The Men in the Jungle

by Norman Spinrad

Bart Fraden came looking for a planet to conquer - and found the hell-hole of the Sangre - the killer planet. For three centuries Sangre had been dominated by the sadistic Brotherhood of Pain, a priesthood dedicated to torture, slavery and cannibalism. Bart sensed the kind of revolutionary potential that he could manipulate to make himself ultimate ruler. But he hadn't counted on the apathy of a people bred as meat animals and the dreadful power wielded by the Brotherhood. Sangre might cost him more than his life - it might destroy his soul . . .

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Speculative Fiction

285 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Born in New York in 1940, Norman Spinrad is an acclaimed SF writer.

Norman Spinrad, born in New York City, is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science. In 1957 he entered City College of New York and graduated in 1961 with a Bachelor of Science degree as a pre-law major. In 1966 he moved to San Francisco, then to Los Angeles, and now lives in Paris. He married fellow novelist N. Lee Wood in 1990; they divorced in 2005. They had no children. Spinrad served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) from 1980 to 1982 and again from 2001 to 2002.

Reviews

[Manny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Norman Spinrad was one of the most gifted SF satirists writing during the 60s and 70s. Probably his best book was The Iron Dream, a wicked under-the-belt attack on trash right-wing SF, where he imagines a parallel universe in which Adolf Hitler moved to the US and became a science-fiction writer. Dream consists of a short intro and afterword by a fictitious reviewer, sandwiching Hitler's magnus opus, Lords of the Swastika, a lunatic Nazi rant which in this parallel world has become one of the best-loved staples of the SF cannon. Some people must have felt rather uncomfortable after reading Spinrad's book, or at least I hope so.

The Men in the Jungle isn't as good, but it has its points. A charming, completely amoral operator named Bart Fraden escapes just in time when his latest empire collapses, and sets off in search of new worlds to conquer, together with his chief military adviser, his beautiful red-headed squeeze, and a large amount of weaponry and illegal drugs. They land on Sangre, an off-the-beaten-track planet which is controlled by an appallingly evil band of sadists. If I remember correctly, the Brotherhood of Pain have set up a society where they rule over a population consisting mainly of helpless serfs, except for a few men who are recruited as soldiers, a few women who are used by the elite as prostitutes, and a fairly large number of small children who are killed and eaten - no other animals on the planet are even remotely edible.

Well, clearly anything is going to be better than this? So Bart and his friends start using their drugs and technology to stir up a revolution, figuring that not only are they going to make a lot of money out of it, they are doing the downtrodden inhabitants of the planet a good turn. They're going to liberate them! But, somehow, it doesn't work out. Amazingly enough, at the end of the book things are even worse than they were at the beginning.

Now that I write it down, the plot does seem to remind me of something. What could it be?
______________________________

I just saw this book on Scott Cupp's Ten Overlooked Odd Speculative Fiction Classics, which Paul sent me earlier this evening. Nice to see that other people agree it deserved more attention...

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Men in the Jungle was Spinrad's third novel, was quite a bit longer than his first two more traditional works, and philosophically set the stage for his more famous Bug Jack Barron and The Iron Dream that appeared a few years later. The Men in the Jungle had scenes of torture, cannibalism, explicit sexual encounters, and a cast of unlikable characters, all of which were things that had been only rarely hinted at in the traditional genre works of the mid-1960's and earlier. It's an action packed story, and while he perhaps hadn't quite reached the literary quality of his later books, it certainly doesn't lack for enthusiasm. It's not remarkable by current standards, but was a trail-blazing novel of its time.

[DoctorM · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this first when I was in high school and found it...disturbing. It's a bleak enough story. Amoral and ruthless mercenary and his two closest hangers-on start a revolution on an out-of-the-way planet run by a truly nasty little theocracy. The kicker is that the planet has no edible native livestock--- the ruling elite get their protein from farming and devouring slave children. The rebels our hero raises want freedom...freedom to eat (human) protein, too. It's a book with no good guys, and even after victory, there's nothing even remotely pleasant happening: bring your steak sauce. It's a political cautionary tale, but one that describes what happens with a bit too much gusto not to be disturbing.

