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Der Apparat
Eine Welt, die unserer zum Verwechseln ähnelt – mit einem Unterschied: Es gibt kein Internet. Stattdessen wird die Teleportation erfunden, und Entfernungen stellen kein Hindernis mehr dar. Eine Revolution, ein Wunder, das schnell alltäglich wird und doch das Leben aller Beteiligten tiefgreifend verändert: von den ersten Versuchen, einem teleportierten Eierlöffel, bis zur selbstverständlichen, unmittelbaren Bewegung von Menschen. Aber ist ein Ölgemälde nach dem Umzug per Teleportation wirklich noch dasselbe wie zuvor? Warum hat der Apparat die Macht, eine Beziehungskrise auszulösen? Und hat dein Ehemann, der erste teleportierte Mensch der Welt, die Übertragung wirklich so unbeschadet überstanden, wie es scheint? In seinem formvollendeten Roman untersucht der preisgekrönte Lyriker J. O. Morgan, was in einer technologiebestimmten Welt mit unserer Menschlichkeit, unseren Erinnerungen, Ängsten, Lieben geschieht und was verloren geht auf dem Weg in die Zukunft.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published May 19, 2022
19 people are currently reading
760 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
June 18, 2022
I read this book due to its shortlisting for the 2022 Orwell Prize.
This is the second novel by this author better known as a poet, for his book length poems which vary in theme from pre-Conquest historical fiction, through to near-time science to futuristic planetary colonisation and which have been recognised by a series of prestigious prizes (Costa Prize winner, twice TS Elliott Prize shortlisted, twice Forward Prize shortlisted).
His early poetry was published by the brilliant one-man press CB Editions (Charles Boyle) before moving to PRH’s Jonathan Cape; and his first novel “Pupa” was published by David Henningham’s high craft “microbrewery for books” Henningham Press before Jonathan Cape took up his novelistic output too.
“Pupa” was a literary science-fiction novel about the concept of humans having a choice to enter a larval stage; it followed the relationship between two characters as they come to terms with their choices and was described by the only two people to review it on Goodreads (my identical twin brother and the Booktuber Robert Pisani – two of the most thoughtful and prolific reviewers around) as Ishiguro-esque in its gentle and elegant exploration of its conceptual themes. And this second novel does share many of the characteristics of the author’s first.
I think this book is best characterised as a fable-like examination of human society (particularly in its progressive/capitalist deployment) Faustian pact with new technology.
It made me think that Darwin’s Theory of Biological Evolution (which so convulsed popular, religious and scientific thinking in the 19th and first part of the 20th Century) quickly became for the rest of the 20th Century (and particularly our own 21st century) far less important than the need to examine the insatiable impetus for technological evolution, not always to the benefit of its users or society.
The set up for this second novel is relatively simple – a device is invented (it would seem in the 1970s or 1980s) which allows for the transportation of matter.
Invented is the key word here – as this is not for example like the portals in Mohsin Hamid’s “Exit West” – something out of human volition, but something which from the first is mediated by a private firm – a vital part of the set up.
And further, which again is a contrast to the recent writings of Mohsin Hamid or much of the writing of Jose Saramago, this is not some kind of one-off (if evolving) discontinuity whose society-shattering ramifications are then explored, but an initially underwhelming change (the first device relies on industrial style installations and physical wirings to transport a plastic spoon over a short distance) which develops over time transforming society in tandem. We see the mass transportation of matter, then the transportation of humans and then more advanced wireless technologies.
The fable like set up and the rather plain and/or elegant style of the book is certainly Ishiguro-esque – although the author I was more reminded of in the early chapters was Magnus Mills. Ishiguro tends to place us in a different society – here though we see the society develop over a series of what are effectively linked short stories, set in different periods with only the world of the invention in common and effectively no overlapping characters.
While this is perhaps more interesting - the downside to this is that we get little or no character development or identification. Morgan’s style in almost every story is to centre on a pair of characters and examine the current evolutionary state of the invention and thus society through their eyes and either the pact or the tension between them – but unlike say Ishiguro we do not really get to know and understand the characters – the book lacks in character evolution exactly what it has in technological/societal evolution.
Overall an excellent and thought provoking book.
---------------------------------------------
The first chapter is set in what feels like a 1970s suburban world – as an HR underling and his wife are chosen to host the prototype device. The second (and where the Magnus Mills links were strongest) explores an early use of the device, to facilitate house moving – already here we have (between the elderly householder and the technician overseeing the move) philosophical discussions (is a transported art work the original or just a copy) and political ones (have either the costs or experience of moving really changed for the better). The third examines the first person to be transmitted through the device (and his wife). The fourth is a rather poignant tale of two children playing with a wind up elastic band toy plane on a deserted airstrip (the terminals still being used for mass travel but now via transportation) – as an aside as someone who grew up surrounded by deserted (WWII or cold war) airstrips this passage felt far more nostalgic than futuristic.
The fifth was perhaps the strongest – as it tells the story of the mathematician whose ability to translate matter into data (inspired by his multilingual translator wife) is married to his colleagues new found ability to transmit particles via wires, so as to invent the basics of the new device. The chapter manages to also contain some debates on translation “What I mean is: why translate the words into another language that doesn't quite match the depth and com-plexity and beauty of the original text? So much better, I think, to translate yourself into a person who understands the work the way it was intended.”, a discussion of a safety device inserted to prevent the transmission of weapons (and the use of the technology for harm) and a poignant ending on the limitations of technology when the inventor for all his skills cannot direct the device to transport the cancer from his dying wife’s bodies.
The sixth did not quite reach its potential – an investigative journalist stumbles across a garrulous industry insider who ignoring her queries about what she thinks are suppressed stories of the devices safety failures, sets out that the real concern is no one really understands how the technology works – how is it that a human can be ever transmitted with body functioning and thoughts uninterrupted. The journalist is left as unclear as to how serious or even accurate this idea is as the reader is.
