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danrue's review against another edition
4.0
I found that this short story was difficult to understand and that I was struggling to take in the importance of the narrative in the present time. One aspect that I can see is the necessity of people to be emotionless, robotic, and detached from their jobs. There is also this idea that the jobs, although considered important, do not pay well. The workers are sacrificing much to get through their life. This can be compared to low paying jobs around the world because if people did not work them, the world would fall apart. There is also the idea that there is a way to break the system, but those in charge do not want or allow that to happen. Having the protagonist be “on the crank”, separated him from the other characters, giving him this life. This is important in the story, as it, one is the driving factor, and two, allows him to see the world for how it is.
humanignorance's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. The story was confusing at first; it is intended to be figured out as it goes along. Overall, the idea was solid and the plot did it justice. The novelette's biggest flaw is that the committee meeting, which is the meat of the story, was too long for what it needed to do.
paulataua's review against another edition
4.0
Good short story, but one that you have to work at to understand. Set in 6000AD when interstellar travel leads to the death wish and therefore needs Habermans, like convicts, and the supervisory Scanners to fly the ships while the humans are kept in ‘cold sleep’. And so the complicated story begins with Martel the scanner, who is different from the others because he is married to a normal woman, decides to ‘cranch’. Worth the read, but one that requires concentration.
hoppy500's review against another edition
4.0
Scanners Live in Vain is a short story published by Cordwainer Smith in 1950, and it is considered a seminal work of science fiction.
It was fortuitous that the story came to be noticed at all, since it was published in a science fiction magazine with a very low circulation (Fantasy Book). However, that publication happened to carry a story by the more well-known author Frederik Pohl, who read Smith's story and recommended it to others. Afterwards, Smith wrote other stories set in the same universe.
The narrative begins abruptly by throwing a series of unexplained terms at the reader, making you curious about what could be going on, although quite a lot can be deduced from the context.
The story is set in a distant future in which space travel has become commonplace. However, space travel is fatal to humans if they do not hibernate for the duration of long flights due to something called the "Great Pain". A special group of people is therefore created through a process of physical modification, and these individuals are able to stand the pain of traveling in a conscious state through deep space. However, the cost of this modification is the loss of all human senses (apart from sight), and instruments attached to the body must be continuously monitored by users to "scan" both basic physical functions and everything in the environment around them instead of feeling these things naturally. Most of these modified humans are criminals who have been forcibly drafted into service, but the Scanners who oversee them on space flights have made the sacrifice voluntarily and are therefore held in the highest esteem within society.
Only through a special process called "cranching" can Scanners temporarily experience their human senses and emotions again, and this cannot be done too often or for too long without adverse effects.
Against this background, a man named Adam Stone comes to the attention of the Confraternity of Scanners when he discovers a process whereby people can remain awake during space travel without feeling the Great Pain. The Scanners feel threatened by this discovery since it would render their role obsolete, but they do not all agree on what should be done about the situation.
This short work showcases Cordwainer Smith's vision in several areas, for example in his idea of how a futuristic government and society may operate, the influence new technology may have upon human psychology, and the advantages and disadvantages of physical modification. Of course, a major factor which makes it relevant to the reader is that it, like many other notable works, probes the question of what it means to be human.
The only possible flaw may be that the ending feels a little rushed and overly optimistic.
It was fortuitous that the story came to be noticed at all, since it was published in a science fiction magazine with a very low circulation (Fantasy Book). However, that publication happened to carry a story by the more well-known author Frederik Pohl, who read Smith's story and recommended it to others. Afterwards, Smith wrote other stories set in the same universe.
The narrative begins abruptly by throwing a series of unexplained terms at the reader, making you curious about what could be going on, although quite a lot can be deduced from the context.
The story is set in a distant future in which space travel has become commonplace. However, space travel is fatal to humans if they do not hibernate for the duration of long flights due to something called the "Great Pain". A special group of people is therefore created through a process of physical modification, and these individuals are able to stand the pain of traveling in a conscious state through deep space. However, the cost of this modification is the loss of all human senses (apart from sight), and instruments attached to the body must be continuously monitored by users to "scan" both basic physical functions and everything in the environment around them instead of feeling these things naturally. Most of these modified humans are criminals who have been forcibly drafted into service, but the Scanners who oversee them on space flights have made the sacrifice voluntarily and are therefore held in the highest esteem within society.
Only through a special process called "cranching" can Scanners temporarily experience their human senses and emotions again, and this cannot be done too often or for too long without adverse effects.
Against this background, a man named Adam Stone comes to the attention of the Confraternity of Scanners when he discovers a process whereby people can remain awake during space travel without feeling the Great Pain. The Scanners feel threatened by this discovery since it would render their role obsolete, but they do not all agree on what should be done about the situation.
This short work showcases Cordwainer Smith's vision in several areas, for example in his idea of how a futuristic government and society may operate, the influence new technology may have upon human psychology, and the advantages and disadvantages of physical modification. Of course, a major factor which makes it relevant to the reader is that it, like many other notable works, probes the question of what it means to be human.
The only possible flaw may be that the ending feels a little rushed and overly optimistic.
expendablemudge's review
3.0
Rating: 3.5* of five
Prescient, and a little unnerving, was Cordwainer Smith. This tale makes the Earths, spread over the galaxy, accessible to each other only via the dead habermans...criminals, dregs of society, expiating their sins by being murdered, diced into bits, and reassembled so that they can operate the ships connecting the Earths since they can't feel the Great Pain.
Or, as we'd call it today, interstellar radiation.
We really can't get too far from home because of the Great Pain of cosmic rays, gamma-ray bursts, etc etc etc. And I'm not altogether easy in my mind that someone, somewhere, isn't right now designing habermans.
Dark and disturbing and almost 70 years old, this story remains timely, reminding us that every goal has a pricetag, and every price must be carefully calculated against its cost.
Prescient, and a little unnerving, was Cordwainer Smith. This tale makes the Earths, spread over the galaxy, accessible to each other only via the dead habermans...criminals, dregs of society, expiating their sins by being murdered, diced into bits, and reassembled so that they can operate the ships connecting the Earths since they can't feel the Great Pain.
Or, as we'd call it today, interstellar radiation.
We really can't get too far from home because of the Great Pain of cosmic rays, gamma-ray bursts, etc etc etc. And I'm not altogether easy in my mind that someone, somewhere, isn't right now designing habermans.
Dark and disturbing and almost 70 years old, this story remains timely, reminding us that every goal has a pricetag, and every price must be carefully calculated against its cost.
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