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Make Room! Make Room!

3.69 of 5 stars 3.69 · rating details · 1,685 ratings · 164 reviews

First published in 1966, Harrison's novel of an overpopulated urban jungle, a divided class system--operating within an atmosphere of riots, food shortages, and senseless acts of violence--and a desperate hunt for the truth by a cynical NYC detective tells a classic tale of a dark future.

Mass Market Paperback, 288 pages

Published May 1st 1994 by Spectra (first published 1966)

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Feb 11, 2012 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks, audiobook, mystery, 1954-1969, world-in-the-shitter, science-fiction

Color me happy and more than a little surprised to be decorating this review with as many stars as I am because I went into this novel with pretty subdued expectations. I would say expectations on par with those I hold for the latest cinematic embarassment by Mr. Dickoless Cage. I know that's not very nice, but I will never, never forgive that talent-free ass bozo for effectively castrating Ghost Rider in front of the general public, despite being a self-described fanboy of the character. The g...more

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Jul 08, 2012 Marvin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

First thing, Forget about the movie Soylent Green which was based on Harry Harrison's novel about overpopulation, Make Room! Make Room!. There is no Charleston Heston screaming , "Soylent Green is people!" and nothing about cannibalism. What we have instead is a very effective and disquieting look at a future where overpopulation is rampant and food and water sources are depleting. While he centers his story around a New York detective and a "accidental" murder, Harrison is more interested in de...more

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Jan 16, 2012 Osho rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

Well, okay enough for what it was, but A) (view spoiler) and B) (view spoiler) Leaving aside the movie, it's not very good as a novel (though fine as a polemic, and there's good world-building). As a plot, it's pretty basic, with no real twists (or at least, none that are really worked). The ending is pretty ant...more

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Aug 09, 2010 Kernos rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: science-fiction

I was initially disappointed with novel on which the awesome movie Soylent Green was loosely based. This is a favorite movie which I've watched at least once a year since I recorded it on VHS. Loosely based is an understatement. The only things the book and movie have in common are the issue of over-population, two mentions of the word 'Soylent", Sol, a minor character in the book and Shirl, a much different character in the book. Tab is probably closest to the book's Tab. The entire plot is dif...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Jason rated it 2 of 5 stars

Make Room! Make Room! was the basis for the classic sci-fi flick Soylent Green. Of course, the scene that everyone remembers from the film - Charleston Heston yelling, "Soylent Green is people!" at the end - never appears in the book. Sorry, kids, no cannibalism in this rather slow read from the 1960s, but lots of commentary on the dangers of overpopulation.

It's actually a fairly depressing story about environmental collapse: the food is pretty much gone and it's hot all the time due to global w...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Tony rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adapted-for-film, novels

I picked this up because I love genre mixtures such as this book's blend of crime with speculative fiction, and also because I was curious to see what relation it bore to the film (Soylent Green), which is based on it. The book is a very direct representation of the concerns of its time -- namely overpopulation and environmental degradation. It's set in Manhattan (and one portion in Brooklyn) thirty years into the future, during the summer and winter of 1999. The city is home to some 35 million...more I picked this up because I love genre mixtures such as this book's blend of crime with speculative fiction, and also because I was curious to see what relation it bore to the film (Soylent Green), which is based on it. The book is a very direct representation of the concerns of its time -- namely overpopulation and environmental degradation. It's set in Manhattan (and one portion in Brooklyn) thirty years into the future, during the summer and winter of 1999. The city is home to some 35 million people (a figure currently surpassed by the Tokyo-Yokohama metro area), everything from water to food to clothing is strictly rationed, and those with any wealth must travel with bodyguards. And while alcohol is certainly at a premium, proteins such as meat are even more so -- hence, "meateasies" as opposed to "speakeasies."

Against this backdrop we meet NYPD detective Andy Rusch, whose job is largely futile, and whose personal life consists of a shared apartment with an spirited elderly man named Sol. We also meet street kid Billy Chang, whose ill-advised attempt at burglary leads to murder -- a murder that Rusch gets assigned to investigate. The dead man is some kind of mob-connected bigwig, and the politicians who are in bed with the mob want some clarity as to whether it was a hit from a rival gang or not. The corruption is left more or less implied, and it's kind of nice that it's left mainly as background context, while Rusch attempts to pound the pavement in his almost soleless shoes to find an answer. What he does find is the murdered man's arm candy, Shirl, who is a beautiful young woman tying to survive using her looks.

The story kind of follows familiar noir themes thereafter, and you know nothing is going to turn out well for anyone. It's a textbook example of a writer using genre as framework for a larger message. The crime story is completely incidental -- the real meat of the book is overpopulation, lack of birth control, lack of research in environmental consequences of consumption, etc. Unfortunately, a lot of this comes in the form of direct rants from Sol, which are fairly clumsy info/editorial dumps and not even all that necessary. The depiction of the desperation in the streets, water riots, and such, all paint a vivid enough picture that the reader is well able to make the connections on their own, without the in-your-face monologues.