The seventh is a of a boy facing a death sentence (administered for the first time by the machine which has been altered to delete rather than transport matter – with obvious environmental applications) for his role in hacking the anti-weapon part of technology so that for a few seconds the machine did not transmit any non-organic matter at all (with bad consequences for say those with implants).
The eighth is also very strong – a modern technology-savvy woman visits her father (who lives in one of the very few communities which has refused to accept the now ubiquitous transporters) only to find to her horror that, playing on his ill-health, he and his fellow elderly townsfolk have signed up to be guinea pigs in a new home-specific technology which is a combination of wearables and smart home (albeit uncomfortable overalls and wall to wall wiring) allowing the elderly to transport themselves upstairs or immediately to hospital if taken ill.
In many of the stories we have seen the power of the firm behind the technology to control what gets to the public as well as the media and political discourse and the ninth story examines this via the campaigning mother of a girl who went missing due to a rare fault. The tenth was another weaker one for me – personal transportation via wearables, satellites and spots on earth is now ubiquitous and two lesbian lovers have different views on this. The final story explores how the technology is rumoured to be being used for lunar mineral extraction and possibly colonisation and returns us to the idea of inexorable if unasked for evolution.
This is the second novel by this author better known as a poet, for his book length poems which vary in theme from pre-Conquest historical fiction, through to near-time science to futuristic planetary colonisation and which have been recognised by a series of prestigious prizes (Costa Prize winner, twice TS Elliott Prize shortlisted, twice Forward Prize shortlisted).
His early poetry was published by the brilliant one-man press CB Editions (Charles Boyle) before moving to PRH’s Jonathan Cape; and his first novel “Pupa” was published by David Henningham’s high craft “microbrewery for books” Henningham Press before Jonathan Cape took up his novelistic output too.
“Pupa” was a literary science-fiction novel about the concept of humans having a choice to enter a larval stage; it followed the relationship between two characters as they come to terms with their choices and was described by the only two people to review it on Goodreads (my identical twin brother and the Booktuber Robert Pisani – two of the most thoughtful and prolific reviewers around) as Ishiguro-esque in its gentle and elegant exploration of its conceptual themes. And this second novel does share many of the characteristics of the author’s first.
I think this book is best characterised as a fable-like examination of human society (particularly in its progressive/capitalist deployment) Faustian pact with new technology.
It made me think that Darwin’s Theory of Biological Evolution (which so convulsed popular, religious and scientific thinking in the 19th and first part of the 20th Century) quickly became for the rest of the 20th Century (and particularly our own 21st century) far less important than the need to examine the insatiable impetus for technological evolution, not always to the benefit of its users or society.
The set up for this second novel is relatively simple – a device is invented (it would seem in the 1970s or 1980s) which allows for the transportation of matter.
Invented is the key word here – as this is not for example like the portals in Mohsin Hamid’s “Exit West” – something out of human volition, but something which from the first is mediated by a private firm – a vital part of the set up.
And further, which again is a contrast to the recent writings of Mohsin Hamid or much of the writing of Jose Saramago, this is not some kind of one-off (if evolving) discontinuity whose society-shattering ramifications are then explored, but an initially underwhelming change (the first device relies on industrial style installations and physical wirings to transport a plastic spoon over a short distance) which develops over time transforming society in tandem. We see the mass transportation of matter, then the transportation of humans and then more advanced wireless technologies.
The fable like set up and the rather plain and/or elegant style of the book is certainly Ishiguro-esque – although the author I was more reminded of in the early chapters was Magnus Mills. Ishiguro tends to place us in a different society – here though we see the society develop over a series of what are effectively linked short stories, set in different periods with only the world of the invention in common and effectively no overlapping characters.
While this is perhaps more interesting - the downside to this is that we get little or no character development or identification. Morgan’s style in almost every story is to centre on a pair of characters and examine the current evolutionary state of the invention and thus society through their eyes and either the pact or the tension between them – but unlike say Ishiguro we do not really get to know and understand the characters – the book lacks in character evolution exactly what it has in technological/societal evolution.
Overall an excellent and thought provoking book.
---------------------------------------------
The first chapter is set in what feels like a 1970s suburban world – as an HR underling and his wife are chosen to host the prototype device. The second (and where the Magnus Mills links were strongest) explores an early use of the device, to facilitate house moving – already here we have (between the elderly householder and the technician overseeing the move) philosophical discussions (is a transported art work the original or just a copy) and political ones (have either the costs or experience of moving really changed for the better). The third examines the first person to be transmitted through the device (and his wife). The fourth is a rather poignant tale of two children playing with a wind up elastic band toy plane on a deserted airstrip (the terminals still being used for mass travel but now via transportation) – as an aside as someone who grew up surrounded by deserted (WWII or cold war) airstrips this passage felt far more nostalgic than futuristic.
The fifth was perhaps the strongest – as it tells the story of the mathematician whose ability to translate matter into data (inspired by his multilingual translator wife) is married to his colleagues new found ability to transmit particles via wires, so as to invent the basics of the new device. The chapter manages to also contain some debates on translation “What I mean is: why translate the words into another language that doesn't quite match the depth and com-plexity and beauty of the original text? So much better, I think, to translate yourself into a person who understands the work the way it was intended.”, a discussion of a safety device inserted to prevent the transmission of weapons (and the use of the technology for harm) and a poignant ending on the limitations of technology when the inventor for all his skills cannot direct the device to transport the cancer from his dying wife’s bodies.
The sixth did not quite reach its potential – an investigative journalist stumbles across a garrulous industry insider who ignoring her queries about what she thinks are suppressed stories of the devices safety failures, sets out that the real concern is no one really understands how the technology works – how is it that a human can be ever transmitted with body functioning and thoughts uninterrupted. The journalist is left as unclear as to how serious or even accurate this idea is as the reader is.
