The Demolished Man

Feb 08, 2012 Jeffrey Keeten rated it 4 of 5 stars

In a world dominated by telepaths known as Espers or Peepers crime is very difficult to get away with. When thoughts and memories are up for grabs a man like Ben Reich, who is premeditating a murder, must employ unorthodox methods to protect his inner most thoughts. He decides to go to a jingle songwriter for protection. He asks for the most mundane song to be played, a song that simple will not escape your brain, the type of jingles from commercials (usually beer) my brother and I used to sing...more

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Nov 11, 2009 Richard rated it 2 of 5 stars

Recommended to Richard by: Borderlands-Books.com

Shelves: bookclub, classic, scifi

I probably never would have gotten to this classic if a reading group hadn’t chosen it… and I really wouldn’t have missed it.

My response was kinda “meh”, and I’ve been thinking about why. I believe at least two problems can interfere with my appreciation of any old book, and science fiction often has further liabilities.

The first general problem is that these works, when new, were sometimes exploring ideas that were fresh and invigorating. The passage of years and the spread of mass media means...more I probably never would have gotten to this classic if a reading group hadn’t chosen it… and I really wouldn’t have missed it.

My response was kinda “meh”, and I’ve been thinking about why. I believe at least two problems can interfere with my appreciation of any old book, and science fiction often has further liabilities.

The first general problem is that these works, when new, were sometimes exploring ideas that were fresh and invigorating. The passage of years and the spread of mass media means what was once new is now hackneyed. This can apply to the religious revelations of Fyodor Dostoevsky as well as to the scifi innovations of Alfred Bester.

The other broad problem is a change in style. In Dostoevsky’s time the reading population was probably biased heavily towards elites with a “liberal arts education” that we can only dream of today, and since reading was the dominant entertainment pastime the readers’ attention span was probably also beyond ours. Cultural changes have rendered Dostoevsky inaccessible and dull. In contrast, Alfred Bester was writing when popular culture was exploding, and the genre of science fiction was bursting with excitement and creativity. We’ve gotten much more serious since then, and some of the “flash” of those years seems garish and amateurish now.

For Bester’s The Demolished Man these problems of content and style have both hurt. His use of interplanetary travel, for example, or extra-planetary habitats, seem poorly thought out. The Guild of Espers is simplistic, with no depth of subtext to flesh it out. In terms of style, his exuberance as a writer can get it the way. Harry Harrison notes in the introduction to the 1996 reissue that Bester had “cut his teeth in comics”, and perhaps people with a visual sensibility will find his style more appealing.

Science and technology have changed so much in the six decades since this book was written, and that can always hurt a science fiction writer who chooses to write with such particular technology in mind. Freely intermixed are technologies that have long since been rendered obsolete (especially the “Mose” computer), and others that are still futuristic (most transportation and weapons, and the “out-of-phase” safe) or represent a road not taken (his recording crystals).

But these will be problems for any old technology-laden book. Other changes hurt Bester more, such as his chauvinism. The New York of three hundred years from now is remarkably similar to that portrayed in the television series “Mad Men”, with the emphasis on “pneumatic” women (well, since I don’t actually watch television, I’m extrapolating a bit here). The “virgin seductress” is described as being Reich’s idea of the epitome of the modern career girl—Bester was doing a very good job of projecting the cultural development of the fifties and sixties, since Playboy wasn’t first published for two more years.

His reliance on an outmoded Freudian model of the psyche leads to some rather awkward plot developments. What was it with that era of scifi writers and peculiar sexual developments? For a moment I felt like he might drift into the creepy-Heinlein territory, but thankfully he never went that far.

It also didn’t help that he contradicts himself. A fundamental premise for the conflict is that telepaths make premeditated murder essentially impossible. Bester establishes early in the story that anyone contemplating murder is as likely to go unnoticed by the telepaths as “a man with three heads”. And yet two more premeditated murders take place, neither of which seem to trouble the police as particularly improbable.

On a lesser note, Reich’s safe is carefully described as one that can only be opened by his index finger, and remains “out of phase” with the rest of reality otherwise. Yet later he is spooked by the idea that a telepath might have “peeped” the combination out of his brain, even though the earlier security aspect should render a combination superfluous.

This was probably a fun and invigorating book way back when — and still might be to a subset of today’s readers — but it doesn’t have that “timeless” appeal.
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Oct 03, 2012 Nate D rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: billionaire murderers to-be

Recommended to Nate D by: $2 vintage sci-fi

Shelves: sci-fi

What was up with the 50s? Not only are nearly all the female characters lovely, inneffectual young ladies being cast aside by by powerful older men but the ont exception is a powerful older man falling in love with a literally infantalized expression of various Freud-based concepts. Which leads me to Jake's comment on the general embarrassing proliferation of particularly dated Freudisms. And then, it seems for a while that our protagonist is, seriously, a dashing billionaire with the sheer rebe...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Ema rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, american, my-library

2013 will be a science-fiction year for me, that's for sure! I have no idea why I gave up reading SF, but I am rediscovering the pleasure for this genre. Oh, my, I have a lot to catch up with the classics!

The Demolished Man is one of these SF classics and I enjoyed it quite a lot. It is like a detective novel, only that the events take place in the future, when mankind is divided in Normal people and Telepaths. The latter are capable of reading minds and they have various degrees of skillfulness...more 2013 will be a science-fiction year for me, that's for sure! I have no idea why I gave up reading SF, but I am rediscovering the pleasure for this genre. Oh, my, I have a lot to catch up with the classics!

