A review by surdiablo
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream: Stories by Harlan Ellison

dark sad 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

2.0

Well, that was.. underwhelming at best. I had a feeling it was going to be a rough ride when the title story involved plenty of sexism ( Yes yes, I know
those people were already half-crazy with their minds twisted by the AI
) but the rest of the stories, including the endnotes confirmed my suspicion that it's just the author's views seeping into the book. It was simply distasteful and had me rolling my eyes on numerous occasions. I understand that he's a 'product of his time', except I wasn't impressed by the short stories at all to make up for the problematic elements. They are for the most part well-written, but I found the concepts to be much more interesting than the execution of it. The stories I enjoyed were too short with unsatisfying endings, while the rest of them left a bad aftertaste due to the misogynistic notions possessed by the majority of characters. I can see these concepts being innovative back then, but I don't see much in here otherwise that explains or justifies the reverence he gets.
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