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A review by suddenflamingword
Ralph 124c 41+: A Romance of the Year 2660 by Hugo Gernsback
3.0
This was genuine treat, reading like the raw & unprocessed cud of what would become the staple of an entire genre. Analogically, it's what [b:The Castle of Otranto|12923|The Castle of Otranto|Horace Walpole|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390597628l/12923._SY75_.jpg|46432] is to gothic horror. For those who don't want to sit through patent descriptions disguised as a space opera though, I'd say [a:Riichiro Inagaki|386923|Riichiro Inagaki|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1364075507p2/386923.jpg]'s Dr. Stone perfectly captures a lot of the spirit of Ralph124C 41+ while also actually being good.
To give him his due, Gernsback arguably built the infrastructure of American science fiction with his persistence in magazine building. That said, he was definitely more interested in the business of science than literature and today he'd probably work in Silicon Valley. His admiration of Thomas Edison is reflected in the non-payment of his writers and you can really see his uncritical biases & obvious disinterest in human experience through his technocratic impulses (which sometimes led him to...peculiar solutions to social issues).
I point this out because it's obvious in his book. Not just in my above-mentioned mocking of its quality, but also because the first conflict that begins the novel is a labor strike - and the bad guys are the striking workers. There's a Randian undertone lurking in its World's Fair atmosphere, a utopian capitalism with accompanying Minecraft logic built around a one world government who restrains super genius American scientists because they're work is needed to "improve" humanity. Something worth noting if you decide to brave the book.
TL;DR: Hugo Gernsback was an exuberant science-loving businessman whose importance to science fiction is weighed against how he embodied many of the terrible historical and still present ideas within American culture. These are pretty blatantly reflected in Ralph 124C 41+. And yet, it's still a fun read. Warren's review is perfect.
To give him his due, Gernsback arguably built the infrastructure of American science fiction with his persistence in magazine building. That said, he was definitely more interested in the business of science than literature and today he'd probably work in Silicon Valley. His admiration of Thomas Edison is reflected in the non-payment of his writers and you can really see his uncritical biases & obvious disinterest in human experience through his technocratic impulses (which sometimes led him to...peculiar solutions to social issues).
I point this out because it's obvious in his book. Not just in my above-mentioned mocking of its quality, but also because the first conflict that begins the novel is a labor strike - and the bad guys are the striking workers. There's a Randian undertone lurking in its World's Fair atmosphere, a utopian capitalism with accompanying Minecraft logic built around a one world government who restrains super genius American scientists because they're work is needed to "improve" humanity. Something worth noting if you decide to brave the book.
TL;DR: Hugo Gernsback was an exuberant science-loving businessman whose importance to science fiction is weighed against how he embodied many of the terrible historical and still present ideas within American culture. These are pretty blatantly reflected in Ralph 124C 41+. And yet, it's still a fun read. Warren's review is perfect.