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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I would be lying if I said that I haven't read a version of this before, but I did. There is just something charming about classic stories that deal with a centralized AI-ish or actually AI overlord that offers a bleak look at our future through retro lens.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Somebody change the genre of this book from ‘science fiction’ to ‘modern criticism’. I don’t think I’ve ever read pre-WWI book that got so many things right about our modern lives. A bit surreal to read this book in the middle of a global pandemic and quarantine.
The premise is a dystopian future where everyone is confined to their quarters and life is heavily regulated and dependent on technology (the “Machine”). Everyone’s need can be satisfied simply by pressing a button. In this seemingly perfect world Forster asks what would happen if this whole system would stop.
There are so many relatable moments I was shocked this wasn’t written in the last decade. A great example of science fiction that has become reality.
The premise is a dystopian future where everyone is confined to their quarters and life is heavily regulated and dependent on technology (the “Machine”). Everyone’s need can be satisfied simply by pressing a button. In this seemingly perfect world Forster asks what would happen if this whole system would stop.
There are so many relatable moments I was shocked this wasn’t written in the last decade. A great example of science fiction that has become reality.
It was written over a hundred years ago, but if you didn’t know that you would never have guessed. Short story, dystopian world, beautifully written, great read! Thanks to Petra-X for giving me yet another tip. You are one person really worth following!
I had no idea E.M. Forster had written science fiction, but I stumbled across this little gem of a short story/novelette from 1909 and was immediately engrossed. Eerily prescient, the story is set in an unspecified future where everything is done for us, but the surface of the Earth is uninhabitable. The main character, Vashti, gets an urgent message from her son (via video call) who asks her to come visit, physically, which she is loath to do. But she goes, and I'll stop there so as not to spoil the rest.
Forster conceptualized the future world in a most interesting way, but the phrase that stuck out most to me was "seized with the terrors of direct experience" -- people were so accustomed to seeing "lectures" on things rather than actually seeing them, and contacting friends through technological rather than physical means, that they had come to fear even leaving their rooms. Perhaps there's a lesson here for us.
Forster conceptualized the future world in a most interesting way, but the phrase that stuck out most to me was "seized with the terrors of direct experience" -- people were so accustomed to seeing "lectures" on things rather than actually seeing them, and contacting friends through technological rather than physical means, that they had come to fear even leaving their rooms. Perhaps there's a lesson here for us.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Night and day, wind and storm, tide and earthquake, impeded man no longer. He had harnessed Leviathan. All the old literature, with its praise of Nature, and its fear of Nature, rang false as the prattle of a child.
challenging
dark
inspiring
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It's a dark version of Wall-E written a century early. It's even more pressing in light of ChatGPT and the explosion of AI. It's jarring how well E.M. Forster captured society so far into the future.