[Zantaeus Glom · Rating 3 out of 5]

'The Men in The Jungle' is a blackly humorous sf tale concerning the undeniably bloody internecine struggles upon the wretchedly beleaguered planet of Sangre. Norman Spinrad's, quite literally visceral tale is blessed with a zesty narrative, rushing pell-mell towards an especially tumultuous ending of quadruple double-cross and insensate ultra-violence. I loved it, and, curiously, the fatty, anthropoid menu didn't prove to be as off-putting as I had previously thought it might be. The main protagonist's initiation to the iniquitous ways of this charnel planet was especially well rendered by Spinrad, who proved himself to be a darn gifted writer; I especially enjoyed the wine-sotted bugs who maintained the workers via a beery esp! This is a sometimes exhilarating novel that exists wholly within its very own deliciously lurid idiom. (I would be greatly interested to know how many other reader's suffered monstrous acid-pangs of hunger whilst enjoying certain passages!) As an entree to Spinrad's work, I found it to be a terribly stimulating one, if not a little over-cooked! as I usually prefer my sf meat to be served rare; and delicately spiced with just a little more nuance. That said, it is always good practice to vary one's diet, and 'The Men in The Jungle' ultimately proved to be a considerably nourishing affair!

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is perhaps the most explicit book I have ever read, in which sex and violence collide with a cast of entirely unlikable characters...but the result is a fascinating and often terrifyingly funny novel. Not for everyone.

[Nicolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

C'est dans les vieux pots qu'on fait les meilleures soupes ? C'est pas sûr ... En tout cas, dans ce genre de SF de "l'âge d'or", il y a une espèce de clarté, de limpidité, même dans les intrigues les plus sombres (comme celle-ci), qui ... dégage les neurones.
Bref, Bart Fraden est un ancien président plus ou moins corrompu, plus ou moins malhonnête, qui s'en va tenter de prendre le pouvoir sur Sade, une planète abandonnée de la civilisation ... mais pas des hommes.
Bart va donc tenter de fomenter une révolution, dans un régime dirigé par une espèce de confrérie sadique, qui a organisé un régime d'exploitation, qui peut se résumer en un slogan : "la douleur, le plaisir. Les frères donnent la douleur et reçoivent le plaisir, et les animaux donnent le plaisir et recoivent la douleur". Enfin vous voyez le genre.
Alors évidement, ce roman ne va pas sans un certain sadisme. Mais ... je ne sais pas comment l'expliquer, malgré l'abondance des descriptions, je n'y ai pas trouvé la complaisance que d'autres auteurs pourraient mettre dans ce genre de récit. Même Bart, lorsqu'il agit comme un beau salaud, apparaît comme tel, bien aidé par le regret qu'il éprouve lorsqu'il commet des atrocités (qui lui vaudraient évidement l'accusation de crime contre l'humanité à notre époque). Pour tout dire, je me rends compte qu'il s'agit en fait d'une authentique ordure amorale et perverse. Et je trouve ça vraiment fascinant de me rendre compte seulement maintenant du degré d'ignominie de ce personnage. Honnêtement, c'est vraiment bien fait.
Bref, c'est une oeuvre fascinante sur le pouvoir, et la façon dont il corrpompt. Pas en finesse, hein, parce que ça n'est clairement pas le style de Norman Spinrad. Non, on est là dans l'exagération de la vision de l'animal politique. Et c'est glaçant. Je ne serais pas étonné d'apprendre que Spinrad n'est pas spécialement emballé par les révolutionnaires ... Pas plus que les dictateurs en puissance, d'ailleurs ...
Ce qui m'amène à un point d'amateur de sf assez ... intéressant. Ce roman a été écrit 5 ans avant Rêve de fer. Et pourtant, on y retrouve bien des éléments qui réapparaîtront dans Rêve de fer : les masses d'armes, la lutte d'une élite bardée de cuir contre des masses laborieuses (et mutantes dans Rêve de Fer), et surtout, surtout, le fait qu'il n'y a pas de héros, ni dans l'une ni dans l'autre. Et d'un autre ôté, je comprend que ce roman ait moins marqué. En effet, Bart y est une ordure absolument infecte. Mais d'un autre côté la planète de Sade dans son ensemble semble ... bonne à jeter. Les Animaux, les Frères, les Tueurs, tous ces résidus d'humanité n'inspirent ps plus la compassion que les révolutionnaires prêts à s'entretuer pour un brin d'avenir.
Cela dit, c'est une lecture vraiment intéressante, à la fois dans une vision historique, et simplement en tant qu'oeuvre de SF, habilement construite, joliment dialoguée, et remplie de descriptions propres à soulever le coeur de bien des lecteurs.