The Demolished Man is one of these SF classics and I enjoyed it quite a lot. It is like a detective novel, only that the events take place in the future, when mankind is divided in Normal people and Telepaths. The latter are capable of reading minds and they have various degrees of skillfulness: the most gifted ones, of which there are only a few, can read the innermost thoughts and even things that are buried deep in the subconscious. That is why, for more than 70 years, it has become impossible to commit a planned murder.

The idea behind this novel reminded me of The Minority Report, but I found out that The Demolished Man was first at the party!

Ben Reich, the rich owner of a huge company, is haunted in his dreams by a nightmarish appearance, the Man with No Face. He is convinced that this is a personification of his rival, D'Courtney, so he decides to murder him. He will have to make a perfect plan and avoid being caught by the Telepaths. I won't tell anything about what is happening, you'll have to read the book to see if he succeeds or not!

The crime is investigated by Lincoln Powell, the Police prefect, who is a gifted Telepath. Yet, he can't rely only on reading Ben Reich's mind, because this is not admitted as solid evidence by the Court. He has to provide motif, opportunity and murder weapon in order to get Reich convicted. And this is not the only problem, because he will eventually figure out who is the Man with No Face and will discover that the mankind is in great danger.

The title refers to the process of Demolition that a person who has committed crime is subjected to, but don't think you've got the meaning of it, because you are in for a surprise at the end!

There was something I didn't enjoy, though: some dialogues were too superficial and cheap, not suited for a novel that is otherwise very smart and imaginative! (less)

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Oct 19, 2010 Lizzie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, unpopular-opinions

This is a 2.5 for me and I'm hovering on which way to round it. What will I decide??

See, this book has rubbed off on me! At many turns, this book sounds overwhelmingly cheesy. I can see why these roots of sci-fi are so interesting to people, because they're such a product of their period as well as reaching for something forward -- thus, it's weirdly bold and corny at the same time. This book is focused on its characters, which is a very good way to write. (This was a present from Evan, who poin...more

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Jun 30, 2008 Christy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction-and-fantasy, readinglist2-sf, science-fiction-institute-list

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The Demolished Man is, for most of the book, a kind of science fictional Law & Order. There's a murder and then a hunt to catch the criminal. In this case, the reader's sympathies are with both the murderer and the cop who must catch him, but the big question remains: will he be caught and punished or will he get away with it? The twist is that all of this happens in a future world full of normal people and telepaths (known as Espers or peepers). There hasn't been a murder in 79 years becaus...more The Demolished Man is, for most of the book, a kind of science fictional Law & Order. There's a murder and then a hunt to catch the criminal. In this case, the reader's sympathies are with both the murderer and the cop who must catch him, but the big question remains: will he be caught and punished or will he get away with it? The twist is that all of this happens in a future world full of normal people and telepaths (known as Espers or peepers). There hasn't been a murder in 79 years because the impulse to murder has been impossible to hide from the peepers and, even when the last murders had been committed, the murderers were quickly caught because of the peepers.

In its emphasis on peepers and their relations to normal humans, the book raises questions about privacy and ethics. If you can see what someone else is thinking, is that ultimately a good thing or not? In what ways must the ethical code adapt to this new development in human ability? All of this speculation and philosophical questioning occurs under the surface of the murder narrative, however.

What makes this book really great is not the murder narrative (which is interesting and fun to read), nor is it these philosophical questions, however; what makes this book really great is the turn it takes in the end. Over the course of the book, the weight of attention and perspective shifts back and forth between Ben Reich (normal, murderer) and Lincoln Powell (peeper, cop) and with these shifts come shifts in sympathy on the part of the reader. The penultimate chapter places us in the psyche of Ben Reich as he is broken down by Powell. It is dark and frightening and prepares us to believe what Powell tells another normal:

"Be grateful you're not a peeper, sir. Be grateful that you only see the outward man. Be grateful that you never see the passions, the hatreds, the jealousies, the malice, the sicknesses . . . Be grateful you rarely see the frightening truth in people. The world will be a wonderful place when everyone's a peeper and everyone's adjusted . . . But until then, be grateful you're blind" (237).

If what Ben has just experienced is typical, then this statement rings true. Why would we want to see those things? Why would we want such responsibility? But Powell acknowledges that this was just "some line" he gave this man, not true at all. By the end of the novel, the shift has been finalized and we are completely on the side of and in the mind of Powell. We are left with his version of the story, a version that allows us to redefine the process and purpose of demolition, what it means to be normal or a peeper, and the future of humanity.

As the threat of demolition has hung over Ben throughout the novel, as punishment for murdering his rival, the reader has been led, through Bester's manipulation of our own cultural knowledge and biases, to believe that this will mean the death of Ben, that this is something horrible to be avoided. Ben dreads it, after all, and demolition is certainly a violent image. The process of demolition involves the destruction of the psyche, but that's not all: "The horror lies in the fact that the consciousness is never lost; that as the psyche is wiped out, the mind is aware of its slow, backward death until at last it too disappears and awaits the rebirth. The mind bids an eternity of farewells; it mourns at an endless funeral" (241).

Frightening, but this description contains within it a seed of hope: rebirth. Horrified at the idea that "cops used to catch people like Reich just to kill them" (242), the doctor in charge of Ben's demolition says, "But it doesn't make sense. If a man's got the talent and guts to buck society, he's obviously above average. You want to hold on to him. You straighten him out and turn him into a plus value. Why throw him away? Do that enough and all you've got left are sheep" (242).

