Das Gedankennetz

by Herbert W. Franke

»Und dann kamen sie auf ihn zu, die Rauch- und Nebelgestalten, die wirbelnden Schleierfetzen, die Dunstfahnen, die Staubarme, das Wogen und Wiegen tanzender Gase, die Schatten von Regenbögen, manchmal umfingen sie ihn dicht, manchmal zogen sie sich vor ihm zurück und zeigten ihre Abgründe, die sich unter die schartig aufgeblätterte Gesteinsdecke des Planeten fortsetzten und im Gebräu kochender Lava endeten.«Eine Formation von Raumschiffen fliegt wie ein Vogelschwarm durch den Weltraum. Die Wissenschaftler, die sich an Bord eines dieser Schiffe befinden, versuchen mit ihrem Computer, die Intelligenz unbekannter Wesen eines fremden Planeten zu prüfen. Aber das Experiment wirkt sich verhängnisvoll aus. Die Vergangenheit wird lebendig, und die fremden Wesen ergreifen die Initiative – sie zwingen die Besatzung, das Raumschiff zu verlassen.Diese dramatische Ausgangssituation bildet den Rahmen für eine abenteuerliche, zum Nachdenken anregende Geschichte, in der einige Menschen einen verzweifelten Kampf gegen die psychotechnischen Eingriffe einer alles nivellierenden Staatsmacht führen.»Das Gedankennetz« ist jener Roman Frankes, mit dem alles begann – der erste einer Reihe bemerkenswerter Science-Fiction-Romane, in denen Franke auf verschiedenen Wirklichkeitsebenen Illusion und Wirklichkeit, Simulation und wahre Realität, manipulativen Eingriff und echtes Erleben fast unentwirrbar vermischt, um der alten Auffassung vom Leben als Prüfung neuen Sinn zu geben. Grundlegende Fragen – Was ist Wahrheit? Was ist Realität? – beantwortet der Autor in beklemmend stimmigen Denkspielen.

Genres: Science Fiction, German Literature, Collections

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Herbert W. Franke is an Austrian scientist and writer. He is considered one of the most important science fiction authors in the German language. He is also active in the fields of future research, speleology as well as computer graphics and digital art.

Franke studied physics, mathematics, chemistry, psychology and philosophy in Vienna. He received his doctorate in theoretical physics in 1950 by writing a dissertation about electron optics.

Since 1957, he has worked as a freelance author. From 1973 to 1997 he held a lectureship in "Cybernetical Aesthetic" at Munich University (later computer graphics - computer art). In 1979, he co-founded Ars Electronica in Linz/Austria. In 1979 and 1980, he lectured in "introduction to perception psychology" at the Art & Design division of the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences. Also in 1980 he became a selected member of the German PEN club.

A collection of short stories titled "The Green Comet" was his first book publication. In 1998, Franke attended a SIGGRAPH computer graphics conference in Orlando and was a juror at the "VideoMath Festival" Berlin. He also took part in innumerable performances and presentations.

Reviews

[Karl]

DAW Collectors #123

Cover Artist: Kelly Freas

Name: Franke, Herbert Werner, Birthplace: Vienna, Austria, Birthdate: 14 May 1927.

The back cover of this 1974 Daw paperback calls Herbert W. Franke "one of the four best science fiction writers of modern Europe.".

An alien consciousness seizes control of critical ship functions. Ebb tries to shut the experiment off manually, but the alien has already gained control of the ship's autorep repair robot. The autorep blocks their access to the shutdown lever. In a matter of minutes, the alien consciousness takes full control of the ship, forces the crew into the lifeboats, jettisons them, and blasts off into deep space.

[Graham P]

** 1/2

Far unlike Franke's masterful ZONE NULL, THE MIND NET feels like the amateurish fragments of a first-time fix up novel, one which actually holds its dystopian heart closer to Philip K. Dick than the UK genre-brats like Moorcock and Brunner making new waves in Europe via the early 1960s. However, I sniff a really bad translation here, one that totally mishandles the potentially wild prologue and epilogue into some flat and rather disorientating pastiche of mad computer hive mind, and as some readers have mentioned, it feels like a short story collection up until the last 3rd of the book before it sloppily infobombs the devilish experiment at play (The Mind Net) with no beginning and no real end. While I admire a transcendental and vengeful lobotomized lifeforce kicking corporate ass, let me recommend a better tale about rewiring the hopeless sociopath: Damon Knight's 'The Country of the Kind.'

However there's something to recommend highly. The section 'White Foaming Water, Black Branches' is visually stunning, evoking all the wildness of a Barrington Bayley alienscape. This is the world I wanted Franke to keep his readers stranded within - in milky seas, an alien island watching an encroaching reef of hideous black coral:

'Eric ignored him, pulled the boat toward himself, and climbed in. The robot followed with insect-like agility. The motor leaped into life, and the liquid formed around them like beaten, whipped egg-white. They trailed a cloud of wispy, flaky clouds behind them - soap bubbles like little rabbits' eyes with red pupils, which rushed across the gently undulating surface. Sid stared wide-eyed at this snowdrift, which hung like a curtain before him as he clung to the railing.'

