoia. As always Bester's characters and descriptions are vivid and he uses creative layouts for his text to help the reader understand what is happening in the characters minds.
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Read in May, 2003
It's the same story as "The Minority Report", as Dick blatantly ripped off Bester. It's extremely well told, and the highlight is Bester's playful use of unorthodox typography to represent telepathic communication. Bester is as good as cummings at such typographical games. The ending is lousy, but don't let that take much away from your enjoyment of an excellent science fiction novel.
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Read in December, 2007
This was a gift from my cousin Bob and reminds me of him in its style: male-oriented, sexist, intelligent. The plot was surprisingly good - I'm so easily disappointed with stories that don't quite make sense or hold together. The shallow characters and male-female relationships were a bit hard to take. But it did leave me with things to think about after it was over.
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This makes most current SF novels look slow and old fashioned - it's a rip-roaring and iconoclastic detective story in reverse (we know who did it, we just want to know if he'll get away with it.) Bester is a crazy writer, who shook SF with his style and energy with this and his other great book, TIGER, TIGER. I've never read his other books or short stories though.
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In a future where the law is staffed by telepaths, how can you plot a murder? Ben Reich thinks he’s found a way. Does he succeed? You’ll have to read the book to find out, and I envy anyone their first reading of this classic of science fiction.
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