It is in this redefinition of demolition that the value of peeper society and ethics (as opposed to our contemporary values and ethics) becomes clear. Ben Reich will be rehabilitated, given a second chance to use his gifts, and peepers are not burdened by the awfulness of other people's souls after all, as Powell told the other man, but the ones who are truly free. As Powell says, finally, We see the truth you cannot see . . . That there is nothing in man but love and faith, courage and kindness, generosity and sacrifice. All else is only the barrier of your blindness. One day we'll all be mind to mind and heart to heart . . ." (243). Bester uses this tale of murder, violence, and insanity to make an argument for the deepdown goodness of humanity, a goodness that it is possible to reach eventually. To reinforce this belief, he ends the novel with this statement of hope for the human race: "There has been joy. There will be joy again" (243). (less)

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Mar 23, 2011 Juliana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction-fantasy-paranormal, 2011-reads, 2011-mar-reads, classics, award-winning, 0-reviewed, challenge-2011-rrrc-a-to-z-heroes, challenge-2011-mine-regular-books

(3.5 stars) I have been wanting for awhile to go back and read all of the old science fiction classics. Don't remember how I decided to start with this one, but I'm glad I read it. I'm always amazed at the imagination of science fiction and fantasy writers, and Bester definitely comes through in that sense.

I really liked aspects of the story, but there were some that really annoyed me - namely the relationship between Powell and Barbara (unnecessary) and the explanation behind what's going on wi...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Manny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, parody-homage, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts



So                   too?
   what         telepath
        do     a
           you
        are  think  fun
      Oh         of
             kind   the
          It's        Demolished
                         Man?

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Sep 03, 2012 Erich Franz Guzmann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hugo-award, science-fiction, klassiker, fiktion, speculative-fiction, 1950s, libere, politik, mystery, favourite, award-winner, meisterwerk, psychologisch, bibliothēca, easton-press-masterpieces

Eight, sir; seven, sir;
Six, sir; five, sir;
Four, sir; Three, sir;
Two, sir; one!
Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tension, apprehension,
And dissension have begun.

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Jul 13, 2010 Matt Sears rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, pulp, noir

'A staggering achievement- First, Alfred Bester created a world- a future world ruled by enlightened telepaths who can prevent crime by knowing about it before it occurs.

Next he created a man- a 24th-century Oedipus who imagines himself irreplaceable, irreproducible, and above the law.

Then the man set out on his own- to do the impossible. To defy the forces of mind and nature. To do what he alone could do. To get away with murder.

The Demolished Man is an undisputed masterpiece of inventiveness...more 'A staggering achievement- First, Alfred Bester created a world- a future world ruled by enlightened telepaths who can prevent crime by knowing about it before it occurs.

Next he created a man- a 24th-century Oedipus who imagines himself irreplaceable, irreproducible, and above the law.

Then the man set out on his own- to do the impossible. To defy the forces of mind and nature. To do what he alone could do. To get away with murder.

The Demolished Man is an undisputed masterpiece of inventiveness and sheer suspense, acknowledged throughout the world as one of the most influential and brilliant science fiction novels ever written' -The Back Cover

1978 reprint, first published 1951. Cover price $1.95, I got it for $2.50 at Bucket O' Blood. 239 pages.

I acknowledge that The Demolished Man is a well known, heralded novel of golden era Sci-Fi, so it doesn't really fit the theme of this blog, but I have been told by numerous people that read my thoughts on Golem 100 that I just had to read this book and change my perception of Alfred Bester. They were right. This book is excellent and is a great example of a writer hitting his stride and creating a near classic. Some of the aspects of Golem 100 that drove me crazy are present: weak psychoanalysis, an overly fantastic murder plot, meandering writing and some shallow characters--but this novel is so fast paced and groundbreaking that you barely take notice.

Ben Reich, the unnamed antagonist/anti-hero referenced on the back cover, is a ruthless man with plans on financial domination of the universe who seemingly is without a conscious. From the onset of the novel he begins devising a way to circumvent the authority of telepaths--or 'peepers' as they are known--in order to murder D'Courtney, his primary business rival. Peepers have created a world wide institution and have taken an oath similar to the Hippocratic: they not only will not commit violent acts, they will also do everything in their power to prevent them. Ben Reich is a powerful man who runs Monarch Utilities and Resources, Inc., a company that has many facets and spans several solar systems. Reich uses his vasts resources and bribes a peeper with suspect conditioning (and an even more suspect moral code), which is just the beginning of his plan.

There is the plot set up, which is pretty cool in itself for a book published in 1951. What I found most appealing about The Demolished Man was the vintage Sci-Fi setting. You could get a way with a lot of ridiculous futurism in the 1950s and Bester goes all out in that regard. Hover cars, a supercomputer judge, far flung planets, ESP battles, gravity guns and a slew of clever naming conventions and futurespeak terms add a lot of fun to an already fast paced murder story. Many of the characters were simple plot vehicles, but I found the police prefect Powell to be a great foil for the rampaging Reich. His dialogue was witty enough to actually make me chuckle here and there. The mystery elements had a noir feel to them, which is something that appeals to me more and more every day. All in all, The Demolished Man is a very entertaining book that makes me want to delve deeper in Bester's earlier works.

Synopsis: I am very glad for the recommendations to read this book, although it does make me sad to see how far Bester fell from greatness in the period between The Demolished Man and Golem 100. I can only imagine what fans of the genre thought at the time!

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Jun 20, 2007 Ian Farragher rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Who wouldn't I recommend this to?

Shelves: on-loan

Fantastic.

