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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was hooked pretty quickly by Smith’s jagged style. The concept is really grabbing, and he brings it to life with lots of little details in language and offhand world building. Then again, this literally put me to sleep, despite checking a lot of boxes. I’ll try out more of his work after a good night’s rest.
Originally published in Fantasy Book, Vol. 1, No. 6, January 1950. 2001 Retro Hugo Award finalist - Best Novelette
Smith throws out a lot of technobabble without much in the way of explanation, so you have to work at it to understand what's going on. Smith is working very hard to sound futuristic but eventually, most of the terms are defined. The story is a clear influence on subsequent sf writers. The idea of turning men into electromechanical servants can be seen as recently as the Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells. The only female character is no more than a plot device.
I read this story on Project Gutenberg Canada.
Smith throws out a lot of technobabble without much in the way of explanation, so you have to work at it to understand what's going on. Smith is working very hard to sound futuristic but eventually, most of the terms are defined. The story is a clear influence on subsequent sf writers. The idea of turning men into electromechanical servants can be seen as recently as the Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells. The only female character is no more than a plot device.
I read this story on Project Gutenberg Canada.
A beautiful, classic sci-fi story like you might see adapted into a "Twilight Zone" episode.
I like to read Goodreads reviews to get a sense of other peoples' takes. I don't see a lot of responses like the one I had, so I will offer my interpretation.
This short story is squarely about "What does it mean to be human?" CS frames his question well, and then delivers, mostly.
Scanners have been intentionally deadened in order to allow humans to travel in space. They are a kind of sacrifice so that humans can reach the heavens, as it were. In turn, they are treated with great deference. But their lives can hardly be called lives at all. Maybe this is how post-WWII American men felt about returning to boring office jobs and supporting families? (Hey fellas, the women don't like the setup either.)
CS demonstrates great skill in imagining and portraying the sensoria of these men living in dead bodies, and the effect they have on others. The atmosphere is both creepy and moving. While reading it I imagined actors having a great time with this premise. Think Edward Scissor-Hands.
The center of this story is a threat to the Scanners and their brotherhood. A man has come up with a technological solution that will make Scanners obsolete. Their sacrifice will have been in vain, just as the title warns us. Tellingly, a majority of the Scanners votes to kill the inventor. This rather brilliantly constructed parable of the human condition reminded me of the Grand Inquisitor in The Brothers Karamazov. I rushed to see how CS would end it. Alas, I don't think he knew how. I had to take a star off for the happy ending; it was out of character with the rest of the story and quite jarring, like discovering an inch of velveeta under your perfectly prepared filet of sole.
This short story is squarely about "What does it mean to be human?" CS frames his question well, and then delivers, mostly.
Scanners have been intentionally deadened in order to allow humans to travel in space. They are a kind of sacrifice so that humans can reach the heavens, as it were. In turn, they are treated with great deference. But their lives can hardly be called lives at all. Maybe this is how post-WWII American men felt about returning to boring office jobs and supporting families? (Hey fellas, the women don't like the setup either.)
CS demonstrates great skill in imagining and portraying the sensoria of these men living in dead bodies, and the effect they have on others. The atmosphere is both creepy and moving. While reading it I imagined actors having a great time with this premise. Think Edward Scissor-Hands.
The center of this story is a threat to the Scanners and their brotherhood. A man has come up with a technological solution that will make Scanners obsolete. Their sacrifice will have been in vain, just as the title warns us. Tellingly, a majority of the Scanners votes to kill the inventor. This rather brilliantly constructed parable of the human condition reminded me of the Grand Inquisitor in The Brothers Karamazov. I rushed to see how CS would end it. Alas, I don't think he knew how. I had to take a star off for the happy ending; it was out of character with the rest of the story and quite jarring, like discovering an inch of velveeta under your perfectly prepared filet of sole.
Throws you into the deep end with a lot of terminology at the start, not enough to have you entirely confused, but it waits a bit before explaining it all. Though short in length, the world feels fleshed out enough, and most of the pressing questions are answered.
While the ending seems happy at the surface, I don't think it's entirely so.How will the confraternity of Scanners fare in this new world order? How will each individual Scanner handle the return to normal life? Will Martel face any repercussions from his fellow Scanners as they all must know that he killed Parizianski?
My biggest gripe would be the way the Scanners and all related concepts are explained - as part of the confraternity of Scanners meeting ritual, they go through the history of the Scanners and their duties, which helpfully explains it all to the reader. It works as an info dump I guess, but it didn't feel entirely natural.
While the ending seems happy at the surface, I don't think it's entirely so.
My biggest gripe would be the way the Scanners and all related concepts are explained - as part of the confraternity of Scanners meeting ritual, they go through the history of the Scanners and their duties, which helpfully explains it all to the reader. It works as an info dump I guess, but it didn't feel entirely natural.
medium-paced
I got this book from the library, the rediscovery of man, just so that I could read the short story scanners live in vain.
Scanners Live in Vain, 2stars
About a fraternity of men who are turned into instruments, and are called Scanners, where their brains are disconnected from their lungs, their heart, etc. So that they can go out into space with humans that are in deep freeze, and they can assure that the pilots remain alert and healthy. They can't be hurt by the vacuum and cold of space.
" he had pledged.
he had gone into the Haberman device.
