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hanntastic's review against another edition
Global Read Challenge 102 Luxembourg
I'm not rating this because I enjoyed reading it, but it certainly wasn't good. It was fun to read ridiculous predictions from over 100 years ago and how some of them came true (video communication) and some were so wildly off base. It was short enough that I was amused pretty much the whole time even though the characters were flatter than one dimensional and the plot was pretty silly.
I'm not rating this because I enjoyed reading it, but it certainly wasn't good. It was fun to read ridiculous predictions from over 100 years ago and how some of them came true (video communication) and some were so wildly off base. It was short enough that I was amused pretty much the whole time even though the characters were flatter than one dimensional and the plot was pretty silly.
gingerlaura's review
3.0
This book definitely doesn't deserve the low ratings it has. Sure, it wasn't the best I've read, but definitely wasn't the worst either.
This book is mainly about alot, and i mean alot of predictions about the future. It's kind of woven into a mediocre storyline, but a good amount of the predictions are pretty accurate. It's very fascinating that such predictions that were written in the early 1900s, actually came true. Who knows what sci-fi books that are written now hold the answers to our future?
A fascinating read, especially if you keep in mind that this book was written over a century ago.
This book is mainly about alot, and i mean alot of predictions about the future. It's kind of woven into a mediocre storyline, but a good amount of the predictions are pretty accurate. It's very fascinating that such predictions that were written in the early 1900s, actually came true. Who knows what sci-fi books that are written now hold the answers to our future?
A fascinating read, especially if you keep in mind that this book was written over a century ago.
wunder's review against another edition
4.0
My son loved this book, even though it was written nearly a hundred years ago and that shows in the style and vocabulary. Gernsback was totally caught up in the wonders of the year 2660 and that somehow connected. I have a soft spot for visions of the future written in the past, and this one is from 1911, so it is even more fun. It is mostly a travelogue of the future, but there is enough plot to keep it moving.
Be sure to get the edition from the Bison Books Frontiers of Imagination series because it has the cool illustrations. Sigh, that web site is a disaster, but the books are really nice. But if they could reissue the catalog of Sam Moskowitz’s Hyperion Press, I wouldn’t care if they wrote their whole site in PDF.
Be sure to get the edition from the Bison Books Frontiers of Imagination series because it has the cool illustrations. Sigh, that web site is a disaster, but the books are really nice. But if they could reissue the catalog of Sam Moskowitz’s Hyperion Press, I wouldn’t care if they wrote their whole site in PDF.
sean67's review against another edition
3.0
Older sci-fi novel read through serial reader, some interesting aspects but not that memorable.
shiprim's review against another edition
3.0
Bir bilimkurgu romanı sadece ilerigörüşlü olmakla önplana çıkıyorsa ondan şüphe etmek gerekir. Evet, çokça başarılı bilimsel öngörüleri var, ama edebiyat değil. Yine de saygı duyuyoruz.
nwhyte's review against another edition
http://nhw.livejournal.com/852938.html[return][return]Brian Aldiss blames Gernsback for taking sf away from the literary tradition established by Mary Shelley, and reading this, the Luxembourg-born author's only well-known work of fiction, I can see why Aldiss accuses Gernsback of "a deadening literalism"; and yet I can also understand why the Worldcon hands out Hugos rather than Shelleys.[return][return]This fairly short novel was written in 1911, and concerns Ralph 124C 41+, the greatest inventor of his age, who one day meets the beautiful Alice as a result of a crossed videophone conversation, and saves her from an avalanche in distant Switzerland by remote control. He takes her on a tour of 27th century New York and rescues her from abduction and certain death in space at the hands of his rivals for her affections.[return][return]Of course the narrative (such as it is) is interrupted frequently by breathless descriptions of the technical advances of the year 2660. Some of these (e.g. radar and solar panels) are now familiar to us in 2007, while in some cases one wonders why he didn't take the idea a step further (you can watch live broadcasts from Europe, and phone calls use video as a matter of course, but no mention of video recording of any kind - and this was written several years after the dawn of cinema).[return][return]No robots (still nine years before apek invented them in R.U.R.), and perhaps more unexpectedly no rockets - space flight happens via antigravity. (Robert Goddard only began his rocket experiments that same year, 1911; Tsiolkovsky had been writing on the subject for decades, but I don't know how well know his work was in the English-speaking world.)[return][return]Yet Gernsback's most spectacular miss is in his failure to understand how technology would revolutionise society. Ralph's sleep is enlivened by a recording of Homer's Odyssey; his manservant puts it on for him. Ralph's dictation machine means that his secretary can devote her time to other things, not that he can dispense with her services. As noted above, we hear a lot about live entertainment, but not much about other forms of literature. The technicalities of how the newspaper of 2660 is produced and read are described in detail; its contents are not.[return][return](And Gernsbach's asteroids have atmospheres.)[return][return]Still, I can find a lot more forgiveness for him than Brian Aldiss did: for me, Gernsbach's enthusiasm makes up for his desperately clunky prose. And I love the line, "Martians in New York were not sufficiently rare to excite any particular comment."