The Demolished Man goes well beyond it's genesis as pulp. Imagine a mystery told from the view of the criminal. Wrap that in a character study about a man going insane. Thoroughly mix with good old fashioned telepathy. You have the recipe for The Demolished Man. Alfred Bester published this story as a serial, in the magazine Galaxy, in 1952.

Having read The Star My Destination first, I expected good things from Bester, but I was blown away. Both the narrative style and the humanity in w...more

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Feb 01, 2013 Aha rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, sf-masterworks

Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tension, apprehension,
And dissension have begun.

A straggle of telepathic police against billionaire ruled by primeval instincts set in a sci-fi future at its best. Beautiful background, very readable. You cannot tell what to expect next.

This is the book where you're more worried about bad guys than about "good" one. It would be interesting to read the sequel. Alas! There is no sequel! But cheer up! The author also wrote other stories about telepath

...more

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May 17, 2013 Adam rated it 4 of 5 stars

I had never heard of Alfred Bester before, but I figured I would give him a shot since this was published in the same series as Sirens of Titan and a couple of Philip K. Dick's books. That's some pretty good company, so I had high hopes.

Those hopes were, at first, disappointed. Not by the beginning or the middle, but by the ending. After some thought, though, I made a realization that turned my understanding of the whole book inside out and after that epiphany, the book shot up in value for me.

P...more

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Feb 05, 2013 Andy Wixon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Here's proof you should never walk by a charity bookshop if you have a few minutes spare: because you might find a stack of classic-but-latterly-obscure novels going for knock-down prices. Top of the pile was Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man.
Alfred Bester has acquired an obscure and very limited sort of celebrity - or at least he had in the mid 90s, to what extent that's lingered I really don't know - but we'll come to that in a minute. The Demolished Man is one of a couple of books which real...more Here's proof you should never walk by a charity bookshop if you have a few minutes spare: because you might find a stack of classic-but-latterly-obscure novels going for knock-down prices. Top of the pile was Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man.
Alfred Bester has acquired an obscure and very limited sort of celebrity - or at least he had in the mid 90s, to what extent that's lingered I really don't know - but we'll come to that in a minute. The Demolished Man is one of a couple of books which really secured his reputation as one of the big guns of American SF in the 1950s, and deservedly so: the plot may rattle and creak a bit but the central concept is all killer, no filler.
And to some extent that's literally true: this is an SF take on a detective story, which to some extent anticipates Columbo in that the identity of the killer is never in doubt. Indeed, the murderer is the central character of the opening chapters: Ben Reich, ruthless mogul, decides to dispose of his bitterest corporate rival, and concocts a cunning plan to do so. His scheme had better be good, as he's living in a society where around 5% of the population are functioning telepaths, albeit of different levels of ability.
How do you plan and execute a premeditated murder when there's a chance anyone you meet will be able to read your mind? How could a society composed of telepaths and non-telepaths function without ripping itself to pieces? Bester uses the plot of the murder, and the ensuing investigation by telepathic cop Lincoln Powell, to answer these two questions, and does so intelligently and convincingly. He achieves all kinds of effects, suggesting the strangeness of telepathic discourse, simply by breaking the usual rules of page layout: sentences veer wildly across the page, form columns, and intersect with each other when a group of teeps are conversing together. It's striking and original.
This being a piece of mainstream 50s American SF, the telepathy isn't the only genre element to be included - there are colonies dotted across the solar system, whizzy bits of kit like time-displaced safes and harmonic disruptor guns, and flying cars - but it's the only one that really counts. Similarly, Bester feels obliged to include some material (a very tame orgy) which was presumably grippingly risque back in the 50s but just feels rather quaint nowadays. It gives some elements of the book a slightly dated quality, but not enough to spoil it. The same goes for the occasionally laboured psychology underpinning the central plot.
One other thing that dates this book is the general political undertone of it. Reading the first few chapters, I found myself wondering why the teeps weren't just in charge of everything, given their massive advantage over everyone else. By the conclusion, it's clear that Bester is implying that, actually, they are. There's a ruthless mixture of Darwinian evolution and Nietzschean philosophy going on here, with the better people deserving to be dominant. This even extends, somewhat startlingly, to the killer - Powell admits his admiration for Reich even while pursuing him, and (once Reich has indeed had his original personality Demolished) offers the opinion that 'if a man's got the talent and the guts to buck society, you want to hang onto him. He's obviously above average,' and goes on to suggest that executing all the killers just leaves you with a society of 'sheep'. Hmmm.
Of course, psionic cops, a guild of telepaths supposedly bound by a code to serve the common good, killers punished by death-of-personality and the name Alfred Bester will all go together to instantly make some people think of Babylon 5 (which I understand was a popular SF TV show in the 1990s). Fair enough, the influence is clear - but it's just one element of many on the show. Just tagging The Demolished Man as 'the book that inspired B5' doesn't really do either of them any favours.
This is a book which in many ways still seems fresh and interesting, and there's potential here that I'm surprised Hollywood hasn't picked up on. Reading this book, I couldn't help but imagine what Demolished Man: The Movie might be like, as directed by Christopher Nolan (the obvious choice, surely, given the dream imagery laced through it). But until Nolan himself develops telepathy and picks up on my idea, we'll have to settle for what's a very fine book in its own right. (less)