He remembered his hell. He had not had such a bad one, even though it had seemed to last 100 million years, all of them without sleep. He had learned to feel with his eyes. He had learned to see despite the heavy eyeplates set back of his eyeballs to insulate his eyes from the rest of him. He had learned to watch his skin. He still remembered the time he had noticed dampness on his shirt, and had pulled out his scanning mirror only to discover that he had worn a hole in his side by leaning against the vibrating machine.( a thing like that could not happen to him now; he was too Adept at reading his own instruments. ) he remembered the way that he had gone up and out, and the way that the great pain beat into him, despite the fact that his touch, smell, feeling, and hearing were gone for all ordinary purposes. He remembered killing habermans, and keeping others alive, and standing for months beside the honorable scanner-pilot while neither of them slept. He remembered going ashore on Earth four, and remember that he had not enjoyed it, and had realized on that day that there was no reward."
This story uses animals to protect humans in space. So I didn't like it.
" 'tell me, darling! Tell me, or I'll eat you up!'
'That's just right!'
'what?'
'you're right. It should make you want to eat me. It's meat.'
'meat. Who?'
'not a person,' said she, knowledgeably, 'a beast. A beast which people used to eat. A lamb was a small sheep - you've seen sheep out in the wild, haven't you? - and a chop is part of its middle - here!' she pointed at her chest."
🙄
There is a man named Adam Stone, who invents a way to go into space without using habermans and scanners. The scanners vote to kill him, so that they don't lose their jobs. The protagonist, martel, decides he will try to save his life. So he goes to his place and tells him what the scanners have decided.
" 'quick, can you tell me how you have done it, so that I may believe you?'
'I have loaded ships with life.'
'life?'
'Life. I don't know what the great pain is, but I did find that in the experiments, when I sent out masses of animals or plants, the life in the center of the mass lived longest. I built ships - small ones, of course - and sent them out with rabbits, with monkeys - '
'those are Beasts?'
'yes. With small beasts. And the beasts came back unhurt. They came back because the walls of the ships were filled with life. I tried many kinds, and finally found a sort of Life which lives in the waters. Oysters. Oyster beds. The outermost oysters died in the great pain. The inner ones lived. The passengers were unhurt.'
'but they were beasts?'
'not only beasts. Myself.'
'you!'
'I came through space alone. Through what you call the up and out, alone. Awake and sleeping. I am unhurt. If you do not believe me, ask your brother scanners. Come and see my ship in the morning. I will be glad to see you then, along with your brother scanners. I am going to demonstrate before the chiefs of the instrumentality.' "
Scanners Live in Vain, 2stars
About a fraternity of men who are turned into instruments, and are called Scanners, where their brains are disconnected from their lungs, their heart, etc. So that they can go out into space with humans that are in deep freeze, and they can assure that the pilots remain alert and healthy. They can't be hurt by the vacuum and cold of space.
" he had pledged.
he had gone into the Haberman device.
He remembered his hell. He had not had such a bad one, even though it had seemed to last 100 million years, all of them without sleep. He had learned to feel with his eyes. He had learned to see despite the heavy eyeplates set back of his eyeballs to insulate his eyes from the rest of him. He had learned to watch his skin. He still remembered the time he had noticed dampness on his shirt, and had pulled out his scanning mirror only to discover that he had worn a hole in his side by leaning against the vibrating machine.( a thing like that could not happen to him now; he was too Adept at reading his own instruments. ) he remembered the way that he had gone up and out, and the way that the great pain beat into him, despite the fact that his touch, smell, feeling, and hearing were gone for all ordinary purposes. He remembered killing habermans, and keeping others alive, and standing for months beside the honorable scanner-pilot while neither of them slept. He remembered going ashore on Earth four, and remember that he had not enjoyed it, and had realized on that day that there was no reward."
This story uses animals to protect humans in space. So I didn't like it.
" 'tell me, darling! Tell me, or I'll eat you up!'
'That's just right!'
'what?'
'you're right. It should make you want to eat me. It's meat.'
'meat. Who?'
'not a person,' said she, knowledgeably, 'a beast. A beast which people used to eat. A lamb was a small sheep - you've seen sheep out in the wild, haven't you? - and a chop is part of its middle - here!' she pointed at her chest."
🙄
There is a man named Adam Stone, who invents a way to go into space without using habermans and scanners. The scanners vote to kill him, so that they don't lose their jobs. The protagonist, martel, decides he will try to save his life. So he goes to his place and tells him what the scanners have decided.
" 'quick, can you tell me how you have done it, so that I may believe you?'
'I have loaded ships with life.'
'life?'
'Life. I don't know what the great pain is, but I did find that in the experiments, when I sent out masses of animals or plants, the life in the center of the mass lived longest. I built ships - small ones, of course - and sent them out with rabbits, with monkeys - '
'those are Beasts?'
'yes. With small beasts. And the beasts came back unhurt. They came back because the walls of the ships were filled with life. I tried many kinds, and finally found a sort of Life which lives in the waters. Oysters. Oyster beds. The outermost oysters died in the great pain. The inner ones lived. The passengers were unhurt.'
'but they were beasts?'
'not only beasts. Myself.'
'you!'
'I came through space alone. Through what you call the up and out, alone. Awake and sleeping. I am unhurt. If you do not believe me, ask your brother scanners. Come and see my ship in the morning. I will be glad to see you then, along with your brother scanners. I am going to demonstrate before the chiefs of the instrumentality.' "
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.