neartaking's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
2.0
bookmumblings's review against another edition
3.0
If you’ve not read this book, I would recommend going in blind. The blurb is enough to hook you in and Bester’s writing style takes care of the rest. The wonder of this book is how it really clinches you in. Be warned though, there is a Freudian element to this book.
This had so much potential. The concept was intriguing and the writing style was succinct, clever, and witty.
Some of my favourite parts of the story:
• The concept – the tiered levels of ‘peepers’ and how telepathic conversations were depicted was just genius. I loved how a character could just say ‘Peep me’ to convince someone of what they were saying. It cut through unnecessary prose and dialogue.
• The dialogue was stellar and unexpectedly funny. There were some real gems here - the unforgettable song, the greeting of "pip, pop, bim, bam". Powell’s character was written so well. As a reader, its remarkable to see how Bester can expertly juggle telepathic communication and verbal dialogue. It was clever and fun to read. I genuinely felt transported. This is Bester’s talent; transporting the author without long prose but clever and witty dialogue.
• Humour: this was so unexpected yet welcome. There are some real laugh out loud moments during the cat and mouse game. This linked to how the main characters, Reich and Powell, were multidimensional.
During the first half of the novel I kept thinking, ‘This is so much fun!’
…Then I started thinking, ‘what the hell is this?’
First, the chauvinism. Now, I kept trying to excuse this, ‘hey, it was published in the 1950s.’ … but it became inexcusable. I kid you not, EVERY SINGLE female is an air head with exaggerated sexuality fawning over a man. I mean hats off, it’s actually remarkable how Bester manages to staunch his talent for creating a multidimensional male character and redirect it into creating caricatures of woman.
Our stellar female cast consists of 1) “the epitome of the modern career girl - the virgin seductress”; 2) an overly sexualised woman “transformed by pneumatic surgery into an exaggerated East Indian figure … the painted figure head of a pornographic ship” …
This had so much potential. The concept was intriguing and the writing style was succinct, clever, and witty.
Some of my favourite parts of the story:
• The concept – the tiered levels of ‘peepers’ and how telepathic conversations were depicted was just genius. I loved how a character could just say ‘Peep me’ to convince someone of what they were saying. It cut through unnecessary prose and dialogue.
• The dialogue was stellar and unexpectedly funny. There were some real gems here - the unforgettable song, the greeting of "pip, pop, bim, bam". Powell’s character was written so well.
Spoiler
The villain / friend act between Powell and Inspector Beck in the aftermath of the murder had me laughing and genuinely enjoying the story. Then, the instantaneous communication between Powell and Reich’s lawyer was just brilliant.Spoiler
One of my favourite moments was Powell’s monologue to the party trying to get them to consent to his ‘peeping’, I could feel the tension and Powell’s expert control over the people in the room.• Humour: this was so unexpected yet welcome. There are some real laugh out loud moments during the cat and mouse game. This linked to how the main characters, Reich and Powell, were multidimensional.
Spoiler
We have the story of Dishonest Abe which instantly dispelled the image of Powell being a one-dimensional police prefect. But we also have Reich’s unexpected charm which Powell picks up on but we as the reader have already picked up on this from the very first pages when he apologises to his valet and charms him with a smile.During the first half of the novel I kept thinking, ‘This is so much fun!’
…Then I started thinking, ‘what the hell is this?’
First, the chauvinism. Now, I kept trying to excuse this, ‘hey, it was published in the 1950s.’ … but it became inexcusable. I kid you not, EVERY SINGLE female is an air head with exaggerated sexuality fawning over a man. I mean hats off, it’s actually remarkable how Bester manages to staunch his talent for creating a multidimensional male character and redirect it into creating caricatures of woman.
Our stellar female cast consists of 1) “the epitome of the modern career girl - the virgin seductress”; 2) an overly sexualised woman “transformed by pneumatic surgery into an exaggerated East Indian figure … the painted figure head of a pornographic ship” …
c_hates_reading's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
How does one murder their corporate rival in a world where the police can read your mind?
