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Liked It “This was a solid ten on the depress-o-meter. In this fictional account of 2021-6 New York City, Disch gives us a future without hope. Every character, with the exception of a few minor ones, seems completely lost in a world where there is no beauty or direction, and love is fleeting and...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“This was a solid ten on the depress-o-meter. In this fictional account of 2021-6 New York City, Disch gives us a future without hope. Every character, with the exception of a few minor ones, seems completely lost in a world where there is no beauty or direction, and love is fleeting and indifferent. Oh, and worst of all, there's no real food - almost everything is synthetic (yucky).
dogbowlbookpile wrote this review Friday, April 3 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The book is actually a loose collection of vignettes, each giving the reader a few more clues as to exactly what is going on. A major character in one chapter will make a sideline appearance in another, and through the intermingling, plotlines converge to form a clear picture at the conclusion of the book. A second reading may be in order since I'm sure I missed quite a bit at the beginning because I was too busy wondering what the hell was going on.
What's really frightening about the stories is their relevance. Disch penned this in 1974 back when things were, if not better, at least viewed a bit more optimistically than they are currently. He hits on quite a few things that have come to pass already: legal prescription drug dependency, acceptance of alternative sexual orientation, increased reliance of the poor and middle class on government subsidy and egg implantation/fertilization. Just add in a whole bunch of government controlled slums, a mandatory contraception program (only the intelligent can procreate) and the fake food (I think some of its fake already anyway) and you have the now. Scary. But that's what I like about it.”
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