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A review by vailynst
The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner
4.0
Mini-Review:
4 Stars for Narration by Stefan Rudnicki
4 Stars for Concepts & Brutal Perspectives
2.5 Stars for Jarring Transitions
Currently on Audible Plus
Recommendation: Print Version over Audiobook
Read the book. The story & changes in perspectives will make more sense in print than it did in audio format. Rudnicki did a great job with the narration but that did not make it easy to keep track of what and where events were happening.
I'm not even sure why I ended up getting this book to read for my "Soon to Be Read" pile. I believe it may be on one of the group shelves and that's why I flagged it to read while it's on Audible Plus.
I did not know anything about the story before I read it. I didn't even remember the blurb because it's been a few months and a couple hundred books since I added it to my audio library.
Most disaster stories have a big war, biochemical warfare, planet wide natural catastrophe or something along those lines. I don't usually read stories about the slow decay. The kind that seems so slow in happening that it would never be a problem for me to deal with today. A handful of stories take on current events and spin a likely domino of events. The Sheep Look Up is one of those types of books.
It's very angry. I felt like the story was yelling at me and beating me up from the start to finish. There's no pause to breathe or relax. It's constant tension and explosion of emotions, actions and consequences. This is not a comfortable book. It's an extreme take on what could happen.
I think this was a good story to shake you up and make you think. Don't take what the story is telling you to be the truth. You're reading a fictional account using some facts and a lot of fiction. It is a story to make you think and act. Even if the actions only affect your life and what you do, that's better than being intentionally blind.
A lot of the world we know is based on a level of trust that we do not question. I'm glad that I live in a place where that is possible.
I'm not sure how other people take this story. I'm not about anti-government, evil corporations or whatever. All of that is based on people and it's the people that end up making the good or bad changes.
For me, I take this story as a warning and to care about my mind & body. It's hard to take care of other people or things when you do not take care of yourself. So, it's good to know what you take in by air, water and food. How materials in the objects around you may be temporarily useful and a part of the next trash pile that could be around longer than my lifespan. In what ways events and products may be presented to be perceived in a certain manner because that's easier than to ask questions. Learning and awareness are good. Processing may suck but that's life.
I'm glad I read the book. I'm also glad it's over because I couldn't handle the level of fear and rage that filled the pages.
If you ask me, this was a pretty darn good horror story. It's scary because it's possible.
4 Stars for Narration by Stefan Rudnicki
4 Stars for Concepts & Brutal Perspectives
2.5 Stars for Jarring Transitions
Currently on Audible Plus
Recommendation: Print Version over Audiobook
Read the book. The story & changes in perspectives will make more sense in print than it did in audio format. Rudnicki did a great job with the narration but that did not make it easy to keep track of what and where events were happening.
I'm not even sure why I ended up getting this book to read for my "Soon to Be Read" pile. I believe it may be on one of the group shelves and that's why I flagged it to read while it's on Audible Plus.
I did not know anything about the story before I read it. I didn't even remember the blurb because it's been a few months and a couple hundred books since I added it to my audio library.
Most disaster stories have a big war, biochemical warfare, planet wide natural catastrophe or something along those lines. I don't usually read stories about the slow decay. The kind that seems so slow in happening that it would never be a problem for me to deal with today. A handful of stories take on current events and spin a likely domino of events. The Sheep Look Up is one of those types of books.
It's very angry. I felt like the story was yelling at me and beating me up from the start to finish. There's no pause to breathe or relax. It's constant tension and explosion of emotions, actions and consequences. This is not a comfortable book. It's an extreme take on what could happen.
I think this was a good story to shake you up and make you think. Don't take what the story is telling you to be the truth. You're reading a fictional account using some facts and a lot of fiction. It is a story to make you think and act. Even if the actions only affect your life and what you do, that's better than being intentionally blind.
A lot of the world we know is based on a level of trust that we do not question. I'm glad that I live in a place where that is possible.
I'm not sure how other people take this story. I'm not about anti-government, evil corporations or whatever. All of that is based on people and it's the people that end up making the good or bad changes.
For me, I take this story as a warning and to care about my mind & body. It's hard to take care of other people or things when you do not take care of yourself. So, it's good to know what you take in by air, water and food. How materials in the objects around you may be temporarily useful and a part of the next trash pile that could be around longer than my lifespan. In what ways events and products may be presented to be perceived in a certain manner because that's easier than to ask questions. Learning and awareness are good. Processing may suck but that's life.
I'm glad I read the book. I'm also glad it's over because I couldn't handle the level of fear and rage that filled the pages.
If you ask me, this was a pretty darn good horror story. It's scary because it's possible.