[Kristen Claiborn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am well aware that my father and I have vastly different tastes in literature, but when my dad throws books in my direction, I will read them. Every now and then he provides me with a shiny gem, other times I’m left scratching my head and wondering what sort of drug-induced fugue spawned whatever bizarrity (yes, I just made that word up) I just read. I’ve marinated on this one long enough that I’m not even sure anymore which category this one fits into.
This book follows the stumbling exploits of three truly unlikable characters. Fleeing from a botched revolution, they find themselves on what they hoped was a sparsely populated but habitable planet, they instead find a planet run by what can best be described as religious zealots. Maybe I should have read this book as a commentary on the evils on religion, instead of this bizarre tale about a cannibalistic society (which is why I let this marinate for so long, I needed to reflect on what, exactly, this book was trying to tell me). This society is centered around a group of “gods” that have scaffolded everybody else into different factions to help this society function. One of those factions is a group of people whose sole purpose was to be food…and then there was a group tasked with tending said food. They’re even spoken about like they’re farmers and livestock. The members of this society believe it so deeply because it’s been indoctrinated since the dawn of (their) time, and they’ve lost all ability to think critically. Come to think of it, this is definitely a commentary on religion. Now that I’ve reflected more, I have decided this book is exceptionally clever and well thought out.
Eventually, the bad cannibals are overthrown, and all seems well with the world, but it took a lot of mind-altering substances to get there. The three main characters all seem to battle each other throughout the entire book, but again, it all turned out ok in the end (if only we could say the same for those currently in the throes of their own indoctrination). It’s an interesting, yet truly bizarre story, but it becomes something completely different if you view it as a sort of social commentary.
So, there you have it, what I had originally decided to be a bizarre mess, after much critical thinking and reflection, is indeed one of those rare shiny gems. Well done, Dad.

[Fred · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very, very strange and murky work by Spinrad. The book questions the place of leadership, propaganda, force, and redeemability in human nature.
The book involves would-be world conqueror Bart Fraden, and his efforts to take control of the planet of Sangre. The typical SF narrative of the time would have involved a heroic quest to overthrow the evil rulers, and instill a US-style democracy for the grateful natives.
In this story the natives kill each other to the last man, in an extended orgy of slaughter. Fraden shrugs and returns to Earth after his successul rebellion devolves into mindless killing.
Clearly Spinrad is making a statement about nation-building. As the book is being written, America is involved in the Vietnam war. Is Spinrad making the case that a culture cannot be changed predictably by outside military forces? Is he stating that humanity is ultimately venal, murderous and hopeless?
The inclusion of the love story of Bart and Sophia is also problematic. Sophia will not win any feminist of the year awards, however she is not just sex object either. The love the couple attains at the end is hopeful and ultimately well portrayed.
So, what we have is a strange book with lots of torture, cannibalism, political scheming, and somewhat clumsy eroticism. An improvement over The Solarians, and refreshingly unconcerned with anything in standard genre. I still vastly prefer Malzberg's similar explorations in literary SF, but Spinrad offers a different take, more overtly political and satirical, with a much less flashy style. Interesting and different.

[James O'Connell]

The Men in the Jungle is one of those books I just did not want to stop reading. It is fast paced and fascinating in its description of a morbid and evil society.
The hero of the story, although with mercenary motives is morally way above his target, the Brotherhood of Pain. They are simple ideological and religious sadists who lord over a society with people rendered into 'meat animals' and subjects for torture. Bart Fraden wishes to destroy them and set himself up as the new ruler so that he can milk the planet for what he can get. This desire is enhanced by the wish for revenge after the repulsive Brothers force him to kill a baby.
I found myself wanting the oily, disgusting despot and his fanatical men utterly destroyed, cleansed by the comparatively noble cause of Bart's self interest.
Also at issue here was the dictum of Machiavelli's that the end justifies the means. I really thought that as Bart was forced to use increasingly questionable means that, ultimately, it would all be worthwhile but in this I was finally and dramatically disappointed. Still, could anything be worse than the situation the offworlders found? Maybe.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the hell out of this book in high school on account of its ultra-violent story and tons and tons of carnage (guns that shoot invisible straight razors? Sign me up). I lost my original copy way back but tracked down a replacement so I could read it again.