Despite this fantastic chapter, the plot furthers a broken pastiche complete with our heroes traversing the underground societies of old Earth, and an undercurrent of one stubborn individual vs. a system regarding mental health and dissension in a rigid future that feels like both its boots are firmly planted in cold war territories.

'Woe to all who defy the network.'

[Răzvan Ursuleanu]

Cel mai bun roman SF pe care l-am citit vreodată, pentru că a contat momentul în care l-am citit. Nu valoarea cărții, ci momentul. Eram un adolescent aflat în punctul critic al rebeliunii față de orice și de oricine, astfel că l-am perceput pe Eric Frost, eroul acestei cărți, drept o variantă SF a propriei mele persoane.

Să crezi că nu ai nicio șansă împotriva sistemului, nici măcar una pur teoretică, dar să continui te lupți în continuare (în mintea ta, firește) cu întreg universul? Perfect! Tot ce citisem înainte se transformase cât ai clipi în timp cheltuit fără sens, pentru că descoperisem în sfârșit eroul și romanul care să justifice toate trăirile, zbaterile și răbufnirile mele de până atunci.

Viața lui Frost este damnată și aproape toate lucrurile care i se întâmplă sunt iluzii, iar autorul îi ia treptat personajului său principal tot ceea ce acesta crede că are. Apoi, după ce consideră că toate aceste pedepse nu sunt suficiente, îl lobotomizează la propriu, îl transformă într-un organism minuscul și apatic și îl închide într-un recipient ermetic, peste care se așterne uitarea. Mileniile trec unele după altele iar Eric Frost, cu câteva pagini înainte de sfârșit, continuă să-și ducă existența într-o stare de nemișcare totală și de tăcere absolută.

După care evadează.

Mă bucur nespus că am citit “Rețeaua gândurilor” exact atunci când a fost necesar să întâlnesc o astfel de carte. Mai devreme nu aș fi înțeles de ce este important ca unele lucruri să fie posibile, iar mai târziu n-aș mai fi crezut că anumite lucruri nu sunt imposibile.

Notă : Am aflat de curând că Herbert Franke s-a stins din viață pe 16 iulie 2022, la vârsta de 95 de ani. De-a lungul timpului au existat câțiva oameni, nu mulți, despre care mintea mea de adolescent credea că vor trăi veșnic. Anthony Queen, Sean Connery, Ayrton Senna, Nichita Stănescu… Herbert Franke făcea parte din acest grup personal de oameni nemuritori și regret nespus că nu mai este printre noi. Un scriitor excepțional, un om de știință apreciat și un artist generativ extrem de talentat, despre care Dmitri Cherniak, un alt artist pentru care am un respect deosebit, spunea “ His work and his ideas will live on through all of us and serve as gift for future generations. A true innovator in every sense of the word. ”

Nota acordată romanului : 10

http://www.bucurestifm.ro/2022/11/16/...

[Niklas Hart]

Tolles Buch insgesamt.

Der Übergang vom ersten zum zweiten Kapitel wirkt Anfangs etwas abrupt (löst sich aber am Ende auf), was den Einstieg in das Buch zunächst erschwert. Ab dem zweiten Kapitel entwickelt sich jedoch ein klarer roter Faden, der die Handlung gut trägt. Besonders im vorletzten Kapitel steigt die Spannung deutlich an, auch wenn das tempo an dieser Stelle vielleicht etwas zu hoch ist.

Franke gelingt es, einen Art Inception-Effekt zu erzeugen: Der Leser ist unsicher, was real ist und was simuliert wird. Das titelgebende Gedankennetz fungiert dabei als starkes zentrales Element. Das totalitäre System bildet ein passendes Setting, allerdings hätte ich mir hier ein detaillierteres Worldbuilding gewünscht. Auch die technischen Hintergründe bleiben für ein SciFi Buch größtenteils vage: Es wäre spannend gewesen, mehr über die Funktionsweise des Gedankennetzes oder anderer Geräte zu erfahren. Schade ist das, weil Franke solche Details bei eher nebensächlichen Dingen (wie dem Türmechanismus, den Eric in Kapitel 4 umgeht) präzise beschreibt.

Eric Frost ist ein überzeugender Hauptcharakter, auch wenn er stellenweise ambivalent wirkt. In den Kapiteln 2 und 3 zeigt er sich eher egoistisch und rücksichtslos, während er gegen Ende mit Jane an seiner Seite selbstlos und aufopferungsbereit agiert.

Fazit:
Insgesamt überzeugt Frankes "das Gedankennetz" durch seine spannende Handlung und den cleveren Inception-Effekt, der Realität und Simulation verschwimmen lässt. Schwächen liegen vor allem im etwas holprigen Einstieg, im fehlenden Worldbuilding und in den lückenhaften technischen Beschreibungen. Trotz kleinerer Unstimmigkeiten bleibt das Buch unterhaltsam.


Insgesamt erhält das Buch von mir 3,7 von 5 Sternen.

