Richard Matheson - I Am Legend (Book Review)

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"I Am Legend" (Amazon: UK, USA)
by Richard Matheson (Wikipedia)
Format: Paperback, 160 pages
Publisher: Gollancz

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Before I get on with the review let me caution you that there are a few major spoilers included - I just couldn’t write a coherent review without them; so if you haven’t read the book yet or are strictly against knowing in advance some of the important issues that the book raises, you should consider not reading further.
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I bought this book based on many recommendations, most of them coming from trusted sources, and I’m glad to say that they’ve once more hit the spot. I bought I Am Legend with a bunch of other books last month, when I was visiting Croatia for one of their biggest SF conventions – SFeraKon (the guest of honor was no other than Richard Morgan). I was determined to be thrifty, but when I decided that I needed every other book on sale at the convention…then the spending spree was inevitable (In my defense, this time around I went for “pure” quality…I bought several titles from SF Masterworks series). My to-read-pile is enormous and since I don’t have an exact schedule worked out I never know which book I’ll read next. I picked up I Am Legend on a pure whim. What I heard about the book before I bought it is that it’s good and while I really wanted to see the movie (starring Will Smith) I decided against it…at least until I read the book first.
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I have to agree with all the praise and really cannot question its inclusion in the fabulous SF Masterworks series – it’s absolutely stunning. I was actually surprised when I found out that it was written way back in 1954 because it could as easily be conceived by any of the current writers – any talented writer at any rate. Matheson set the story in the late seventies (so it counts as a near future post-apocalypse story; at least by that era’s standards). One of the rare clues that give away the fact that the book was written more than five decades ago is the lack of modern technology (computers, mobile phones,…), but while the lack of mobile phones is understandable -- the last man on earth really has no need for them – a microwave and a few other modern gadgets would come in quite handy if he had them at disposal. The depiction of vampires is quite outdated (naïve) as well, especially for post-Interview With the Vampire-era, where Buffy the Vampire Slayer inspired series and urban fantasy literature thrives. But I guess it could easily reflect the view of a modern person that never cared about any horror movies and vampire series.
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The post-apocalyptic urban setting devoid of life and the main protagonist -- a middle-aged American, practical and witty by nature – remind me heavily of Stephen King’s The Stand and The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I suppose it’s one of the main reasons why this novel is called an ageless classic :). Besides, regardless of the year in which the book was conceived it takes the events on a whole new level.
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When “post-apocalypse” is mentioned, one inadvertently envisions a bleak and ravaged setting that usually entails the following elements: (1) a small number of survivors coping with chaos and imminent extinction and (2) those same survivors striving to reestablish some sort of order (civilization). In I Am Legend Matheson chose a bit different approach – the society is being actively rebuilt all right, but not by humanity as we know it. The harbinger of the apocalypse in this case is a bacterium that causes people to transform into vampires, and since nobody actually dies from the infection (or rather – they don’t stop living), there is plenty of the so called “survivors” that can rebuild the civilization as they see fit. The apocalypse in this case does not devastate, but trans-morphs – it presents a switch between two modes-of-being that brings the extinction of one race and the birth of another. Hence the title of the book – as the vampire society comes to be, so the human society drifts into myth and becomes a legend almost overnight.
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The main protagonist, Mr.Neville, presents a glitch in this new system, a true anachronism, but otherwise a likable and sympathetic fellow (from the readers perspective that is) – a perfectly ordinary person, not the brightest or the strongest, but definitely one of the most stubborn and resilient, a true survivor (the reason behind why he hasn’t changed is a mere coincidence). He adapts, studies books learns the hard way how to improve his chances of survival against the vampire society. In time he comes to accept the fact that they are not as brainless and evil as he believed them to be – they are as intelligent race of individuals as we are – or, in this case, were. It’s just as hard as with many brilliant works of fiction that manage to touch you in a profound and emotional way, to be one hundred percent objective and analytic – you are prone to let yourself go and just enjoy the ride. This is exactly why this book earned its place with the rest of the SF Masterworks. Strongly recommended and something that fans of post-apocalyptic fiction need to read, if they want to call themselves that.
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(you should bear in mind that this is a very subjective grade – even more so than usual, and is based more on my reading experience than any objective analysis I could muster up)
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~ Trin ~

Daniel Keyes - Flowers for Algernon (Book Review)

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Warning – this review includes minor spoilers!