The seventh is a of a boy facing a death sentence (administered for the first time by the machine which has been altered to delete rather than transport matter – with obvious environmental applications) for his role in hacking the anti-weapon part of technology so that for a few seconds the machine did not transmit any non-organic matter at all (with bad consequences for say those with implants).
The eighth is also very strong – a modern technology-savvy woman visits her father (who lives in one of the very few communities which has refused to accept the now ubiquitous transporters) only to find to her horror that, playing on his ill-health, he and his fellow elderly townsfolk have signed up to be guinea pigs in a new home-specific technology which is a combination of wearables and smart home (albeit uncomfortable overalls and wall to wall wiring) allowing the elderly to transport themselves upstairs or immediately to hospital if taken ill.
In many of the stories we have seen the power of the firm behind the technology to control what gets to the public as well as the media and political discourse and the ninth story examines this via the campaigning mother of a girl who went missing due to a rare fault. The tenth was another weaker one for me – personal transportation via wearables, satellites and spots on earth is now ubiquitous and two lesbian lovers have different views on this. The final story explores how the technology is rumoured to be being used for lunar mineral extraction and possibly colonisation and returns us to the idea of inexorable if unasked for evolution.
January 27, 2024
Bei "Der Apparat" von J.O. Morgan handelt es sich entgegen der Ankündigung auf dem Titel nicht um einen Roman sondern um ein Buch mit elf Kurzgeschichten. Das verbindende Element in allen Geschichten ist die Teleportation. Die handelnden Personen sind immer andere. Die Ereignisse in den verschiedenen Geschichten sind nicht miteinander verbunden. Ein Buch mit Geschichten, in denen alle Personen Auto fahren, wird dadurch nicht zum Roman. In diesem Sinne ist auch "Der Apparat" kein Roman, sondern "nur" ein faszinierender Kurzgeschichtenband.
In der ersten Geschichte wird ein Löffel teleportiert, in der zweiten Geschichte schon eine gesamte Hauseinrichtung. Bei letzterem ist auch ein Ölgemälde enthalten. Es wird die Frage gestellt, ob ein Gemälde, das auf Senderseite zersetzt wird und auf Empfängerseite wieder zusammengesetzt wird, noch ein Original ist. Oder handelt es sich um eine Kopie? Direkt in der nächsten Geschichte wird zum ersten Mal ein Mensch teleportiert. Wie ist es hier mit Original und Kopie? In einer späteren Geschichte wird die Frage gestellt, ob ein Mensch im Sender nicht eventuell vernichtet wird und im Empfänger neu konstruiert wird. Da ist die Teleportation schon selbstverständlich und durchdringt das gesamte Leben. Man vertraut einem System, das man nicht versteht. Auch als Leser, denkt man da schon gar nicht mehr "seltsame Idee mit der Teleportation", sondern "Wo ist der nächste Sender? Ich muss einkaufen.".
Es geht natürlich um den Fortschritt. Man kann die Teleportation in diesem Buch mit aktuellen Themen wie KI vergleichen. Das Buch stellt Fragen. Diese werden in den Texten aber nicht ausführlich diskutiert oder gar beantwortet. Es handelt sich um eine anregende Aufforderung an den Leser, sich selber damit auseinanderzusetzen. Manchem mag das zu wenig sein. Ich fand es in weiten Teilen überaus faszinierend. Es geht in den Geschichten aber durchaus über den Fortschritt hinaus. Es geht auch immer wieder um Machtverhältnisse, um die Arbeitswelt oder um Gesellschaftssysteme.
Nicht jede Geschichte ist gelungen. Gelegentlich ist es etwas arg konventionell. Doch die überwiegende Mehrheit der Texte hat mir sehr gut gefallen. Für mich war es eine anregende Lektüre.
In der ersten Geschichte wird ein Löffel teleportiert, in der zweiten Geschichte schon eine gesamte Hauseinrichtung. Bei letzterem ist auch ein Ölgemälde enthalten. Es wird die Frage gestellt, ob ein Gemälde, das auf Senderseite zersetzt wird und auf Empfängerseite wieder zusammengesetzt wird, noch ein Original ist. Oder handelt es sich um eine Kopie? Direkt in der nächsten Geschichte wird zum ersten Mal ein Mensch teleportiert. Wie ist es hier mit Original und Kopie? In einer späteren Geschichte wird die Frage gestellt, ob ein Mensch im Sender nicht eventuell vernichtet wird und im Empfänger neu konstruiert wird. Da ist die Teleportation schon selbstverständlich und durchdringt das gesamte Leben. Man vertraut einem System, das man nicht versteht. Auch als Leser, denkt man da schon gar nicht mehr "seltsame Idee mit der Teleportation", sondern "Wo ist der nächste Sender? Ich muss einkaufen.".
Es geht natürlich um den Fortschritt. Man kann die Teleportation in diesem Buch mit aktuellen Themen wie KI vergleichen. Das Buch stellt Fragen. Diese werden in den Texten aber nicht ausführlich diskutiert oder gar beantwortet. Es handelt sich um eine anregende Aufforderung an den Leser, sich selber damit auseinanderzusetzen. Manchem mag das zu wenig sein. Ich fand es in weiten Teilen überaus faszinierend. Es geht in den Geschichten aber durchaus über den Fortschritt hinaus. Es geht auch immer wieder um Machtverhältnisse, um die Arbeitswelt oder um Gesellschaftssysteme.
Nicht jede Geschichte ist gelungen. Gelegentlich ist es etwas arg konventionell. Doch die überwiegende Mehrheit der Texte hat mir sehr gut gefallen. Für mich war es eine anregende Lektüre.
August 2, 2025
Sehr kurzweiliger, kompakter Roman in Episoden. Dystopisch. Bildet einen interessanten möglichen Plot für einen Filmregisseur wie Yorgos Lanthimosich freue mich schon auf weitere Möglichkeiten Romane von diesem Autor zu lesen.