On the whole, it's kind of interesting, but a bit tepid. The plot of the film is somewhat different, and the book doesn't turn people into food.(less)

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Feb 23, 2013 Sineala rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, fiction, science-fiction, dystopia

This book has been on my to-read list for a while now; possibly I should have learned more about it first. I knew going in that (a) Harry Harrison also wrote the Stainless Steel Rat books, which I enjoyed, and (b) this book was made into the movie Soylent Green, which I have not seen except of course I know about the cannibalism, because doesn't everyone?

Well, there is no cannibalism in this book. Also no humor. It is a dark, dystopian look at a future (remember when 1999 was the future?) in whi...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Pete Young rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A word about Ondrea Barbe’s great photograph that appears on the cover of this recent Penguin Modern Classics edition: it’s the perfect accompaniment to the alliterative nature of both Harrison’s name and the book’s title, and at the same time reflects the oppressive heat and claustrophobia contained in the book itself. Make Room! Make Room! occupies the other end of Harrison’s spectrum in relation to his satire and humour: a murder in an overcrowded and riot-prone New York in 1999 forms the bac...more

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May 17, 2012 Howard rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the classic sci-fi novel that spawned the film “Solent Green”; written in 1966 it represented the fears for an ever growing population that prevail seemingly for every generation.

The basic story is set in 1999 in New York and because of 2 main factors: lack of birth control and improved medicine (leading to better life expectancy) the population is 35M (for info present population is about 8M), whilst the world population is at a heady 7 billion (about right for the present too). World...more This is the classic sci-fi novel that spawned the film “Solent Green”; written in 1966 it represented the fears for an ever growing population that prevail seemingly for every generation.

The basic story is set in 1999 in New York and because of 2 main factors: lack of birth control and improved medicine (leading to better life expectancy) the population is 35M (for info present population is about 8M), whilst the world population is at a heady 7 billion (about right for the present too). World resources are so depleted there’s lack of water, food and energy and everyone is scraping a living. Now Andy Rusch is investigating the murder during a bungled robber at wealthy mobster Mike O’Brian’s flat; he meets Shirl Greene, the girlfriend and Tab the body guard. Andy shares his flat with Sol a 75 year old. New York is destitute, rotting and poor because little shared amongst so many. There are protests but society is so down and out the acceptance of the reality means nothing can change.

There are several reasons to enjoy this book. The idea and representation of a world worn out is well conceived. The make do and mend philosophy works well. The portrayal of a one rich nation brought low is excellent. The basic murder investigation is hindered because technological development has stalled too. This is an image of a dirty pre-apocalypse situation that incompasses aspects of climate change too.

Now what’s not to like? Well there was a fundamental flaw in the depiction, which you might say I’m being picky over – but I don’t think so, the author could have worked it out: The population of New York is so large because of the unchecked birth rate so in 1966 to 1999 means that the vast majority of the 35M citizens are under 33years old if not basically children: Every character identified should have a wealth of siblings and/or be sharing with their large families – nope. Sol is alone and uncared for yet he would be the notional parent (the root cause of the population) with lots of kids to care for him – nope. I also wonder if practically the depletion of resources could happen that quickly and if there wouldn’t be natural reasons why the population growth would be inhibited (i.e. family’s individual wealth, reduced spending on healthcare etc). Birth control is supposedly ‘wrong’ in many countries which surprising have some of the lowest birth rates today. In a nutshell I think the error is placing the story in 1999 – not a hindsight issue please - but 2099 or 2199 would match better the maths. The moralising later in the story by Sol seems out of place and I felt like I was reading a sermon. Finally the story lacks a finale (don’t expect the famous Solent Green idea of the film at all).

This is a sort of ‘The Road’ prequel, easily read and worth a look out for.
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Dec 14, 2011 L.E. Fitzpatrick rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was extremely enthusiastic when I came across this book: a story written in the 1960's about the over populated future of 1999. The book is set in New York 1999, or rather in a hell-like New York 1999 and Harry Harrison's predictions about the future are scarily accurate at times. There are charming moments when this book betrays the year it was written, there is no mention of telephones or computers or any of the modern technology that the 1980's cultivated and that had become a staple of the...more

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Nov 14, 2010 ♥Xeni♥ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, fiction, movies-of-books, ebook, dystopian, thriller, mystery

Hmm, just finished and I have to say that it wasn't as exciting as the movie, Soylent Green. The framework for the movie is there, but the film took the whole plot to another level and created the famous tag line "soylent green is people".

