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joosty's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
steventhesteve's review against another edition
4.0
Very good capitalist dystopia. I've never read any Kornbluth before but I've loved other works from Pohl.
I very much enjoyed the detachment between consumers and their effective masters. A disturbing amount of the troubles of consumers are present at least in part in modern society. Debt and addiction beget more debt and addiction.
I very much enjoyed the detachment between consumers and their effective masters. A disturbing amount of the troubles of consumers are present at least in part in modern society. Debt and addiction beget more debt and addiction.
kingkong's review against another edition
3.0
This is like Mad Men but for people who love mediocre science fiction instead of mediocre television shows. Pow! Shots fired!
momentum262's review against another edition
1.0
This book was clearly written, but some of the satirical aspects from the 50s in advertising just weren’t my cup of tea. The ideas were unique, but I didn’t find the characters very well-developed or likable overall.
skundrik87's review against another edition
4.0
That was a really well constructed universe, though a fairly short read. A book focusing on the dangers of overly-consumerist culture.
giantarms's review against another edition
3.0
Man. for whom I have no reason to like, goes on adventure in deeply unsettling setting.
Greg would argue the deeply unsettling setting is reason enough to read this book.
I'd just like to read something else, now. Thanks.
Greg would argue the deeply unsettling setting is reason enough to read this book.
I'd just like to read something else, now. Thanks.
starcrunch's review against another edition
1.0
I didn't write down who recommended this to me, but seriously, what the fuck? Do you not know me at all? This is schlocky hastily-written crap. Full of dumbass dudes, smoking, calling their pool of secretaries "their girls". Ugh. Like Mad Men, but without the charm, or the self-awareness. Clearly one of those books that says more about the time it was written (1952) than the future.
Ok now that I look it up, there is another book and series by the same name. Maybe they meant that? I'll check it out if I can. Couldn't be worse that this.
Ok now that I look it up, there is another book and series by the same name. Maybe they meant that? I'll check it out if I can. Couldn't be worse that this.
nwhyte's review against another edition
http://nhw.livejournal.com/588971.html[return][return]Classic sf, published in 1952, that had somehow passed me by - I thought I remembered a scene where advertising executives were reassuring young politicians that is is just about possible to make a living as a senator, but it's not in this book, so I guess I must have read the sequel written by Pohl on his own decades afterwards.[return][return]The satirical future setting, in which corporate interests have taken over the world, is a little heavy-handed ("You know the old saying. Power ennobles. Absolute power ennobles absolutely.") but the basic story of the narrator's redemption holds pretty well. I thought I picked up a couple of nods in the direction of both Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four.
louzander's review against another edition
3.0
I'm fond of science fiction movies; less so of sci-fi books. But mid-twentieth century, the genre had some real power behind it; at its best, science fiction is a playground for ideas. This book/novella certainly was that. In fact, as much science fiction as I've consumed in my life, there were quite a few things that Pohl did in this story that I'd never encountered before.
It's a fairly standard "dystopian future" novel, with elements of a classic thriller, but less serious than the contemporary examples of the sub-genre. I'd recommend it as a fun, fast read with some very clever bits.
It's a fairly standard "dystopian future" novel, with elements of a classic thriller, but less serious than the contemporary examples of the sub-genre. I'd recommend it as a fun, fast read with some very clever bits.