July 14, 2022
I fondly remember being a child and going on the Disney World ride 'Carousel of Progress' which demonstrates through a singing audio-animatronic American family how technology has benefited and improved the lives of each successive generation. We can get so caught up in the belief that “progress” will be nothing but an asset for us as individuals and as a species. Certainly people in the past had poorer living standards and worse medical treatment – but how does progress impact the planet? In what ways does it bind us to capitalism? And how does it change our sense of being unique individuals? These are questions at the heart of J.O. Morgan's novel “Appliance”. Through a series of vignettes we follow the development of a device which can instantly transport objects (and eventually people) from one place to another. Think Wonka Vision but without the shrinkage. We follow the reactions and the impact it has upon a series of characters who are like bystanders to this march of progress which demands they integrate this device into their lives whether they like it or not. Though this may sound like a book with a Luddite agenda, it's more an emotional and philosophical examination about how we can get caught up driving forward our society more for the sake of it rather than to benefit the people who inhabit it.
Read my full review of Appliance by J.O. Morgan at LonesomeReader
Read my full review of Appliance by J.O. Morgan at LonesomeReader
January 2, 2024
Was für ein irres Konzept: In der Welt dieses Romans wurde das Internet nie erfunden, dafür aber die Teleportation. Die Genese dieser Technik, von den ersten Versuchen über Zweifel bis zum Erkennen der ersten Gefahren, wird hier in elf mehr oder weniger zusammenhängenden Kapiteln erzählt, alle von anderen Stimmen. Sind teleportierte Dinge oder Menschen noch die Selben? Und wie lässt sich dieser Gedanke auf Übersetzungen transferrieren? Und wie funktioniert das oder ist das gar nicht wichtig? Nicht alle Fragen werden beantwortet, aber die Denkanstöße allein sind es wert.
Mehr zum Buch in unserer ausführlichen Besprechung @ Papierstau Podcast: Folge 262: I bims, der Heinzer
Mehr zum Buch in unserer ausführlichen Besprechung @ Papierstau Podcast: Folge 262: I bims, der Heinzer
June 18, 2022
I guess they've gotta build more machines on the moon so as they can send more minerals back to build more machines down here and so send more people to the moon?
J O Morgan’s Appliance is his 2nd novel after the intriguing Pupa (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) having previously been known for his book-length poems.
This novel is based around the introduction of a new transformative technology, a teleportation device. But this is far from genre speculative fiction. Little information is given on how the device might work (indeed the suggestion is the scientists themselves aren’t entirely clear), the story is told in a series of disconnected chapter showing the impact, over time, at a personal level, and the story is set in what feels like more a permanent mid to late 20th century rather than the near future. Indeed the set-up reminded me, if anything, of memories of new fangled microwaves being demonstrated to housewives in the late 1970s/early 1980s.
There is some, but relatively limited, comment on the Teletransportation Paradox (itself a modern-day version of the Ship of Theseus thought experiment):
Mrs Carter ignored this, turning again on her heel and pointedly raising a finger. 'How can you accept that a work of art, something made with care and understand-ing and human hands, something applied in minute increments, layer upon layer, something both made of paint yet beyond the paint it's made of, something that abstracts the mere matter of its materials into something transcendent, beautiful, eternal how can that being taken apart atom by atom and reassembled hundreds of miles away in an instant, how can that ever be the She as the original? It becomes no more than a fake, a mere copy, a false representation of that original.'
Although the chapter which this is from, the book's second, focuses more on another of the novel's topics, how technology tends to be more of a sideways than forward move, with progress stalled and energy expended (see Bitcoin mining) by self-generated activity. In this chapter, the first commercial application of the technology appears to be for home removals, except, as the sceptical Mrs Carter points out, a removal now needs two, not one, teams of human removers, one to take the furniture out of her house and load it in to the teleporter, and the other team to repeat the process at the destination. It does save the physical journey between the two houses, but Mrs Carter herself still has to make it (the technology at that stage still not declared safe for people) and the saving is modest - unless you were moving to the moon. Which is where we end up in a later chapter, with minerals mined and extracted down to earth - minerals used to build the much bigger devices needed to transport goods from the moon ....
Another recurrent theme is the way all accidents in the machines - if there are any - are covered up and the technology presented as fail-safe. This is done not even necessarily even by government diktat or private enterprise hush money and lawsuits, but with the population's connivance, keen to believe in the new world. This resonated less well with me, given if anything we have the opposite issue e.g. with vaccines, with people determined to believe scientific advances aren't safe.
Overall, I admired the book for its very different style to speculative fiction, although towards the end it felt a little repetitive and I was hoping for more of a conclusion (rather like many of Magnus Mills' novels, whose style the early chapter's here invoke).
3.5 stars
J O Morgan’s Appliance is his 2nd novel after the intriguing Pupa (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) having previously been known for his book-length poems.
This novel is based around the introduction of a new transformative technology, a teleportation device. But this is far from genre speculative fiction. Little information is given on how the device might work (indeed the suggestion is the scientists themselves aren’t entirely clear), the story is told in a series of disconnected chapter showing the impact, over time, at a personal level, and the story is set in what feels like more a permanent mid to late 20th century rather than the near future. Indeed the set-up reminded me, if anything, of memories of new fangled microwaves being demonstrated to housewives in the late 1970s/early 1980s.
There is some, but relatively limited, comment on the Teletransportation Paradox (itself a modern-day version of the Ship of Theseus thought experiment):
Mrs Carter ignored this, turning again on her heel and pointedly raising a finger. 'How can you accept that a work of art, something made with care and understand-ing and human hands, something applied in minute increments, layer upon layer, something both made of paint yet beyond the paint it's made of, something that abstracts the mere matter of its materials into something transcendent, beautiful, eternal how can that being taken apart atom by atom and reassembled hundreds of miles away in an instant, how can that ever be the She as the original? It becomes no more than a fake, a mere copy, a false representation of that original.'