Been sitting on my shelf a while (like a lot of stuff) but I picked it up because it’s short and I had exams. I loved it. The concept is so versatile and can be used in so many ways, also, the twist was EVERYTHING.
Highly recommend if you like old-school sci-fi, or just in general.
additionaddiction's review
4.0
It's hard to read Science Fiction when it's a few years old. A lot of the "futuristic" technology can instantly fall flat and pull you right out of the story. Reading Science Fiction that's 63 years old had me feeling more than a little skeptical. But The Demolished Man really didn't feel that dated. Maybe in a few spots, but even then it felt more noir-like a la Brazil.
A low-crime future world where detectives can read minds did have an air of Minority Report about it (even though Minority Report was based on [b:The Minority Report|581125|The Minority Report|Philip K. Dick|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390719396s/581125.jpg|63086] and definitely not this story). However just like in [b:The Stars My Destination|333867|The Stars My Destination|Alfred Bester|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1433671750s/333867.jpg|1398442] (which is one of my favorite SciFi books), Bester again kept the narrative so action-packed that it was hard to take time out to nitpick the details.
Having read TSMD a few years ago, I noticed a few similarities in plot between the two. In that story humans have learned how to teleport at will. In this story humans have "learned" to become telepathic. Both stories also have a very angry protagonist who is struggling with some very confused inner-demons. Overall I enjoyed TSMD more as it had a better futuristic feel to it, but The Demolished Man was still a fast, fun read.
A low-crime future world where detectives can read minds did have an air of Minority Report about it (even though Minority Report was based on [b:The Minority Report|581125|The Minority Report|Philip K. Dick|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390719396s/581125.jpg|63086] and definitely not this story). However just like in [b:The Stars My Destination|333867|The Stars My Destination|Alfred Bester|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1433671750s/333867.jpg|1398442] (which is one of my favorite SciFi books), Bester again kept the narrative so action-packed that it was hard to take time out to nitpick the details.
Having read TSMD a few years ago, I noticed a few similarities in plot between the two. In that story humans have learned how to teleport at will. In this story humans have "learned" to become telepathic. Both stories also have a very angry protagonist who is struggling with some very confused inner-demons. Overall I enjoyed TSMD more as it had a better futuristic feel to it, but The Demolished Man was still a fast, fun read.
dragos_d's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Good storytelling, interesting view of ethical matters and psychoanalysis. A mix between crime and satire with points that are valid in our day and age.
However, the characters are rather flat and lacking variety, the main character is typical for a mid-20th century novel (somewhat similar to James Clavell's Tai Pan), and the trigger behind the main character is rather unsophisticated.
However, the characters are rather flat and lacking variety, the main character is typical for a mid-20th century novel (somewhat similar to James Clavell's Tai Pan), and the trigger behind the main character is rather unsophisticated.
wynwicket's review against another edition
5.0
Part murder mystery, part futuristic thriller, and part social satire... I could hardly believe this was written in 1953. Winner of the very first Hugo Award and inspiration for the Babylon 5 character Alfred Bester (and the mysterious telepathic bureaucracy of the Espers was a clear precursor to Psi Corps). Excellent, suspenseful writing.
yoarashi_rui's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.75
For the love of god another creepy man portrayed positively. Otherwise the story is decent.
woolfardis's review against another edition
1.0
This kid has some real issues, not least the fact that someone else is being a bit more successful than he is. So obviously he had to murder him, because hard work is just too much like hard work. But oh WAIT. Not only is murder illegal, it's also impossible because the police can read minds. But that's okay because his psychotic ancestors (who have him his pathetic, weedy spoilt brat DNA) wrote a dossier on how to kill someone without the "peepers" (actual name) finding out. And like all /good/ ancient sci-fi that's won awards, it has zero women who aren't trying to fuck whichever loser is the protagonist. Ey. Great stuff.