Other than that, the book was actually an amusing sci-fi mystery read. Andy is a cop sent to find the killer of a high profile murder. While he is searching for the suspect (who is in hiding) we learn all about his life in the "modern" world: overpopulated, ov...more

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May 06, 2010 Kathryn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, sci-fi-fantasy

Reading "Make Room Make Room", I can understand why someone would want to make a movie out of this. Harrison creates a fascinating slice-of-life portrait of New York in a world where there simply isn't room. There's all sorts of interesting details about how people survive when there's no more meat (that any of US would want to eat, anyway), no steady supply of food other than crackers made from processed and crumbled seaweed, and next to no water. And you get strangely caught up in the characte...more

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Jan 27, 2010 Boody rated it 4 of 5 stars

Being a fan of the Stainless Steel Rat, Bill the Galactic Hero and Deathworld books when I was younger, I had to pick a copy of this up when I saw it cheap in a local book store.

It's been a long time since I saw Soylent Green the movie, so I ended up reading the book and waiting for the bits of the movie I vaguely remember to appear but it never really happened. Interesting to see that the cross promotion of loosely connected books/movies isn't a modern phenomenon.

Harrison's portrayal of overc...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Zack Olson rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: genre-bender, neo-noir, book-to-film, distopian, speculative, reviewed

I have never seen ‘Soylent Green,’ so I cannot compare it to this novel. However, ‘Soylent Green,’ is such a pop culture fixture that I know of it, and of its ultimate terrible revelation. Knowing what I do about the film and having read this novel, I would hesitate to compare ‘Make Room! Make Room!’ to ‘Soylent Green’ even if I had seen it. They are very far from the same. ‘Soylent Green’ is reportedly a strange dystopian murder mystery of sorts, leading to a dreadful revelation in the end. ‘Ma...more I have never seen ‘Soylent Green,’ so I cannot compare it to this novel. However, ‘Soylent Green,’ is such a pop culture fixture that I know of it, and of its ultimate terrible revelation. Knowing what I do about the film and having read this novel, I would hesitate to compare ‘Make Room! Make Room!’ to ‘Soylent Green’ even if I had seen it. They are very far from the same. ‘Soylent Green’ is reportedly a strange dystopian murder mystery of sorts, leading to a dreadful revelation in the end. ‘Make Room! Make Room!’ is one dreadful revelation after another, right up to the end.

On the surface, this novel appears to be a dystopian crime story, a story about a cop chasing a murderer through a decayed and overcrowded city, but there is much to be seen below the surface of this story as well. Beneath the surface, the story is about human nature; about greed; about hypocrisy; about desperation; about survival.
There is no hero in this story. You might assume that since Andy is the protagonist of the story that he is also a hero. He is not. Certainly he does catch Billy Chung, but that event is inconsequential at best. If Andy is anything, he is an everyman. He uses his job as the larger ills of the world around him, which he feels he cannot change. He is like so many people in his world, , apathetic to all but his own interests and obsessions, one of which is catching Billy Chung. He’s also a bit of a hypocrite. There is no heroism in that.

Shirl is certainly no hero. Unlike Andy, she at least feels some emotional reaction to the sorry state of the world around her, but she is incapable of channeling those emotions into any useful action to promote change. Even more so than Andy, her self-interest quashes the better part of her humanity.

“Well,” you might ask, “What about Sol? He ends up being sort of heroic doesn’t he?” Does he? I don’t think so. He lives the great majority of his life ignoring the world as it gets worse, all the time knowing that people can change things for the better, never bothering to insight that change. His death results neither from any sort of great revelation or any great act of heroism. He simply gets fed up and decides, even though he believes it is too late, to go out and protest. But considering his belief that the world is nearly irredeemable already, his death is more an act of suicide than heroism.

So we’ve established that there are no heroes in the novel, but there is no single villain to focus upon either. Billy Chung is a criminal but is not a villain. Criminal and villain are not the same thing, at least for anyone who can understand the higher levels of Kohlberg’s model of human morality. He is simply a product of his environment. He is, like anyone else in the novel, just trying to survive the only way he can.

There is no heroism and no innocence left in the world that Harrison creates. There is only the most basic of human instincts; the compulsion to survive. There is only the human race, laid so very low after falling from the apex of its own arrogance. Instead of using the intelligence that supposedly sets them so far above the kingdom of the beasts, humans have bowed over and over again to baser instincts; consume, reproduce, destroy. Harrison shows us here the consequences of blatantly ignoring the potential of our own intelligence and of failing to exercise the compassion and solidarity we are capable of. It is a message that—in a world where we are still dependent upon fossil fuels and reluctant to invest in long-term alternatives for energy because the results do not come soon enough for us, a world where cruelty is a commonplace occurrence, a world in which children and adolescents choose to end their lives because of torment and ridicule delivered by both their peers and adults—I find it hard to disagree with.

While I may largely agree with the message of this novel, I am not entirely pleased with the delivery of that message. There are places in this novel that feel downright instructive. Sol’s rant to Shirl is the best example I can think of. As I read that portion of the novel, I knew that the beliefs and exact words of the author were bleeding through. I don’t like being beaten about the head with a book I’ve already read. More simply, I don’t like being told something that I can already see for myself. Didacticism is the wrong educational strategy to inspire holistic, long-lasting positive change.