Although the chapter which this is from, the book's second, focuses more on another of the novel's topics, how technology tends to be more of a sideways than forward move, with progress stalled and energy expended (see Bitcoin mining) by self-generated activity. In this chapter, the first commercial application of the technology appears to be for home removals, except, as the sceptical Mrs Carter points out, a removal now needs two, not one, teams of human removers, one to take the furniture out of her house and load it in to the teleporter, and the other team to repeat the process at the destination. It does save the physical journey between the two houses, but Mrs Carter herself still has to make it (the technology at that stage still not declared safe for people) and the saving is modest - unless you were moving to the moon. Which is where we end up in a later chapter, with minerals mined and extracted down to earth - minerals used to build the much bigger devices needed to transport goods from the moon ....
Another recurrent theme is the way all accidents in the machines - if there are any - are covered up and the technology presented as fail-safe. This is done not even necessarily even by government diktat or private enterprise hush money and lawsuits, but with the population's connivance, keen to believe in the new world. This resonated less well with me, given if anything we have the opposite issue e.g. with vaccines, with people determined to believe scientific advances aren't safe.
Overall, I admired the book for its very different style to speculative fiction, although towards the end it felt a little repetitive and I was hoping for more of a conclusion (rather like many of Magnus Mills' novels, whose style the early chapter's here invoke).
3.5 stars
July 20, 2023
Ein Was-wäre-wenn Szenario.
Was wäre, wenn statt dem Internet die Teleportation erfunden worden wäre?
Dieses Buch könnte das literarische Pendant zu "Black Mirror" sein; jedes Kapitel eine Episode.
Jede Episode eine Erzählung für sich, in der jedesmal andere Charaktere einen weiteren Fortschritt der Teleportations-Technologie miterleben.
Vom Verschicken eines Eierlöffels, mit Hilfe eines kühlschrankgroßen Apparats, bis hin zum kabellosen Teletransport von Menschen.
Auch hier stehen die großen moralischen und philosophischen Fragen hinter allem: Was macht einen Menschen aus?
Sind wir bloß eine Ansammlung von Partikeln und Daten, die man durch den Äther schicken, und an anderer Stelle wieder zusammensetzen kann?
Sind wir dann wirklich noch exakt dieselbe Person, oder jemand/etwas anderes?
Wie weit ist der Mensch bereit zu gehen, sein Leben der Technologie zu überlassen?
Gut finde ich, dass Antworten nicht gegeben werden, und jeder Leser sich darüber seine eigenen Gedanken machen kann.
Erschreckend aber finde ich, wenn man die Teleportation wieder mit dem Internet ersetzt.
Ist das wirklich ein so großer Unterschied?
Was wäre, wenn statt dem Internet die Teleportation erfunden worden wäre?
Dieses Buch könnte das literarische Pendant zu "Black Mirror" sein; jedes Kapitel eine Episode.
Jede Episode eine Erzählung für sich, in der jedesmal andere Charaktere einen weiteren Fortschritt der Teleportations-Technologie miterleben.
Vom Verschicken eines Eierlöffels, mit Hilfe eines kühlschrankgroßen Apparats, bis hin zum kabellosen Teletransport von Menschen.
Auch hier stehen die großen moralischen und philosophischen Fragen hinter allem: Was macht einen Menschen aus?
Sind wir bloß eine Ansammlung von Partikeln und Daten, die man durch den Äther schicken, und an anderer Stelle wieder zusammensetzen kann?
Sind wir dann wirklich noch exakt dieselbe Person, oder jemand/etwas anderes?
Wie weit ist der Mensch bereit zu gehen, sein Leben der Technologie zu überlassen?
Gut finde ich, dass Antworten nicht gegeben werden, und jeder Leser sich darüber seine eigenen Gedanken machen kann.
Erschreckend aber finde ich, wenn man die Teleportation wieder mit dem Internet ersetzt.
Ist das wirklich ein so großer Unterschied?
May 28, 2023
Appliance has a killer concept: through a series of interconnected short stories, it charts the introduction and development of an invention that changes society. In the first story, the ‘appliance’ is a fridge-sized unit that can move a small object a short distance; by the end of the book, it’s a widely-used teleportation system, so prevalent that humans have all but abandoned other modes of transport. I enjoyed how the stories moved through time without pinning down where or when we are, so the context is the reader’s only key to how much the invention has advanced. Yet, despite the innovative approach, it’s all a bit dry and curiously old-fashioned. I couldn’t warm to any of the characters or summon up much interest in their circumstances (and one story that graphically depicts rape is jarring among the generally sterile scenes).
July 15, 2024
A very clever little book told through a series of vignettes with a changing cast of characters about a new technology that gradually develops over time (how much time is left to reader's imagination)
This new machine gradually becomes more and more ubiquitous and vaguely menacing as it petmeates people's lives.
Recommended
This new machine gradually becomes more and more ubiquitous and vaguely menacing as it petmeates people's lives.