[Laurent]

The scientific expedition mentioned in the book description is a background for the main story, which is about a very intelligent and skillful man who became a disident in his totalitarian society and was eventually sentenced to undergo lobotomy for his behaviour, along with his girlfriend. Eons later, this non-human scientific expedition retrieves his conserved brain and reactivates it by replicating its neural connections into the main computer of a spaceship. The most interesting part of the story is the set of simulated, yet perceived by the subject as real, behavioural tests that the main character must undergo for his judges to decide whether there is enough proof to sentence him. However, the judges are biased and ideology-driven. The Mind Net is similar in this respect to Zone Null.

[Bogdan Mărginean]

Hard SF, psychological, philosophical and absurd, this is how Herbert W. Franke's work "The Mind Net" is described, initially confused with the author who also wrote the novel "Dune", only that Franke is of Austrian/German origin. It is described as a particularly difficult novel, but despite its absurdity, it is very good. Something fully understood only towards the end of the book. At the beginning, the book has influences from "Solaris" by Stanislaw Lem, so that the action somehow sends you into the universe of the "Alien" movie series, but from a different perspective, not a macabre one, but a psychological one. As for the composition of the literary composition, it resembles the Strugatsky brothers, even if a non-communist cosmos is easily noticeable.
My opinion is that the real beginning of the book is somewhere around the middle of the novel, it reveals the story of the main character, Eric Frost, a researcher on a bizarre planet, similar to Solaris. Following his desertion, because he had been ordered to execute himself, and the survival instinct being more intense, he resorted to an escape. However, in somewhat unclear contexts, he was caught by the Earth's state organization and subjected to a psychological tribunal. Thus, we find out that the hero has practically not completed any mission on that planet, everything is just an experiment in a neuro-psychic institute from an evolved Terra, which culminates in his lobotomy. But lobotomy does not have the same meaning as in reality, but rather the collection of brain material, separating it forever from the body, from the material.
It goes back to the beginning of the book, where a team of other humanoids discovered on another planet, almost toxic, cylinders with preserved brains, or corals. The extinction of the civilization of this planet took place many millions of years ago. And those containers are brought to one of the spaceships of the humanoid reconnaissance flotilla, triggering the anomaly: the supposedly prehistoric brain begins to control the ship, evanescent all the crew in a space nebula. The difference between the beginning and the end depends on the perspective of the characters, thus, in the first part we have the description of the humanoids, and the second part, the description of the primitive coral, in the name of Eric Frost.
It is an atypical novel, which questions the passage of time and how dreams differ from reality, and the description that captivated me the most was a toxic, but still populated planet, where the vegetation was not as we know it, but one composed exclusively of crystals: silicates, sulfides (antimonite flowers and weeds), white sulfate paste, etc. A description as close as possible to what I see in minerals, another universe, other planets.
I recommend it, even though the content is heavy, it's absolutely fascinating, through the multitude of ideas that under the seal of imagination become real treasures!

[Darkened]

this one is one of my favourite books.and have really some amusing phases lol.i don t know i tried not to like it cause it s hard and horror in a lot, but i couldn t.i still like it.i read sf but not this kind,i read a lot sf but in the style of foundation by asimov or john brunner.sf like this one i don t read a lot,but....like i said....i liked it.cheers

[asunder_doom]

3.5 stars. A short interesting read that was surprisingly better than I expected.

[James]

Book by Herbert W. Franke

[Matt Bradley]

I was pleasantly surprised by this one! Some unexpected twists that had me re-contextualizing everything I had read.

[Emperador Spock]

Das Buch folgt dem Aufbau, der ziemlich typisch für die Science-Fiction-Romane aus den 1950-60 Jahren ist: Der Roman ist keine zusammenhängende Geschichte, sondern besteht aus sechs scheinbar beziehungslosen Geschichten, deren Beziehung miteinander zunächst nicht klar ist, und bis zum Ende nicht ganz klar wird.

Welcher Zusammenhang besteht zwischen einem Bewusstsein, das den zentralen Computer eines Raumschiffs übernimmt, einem intelligenten Geschöpf, das einen ganzen Planeten allmählich bedeckt, und einem Putsch in einer außerirdischen Kolonie?

Der Autor erklärt alles mit einer weltumfassenden Antiutopie und ihrer "Gedankenpolizei". Diese Mittel erscheinen heute ein bisschen banal und die dystopische Welt ist wenig detailliert (mir gefiel zum Beispiel nicht, dass es keine Informationen gibt über die Geräte, die die "Gedankenpolizei" nutzt, obwohl der Autor sonst gute technische Beschreibungen macht). Trotzdem ist die Handlung des Buchs ziemlich spannend, schnell und oft überraschend.

[Nora Vasilescu]

Easy read. From a literary point of view a hastened, pretty careless work (unless the translation is to blame). From an epic point of view however it is thought material. Spirit, brain, personality, person - what makes and what breaks them, where they reside... creativity/violence love/aggression control/freedom... in spite of the poor literary quality and some dating technical details it may make a great discussion in class.

[Florin Pitea]

I read this in Romanian translation, back in the late 1980s. It seemed rather difficult to follow at the time.

[Kaya Wentz]

On the nose with this one; barely a four star. It's a shame more of this author's works weren't translated into English though; I would've liked to read more from him.