filaughn's review
1.0
Worthwhile only as a glimpse at the history of science fiction - and even at that, I'd stick to the Wikipedia or other sources to learn about what's in this book rather than read it yourself (and I don't say that lightly). The writing is not good, sexism is rampant, and there is entirely too much tedious explaining of future scientific discoveries in a very pedantic way and not much interesting plot or characterization going on. This isn't just a case of someone who isn't into hard sci-fi - it's pages of didactic explaining of inventions that are not tied into the plot, are not explained in an engaging way, and often don't even sound all that well thought out.
I read this for Luxembourg in the read-around-the-world challenge, as Hugo Gernsback was born in Luxembourg and emigrated to the US as an adult. It was worth it for that because it's hard to find authors from Luxembourg (that can be read in English) but unless you desperately need to read a book by a Luxembourgish author, do not bother with this one.
I read this for Luxembourg in the read-around-the-world challenge, as Hugo Gernsback was born in Luxembourg and emigrated to the US as an adult. It was worth it for that because it's hard to find authors from Luxembourg (that can be read in English) but unless you desperately need to read a book by a Luxembourgish author, do not bother with this one.
electricbolt's review against another edition
2.0
This was a book I had to read for a college class (Science Fiction & The Human Dynamic) and it was fascinating to get a chance to read early sci fi, or more specifically to see what predictions Hugo Gernsback made in this that ended up being true. It was mostly about the technology and less about the characters for this story, but that makes sense given Hugo's background and his overall goal with writing/publishing.
dorre's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
suddenflamingword's review against another edition
3.0
This was genuine treat, reading like the raw & unprocessed cud of what would become the staple of an entire genre. Analogically, it's what [b:The Castle of Otranto|12923|The Castle of Otranto|Horace Walpole|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390597628l/12923._SY75_.jpg|46432] is to gothic horror. For those who don't want to sit through patent descriptions disguised as a space opera though, I'd say [a:Riichiro Inagaki|386923|Riichiro Inagaki|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1364075507p2/386923.jpg]'s Dr. Stone perfectly captures a lot of the spirit of Ralph124C 41+ while also actually being good.
To give him his due, Gernsback arguably built the infrastructure of American science fiction with his persistence in magazine building. That said, he was definitely more interested in the business of science than literature and today he'd probably work in Silicon Valley. His admiration of Thomas Edison is reflected in the non-payment of his writers and you can really see his uncritical biases & obvious disinterest in human experience through his technocratic impulses (which sometimes led him to...peculiar solutions to social issues).
I point this out because it's obvious in his book. Not just in my above-mentioned mocking of its quality, but also because the first conflict that begins the novel is a labor strike - and the bad guys are the striking workers. There's a Randian undertone lurking in its World's Fair atmosphere, a utopian capitalism with accompanying Minecraft logic built around a one world government who restrains super genius American scientists because they're work is needed to "improve" humanity. Something worth noting if you decide to brave the book.
TL;DR: Hugo Gernsback was an exuberant science-loving businessman whose importance to science fiction is weighed against how he embodied many of the terrible historical and still present ideas within American culture. These are pretty blatantly reflected in Ralph 124C 41+. And yet, it's still a fun read. Warren's review is perfect.
To give him his due, Gernsback arguably built the infrastructure of American science fiction with his persistence in magazine building. That said, he was definitely more interested in the business of science than literature and today he'd probably work in Silicon Valley. His admiration of Thomas Edison is reflected in the non-payment of his writers and you can really see his uncritical biases & obvious disinterest in human experience through his technocratic impulses (which sometimes led him to...peculiar solutions to social issues).
I point this out because it's obvious in his book. Not just in my above-mentioned mocking of its quality, but also because the first conflict that begins the novel is a labor strike - and the bad guys are the striking workers. There's a Randian undertone lurking in its World's Fair atmosphere, a utopian capitalism with accompanying Minecraft logic built around a one world government who restrains super genius American scientists because they're work is needed to "improve" humanity. Something worth noting if you decide to brave the book.
TL;DR: Hugo Gernsback was an exuberant science-loving businessman whose importance to science fiction is weighed against how he embodied many of the terrible historical and still present ideas within American culture. These are pretty blatantly reflected in Ralph 124C 41+. And yet, it's still a fun read. Warren's review is perfect.