Recommended
October 25, 2023
Die Prämisse, dass die Teleportation vor dem Internet erfunden wird und dieses dadurch redundant macht sprach mich an, aber leider wurden meine Erwartungen mit der Auseinandersetzung der daraus folgenden Konsequenzen nicht erfüllt. Vieles wird einfach vorgestellt und nicht weiter erkundet, viele der Kurzgeschichten bleiben flach und eine ganze Handvoll davon, wie die Szene der Kinder auf dem verlassenen Flugplatz, bringen keinen Mehrwert. Auch gibt es viele Aspekte, die für mich nicht nachvollziehbar sind oder gar nicht erst vorkommen, obwohl sie mir elementar erscheinen. Da wäre die gravierende Sicherheitslücke, in der man das Vorgehen bei seiner Maschine zuhause verändern kann und diese Veränderung von allen Maschinen übernommen wird. Die nicht erläuterte Vorgehensweise und Rolle von Regierungen und dem Unternehmen. Die nur marginal in Frage gestellte komplette Akzeptanz der gesamten Weltbevölkerung einer so einschneidenden Technologie, welche grundlegende Fragen aufwirft, was es überhaupt heisst, ein Mensch zu sein (Schiff von Theseus). Hier würde ich zumindest von Teilen der Menschheit viel grössere Gegenwehr und Konflikte erwarten. Generell spielen alle Kurzgeschichten auf der kleinsten Stufe des individuellen Benutzers und grössere Skalen werden komplett ignoriert. Für mich ist dieses Buch ein nicht durchdachtes erstes Gerüst, das man verbessern und dann darauf aufbauen könnte. Etwas, das viele andere tolle SciFi-Bücher machen.
July 6, 2022
Teleportation has long been a favourite idea of science fiction. But what if it was actually invented? What effect would it have on our lives? What issues would it raise – is a work of art still the same after you’ve broken it into its constituent atoms and reassembled it, for example? What indignities would people be willing to accept in return for convenience? That’s the premise here.
This isn’t a novel so much as a series of short stories exploring the development of the technology. In that sense it’s reminiscent of Asimov’s I, Robot. But where I, Robot develops a framework of regulation, in the form of the Laws of Robotics, Appliance simply raises questions. That makes for quite a frustrating read, more so as it sometimes takes a quite oblique approach too.
I’d have enjoyed this more had it used a more conventional story narrative and perhaps also told us more about the rather shady ‘Institute’ behind the technology.
This isn’t a novel so much as a series of short stories exploring the development of the technology. In that sense it’s reminiscent of Asimov’s I, Robot. But where I, Robot develops a framework of regulation, in the form of the Laws of Robotics, Appliance simply raises questions. That makes for quite a frustrating read, more so as it sometimes takes a quite oblique approach too.
I’d have enjoyed this more had it used a more conventional story narrative and perhaps also told us more about the rather shady ‘Institute’ behind the technology.
November 20, 2023
Intelligent social criticism mixed with a fun scifi concept.
This book gave me so much to think about and question my moral judgement. I would love to read the individual chapters again and discuss them with other readers. I also love how it crafts a history of an invention and its developelemt through different stories from different POV's and points in time and how the characters in these, particially tiny stories, feel very realistic, as do most scenarios. Before I address what I liked less I want to give this a big recommendation, it is actually amazing.
My criticism comes down to how I interprete the novel and its messages, but to stay spoiler free let's say I felt some concepts were oversimplified to its detrement and, for me, the outlook was too pessimistic. Also, the last chapter was the weekest one in my opinion, which just made me come out of the book less enthusiastc.
Still, If the concept of what this is sounds like something you'll enjoy, totally go for it and form your own opinions.
This book gave me so much to think about and question my moral judgement. I would love to read the individual chapters again and discuss them with other readers. I also love how it crafts a history of an invention and its developelemt through different stories from different POV's and points in time and how the characters in these, particially tiny stories, feel very realistic, as do most scenarios. Before I address what I liked less I want to give this a big recommendation, it is actually amazing.
My criticism comes down to how I interprete the novel and its messages, but to stay spoiler free let's say I felt some concepts were oversimplified to its detrement and, for me, the outlook was too pessimistic. Also, the last chapter was the weekest one in my opinion, which just made me come out of the book less enthusiastc.
Still, If the concept of what this is sounds like something you'll enjoy, totally go for it and form your own opinions.
June 19, 2022
A compelling novel on how we just accept technology in our lives without really understanding it or its ramifications. Also how the corporate media will pretty much cover up for companies if it behooves them.
I was worried this would be a heavy sci-fi book, but the 'appliance' is mostly in the background, slowly expanding its reach in everyone's lives and homes. Instead we get chapters (really vignettes) about the people experiencing the development and advancement of the transporter and trying to figure out how this will better their lives and how it actually works - it doesn't seem like anyone knows!
I was worried this would be a heavy sci-fi book, but the 'appliance' is mostly in the background, slowly expanding its reach in everyone's lives and homes. Instead we get chapters (really vignettes) about the people experiencing the development and advancement of the transporter and trying to figure out how this will better their lives and how it actually works - it doesn't seem like anyone knows!
March 7, 2023
One of the most thought provoking books I’ve read.
July 28, 2024
A series of short stories charting, obliquely, the impact that a new imagined transporter system would bring to the world. Think Apple have just released a "beam me up Scottie" machine. What would happen?
The book hints at challenging the way the mobile smart phone has changed the world with some subtlety.
I also think there is a serious factual book about how a transporter system would change things but this isn't it... .it isn't even a serious novel about its possible impact.... Instead it is a book scratching the very surface of the subject of whether technology advances are actually good or not for people.
For what its worth, I think they are but that we as a society need to do more to actively mitigate the downsides. Now that's a challenge. Read "Bowling Alone" for more on that.
Ultimately this thin volume does little more than ask you to think more about new technology. A valid topic if presented somewhat underwhelmingly.
The book hints at challenging the way the mobile smart phone has changed the world with some subtlety.
I also think there is a serious factual book about how a transporter system would change things but this isn't it... .it isn't even a serious novel about its possible impact.... Instead it is a book scratching the very surface of the subject of whether technology advances are actually good or not for people.
For what its worth, I think they are but that we as a society need to do more to actively mitigate the downsides. Now that's a challenge. Read "Bowling Alone" for more on that.
Ultimately this thin volume does little more than ask you to think more about new technology. A valid topic if presented somewhat underwhelmingly.
