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stephanieleary's review
3.0
All the (recent) reviews I've read called this book "Mad Men in space." Well, for the first 1/3 or so, that's more or less true, except it all takes place on Earth -- the ad agency is trying to sell people on the idea of becoming Venus colonists. I liked that portion of the book. The ad agency was well drawn, the dialogue snappy. For a book of its time, it did a decent job of portraying women.
And then things got weird. From that point on, the setting and tone change jarringly several times. The female characters become plot devices with no believable actions or motivations. The plot gets hopelessly tangled, and the main character doesn't do much to earn the ending.
I would have liked to read a book that delivered on the promise of that first 1/3, but this is not that book.
And then things got weird. From that point on, the setting and tone change jarringly several times. The female characters become plot devices with no believable actions or motivations. The plot gets hopelessly tangled, and the main character doesn't do much to earn the ending.
I would have liked to read a book that delivered on the promise of that first 1/3, but this is not that book.
zoeclark014's review
3.0
For the first 3/4 of this book I really thought I didn’t like it, but I kept wanting to see what happened next so maybe I did. Apart from all the general sexism of a book that was published in the 1950s this was quite a neat little dystopian future science fiction.
bibliomaniac2021's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
jamiebarrows's review
2.0
In many ways the book is very relevant to where it seems our society is going, but it's a little dated. The idea that our government will be owned and openly run by the big corporations is not at all far-fetched considering the events of the past few years. But the dialog and interactions of the characters is very 1950s. Particularly the main character's interactions with women and minorities. So much so that it was jarring and made it very hard to get "into" the story. Makes me wonder what things we take for granted in contemporary novels that might have the same effect on people reading them 60 years from now.
stevendedalus's review
4.0
This book is a lot of fun, a dark, savage satire of American capitalism that still feels very relevant in our hyper-consumption age.
It wastes no time establishing its world of 1950s Mad Men culture running a global society, profit and consumerism having become the highest of ideals.
Its send-up of libertarian ideals (legalized killings once companies begin a business dispute) are inventive, and depressing in that you still feel they could be pulled from political ideas of the Wall Street 80s or our Silicon Valley age.
As with most things written 50 years ago, the sexual politics are iffy, but it feels true to the hyper-male libertarian ethos and the narrator's wife gets strong development as a character.
It's what you want in good sci-fi: snappy, effective presentation of aspects of human society extended in space and time. That it still hits so close is so goddamn depressing though.
It wastes no time establishing its world of 1950s Mad Men culture running a global society, profit and consumerism having become the highest of ideals.
Its send-up of libertarian ideals (legalized killings once companies begin a business dispute) are inventive, and depressing in that you still feel they could be pulled from political ideas of the Wall Street 80s or our Silicon Valley age.
As with most things written 50 years ago, the sexual politics are iffy, but it feels true to the hyper-male libertarian ethos and the narrator's wife gets strong development as a character.
It's what you want in good sci-fi: snappy, effective presentation of aspects of human society extended in space and time. That it still hits so close is so goddamn depressing though.
alexlanz's review
Surprisingly relevant but pretty grotesque; kind of like how the movie 2001 feels both timeless and very 60s.
markhodderauthor's review
5.0
I’ve seen this named as one of the best science fiction novels ever, and I’ll not argue with that assessment. It’s breathtakingly good. The protagonist is a commercial copywriter. I used to be one, too, so there was a special appeal for me, but even if there hadn’t been, I’d still be wanting to rate this far beyond the 5 stars that Goodreads allows. Incredible that this novel dates from 1952. Talk about prescience! Highly, highly recommended.
jdspaulding's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
2.5
kralizec's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0