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If I had to say only one thing about this work of fiction it would be that it moved me deeply.
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The plot itself is fairly simple, yet the idea for the story is wonderfully original; we follow a sequence of 'progress reports' of a certain scientific experiment to raise one subject's IQ permanently. It is mostly due to the first person point-of-view that the reader is connected so tightly to the main character Charlie Gordon. He is a good-natured and kind person, but not what one would call a bright one (since he only has an IQ of 68). Charlie, however, has a great will to learn and thus presents a unique candidate for the experiment.

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The experiment is considered a success by its conductors and we can observe Charlie's swift evolution in front of our own eyes afterwards - we see him gain vast theoretical knowledge but sadly lacking in its practical and social implementation. The evolution of the subject is done with grace and skill – a reader gets to notice the slight and gradual improvements in the style of writing throughout the book that reaches a whole new level at the end.

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“Flowers for Algernon” is in fact a book dealing with man's basic feelings and his dealings with the overwhelming entity that encompasses him and determines his fate - the society. In a way, this is a story about growing up and finding out for yourself that nothing is what it seemed to be when you were young; at the same time it is a story about a bottomless desire to learn and to become a wiser person. This wish lies at the foundations of Charlie's personality, for he is as willing to learn when his IQ is well below average, as well as when his IQ tops the 180 mark. And although everyone tries to convince Charlie that he has changed, he never really does – not in any essential way anyhow.
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The tragic part of the novel is the part that deals with the agony of a man who braces the world in the cup of his hand but at the same time knows that he won't even be able to spell words properly in a short amount of time. Daniel Keyes is an extremely convincing storyteller in my eyes and who managed to bring the main protagonist dangerously close to my irrational side and therefore somewhat sabotaged my earnest intent to do a careful and in-depth analyses of the novel's style and plot (which is what I usually strive for in my reviews). This book feels too vivid and emotive to allow you to do anything else but to read it in one big swallow. It actually begs for a re-read, and that sooner rather than later - which is rare in a book.

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I cannot recommend this strongly enough – even if you're not a big sf&f fan. This book defies being classified, because it would constrict it too much.

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(the second perfect score I gave after "The Terror" by Dan Simmons)

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~ Trin ~

Ursula K. Le Guin - The Lathe of Heaven (Book Review)