December 20, 2024
This short novel is sort of an anthology with each chapter featuring a different set of characters. The only thing linking these stories is the evolution of a "transportation device" which has the ability to dissemble an object at a sub-atomic level on one end and then reassemble it at the other end, making the transportation complete. As for the evolution part, the first chapter starts of with the 'institute', a private research facility of sorts, trying to sending in small plastic spoons, this followed by the creation of a whole network of this technology, used to replace 'movers and packers' to shift people's furniture. Then sending humans, first naked and as the tech develops, fully clothed.
It is in this backdrop that this novel delves into the theme of how human beings as a species relate to and deal with new technologies. As one character in this book neatly sums it up : " It’s not about what the machine does or doesn’t do to us as we go through it, but rather: what has the very existence of the machine already made of us? What people have we become? It rules us. It orders the way we live. We allow it to do so."
Overall it is a good read. Raises some intresting questions about the cult of technology and logic of perpetual progress in the readers' mind, invoking this dreadful feeling that a dystopia nevers seems like one when you are living in it.
It is in this backdrop that this novel delves into the theme of how human beings as a species relate to and deal with new technologies. As one character in this book neatly sums it up : " It’s not about what the machine does or doesn’t do to us as we go through it, but rather: what has the very existence of the machine already made of us? What people have we become? It rules us. It orders the way we live. We allow it to do so."
Overall it is a good read. Raises some intresting questions about the cult of technology and logic of perpetual progress in the readers' mind, invoking this dreadful feeling that a dystopia nevers seems like one when you are living in it.
September 15, 2022
*3.5 stars, rounded down
September 3, 2024
Short, punchy, captivating - loved the topic and the narrative style (the story developed through short stories format, throughout the years).
June 21, 2022
I might not have picked this one up except for a review I read that described it as something like: "the life-story of a machine, a bildungsroman of the unhuman". That got my attention! And the book delivers. Each new chapter the technology jumps forward to a different stage in development. I was thinking the jumps were like several years apart but actually it may well be longer. So the tech keeps moving forward but all other characters change, which I thought pretty clever actually as a concept for a story. It’s like the tech is itself the main character, present but silent, forcing everything around it to keep up, though not really caring if they do or not - machines don’t care about anything, after all!
I thought the other characters fascinating too. As theyre replaced with each chapter so the style of writing shifts with them. I found that really effective, highlighting a real change in each timeperiod. But I also liked the characters themselves, their little similarities/differences, little repetitions in new scenarios, subtley altered each time. Mostly the people were sort of commonplace, and each of them brilliantly written. Not heroes or scientists but just everyday folk trying to live their lives. And many are fine with using the machine, and others are clearly terrified by it, some don't even believe it really works at all (despite evidence to the contrary!) but there's nothing any of them can do.
Does this make them complicit? I did wonder about that... but I felt more like they were powerless. Some might complain/object/refuse, but really it made no different. Their concerns just aren't important to the technology's own relentless forward march. The positivity of some kind of balances out any negativity in others, i thought. Meanwhile the machine keeps grinding onward unthinkingly uncaringly. It (and only it) wins out in the end. Its in it for the long game. Everyone else is kind of stuck with it no matter what.
I like that about the book, you could either think of it as doom and gloom and nothing will ever change and it'll all get worse, or you can see in it an ongoing positivity of people, accepting how things are and making the most of it. Personaly I sort of had both feelings at once, a sort of tension I couldn't ever escape from. And then when i was all done... the tension remained! The story really did stay with me. I started to see its aspects in every part of daily life. It never ends!
I thought the other characters fascinating too. As theyre replaced with each chapter so the style of writing shifts with them. I found that really effective, highlighting a real change in each timeperiod. But I also liked the characters themselves, their little similarities/differences, little repetitions in new scenarios, subtley altered each time. Mostly the people were sort of commonplace, and each of them brilliantly written. Not heroes or scientists but just everyday folk trying to live their lives. And many are fine with using the machine, and others are clearly terrified by it, some don't even believe it really works at all (despite evidence to the contrary!) but there's nothing any of them can do.
Does this make them complicit? I did wonder about that... but I felt more like they were powerless. Some might complain/object/refuse, but really it made no different. Their concerns just aren't important to the technology's own relentless forward march. The positivity of some kind of balances out any negativity in others, i thought. Meanwhile the machine keeps grinding onward unthinkingly uncaringly. It (and only it) wins out in the end. Its in it for the long game. Everyone else is kind of stuck with it no matter what.
I like that about the book, you could either think of it as doom and gloom and nothing will ever change and it'll all get worse, or you can see in it an ongoing positivity of people, accepting how things are and making the most of it. Personaly I sort of had both feelings at once, a sort of tension I couldn't ever escape from. And then when i was all done... the tension remained! The story really did stay with me. I started to see its aspects in every part of daily life. It never ends!
June 26, 2024
As tempting as it is to laud Morgan’s prescience, I think instead we should praise their pinpoint perception of technology’s onward march. From the naysayers to the early adopters, from commerce to leisure, what’s really chilling is the ongoing bluster as Morgan’s characters try and fail to explain something they realise they don’t completely understand.
Safely anchored in fiction, deeply calm and never preachy, Morgan threads the needle beautifully and has produced a magnificent, horrifying, exceptional novel.
Safely anchored in fiction, deeply calm and never preachy, Morgan threads the needle beautifully and has produced a magnificent, horrifying, exceptional novel.
July 21, 2022
I picked up this book as it was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Fiction (2022). I’ve read and enjoyed many others on the list and this didn’t didappoint.
Instead of a novel it is really a series of interconnecting vignettes where we follow the development of a machine which can instantly transport objects (and eventually people) from one place to another. Each Chapter introduces a new set of characters but there is only one constant: the machine. In terms of plot, forget about the fleeting humans because the real story is about how the technology is changing, adapting and morphing.
I really enjoyed the reactions and the impact the machine had on a series of characters who are like bystanders to this march of progress which demands they integrate this machine into their lives whether they like it or not.