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Nov 29, 2012 Akshay rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was never aware of Alfred Bester beyond knowing the name in passing, being a fan of science fiction for so long - but eventually I decided to try out this book with a plot most intriguing.
Our primary character/protagonist and the antagonist are in my view, a debatable pair here. But that might be confusing to follow so let me get to the story itself first.
Our narrative is set in a technologically advanced future with elements of the familiar - handled like only the best science fiction writer...more I was never aware of Alfred Bester beyond knowing the name in passing, being a fan of science fiction for so long - but eventually I decided to try out this book with a plot most intriguing.
Our primary character/protagonist and the antagonist are in my view, a debatable pair here. But that might be confusing to follow so let me get to the story itself first.
Our narrative is set in a technologically advanced future with elements of the familiar - handled like only the best science fiction writers can, making the surreal and familiar blend together and bleed into each other in such a way that one doesn't have to think too hard to understand what something is or means without a long-winded justification or explanation. This is something that I find (unfortunately) is lacking in most modern science fiction and especially in the live-action versions of this (films/tv) where the need to treat the audience like children with no capacity to make that leap in thought and imagination.
In this future, the human race is (a) spread out over several stellar bodies in our solar systems, both planets and moons, and (b) is now split into two evolutionary branches : the normal humans as we are today and those with telepathic abilities. The super/meta-human abilities are limited to telepathy only, i.e., the ability to read minds and converse non-verbally. The extent to which a telepath or "esper" as they are referred to can utilise these abilities is a way of grading them, different levels are more proficient and powerful - while some can only glean bits and pieces involuntarily or skim surface thoughts, higher levels can carry on conversations telepathically and verbally at the same time and others still can at will invade a mind and more. As the level goes up, the number of people corresponding to those levels is lesser and lesser.
Our primary story concerns Ben Reich, the head of one of the two biggest corporations in the entire solar system, who has reached a kind of breaking point in his life and has elected to kill the head of his rival corporation who is slowly chipping away at his empire. The only problem is that thanks to the prevalence of various levels of telepaths all over human society - they are an integrated part of our society here, another thing I loved about the story - it is virtually impossible to get away with such a thing and there has not been a murder in near a century.
The other major player in all this is Prefect Powell, the 1st level telepath policeman who is assigned to solve this case and is one of the most respected policemen and telepaths. He and Reich make for a great dynamic as the game of cat and mouse plays out with each one trying to stay/get one step ahead of the other and creating a sharp, fast-paced and roller-coaster kind of adventure here.
Here is where my conundrum regarding protagonist and antagonist comes up - both Powell and Reich for me are at once playing the hero of the story, but simultaneously are also the foil to the other as the hero. I'm sure people are clearer on this than myself, but the way the roles here blurred in my view, coupled with the flow and choices made by the author over the course of the story leading to the final conclusion... well it is arguably the finest example of the "Grey" aspect of things - neither black nor white, like life itself, hard to quantify.
There are flaws in the book, of this there is no doubt. While a seminal work that once read you can clearly see influenced writers of that era and a great many since, writers such as the legendary Philip K. Dick who's "Minority Report" bears a similar premise of a crime-free society thanks to people who can see a crime before it happens, albeit in a significantly different way to Besters' story.
Additionally, there are things that do stand out like the way the few female characters are shown and characterised - I don't look at that in a very negative light however, because this was a book written at a time when gender roles and attitudes to the same were a world apart and as such we just need to accept that for what it was and not take it to heart and hold it against an otherwise great book. Bester also has a bit of a tendency to be all over the place in terms of concepts, perhaps taking the thing I liked, i.e., the abundance of interesting concepts and creating too many. By that I mean simply that he does at point create a lot of loose ends in terms of things (such as the enormous "reservation" in one chapter) that pop unexpectedly into the unfolding events, are explained somewhat, used and then discarded - never to be seen again. Perhaps he could have done a better job in making some of this a tad less jarring, but this will likely only be an annoyance to those less familiar or inclined to the more concept heavy sci-fi which is prone to almost excessive flights of imagination with little explanation, leaving the rest to the reader.
Written in the tradition of the finest pulp and noir stories with suitable injections of action and intrigue - not to mention great creative concepts and a break-neck narrative that caught me so strongly that I started and finished this book in a matter of hours - this is unquestionable one of the finest science fiction stories I've read and has set Bester as a permanent name on my list of the landmark writers. Considering he wrote this in 1953, I am doubly impressed by some of the things he has done here, not the least of which is the creative, confusing but ultimately fascinating way he has played around with showing types of telepathic communication in his story - including text sprawled across pages in a warped patterns and flows, depending on the situation.
A masterful work and truly deserving of it's cover blurb as the first book to win a Hugo Award. (less)

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Nov 22, 2012 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one of the classic Bester novels from the 1950's. I admit I have never read anything by him before this but at the science fiction conventions I go to, his name is always brought up when discussing great classic authors of the genre. I now know why.

This is a story of a rich and powerful business man set in a future world that has a large number of 'espers'. Espers can read minds but with only a few exceptions cannot transmit thought so that non espers cannot receive their thoughts. They...more

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Nov 20, 2012 Ilya rated it 4 of 5 stars

In the future (as we would now put it, retro-future), life is not very different from today; the biggest difference is the presence of about 100,000 telepaths, all but a small minority belonging to a guild (a professional fortune teller is a rare exception). There hasn't been a premeditated murder in 79 years because a would-be murderer's thought emanations are picked up by nearby telepaths who alert the police (humanity seems to still number in the billions; one would think that 100,000 watcher...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Alex rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: reading-through-history, 2012

So, this is why I dislike scifi. When I think of scifi, I think of books that do a couple of things:

- They immediately introduce you to some silly madeup words for futury sounding things. "Oh no, that's a peeper! Which of course as you know is a guy who can read minds, because that's a thing people can do here in the future." "Right, that! Gosh." *random mention of Ganymede, because that's in space*

- And the writing is...just exposition, y'know? Just gettin' the sentences out. "He would have to...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Sean O'Brien rated it 5 of 5 stars

I can't remember when I first ran across Alfred Bester, nor can I remember what made me seek him out. I can tell you I am very glad I did. I've read The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination (a.k.a. Tiger! Tiger!) many times, and each time, I am torn between admiring Bester's style or his storytelling ability.