There were two other things that took away from the novel. First, the dialogue does not always drive the story forward. Wasted dialogue is one of the best ways to bore a reader into skipping through a story without reading it all, or worse, abandoning the story entirely. Second, the love story in the novel feels somewhat hollow and contrived. It seems like more of a literary device to show that Andy still has some emotion left, that his humanity is not completely gone, but I think there may have been better and more subtle ways to do the same thing.

I think that ‘Make Room! Make Room!’ is an important work of twentieth century fiction. I think it has an important message to endow, a message that seems to go very much ignored a lot of the time. However, it is a bit lacking in the literary department.

Now let’s talk about entertainment value—which I purposely left for the end of this review. You may be saying, “Yeah. Yeah. Philosophy, morality, blah blah blah. Is it entertaining?” Bottom line: yes, it is entertaining. The surface story is fairly interesting and the pace is good, but be warned that there can be no happy ending in a story like this, only the potential of a happy ending at some undetermined later date.
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Jul 09, 2011 Roger Loran Bailey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I started this book I fully expected that I would give it at least four stars. Harry Harrison is one of the old-time science fiction writers who have given me so much enjoyment through the years and I may have even read this one in the distant past, but if I did I don't quite remember. I could not quite bring myself to give it so many stars though. I think the story may have worked better back in 1966 when it was first published, but even then the author set it in the too near future. It is...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Nancy Oakes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

Considering that this classic novel of sci-fi was written in the 1960s, it's still quite a grabber and definitely worth reading. You're welcome to stay here for the short version or click here for the longer one.

The setting for Make Room! Make Room! is New York City, 1999, well beyond teeming with a population of 35 million people. Food is a precious commodity and water is rationed,except for the rich who have speakeasy-like secret meat markets for their shopping pleasures and can enjoy long sho...more Considering that this classic novel of sci-fi was written in the 1960s, it's still quite a grabber and definitely worth reading. You're welcome to stay here for the short version or click here for the longer one.

The setting for Make Room! Make Room! is New York City, 1999, well beyond teeming with a population of 35 million people. Food is a precious commodity and water is rationed,except for the rich who have speakeasy-like secret meat markets for their shopping pleasures and can enjoy long showers in their guarded apartments.

One of the defenders of the people in this overpopulated New York City filled with desperate people is Andy Rusch who lives in a room next to Sol, an elderly man who fills Andy's head with his old stories & opinions. Andy is currently tasked with finding Billy Chung, the murderer of a wealthy criminal named Michael O'Brien, who most of the policemen are glad to see gone. Andy wonders why this guy's death is such a big deal. All he knows is that the word has come down from the politicians that he's to give the case top priority. Overworked, tired, with a little extra food ration for being a cop, he starts his investigation and meets Shirl Greene, girlfriend/mistress to the dead guy, who is about to be tossed out into the streets; Billy Chung manages to find a way to disappear, holing up with a former priest who is waiting for the turn of the millennium, for the new heaven and new earth. Each character represents a different segment of the population; the murder plot is the frame for the real point of this book, which examines the hell of "an overpopulated future," as well as how things got to this state.

While some reviewers say that the themes in this novel aren't relevant in today's world, I say a) read it again...you'll find plenty of issues that resonate today, and b) that it is an intriguing look at the looming issues of its time: overpopulation and the failure of the earth to sustain an out-of-control population was a real concern back then. Another prevalent criticism of this book was that it was nothing like the movie Soylent Green -- and failed to mention the secret behind the food. Really? Seriously? This book didn't even go down that path, so why on earth criticize it for something that Hollywood made up after the fact? Even Harrison, as his LA Times obituary notes, thought the film only occasionally "bore a faint resemblance to the book."

While Harrison's doom-and-gloom scenario of 35 million people in New York City never came to pass, the book shouldn't just be one you turn your nose up at. According to the author's obituary, Tom Doherty, founder of Tor Books, noted that Harrison saw science fiction as a medium that "caused people to think about our world and what it could become.” That's one major reason I read sci-fi, although I have to admit I'm partial to older novels like this one. I liked it, and while maybe it's not the best sf novel I've ever read, it's definitely one I won't forget. (less)

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Sep 27, 2012 Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a 1966 dystopian future novel that takes place in New York City, now with 35 million people, and the world's resources largely used up. The main characters, the initial plot, and mostly the circumstances were used to create the movie Soylent Green, but the key part of the movie is not in the book at all - Soylent Green is just a meat substitute made of soybeans and lentils, one of the best things to eat in a place where people largely subsist on seaweed crackers. While perhaps necessary...more

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Jun 20, 2012 Richard rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: inventory-box-02

Forget what they said in the film adaptation Soylent Green, in this diatribe against uncontrolled population growth, Soylent Green is a meat substitute (veggie burger) made from soybeans & lentil peas. In an overpopulated US where eating real meat has been banned, food shortages & food riots have become commonplace. The twist? (view spoiler)...more