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The Lathe of Heaven is a 1971 science fiction novel by much acclaimed Ursula K. Le Guin. The novel was nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula award and won the Locus in 1972. It has also been adopted into two films. The novel sprawls just over 170 pages, which is considered short by modern standards set by thousand plus pages long doorstopper tomes. That keeps the writer with limited maneuver space. This is not Le Guin's most known work – that would be certain novels from the Hainish Cycle (considerably The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia) and her YA fantasy Earthsea novels. But even if it is not her most known work it is still influential and resonating.
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George Orr discovers that he has the ability to alter and/or shape reality with his dreams but is also vastly unnerved by that fact. He abuses drugs to help him suppress the vivid and reality-changing dreams. When he gets caught for it he is assigned to Obligatory Therapy. When his therapist, William Haber, discovers for himself what George is capable of, and all the possibilities of given situation, he starts developing agendas of his own.
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Basically this is a story about the contest of ideological and binary opposites – such as the following motives: free will vs. authority, risk vs. safety, freedom vs. totalitarism, introvertedness vs. extrovertedness, pessimism vs. unbelated optimism, passivity vs. activity and last but not least the who protagonists that personify these polar ideals. It is an allegory of two god-head figures: the tinkerer or the interventionist (example: Judeo-Christian concept of god) and the being who is the World, who belongs rather than observes and dictates (example: god figure of many eastern religions). The tinkerer is personified in the therapist and the being who is the World is represented by George Orr (he in fact holds the power of creation in his hands, but is ironically in power of Haber himself). So the first one uses and the second is used. The revolt of George Orr seems mild and without outward aggression, but it is only that it happens on an introverted and intuitive level. Haber sees Orr only as a husk of a man, incapable of action, of progress, of evolution. Orr is not unintelligent, only meek and docile tool to be used. This is of course only Haber's view on things. We get to know the opposite angle on Orr as well – a completely wholesome person and a pillar of strength to lean on to. From this point of view Haber seems a complete control freak with narcissistic, aggressive, pushy, self-centered, uncaring and intrusive tendencies. Although neither is good or bad. Orr is convinced that he has no moral right to change the world. On the other hand, Haber believes that Orr's reality-bending dreams are just a tool to be used, a next step in evolution and he has a genuine wish to change the world for the better. But dreams are unpredictable, driven by subconscious irrational mind defying control.
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---“I don’t have nightmares more than most people, I think,” Orr was saying, looking down at his hands. “Nothing special. I’m afraid of dreaming.”
---“Of dreaming bad dreams.”
---“Any dreams.”
---“I see. Have you any notion how that fear got started? Or what it is you’re afraid of, wish to avoid?”
---As Orr did not reply at one, bat sat looking don at his hands, square, reddish hands lying too still on his knee, Haber prompted just a little. “Is it the irrationality, the lawlessness, sometimes the immorality of dreams, is it something like that that makes you uncomfortable?”
---“Yes, in a way. But for a specific reason. You see, here…Here I…”
---Here’s the crux, the lock, thought Haber, also watching those tense hands. Poor bastard. He has wet dreams, and a guilt complex about ‘em. Boyhood enuresis, compulsive mother-
---“Here’s where you stop believing me.” (pg.14-15)
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Just to state this one out loud – yes, Ursula K. Le Guin is a terrific and a very intelligent writer. She took some 170 pages and turned them into a psychological (psychoanalysis, dream studies etc.), sociological (issues of poverty, racism, population control, violence, tinkering with social structure etc.), philosophical (Nietzsche's will-to-power, ethical issues, question of freedom etc.) study with a pinch of pure fiction thrown in as well. I admit I find her writing style endearing and comfortable but in some way The Lathe of Heaven just fails to connect with me in the way it should. The book is short but I still found a lot of info-dumping and (for me) uninteresting speculations about and experimentations with the society's structure. Since I'm working on my degree in social studies I found much of that tinkering with society crude or just plainly under explored; I'm aware that the emphasis of the book lies elsewhere, but I still found this element of the story too disconcerting to give the book a higher grade. The alternative realities are so numerous that I never got a (firm) grasp on the setting of the novel. I'm mentioning this to justify my final grade and because I know some of you will not be bothered by this fact. On the other hand, her criticism of western societies and its constant will-to-progress is subtle and ingenious enough – played on individual level between two main protagonists.
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---You have to help another person. But it’s not right to play God with masses of people. To be God you have to know what you’re doing. And to do any good at all, just believing you’re right and your motives are good isn’t enough. You have to…be in touch. He isn’t in touch. No one else, no thing even, has an existence of its own for him; he sees the world only as a means to his end. (pg.150)
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All in all, this one was a mixed bag of great to not so great for me (but never really bad though). It's just that it felt a bit rusty in some places and in my opinion does is not on the level with The Left Hand of Darkness, which is her other work that I've read. So if you'd like to start with Le Guin I'd recommend to start there. Nevertheless, I'm glad that I've read The Lathe of Heaven because it has some brilliant moments – it's a charming classic in its own special way.
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---(3 out of five)
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~ Thrinidir ~

Joe Haldeman - The Forever War (Book Review)

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"The Forever War" was first published in 1974 and since then it was republished on several occasions (I've counted around 13) – these editions varying from simple reprints to the authors definite edition in 1997 and to the inclusion into the "royal" SF Masterworks collection. The novel was a solemn winner of both Nebula and Hugo awards and the fact that it is praised worldwide as one of the cornerstones of science fiction ever-since leaves little doubt that "The Forever War" withstood the test of time, as well as cows this reviewer with the weight of its historically accumulated pedigree. It’s really hard to review such a weighty title without being a part of the period that defined its becoming. Among other themes Haldeman tackles various contemporary issues of that time – Vietnam War is a prominent one for example (Haldeman fought there for a while). But let us not forget the fact that "The Forever War" would have never be lauded as a "classic", if the book hadn’t dealt with the issues of that time in a more general, universal and all-comprising way, if you wish. Haldeman deftly tackles and speculates about the nature of war, politics, society, philosophy, science, essence of humanity and personal relations in grand, intelligent and on occasion even clairvoyant manner.