There are not that many science fiction detective stories out there--something about the contradiction between advanced technology and mystery, I suppose--but the ones that are (Asimo...more I can't remember when I first ran across Alfred Bester, nor can I remember what made me seek him out. I can tell you I am very glad I did. I've read The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination (a.k.a. Tiger! Tiger!) many times, and each time, I am torn between admiring Bester's style or his storytelling ability.

There are not that many science fiction detective stories out there--something about the contradiction between advanced technology and mystery, I suppose--but the ones that are (Asimov's Caves of Steel is one of my favorite guilty pleasures) can be rare finds. Bester's novel is a brisk tale while it is also a stylish tour de force and stuffed full of ideas.

The "hook" involves a murder in a society well-populated with telepaths. The murderer's identity is not in question--Bester sets that up quite early in the story--but the cat-and-mouse game between the murderer, Reich, and the telepathic policeman, Powell, is what drives the narrative. Add to that one of the most innovative methods of writing the complex interplay of telepathic communication I have ever seen, and some quite distinctive locales, and you have a fast-moving tale that is somewhere between E.E. Smith and Philip K. Dick. Yes, that's an unusual pair of writers, but you need to experience Bester to understand.

In fact, The Demolished Man shares a lot with Dick's later work, Ubik, but while the latter focuses on the metaphysical (and, to some degree, existential) dilemma the main character finds himself in, Bester's work is more concrete and down-to-earth. That's not to say it isn't a mind bender in its own way--but compared with Dick's almost endless house of mirrors in Ubik, Demolished Man seems almost prosaic in comparison.

Something else I admire greatlyin Bester's work is the timelessness. Science fiction is vulnerable to the passage of time like few other genres--technological advancements can render some plots quaint at best, obsolete at worst. But I can't imagine Bester's work ever becoming so. The only serious technological advancement in Demolished Man is a computer to which the police department must feed data until it determines the case worthy of prosecution, and although I'm sure what Bester had in mind would be hopelessly out of date now, it is not a major bump in the narrative.

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May 24, 2012 Charity rated it 3 of 5 stars

So, I finished this book yesterday. The first lady that you meet in this book spends two pages begging the hero character to marry and have children with her, even though she knows he doesn't love her. The second lady that you meet in this novel is a shop girl that spends her whole scene trying to get the protagonist to "kiss her like he means it" "pout" The third lady that you meet in this novel is a ditsy esper 3, only invited to the party because of her looks. She makes a fool of herself and...more So, I finished this book yesterday. The first lady that you meet in this book spends two pages begging the hero character to marry and have children with her, even though she knows he doesn't love her. The second lady that you meet in this novel is a shop girl that spends her whole scene trying to get the protagonist to "kiss her like he means it" "pout" The third lady that you meet in this novel is a ditsy esper 3, only invited to the party because of her looks. She makes a fool of herself and everyone has a good laugh. The fourth lady you meet in this book is an oversexed society lady who has an obscene body sculpted by pneumatic surgery. This lady is the convenient host of the sex party where the murder takes place. She spends all of her scenes trying to get whoever she's talking to to stick it in her. Enter the Heroine, who witnesses the cold blooded murder of her father, becomes so traumatized that she runs outside naked and disappears. Did we mention she's naked, and also super hot. By the way, this girl is super super hot. and naked. Eventually the heroine is found in the care of the sixth female character in this novel, who is a con artist using the traumatized heroine to run a shady fortune telling operation. The heroine is rescued from this situation and taken to the hospital where it is determined she is SO traumatized from witnessing the murder of her father, that she has to undergo some bizarre science fiction "regression therapy" so she can grow back up into accepting the truth of what happened. So she get's this therapy, which regresses her back to the mentality of a baby. And get this - gets taken home by the hero, to be re-raised over the course of three months by the hero and lady number one, the swarthy unloved live in girlfriend. Who knows by now that the hero is totes in love with baby baba. All the murder bs gets resolved and the book is wrapped up by hero and baba sharing a couple of cute little jokes about how just a couple weeks ago he was changing her diaper! now they're gonna be doin it! tee hee! great effin book, thanks for the legacy of your gross ass gender politics 1950's.(less)

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Aug 05, 2011 Reuven Hodges rated it 3 of 5 stars

Financier Ben Reich sets in motion a plan to murder his aging business rival, despite the fact that crime is almost non-existent in this modern society policed by telepaths. To achieve his goals he must enlist the help of a high level telepath and use all his wits and connections. If he is caught he will be a demolished man.

The idea of a crimeless future society shocked by a major crime is one that inspired countless stories written after this one. Other fun ideas on display here include phase-s...more Financier Ben Reich sets in motion a plan to murder his aging business rival, despite the fact that crime is almost non-existent in this modern society policed by telepaths. To achieve his goals he must enlist the help of a high level telepath and use all his wits and connections. If he is caught he will be a demolished man.

The idea of a crimeless future society shocked by a major crime is one that inspired countless stories written after this one. Other fun ideas on display here include phase-shifted safes, asteroid based amusement parks, harmonic guns, and highly catchy and repetitive songs which are used to block mind reading.