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May 18, 2013 Burkay Yalnız rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Şu Bebek-katili Yasa dedikleri mi?"
"Kim diyormuş?" diye bağırdı Sol, botu sinirle ovalayarak, "Onlar kim? Bir avuç salak hepsi de. Akıllarını Orta Çağ'da bırakmış, beyinlerini örümcek tutmuş insanlar. Yani salaklar."
"Ama, Sol...insanları inanmadıkları bir şeyi yapmaya zorlayamazsın. Çoğu kişi hala bunun bebekleri öldürmek olduğunu düşünüyor."
"Yanlış düşünüyorlar. Dünyanın mankafalarla dolu olması benim suçum mu? Doğum kontrolünün bebek öldürmekle uzaktan yakından alakası olmadığını sen de b...more "Şu Bebek-katili Yasa dedikleri mi?"
"Kim diyormuş?" diye bağırdı Sol, botu sinirle ovalayarak, "Onlar kim? Bir avuç salak hepsi de. Akıllarını Orta Çağ'da bırakmış, beyinlerini örümcek tutmuş insanlar. Yani salaklar."
"Ama, Sol...insanları inanmadıkları bir şeyi yapmaya zorlayamazsın. Çoğu kişi hala bunun bebekleri öldürmek olduğunu düşünüyor."
"Yanlış düşünüyorlar. Dünyanın mankafalarla dolu olması benim suçum mu? Doğum kontrolünün bebek öldürmekle uzaktan yakından alakası olmadığını sen de biliyorsun. Hatta onları kurtarıyor. Hangi suç daha büyük - çocukların açlıktan veya hastalıktan ölmesine göz yummak mı, yoksa daha ilk baştan istenmeyenlerin hiç doğmamasını sağlamak mı?"
"Öyle düşünürsen farklı geliyor. Ama tabiat kanununu unutmuyor musun? Doğum kontrolü bunu çiğnemek olmuyor mu?
"Hayatım, tıp tarihinin kendisi tabiat kanununu çiğnemek demek. Kilise -hem Protestan hem de Katolik Kilisesi- anestezi kullanımını durdurmaya çalıştı çünkü bir kadının doğum yaparken acı çekmesi tabiat kanunuydu. İnsanların hastalıktan ölmesi de tabiat kanunuydu. Vücudun kesilip açılmaması ve tamir edilmemesi de tabiat kanunu. Hatta Bruno adında bir herif mutlak doğruluğa ve böyle tabiat kanunlarına inanmadığı için kazığa bağlanarak yakıldı. Bir zamanlar her şey tabiat kanununa karşıydı, şimdi doğum kontrolü de bunların arasına katılıyor. Çünkü bugün sıkıntılarımızın hepsi dünyada çok fazla sayıda insan olmasından kaynaklanıyor.
"Bu çok basit bir açıklama, Sol. Her şey öyle siyah beyaz değil..."
"Evet, öyle, kimse bunu kabul etmek istemiyor, ama öyle. Bak, bugün berbat bir dünyada yaşıyoruz ve sıkıntılarımızın tek sebebi var. Çok fazla lanet olası insan. Söyle bakalım, nasıl oluyor da insanoğlunun bu yeryüzünde yaşadığı zamanın yüzde doksan dokuzunda hiç nüfus fazlası sorunumuz olmamış?"
"Bilmiyorum, hiç düşünmedim."
"Tek düşünmeyen sen değilsin. Sebep -savaş, sel, deprem gibi önemsiz şeyler hariç -herkesin köpek gibi hasta olması. Bir sürü bebek ölüyordu, bir sürü çocuk ölüyordu, herkes genç yaşta ölüyordu. Çin'de pirinçten başka bir şey yemeden yaşayan bir rençber otuzuna gelmeden yaşlılıktan ölüyordu. Bunu dün gece TV'de işittim, inanırım da. Senatörler'den biri, sömürge Amerika'sında çocukların okuduğu bir okul kitabından alıntı yaptı; şöyle bir şeydi: 'Küçük kız veya erkek kardeşine iyi davran çünkü ömrü fazla olmayacak.' Sinek gibi üreyip sinek gibi ölüyorlardı. Çocuk ölümü diyorsun -hem de nasıl! Üstelik çok uzun zaman önce değil ha. 1949'da Ordu'dan ayrıldıktan sonra Meksika'ya gitmiştim. Ordaki bebekler senin benim hiç duymadığım hastalıklardan ölüyorlar. Bir yaşına gelmeden çocukları vaftiz etmiyorlar çünkü o yaşa gelene kadar çoğu ölüyor, vaftiz etmek de bir sürü para. Onun için orada hiç nüfus sorunu yoktu. Bütün dünya da koca bir Meksika'ydı, bir taraftan ürüyor, bir taraftan ölüyorlardı, ve eşitlik bozulmuyordu."
"Peki değişen ne oldu?"
"Ne değişti söyleyeyim" Botu kıza doğru salladı. "Modern tıp geldi. Her şeyin çaresi bulundu. Sıtma yeryüzünden silindi, insanları genç yaşta öldürüp nüfusu aşağıda tutan onun gibi bir sürü hastalık da. Ölüm kontrolü geldi. Yaşlı insanlar daha uzun yaşamaya başladı. Önceden ölecek olan bebekler yaşar oldu, onlar da şimdi giderek daha uzun yaşayan yaşlı insanlar halini alıyor. Dünyaya durmadan insan takviyesi yapılıyor, ama aynı hızla dünyadan ayrılmıyorlar. Ölen her kişi başına üç kişi doğuyor. Böylece nüfus katlanarak artıyor ve giderek de daha çabuk artar hale geliyor. Dünyayı saran bir insan vebası, bir insan hastalığı var. Daha çok sayıda insan daha uzun yaşıyor. Daha az insan doğmalı, cevap bu işte. Ölüm kontrolü var, - bunu doğum kontrolüyle dengelememiz lazım"
"İnsanlar bunun bebekleri öldürmek olduğunu düşünürken bunu nasıl yapacaksın anlamıyorum."