[Arve Kvaloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome story!

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bart Fraden stătea neglijent pe marginea biroului, simţind un ciudat amestec de tensiune şi destindere, ca o felină în repaus. Ce naiba, îşi spunea muşcând încă o îmbucătură din gustoasa pulpă de fazan, o sinecură nu poate dura o veşnicie.

  Aruncă neatent pulpa de fazan înapoi pe tava de argint gravat care se odihnea pe biroul de nuc bine lustruit, apucă sticla răcită, pe jumătate plină cu vin de Rin, şi dintr-o duşcă scurtă împinse pe gât îmbucătura de vânat. Vinul era bun, al naibii de bun – lucru firesc, ţinând seama că fiecare sticlă costase în trecut Statul Liber al Centurii de Asteroizi câte treizeci de confedolari.

  Pe de altă parte, fazanul era cam uscat şi din cale afară de fript. Însă la urma urmei, îşi spuse Fraden indulgent, lui Ah Ming pesemne îi vine foarte greu să se concentreze la gătit, cu hărmălaia asta generală cauzată de bunul şi bătrânul Stat Liber al Centurii de Asteroizi.Cu toate acestea, Ah Ming, în calitatea sa de şef bucătar personal al preşedintelui SLCA, îşi făurise aici, pe Ceres, o situaţie nu prea rea şi, aşa cum Fraden remarcase doar din observaţii exterioare, până şi o felină obişnuită aproape că devine monstru când vede că pasărea prinsă vrea să-şi ia zborul.

  Această atitudine îi părea lui Fraden complet neobişnuită. În fapt, o felină posesoare a unui talent oarecare nu trebuie decât să adulmece aerul din propria arenă pentru a înţelege până unde se întind graniţele răului pe care îl poate provoca. Atunci când o floare rămâne fără nectar, albina trece la următoarea. Un bucătar de valoarea lui Ah Ming îşi putea găsi un locşor călduţ oriunde, începând cu Terra şi terminând cu Antares. El era în stare să reuşească la perfecţiune lucruri pe care cei mai mulţi nu le puteau face deloc. Asta e, în ultima instanţă, singura poliţă de asigurare necesară cu adevărat oricui, fie el bucătar sau politician.

  Se întinse şi luă de pe birou o havană, din caseta mare, umidificată, împodobită cu modele de sidef sculptate de mână. O adulmecă admirativ un moment, apoi o vârî în gură şi o aprinse. Trase în piept fumul aromat şi, timp de o clipă, îmbrăţişă cu privirea biroul – pereţii lambrisaţi cu lemn de tek, mocheta de lână roşie ce se întindea din perete în perete, tablourile de Picasso, Calder şi Mallinstein, barul încărcat cu cele mai bune băuturi – toate, până la ultima picătură, importate tocmai de pe Pământ – cămara, cu umiditate şi temperatură constante, plină cu boxuri de ţigări…

  Nu era deloc rău pentru Centura de Asteroizi. Numai încăperea aceea singură trebuie să fi costat vreo zece mii de confedolari.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 5 out of 5]

My only experience with Spinrad is "Bug Jack Barron," a novel I found to be unendurable, the work of someone whose sole goal is to shock the reader. It's like the Quentin Tarantino film of science fiction literature. This early (1967?) Spinrad effort, however, is genuinely shocking, absolutely disgusting, remarkably violent -- just gleefully appalling. It is, however, not at all devoid of psychology or philosophy, it is not a STUPID book. But I was not expecting what I found in these pages, not prepared for it, and that made my time spent with this novel all the more enjoyable. Highly recommended.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this based on the authors short story in “Dangerous Visions” and H. Ellison’s tout of this 1967 book. I wasn’t very impressed with it. Repetitive story of violence and cannibalism on a planet the main character is trying to revolutionize. Author just continually repeats gory details and skirmishes instead of building a better story. After three fourths through the book I was just in a rush to finish the damn thing. I’ll give it two stars for a few good technological ideas ahead of it’s time. But don’t waste your time on this.