The problem is that this world is just not well thought out and ends up being inconsistent. We are supposed to believe that telepathy has eliminated all crime, and everyone in the book is shocked when Reich commits his crime, but during the course of the book as several more people are killed no one seems to take any special note of these deaths. And the authorities have so much trouble pinning the crime on Reich once he has committed it, since they can't use telepathy as proof, how exactly do they stop others who are planning murder. Telepathy can be used to arrest someone who is planning murder, but not someone who has already done so? There are so many inconsistencies in this world that it hardly stands any scrutiny. Add to this that apparently no one in this future has heard of a search warrant and it just becomes harder to believe.

In the same way, the affects of telepathy on the rest of society are hardly explored at all. We get some glimpse of it through the Esper(telepath) Guild, but that is really as far as it is explored.

What ultimately keeps this from being a bad book is the ideas and that if you can overlook the structural flaws the story itself is a great psychological thriller/adventure. Reich really is a deplorable character and yet he is quite captivating. You really find yourself cheering for the police prefect Lincoln Powell and longing for him to catch Reich.

With a little more writing experience Bester would go on to write The Stars My Destination, a much more compelling book. It combines a gripping plot like the one here with a much more thoroughly constructed and consistent world.

3 stars(less)

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May 03, 2011 M.L. rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester had me charmed from the first page. The story takes place in 2301, a future where telepathy is present in human kind. Murder is a thing of the past. Any indication that someone might commit it is picked up on by telepaths….One man finally figures out a way to change that.

It’s probably no secret as to why I picked up this book, considering my obsession with Babylon 5, the Psi Corps, and the character Alfred Bester! It is clear that the writers of Babylon 5 were...more The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester had me charmed from the first page. The story takes place in 2301, a future where telepathy is present in human kind. Murder is a thing of the past. Any indication that someone might commit it is picked up on by telepaths….One man finally figures out a way to change that.

It’s probably no secret as to why I picked up this book, considering my obsession with Babylon 5, the Psi Corps, and the character Alfred Bester! It is clear that the writers of Babylon 5 were influenced, in part, by this book. However, the Psi Corps seems to have malignant intentions, unlike the Esper Guild, which has benign intentions.

The writing style was simple and a stark contrast to the lengthy prose of HP Lovecraft. There is beauty in simplicity if it is used correctly. Alfred Bester excelled at evoking the senses to make one feel as though he or she was there, in the year 2301. Not only that, but the book was written in the 1950s. The scenery, futuristic technology, and characters did not seem dated. In fact, if I hadn’t known the book was written that long ago, well, I wouldn’t have guessed!

I loved the two main characters, Lincoln Powell and Ben Reich. Ben was the daring fellow who figured out how to beat the system, and Lincoln “Linc” was an Esper Police Prefect rated at Esper 1 (the highest telepathic rating). Neither characters were perfect, and, in fact, Mr. Reich was pleasantly a bastard! The story detailed a chase between the two. Both men were cunning and resourceful. It was a battle of wits, where both sides outsmarted each other more than once.

There were a lot of Freudian undertones in the novel, which I found clever considering that the entire book deals with telepaths who pick up on thoughts, feelings, and inner obsessions. I know I missed some of the subtle details the first time around; it’s one of those books that you can’t just read once. It’s sort of like looking at a painting; with each glance, you notice something that hadn’t stood out before.

The ending gets a solid thumbs up from me. In the end, one of the men has to win, and the other’s undoing was executed well. I was, however, annoyed when I first read the aftermath, but upon reflection of the overall picture of The Demolished Man, it fit. It was not an instance of FAIL, but an interesting enlightenment to the Freudian undertones I had mentioned in the previous paragraph.

I recommend this book for those of you who enjoy action stories, sci fi, fast paced reads, mind fucks, and imperfect characters—Ben Reich was such a charming bastard…

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Mar 09, 2011 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, hugo-winners

I recently decided to read all the Hugo winners in order to get a crash course in the evolution of sci-fi. The Demolished Man is the first winner.

Like I did with Alas, Babylon, I gave an extra star to The Demolished Man simply because its main flaws are only due to being dated. Had I read it in 1951, when it was published, it would have most likely seemed more fresh and innovative.

The plot is one that spawned scads of later imitators: In a crimeless society where mind-readers can spot murder...more I recently decided to read all the Hugo winners in order to get a crash course in the evolution of sci-fi. The Demolished Man is the first winner.

Like I did with Alas, Babylon, I gave an extra star to The Demolished Man simply because its main flaws are only due to being dated. Had I read it in 1951, when it was published, it would have most likely seemed more fresh and innovative.

The plot is one that spawned scads of later imitators: In a crimeless society where mind-readers can spot murder before it happens, a man plans to kill a rival.

Once businessman Ben Reich plans and executes his kill (not a spoiler --it happens quite early), the novel turns into Dashiell Hammett in the 24th century. The cat-and-mouse game between Reich and mind-reading cop Powell is reminiscent of the noir fiction that was popular when Demolished Man was new.

The mystery feel isn't a bad thing --it's mystery done well, with plenty of twists and surprises, plus an ending that is pure sci-fi and far from predictable.

It's always fun when reading old sci-fi to see what the author predicted accurately about technology. Bester made some good calls from his 1951 desk chair: society's obsession with plastic surgery, credits replacing money (money is only used in underground/black market deals), audio books making print books obsolete.

Some of the technology is amusingly steeped in a 1950s mindset, though. A video phone would have seemed high-tech when Bester wrote it, but the fact that it's in a phone booth is slightly comical now.