"Kes şu ölü bebek lafını!" diye bağırdı Sol ve botu odanın bir köşesine fırlattı. "Bu işin içinde bebek filan yok -ne canl, ne ölü- bu sadece, duyduklarını, tek kelimesini anlamadan, tekrar eden aptalların çarpık kafalarında. Sözüm meclisten dışarı," diye ekledi pek de samimi olmayan bir sesle. "Hiç var olmayan bir şeyi nasıl yok edebilirsin? Hepimiz yumurta yarışının galipleriyiz, ama yarışı kaybeden -biyolojik terimi hoş görürsen- spremlerin arkasından kimsenin ağladığını duymadım daha."
"Sol, neden bahsediyorsun Allah aşkına?"
"Yumurta yarışı. Her yumurta döllenirken bir, iki milyon sprem yüzüyor, bu işi yapmak için yarış ediyor. Ama içlerinden sadece bir tanesi yarışı kazanabilir çünkü döllenme olduğu anda diğer hepsi ayazda kalıyor. Kimse yarışı kazanamayan milyonlarca spermi umursuyor mu? Cevap, hayır. Öyleyse, doğum kontrolü için kullanılan bütün bu karışık çizelgeler, aletler, haplar, tapalar, ilaçlar nedir? O tek bir spermin de yarışı kazanmamasını sağlama yolları. Bebek bunun neresinde? Ben etrafta bebek filan göremiyorum"
"O şekilde ifade edersen, ben de göremiyorum. Ama bu o kadar basitse, niçin bu konuda daha önce hiçbir şey yapılmamış?"
Sol uzun bir iç çekti, gamlı gamlı gidip botu yerden aldı ve tekrar cilalamaya başladı.
"Shirl," dedi, "Bunun cevabını bilsem beni yarın Başkan yaparlar. Cevap bulmaya gelince hiçbir şey o kadar basit değil. Herkesin kendine göre fikirleri var, onları kabul ettirip, başka herkesin canı cehenneme diyorlar. İnsan ırkının tarihi böyle. Bizi tepeye çıkaran bu oldu, şimdiyse raydan çıkarıyor. Sorun şu ki, insanlar her türlü sıkıntıya, ölen bebeklere, otuz yaşında yaşlanmaya katlanırlar, yeter ki bu böyle olagelmiş olsun. Bunu değiştirmeleri için gayret et, dedem için iyi olan benim için de iyidir diyerek sana karşı koyarlar, ölüm döşeğinde bile. Sonra da ölür giderler. Birleşmiş Milletler Meksika'da insanları öldüren sıtmayı taşıyan sivrisinekleri öldürmek için evleri DDT ile ilaçladığı zaan askerler insanları tuttu ki ilaçlama yapılabilsin. Mobilyaların üstüne sıkılan beyaz toz yerlilerin hiç hoşuna gitmemişti, göze hoş görünmüyormuş. Gözümle gördüm. Ama bu bir istisnaydı. Ölüm kontrolü insanlar farkında olmadan dünyaya giriverdi. Doktorlar gittikçe daha iyi ilaçlar kullanır oldu, su kaynakları iyileşti, kamu sağlık görevlilieri hastalıkların eskisi gibi yayılmasını önledi. Kimse anlamadan, hemen hemen doğal bir şekilde oldu bu, ama şimdi dünyada çok insan var. Bu konuda bir şey yapılması lazım. Ama yapmak demek insanların değişmesi, bir çaba harcaması, akıllarını kullanması demek, çoğu insan da bunu yapmak istemiyor."
"Yine de özel hayata müdahale gibi görünüyor, Sol. İnsanlara çocuk sahibi olamazsın demek."
"Yeter ama! Ölü bebeklere geri döndük! Doğum kontrolü çocuk yapamazsın demek değil ki. İnsanların nasıl yaşamak istedikleri konusunda bir seçenekleri olması demek. Kösnüyen, düşünmeden üreyen hayvanlar gibi mi, yoksa mantıklı yaratıklar gibi mi? Evli bir çift bir, iki veya üç çocuk mu yapsa daha iyi -ki bu, dünya nüfusunu dengede tutacak ve herkese tam bir yaşama şansı sağlayacak makul bir sayı- yoksa düşünmeden, umursamadan dört, beş, altı çocuk yapıp, onları açlık, soğuk ve sefalet içinde büyütse mi daha iyi? Şu anki dünyada durum böyle işte," diye ekledi, pencereden dışarı işaret ederek.
"Dünya böyle ise, o zaman herkes senin söylediğin gibi düşüncesiz ve bencil."
"Hayır, ben insan ırkından umudu kesmedim. Onlara hiç anlatılmadı ki, çoğu hayvan gibi doğup hayvan gibi öldü. Ben eşşekkafalı politikacıları ve sözde halk liderlerini suçluyorum; bu konudan devamlı kaçındılar, örtbas ettiler çünkü tartışmalı bir konuydu - canı cehenneme dediler, etkisini gösterene kadar yıllar geçer, benden sonra gelecekler düşünsün. Böylece insanoğlu bir asır içinde, birikmesi milyonlarca yıl süren yeryüzü kaynaklarını sildi süpürdü ve üst kademede hiç kimse buna aldırış etmedi, onları uyarmaya çalışan sesleri dinlemedi, bıraktılar fazla üretelim ve fazla tüketelim; şimdi de petrol bitti, toprağın humus tabakası eridi gitti, ağaçlar kesildi, hayvanların soyu tükendi, yeryüzü zehirlendi, bütün bunların karşılığında elimizde ne var, geri kalan kırıntılar için savaş eden yedi milyar insan, sefil bir hayat süren ve hala kontrolsüz bir şekilde üreyen insanlar. Onun için ayağa kalkıp bir şeyler söyleme zamanı geldi bence."(less)

