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The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
Published
in 1953 in Galaxy Science
Fiction
185 Pages
The Very First Hugo Winner!
I had to get this one from the local University's library. It appears to actually have been printed in 1953! |
A few
centuries from now, espers (Peepers, telepaths) have integrated into every
level of society, making premeditated murder a thing of the past. How could someone harbor that kind of hatred
when someone is liable to read your thoughts at any second? Enter Ben Reich, immensely wealthy and
immensely disturbed but a “normal”.
Reich plans to murder his business rival and take over his company and
the galaxy, destroying the Esper Guild in the process.
Police
Prefect Lincoln Powell is an esper and an insanely smart and adroit detective. Very early in his investigation he realizes
that Reich is the criminal he’s after and sets about finding enough evidence
for a conviction and sentence of “demolition”.
Sure, Freudian
themes are all over the place in this book, and while that likely will float a
lot of boats, I was drawn to the eugenics program devised by the Esper Guild. This is also what made want to see Reich
succeed, despite the fact that I was clearly supposed to hate him. In this world, Espers are seen as the
pinnacle of human ability and the Esper Guild only allows espers to marry other
espers in order to cultivate their unique skills. Moreover, even a world in which humanity has
evolved to have integrated telepaths into every level of society and nearly
transcended violence, it is a computer (Old Man Mose – good computer name
right?) that must administer justice and “normals” are treated as nearly
second-class citizens by the Espers. To
me there is something deeply unsettling about what this society had to give up
for their peace.
Reich’s
crime though is an opportunity for “normals.”
If Reich gets away with murder, and a normal is able to circumvent the
infallible esper safety net, then a huge hole will have been punched in the
fabric of this unfair system. The fact
that Reich’s crime will likely make him the most powerful human in the galaxy
would also mean an elevation of normal status.
If Reich were unsuccessful and the good guys won, it could very possibly
mean something dreadful for humanity and the title “The Demolished Man” takes
on a wholly new meaning.
Indeed there
were so many deeply layered themes in this book that I would think it would
have had wider appeal over the years.
Melodrama
Most of
the time, when you hear about melodrama it’s always in reference to theater or
film but if there ever was a book exhibiting the same themes, it was The Demolished Man. When the book starts Ben Reich is clearly a monster,
an insane, sad and absolute Mad Man. And
not in a cool way. He is just sick and
out of control and on the loose! As he
is planning and committing D’Courtney’s murder, one cannot help but root for
his failure. And yet, he is a truly
captivating individual. It’s like
watching a car wreck, you just can’t look away.
Powell is
a 1st class esper and as such can delve into the deepest corners of
the subconscious. He is an equally
unstoppable force and the collision of these two gigantic personalities is
really something to behold. He is an exceptionally
skilled and exceptionally passionate police prefect and whenever Reich seems to
(always) stay one step ahead, Powell is under tremendous pressure to devise
some new scheme to trap Reich.
After the crime
is committed, once Reich and Powell are desperately trying to locate the only
witness, I found myself enjoying the competition so much that I literally could
not take my eyes off the page (“Where is that damn girl!”). But this owes as
much to the outrageous personalities of the two central figures as it does to
the unique character of Bester’s prose.
A Graphic Novel
The
narrative in The Demolished Man
is primarily driven by Alfred Bester’s dialog, the pace and strength of which
is both propelled to a fever pitch and readable by his superb use of space and symbols.
When espers stick to
telepathic messages, they can communicate at lightning speed (I really like this
idea and it reminded me of BrainPal communication from Old Man’s War by John Scalzi). If an esper
conversation is at first disorienting, it is also immediately natural and his
use of visual stimuli makes perfect sense in light of the fact that espers
prefer to communicate by telepathic messages and symbols. I even questioned if Bester had taken this
far enough. Why would espers limit
themselves to sending images of text? In
the end, I was happy to realize that with each conversation between a new pair of
espers, or in new circumstances, the method of conversation would change. This seemed completely logical to me so I was
okay with allowing myself to believe espers did things this way.
Page 20 |
However, if
at first an esper conversation is disorienting though, an esper party is nearly
incomprehensible. Conversations become
word art and combine with other conversations to create a web of thought
patterns that is at once cool and psychosis inducing. The espers then play a game in which phrases
and conversations take on multiple meanings; the literal meaning of the words,
and also the meaning of the pictures those words create in the minds of the
other espers. I believed it and liked
it. A lot.
Page 156 |
Throughout
the book, visual embellishments of names and phrases like @tkins, ¼Maine, Blessings and some others enhance
the frenetic pace of the dialog, in my opinion.
I found it an extraordinary tool
for creating the experience of telepathic communication and throwing the reader
into the mad dash that never ends.
Though I was caught off-guard at first, once I realized you could read
it like a txt message, it made complete sense and just felt right. If espers can communicate as fast as thought,
why would they communicate with pictures as often as words? I actually started wondering if Bester had
really gone far enough with it, considering how much communication has changed
as a result of txts which are still much slower than the speed espers could
communicate.
Recommendation
The
quality of this book is evident by the fact that not only have the themes but
also Bester’s unique style have remained relevant after almost 60 years. I think his fast pace owes to the fact that pop culture was really exploding
at the time and is also what keeps this book relevant today. Being part science fiction, part
detective/psychological thriller, this book also probably has appeal outside
the genre, which is a dimension that few of the other Hugo Winners from the 1905’s
can also claim. People, this is a good
one.
HEP SCORE
Universe: 2/5 (I’m not convinced the setting was all that
important)
Social/Political Climate: 5/5
Dialogue: 5/5
Scientific Wonders: 2/5
Characters: 5/5
Overall 19/25
This
Week’s book is Fahrenheit 451 by Ray
Bradbury. This one is short so I
anticipate getting some bonus reading in too!
Next
Week’s Book is Farmer in the Sky by
Robert Heinlein. This is the second book
by Heinlein in the 1950’s and I can’t wait to see which is the master of the
precious.
This sounds excellent! you had me at creepy melodramatic characters, you had me at telepathic detectives, and then, omg, the weird esper text thing? I've got to read Demolished Man just for that!
ReplyDeleteI'm really confused why this book is not more popular for all the reasons you've mentioned! Though, perhaps I was just unaware. Either way it was a great find. Should we look forward to your review soon?
DeleteI really enjoyed reading this one!
ReplyDeleteGreat Book. I also did the audiobook which was fantastic.
ReplyDeleteoh that must be an interesting audiobook!
Delete