The high point of the novel is the mind-reading itself, which appears in italics as "peepers" converse among themselves, sometimes using a shorthand that is almost a forerunner of textspeak. Some peepers carry on conversations out loud while also reading minds, which makes for some fun literary gymnastics, as well as plot devices (The cop tells his wife that he loves her, but she's aware that he never says it with thought.)

Fans of old sci-fi will recognize this as an important book, but pulp mystery readers should give it a shot, too. It delivers on both fronts.(less)

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Nov 01, 2010 Ensiform rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, mystery

In 2301 AD, financier Ben Reich plans the murder of his business rival – despite the fact that telepaths are everywhere, and murder is therefore next to impossible. Enlisting the help of a power-hungry Esper, as the psychics are called, he buys a museum piece gun and carries out a rather intricate scheme. After that, it’s a battle of wits: the mogul Reich against the canny first class Esper Police Prefect, Linc Powell (who knows he did it, but needs solid proof to present to the supreme judicial...more

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May 29, 2012 Thecubanmissile rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

The Demolished Man is certainly one of the most underrated and wildly original science fiction books I've ever read. It was consistently surprising, consistently engaging, and one of the few books that actually manages to bend noir and detective fiction into a science fiction setting with authenticity. The fact that J. Michael Straczynski named one of his most famous characters Alfred Bester is just one testament to the lingering impact that the author has had upon generation upon generation of...more

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Jul 06, 2011 Steven rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, hugo-award-winner

Another in my list of science fiction classics that I'm tackling this summer. The Demolished man was the winner of the first Hugo Award in 1953.

A strange mix of science fiction and police procedural, I wasn't sure what to think of this novel. The concept of a telepathic professional class was interesting, and the way Bester used typography to portray different types of thought-communication between "peepers" was quite clever.

However, it was hard to ignore that it reads like what a person in 19...more

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Mar 10, 2010 Raj rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, hugo-winner

Millionaire industrialist Ben Reich sets out to commit murder, in a world guarded by the telepaths of the Esper Guild. Can he get away with it and avoid the terrible penalty of Demolition?

This was an amazing book. The characters are well drawn, as is the thumbnail sketch of the society of this future world. The Esper Guild is clearly a prototype for Babylon 5's PsiCorp (something that JMS acknowledged when he named everyone's favourite Psi Cop), although it is less conniving and more working for...more

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May 19, 2011 Leslie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: a-boy-s-shelf, dystopian, lit-with-a-big-l, science-fiction, for-the-older-crowd, young-adult

Liked "The Stars My Destination" better, but this was wonderful just the same. I am still working through parts of it in my mind; some things confused me. I need to brush up on my psychoanalysis and read more Nietzsche; then re-read?

"Alfred Bester delivers not only a wonderfully inventive future landscape, but a suspenseful crime thriller to match. We follow Reich as he formulates a plan and daringly follows through. Admittedly, at points, I found myself cheering him on, holding my breath to see...more Liked "The Stars My Destination" better, but this was wonderful just the same. I am still working through parts of it in my mind; some things confused me. I need to brush up on my psychoanalysis and read more Nietzsche; then re-read?

"Alfred Bester delivers not only a wonderfully inventive future landscape, but a suspenseful crime thriller to match. We follow Reich as he formulates a plan and daringly follows through. Admittedly, at points, I found myself cheering him on, holding my breath to see how he could possibly pull it off. The third-person-limited artfully moves to Powell and we get a closer look into how the Esper part of society functions. It is hard not to like this character almost immediately. He is incredibly intelligent and endearingly humorous. I was channeling Sherlock Holmes as played by Robert Downey Jr. here—though taller. There is a snag and Powell is called in. A chase ensues. Reich must evade and escape. Powell must follow all his leads and build a case. The basic plot would be interesting on its own, but mix in the human psyche, futuristic capabilities, and Besters ability to negotiate the twists and turns of his own mad imagination and voile The Demolished Man."
[...]
"Bester creates a thrilling ride in The Demolished Man. It isn’t the most easily negotiated, but it is so gorgeously imagined. Alfred Bester was a truly gifted writer. I look forward to the next recommendation, am thinking of hunting down some of his short stories.
"Alfred Bester pre-dates cyberpunk, but fans of said genre would be remiss to have not read him. Philip K. Dick fans will note Bester’s influences. Psychological fiction readers should enjoy this foray as well. I am not one who reads a lot of Science Fiction, am fairly reluctant with the genre, really, but Alfred Bester excites me. He’s more than literary enough for genre snobs, and his writing invigorates the imagination as well as the pulse. I would recommend The Stars My Destination first, but you can’t go wrong with either."

L @ omphaloskepsis
http://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/20...
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Jan 30, 2008 Dumbledore11214 rated it 5 of 5 stars

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.

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Jan 23, 2012 stormhawk rated it 5 of 5 stars

Crossing genres is often a dangerous thing. Most cross-genre books manage to be poor examples of both sides of it's gene pool. The Demolished Man is an excellent example of a good crossover ... a science fiction mystery that wouldn't be the book it is without both of it's parts.

The premise is fairly straightforward ... murder is an impossibility in the futuristic world Bester creates, with telepathic "peepers" an accepted part of society. If you can't form the intention to murder without a doze...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Beyond Reality: THE DEMOLISHED MAN: finished reading (SPOILERS)	18	44	Nov 28, 2012 07:18pm
Beyond Reality: THE DEMOLISHED MAN: roll call and initial impressions (NO SPOILERS)	24	89	Nov 15, 2012 09:16am

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