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Mar 19, 2013 Alice rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, dystopian, classic, science-fiction

This book is different from the film, but is much better than the movie. Soylent is one of my most favorite movies and saying the book is better was really a tough call!
Most of the prophecies outlined in this book are spot on, just add roughly 10+ years to the date, for best results add 10 years to that!

However, these times in reality are much softer and more sugar coated than the world depicted in "Make Room! Make Room!". As Americans, we are lucky to not be dying of starvation like people in m...more This book is different from the film, but is much better than the movie. Soylent is one of my most favorite movies and saying the book is better was really a tough call!
Most of the prophecies outlined in this book are spot on, just add roughly 10+ years to the date, for best results add 10 years to that!

However, these times in reality are much softer and more sugar coated than the world depicted in "Make Room! Make Room!". As Americans, we are lucky to not be dying of starvation like people in many other countries. We do have rampant disease in this country (it's okay just take this medication). We are nutritionally devoid even though we are the fattest nation on this planet. What we eat is what's making us sick. At least we have food, if you can call most of it that. Overall we're okay. There are 7 billion people on this planet, just like in the book, so the corporations have to think of a very clever way to keep us subdued and complacent. I think they're doing a great job! Just look at how crazy I seem? No cuckoo Alex Jones crap here, I'm just calling it like I see it.

It just blew my mind the things that Harrison predicted back in 1966! Maybe everyone should read more dystopian sci-fi. Then we could possibly start "caring" about the self-inflicted damage we are creating for ourselves and the generations to come. It's not that hard, I think of the film Idiocracy, eventually there won't be enough room for all of our trash. Oh, and fact; we will eventually run out of oil. For that matter we are depleting most of the other natural resources too. No hippie here, I'm just a realist.
And as far as Sol's (great) birth control rant, it's so true! What about all of those other MILLIONS of sperm that don't make it in the fertilization rat-race? And, why would you want to bring a life into this world that you can't take care of? Now imagine that Romney (or insert any other fathead) won presidency and made abortion illegal. Like we don't already have enough goddamned people.
This book was "A"mazing because it had an honest ending. Not every story can or should end in sunshine and rainbows. What's wrong with me? I love a good depressing ending.
Least it's real.

(less)

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Mar 12, 2013 Evelyn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-classic, dystopia, end-of-the-world, from-library, must-buy-a-copy, read-in-2013, science-fiction, all-time-favourites

Harrison's now cult classic dystopian tale of an overpopulated New York City often gets forgotten about in comparison to the very loosely based film version, Soylent Green. Whilst the book doesn't have the whole sensationalized hook of cannibalism (none of this is in the story) which so dominates the film, it stills provides an eery read which has all the hallmarks of a great dystopian novel. We have mass overpopulation and its myriad related problems, corruption at the top, a main character who...more

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Nov 24, 2010 Vivian rated it 2 of 5 stars

Vaguely remembered watching the movie, "Soylent Green" way back in the 70's, and vaguely remembered liking it. (I was a idealistic pre-teen at the time:)) I wondered if the book the movie was based on would equal the movie, but there were too many differences, and the plot at times dragged horribly. In fact, I'd say there is no real plot, since the book shows us a kind of "slice of life" of Manhattan, circa 1999 (30+ years in the future when the book was written), an overpopulated, underfed, and...more

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Aug 01, 2009 Alastair rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an interesting vision of the future given that is was written in 1966 and set in 1999. It doesn't suffer from having too many ridiculous technological advances; anti-gravity drives, shiny silver suits, robots and so on. In fact, in Harrison's overcrowded world, a lot of technology has regressed in a very plausible way. The only areas where science seems to have progressed are in crowd-control and synthetic food production.

