I liked the spirit of this novel, as an antidote to the quasi-fascist space novels by Heinlein. I also appreciated that time dilation played such a roI liked the spirit of this novel, as an antidote to the quasi-fascist space novels by Heinlein. I also appreciated that time dilation played such a role - it's disappointing to me when science fiction writers simply invent ways to avoid the basic constraints of relativity in order to move their stories along.
The basic premise of the story should be familiar by now to anyone who has lived in America for the past 18 years: a war whose origins are very unclear, being fought for reasons that cannot be explained, against an enemy that nobody bothers to try and understand, and whose sole impact on the majority of the population is that taxes are up and freedom is down. And there is never any end in sight.
The novel concludes in a very tidy way - too tidy in my opinion. I can't say much without a spoiler, but the ending was a rather abrupt change from the tone of the rest of the novel. Not sure whether it improved the story or detracted from it.
The book won a lot of awards, and deservedly so, I guess. The plot is engaging, and the story is told well. But I can't help but compare this with really good writing in other genres. For example I've been reading Philip Roth lately, and Elena Ferrante (in translation), and the quality of their writing is just on another level. Not just stylistically, but in terms of their insights into the minds of their characters. By comparison, The Forever War is shallow, superficial. It's likely the case that if sci-fi awards were restricted to writing at the level of Philip Roth (or Saul Bellow, or John Updike), then the awards would just never be awarded. It is just disappointing to me that you have to lower your standards if you want to read sci-fi. There is no fundamental reason for it, other than reader expectations. ...more
Despite the 3-star rating, I regret nearly every minute I spent reading this book. Maybe it was just that it was so long; maybe it was because it wentDespite the 3-star rating, I regret nearly every minute I spent reading this book. Maybe it was just that it was so long; maybe it was because it went around in circles, with little actual plot; or maybe I just got tired of the characters, and the city, and the murkiness that enveloped everything and everyone. The overly long gay porn scenes didn't help, and the straight porn was just dreary and awful.
But there were stretches of really insightful crystalline writing. This would have been a terrific novella, but as a nearly 900 page tome - not so much.
Some other reviewer suggested that you either get it or you don't. But there is another dimension: you either like it or you don't. I'm pretty sure I fall into the get it / don't like it quadrant....more
Of the 4 stories in this collection, I read only "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep". I've been told by most people I work with that PKD is someone Of the 4 stories in this collection, I read only "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep". I've been told by most people I work with that PKD is someone I ought to read (and have been hearing this from various people for years), so I finally bit the bullet and gave him a try. Sci-fi is very far from my favorite genre, and dystopian post-apocalyptic sci-fi is really not something I like at all. So it took me a long time to warm up to this story. Surprisingly, though, the more I read the more I liked, so by the end I was almost drawn in to the story. Almost.
Anyway, nothing about this novel puts me at risk of becoming a PKD addict, though I guess I'll eventually get around to reading a bit more PKD. Someday. Maybe....more
I realized recently that although I've seen the movie twice, I had never read Fahrenheit 451. In fact it had been years since I had read any Bradbury.I realized recently that although I've seen the movie twice, I had never read Fahrenheit 451. In fact it had been years since I had read any Bradbury. So I picked it up last night and started reading. And didn't put it down until the end. I have seldom seen such sustained intensity and passion in a novel. If done less skillfully it might seem a bit over the top, but in Bradbury's hands it works.
The Truffaut movie, though quite good, does not really do justice to the novel. You come away from the movie with the experience of a popular culture made homogeneous and vapid by the continuous onslaught of mind-numbing television. But the novel really explores the political aspects of this: the way that dumbed-down commercialized pabulum is convenient for the political elite and profitable for corporations. Written in 1953 I don't think Bradbury could have realized how accurate his prediction of wall-sized televisions continually showing loud, content-free programming was. And could he really have foreseen that we would become a nation of perpetual war?
I also liked that the novel did not have the happy ending of the movie. There is genuine tragedy in the novel, and the only hope is that generations hence some part of what was lost might be remembered. ...more
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