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bro this shit low key boring and slightly traumatic. I read this entire thing bc I thought the payoff would be good but the ending was honestly horrific I genuinely slammed this book down.

Ps; the word “engorged”, in future, should be used sparingly.

[J. Stuart Naylor]

equal parts disturbing and fascinating

[Orin Buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't be unread. Meaning I'll never forget this one.

[J. DaRocha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like spinrad,

And if you do too, then this is another excellent story
From a skilled storyteller. Not for the faint of heart though.

[Cosmotheoros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, extremely violent caper. Imagined casting:

Bart - Kirk Douglas
Sophia - Eartha Kitt
Vanderling - Kurtwood Smith

[Dick Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cannibalism, sex, torture - what else could you ask for?

[Rog Petersen · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. A nasty piece of work. Not in the worst way.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Spinrad drowns the reader is more gore than any 100 horror movies put together. This is a very disturbing read. Do NOT judge it by the retro cover.

[David Agranoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the works of Ursula K. Leguin and Phil K. Dick as much as the next geek but their books get the respect they deserve. How about the works of Clifford Simak, Barry Malhzberg or Norman Spinrad?

Anarchists have noticed the work of Leguin certainly her novel the Dispossessed is very anarchist and her more recent Always Coming Home even more so. Spinrad is even more radical also an anarchist he has explored the concept of anarchism in several novels including Child of Fortune and a Void Captain’s Tale. I owe Mister Cody Goodfellow for pointing me to Spinrad’s work

Ok two short old school Sci-Fi reviews starting with Spinrad. At some point in 1966 while Star Trek was just getting under way (just to give some perspective) Norman Spinrad was writing Men in the Jungle.

It’s about a team of interseller gangsters who fancy themselves revolutionaries going from planet to planet starting insurrections. They make money until the natives finally get sick of their shit and off to the next revolution. For 1966 this is some serious badass sci-fi. Ok so the computer prints out revolution indexes and the tech is out of date but hell the heros end up on a planet of cannibals who eat 2/3 of the babies born.

Men in the Jungle is a great read, and still has many important things to say.

[Răzvan Ursuleanu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ai nevoie de stomac sănătos ca să poți duce cartea lui Norman Spinrad până la final. Este adevărat, poți încerca să o tratezi într-o manieră academică, te poți preface că participi la un experiment științific al autorului, în care domnia sa dorește să prezinte modul în care se pot implementa ideile generatoare de revoluție în rândul maselor populare de pe o planetă înapoiată (alta decât Pământul).

De fapt, chiar recomand să abordați în acest fel romanul, altfel va fi foarte greu de citit, cu stomac sănătos sau nu.

Pe planeta imaginată de Spinrad, principala preocupare a populației este reprezentată de canibalism. Oamenii se mănâncă unii pe alții. La propriu, deci nu ca pe planeta noastră, unde oamenii tot asta fac, se mănâncă unii pe alții, dar pentru moment doar la figurat. Și pentru că toți sunt canibali și nimeni nu e diferit, revoluția nu poate ieși de sub tiparul „pleacă ai noștri, vin ai noștri”, indiferent de felul în care este „direcționată”…

Cât despre stomacul cititorului… Dacă „Febra” lui Brussolo sau seria de filme „Wrong Turn” nu au reușit să vi-l întoarcă pe dos, atunci (poate) că nici „Oameni în junglă” n-o s-o facă. Și dacă totul va fi în regulă cu digestia până la ultima pagină, atunci veți descoperi că ați citit un roman chiar bun.

Nota acordată romanului : 7,8

[Silviu · Rating 3 out of 5]

1 star for enjoyment.
5 stars for thought-provoking drama.

The most disturbing thing about this story, is that given similar circumstance I can easily see humans following down a path as the one described in this novel.

Want to read about a train wrack going from bad to worse, and see how low can humans go? Give this a tray, and you won't be disappointed. Not for the squeamish.

[Baron Greystone · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a well-written, thought-provoking book from an accomplished author who liked to shock. Not for the squeamish. More details here: https://themichlinguide.wordpress.com...

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhat disturbing book - sort of fascinating though

[Gunn]

Disappointing story from an author I generally like. It's quite a dark story about a society that revolves around a pretty revolting practice. Skip it.

[Matt Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely an interesting read, a departure from my usual non-fiction with a focus on the fact you can't change all things.