The book started very strongly, but the promising plotlines that...more

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Oct 12, 2009 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a really wonderful book. I read it before I watched the movie (Soylent Green), but because a co-worker told me about the movie. It was really interesting to watch the movie just after finishing the book and compare the two. In many ways they were almost polar opposite, but then again, the essentials were very much the same.

New York (and the entire world) are overpopulated and there is very little food and pretty much no space. According to the book the only decent place left to live in...more

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Apr 10, 2012 Shelly - The Illustrated Librarian - rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: detective, film, morality, murder, survival, violence, overpopulation, new-york, starvation, cautionary-tale

This is the book on which the movie "Soylent Green" is based. It is not the horrific concept of recycling humans into "SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!" It is rather a treatise on overpopulation and the depletion of the planet's resources. BTW, Soylent Green isn't people.

That is not to say that it is not horrific. The world's population has grown to epic, out-of-control numbers. Of course, a burgeoning population is going to deplete the planet's natural resources...and then what?

The book gives us a sl...more

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Mar 24, 2013 David rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle-e-reader

Everyone remembers the movie, "Soylent Green," which starred Charlton Heston as Andy. (Many don't remember Edgar G. Robinson as Sol). However, Harrison's story is much different than the movie and very dark. It's a story about the impact of overpopulation and how that plays out in the City of New York.

The tale has a bit of the mid-1900's cast to it in the roles of the various characters. Some readers who are sensitive to gender roles/stereotypes might take offense. (Shame on you!) Yet I found t...more

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Feb 17, 2013 Lee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystopia, fiction, ebook

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In 1999, New York City suffers from overpopulation as 35 million people live there. The country as a whole is also struggling with population issues. In that environs Chinese American Billy Chung lives in the floating slums of New York Harbor. During a food riot, Billy escapes with meat that he sells so that he can fund his effort to become a telegram delivery person. During a delivery, he finds an apartment that looks easy to break into, which he does. However the occupant is home and Billy kil...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Rosario (http://rosario.blogspot.com/) rated it 2 of 5 stars

This was the book for my October book club. It's a futuristic, written in 1966, but set in 1999, in a world where overpopulation has taken a terrible toll. Water, food, housing, everything is running out, and millions live either in indigence or on the edge of it. As things get worse and worse, we follow police detective Andy Rusch as he investigates the murder of a powerful mafioso, and falls in love with Shirl, the murdered man's mistress.

The most notable thing about this one is really how, fo...more

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Sep 02, 2012 Stompro rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very interesting book. Written in 1966 with a speculation on what the world will look like in 1999. Based on the premise that the US was currently using %50 of the worlds resources (in the 1960's) but only had a small percentage of the worlds population. It was also intended as an educational piece about the stupidity of not having access to birth control so women could choose to have kids, or choose how big their families would be. I'm glad that battle was won.

Parts of the book are laughable si...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Sarah Sammis rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: pc, read-in-2006

Make Room! Make Room! is an excellent social commentary akin to Swift's "A Modest Proposal" and Wells's Time Machine. Harrison builds a New York city with a population 6 times what it was during the last "Dust Bowl" of the Great Depression and sees how things would work (or not work) with massive over population, dwindling water supplies, lack of fuel, global warming (though Harrison doesn't call it that), and a shortage of food. These crises form the back drop for a cop who is trying to solve a...more

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About Harry Harrison

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Harry Harrison (born Henry Maxwell Dempsey) was an American science fiction author best known for his character the The Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966), the basis for the film Soylent Green (1973). He was also (with Brian W. Aldiss) co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction G...more

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Books by Harry Harrison

The Stainless Steel Rat (Stainless Steel Rat, #1)

The Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat (Stainless Steel Rat, #1-3)

A Stainless Steel Rat is Born (Stainless Steel Rat, #0)

The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You! (Stainless Steel Rat, #4)

The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World (Stainless Steel Rat, #3)

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Quotes from Make Room! Make Room!

“Because of the power shortage and lack of replacement parts there was only one elevator running in the Empire State Building, and this one went only as high as the twenty-fifth floor. After that you walked.” — 2 people liked it

“He didn't say so but Andy agreed with the bodyguard. A good-looking bird like this one didn't have to kill anyone. What she did she did for D's and if a guy gave her too much trouble she'd just walk out and find someone else with money. Not murder.” — 2 people liked it

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