It is the year of 1996. Humankind is in possession of space faring technology, and the conquest of the universe runs smoothly until one of the human colonists’ ship is attacked by before unencountered but obviously belligerent alien race – the Taurans. William Mandella is a first wave conscript for the elite UN task force being assembled for a war against Taurans. What makes him a candidate for the task force is his above average intelligence, education and physical prowess. The story begins during the stark and uncompromising initial training of the first group of recruits, which is the cause of first military casualties. Afterwards, “the real thing” follows; we are witness to long and time-consuming space voyages destined at some obscure out-in-the-nowhere solar systems, where battles with Taurans rage to and fro. There is always a chance that the enemy will have technological advantage over human forces or the other way around due to the time discrepancies, caused by faster than light travel. The toll on human life is excruciating. Mandella succeeds in retiring, but finds The Earth some twenty-one years later, two years of his subjective time, changed beyond the face of recognition (sadly for the worse) and once everything that ties him down passes away he volunteers back into the army. Just as soon as that he finds himself in the clutches of interstellar warmongering…for another thousand years or so - give or take a few years. Hence the name of the novel – “The Forever War”...indeed.

An example of successful attempt at humor:
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“William?” She had MCCOY stenciled above her face-plate.
“Hi, Sean. Anything special?”
“I just wondered if you had anyone to sleep with tonight?”
That’s right; I’d forgotten. There wasn’t any sleeping rooster here. Everybody chose his own partner. “Sure, I mean…” (he accepts the offer)
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Everybody was jumping up and down to keep warm.
“How c-cold do you think, it is, M-Mandella?” That was McCoy.
“I don’t even want to think about it…At least as cold as Missouri was.”
“Ung…wish they’d, get some, fucken, heat in, this place.” It always affects the small women more than anybody else. McCoy was the littlest one in the company, a waspwaist doll barely five feet high.
“They’ve got the airco going. It can’t be long now.”
“I wish I, was a big, slab of, meat like, you.”
I was glad she wasn’t. (pg.21; pg.22)
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I’m aware of the fact that I might be reiterating some of the facts that have been pointed out a countless of times before, but that is always a risk when reviewing things that have been in circulation and public eye for so long. William Mandella is a well round character, presented with conviction and what is always welcome – likable. He is well-read, fair, observant, introspected and slightly disinclined towards arrogance and authority (or any other kind of position holding power). I always had a thing for first person narrative, if and especially if the protagonist is consistent and sympathetic. Other characters in the novel are coping with the situation in a way as as anyone would in such morose circumstances. Staying alive is a top priority, while enjoying every free moment follows by a small margin.

Even though there are some explicit themes involved, Haldeman handles them civilly and with elegance throughout. They are incorporated naturally without making them the focal point of the plot or treating them abrasively, even though there is some pretty avant-garde tinkering with social conventions involved (state approved homosexuality; queerness of heterosexuality; military coordinating who gets to bunk with whom over night etc.).

Everything from scientific breakthroughs to sociological speculations about how future societies might look like is well thought out and explained. “The Forever War” certainly has similar flavor to one other SF Masterworks classic I’ve managed to read; I’m speaking of “The Left Hand of Darkness” by Ursula K. LeGuin, this book I cannot recommend highly enough.

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Orion Publishing Group (2001) / Author's prefered edition (1997) / Eos paperback (2003)
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"The Forever War" is by no means dauntless. The prose shows signs of old age as do some of the concepts, which the newer generations of science fiction authors managed to polish further. Haldeman can be sometimes also quite heavy on the science part of the fiction. This makes the setting more plausible, but disrupts and dampens the pace. Of action we see surprisingly little, at odds with the fact that this is basically considered a war novel. I would also have opted for more dialogue and more of the witty snipets which would normally spice things up (Haldeman certainly has a flair for being funny and ironic), but this is really just my personal preference and not an objective criticism.

It seems I’m on a goodreadin’ streak lately; enjoying all the books that I read, but that does nothing to diminish the worth garnered by this novel over the years. As I’ve already said it is quite on par, quality-wise, with LeGuin’s heavyweight novel from about the same time - “The Left Hand of Darkness”. Do yourself a favor and pick up at least one of these two books, as they are (1)great representatives of their genre; (2)they shine an illuminating light on contemporary science fiction literature; as well as (3)contain a distinct flavor of the period in which they were written in.
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I’m unable to decide between the grade 4/5 and 4,5/5, so I leave this to decide for yourselves.
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- Thrinidir -