The book is labelled as Sci Fi but for me it was an emotional and philosophical examination about how we can get caught up driving forward our society more for the sake of it rather than to benefit the people who inhabit it.
Instead of a novel it is really a series of interconnecting vignettes where we follow the development of a machine which can instantly transport objects (and eventually people) from one place to another. Each Chapter introduces a new set of characters but there is only one constant: the machine. In terms of plot, forget about the fleeting humans because the real story is about how the technology is changing, adapting and morphing.
I really enjoyed the reactions and the impact the machine had on a series of characters who are like bystanders to this march of progress which demands they integrate this machine into their lives whether they like it or not.
The book is labelled as Sci Fi but for me it was an emotional and philosophical examination about how we can get caught up driving forward our society more for the sake of it rather than to benefit the people who inhabit it.
February 21, 2024
Morgan is not a science fiction writer, and it shows. Die hard SF fans (including me) will find the SF aspects rather disappointing.
I have to say that I found the social commentary rather superficial as well. It concentrates on the changes it brings to the white middle classes, which rather excludes 99% of the world's population. I'm also pretty bored with the evil corporation schtick by now. Are we really still using that cliché in 2024?
It's not a terrible book. It just left me unmoved. I enjoyed one of the eleven stories (Last Suppers) but the rest have left no significant imprint in my memory.
I have to say that I found the social commentary rather superficial as well. It concentrates on the changes it brings to the white middle classes, which rather excludes 99% of the world's population. I'm also pretty bored with the evil corporation schtick by now. Are we really still using that cliché in 2024?
It's not a terrible book. It just left me unmoved. I enjoyed one of the eleven stories (Last Suppers) but the rest have left no significant imprint in my memory.
January 9, 2023
appliance
An interesting examination of the effect of Star Trek transporter technology on society. Each chapter is a short story dealing with the progress of the technology and it’s impact on individuals and while the chapters effectively manage the progression of the new invention, they do not form a coherent whole and are rather disparate episodes.
An interesting examination of the effect of Star Trek transporter technology on society. Each chapter is a short story dealing with the progress of the technology and it’s impact on individuals and while the chapters effectively manage the progression of the new invention, they do not form a coherent whole and are rather disparate episodes.
July 5, 2022
This sounded interesting on paper, but the actualisation didn't really hit home for me as I`d have expected. Enjoyable as far as it goes, but I didn't find myself captivated as I'd hoped.
January 28, 2023
Tries to be In The Year 2525 but instead Is a mis mashed slog that looks at nothing in depth but plays each stage for pseudo existentialism 🙄
December 24, 2024
Knihy z nakladatelství Planeta9 jsou pokaždé rozhodně zajímavé. Ne vždycky člověku musí sednout, ale pokaždé stojí alespoň za přečtení. Což je případ i Spotřebiče, knížky, která je atypická hned
několika způsoby.
Jednak je to kniha, která se celá točí kolem teleportace… což je vynález, který obvykle ve scifárnách funguje jen tak někde na pozadí, jako běžné udělátko, něco na úrovni elektrické koloběžky. Jednak je celý vývoj tohohle vynálezu, od nesmělých počátků až po vesmírných exkurzí, mapovaný prostřednictvím samostatných povídek. A do třetice, autor je především básník, takže tahle kniha je ryzí soft-SF, a více než technickými detaily se zabývá lidskými reakcemi a pocity a víc pokládá otázky, než že by se na ně snažila nějak odpovídat.
A i když je tady autorův názor celkem jasný a spíš kritický, tak je hezký, že nejde cestou šoků, ale spíš takových obyčejných problémů. Třeba… teleportovali byste umělecká díla? Když se na jednom konci rozeberou a na druhém zase složí, do posledního atomu přesně… bude to pořád stejné dílo nebo jen kopie? A co když se člověk na druhé konci objeví sice stále jako on, tělesně úplně stejný, ale duševně o něco málo mladší? A je možné pomocí teleportace léčit? No a je vůbec bezpečné, když se veškerá doprava dostane do rukou státu… a je dobré, když vlastně zmizí možnost volby?
Autor si trochu usnadňuje práci, takže některé věci prostě automaticky vyhlásí, že nejdou (teleportovat bomby, zbraně a teroristy) a dost povídek je postavených na vysvětlujících dialozích, ale rozhodně je to jedna z těch zajímavějších sci-fi prací. Až čtenáře zamrzí, že je spousty motivů jen tak nahozených, že by z toho mi mohl být zajímavý román.
Ale asi je to takhle lepší. Spotřebič není převratné dílo, ale rozhodně je to fajn a trochu poetická sci-fi záležitost, která svou náladou může připomínat povídky Raye Bradburyho.
několika způsoby.
Jednak je to kniha, která se celá točí kolem teleportace… což je vynález, který obvykle ve scifárnách funguje jen tak někde na pozadí, jako běžné udělátko, něco na úrovni elektrické koloběžky. Jednak je celý vývoj tohohle vynálezu, od nesmělých počátků až po vesmírných exkurzí, mapovaný prostřednictvím samostatných povídek. A do třetice, autor je především básník, takže tahle kniha je ryzí soft-SF, a více než technickými detaily se zabývá lidskými reakcemi a pocity a víc pokládá otázky, než že by se na ně snažila nějak odpovídat.
A i když je tady autorův názor celkem jasný a spíš kritický, tak je hezký, že nejde cestou šoků, ale spíš takových obyčejných problémů. Třeba… teleportovali byste umělecká díla? Když se na jednom konci rozeberou a na druhém zase složí, do posledního atomu přesně… bude to pořád stejné dílo nebo jen kopie? A co když se člověk na druhé konci objeví sice stále jako on, tělesně úplně stejný, ale duševně o něco málo mladší? A je možné pomocí teleportace léčit? No a je vůbec bezpečné, když se veškerá doprava dostane do rukou státu… a je dobré, když vlastně zmizí možnost volby?
Autor si trochu usnadňuje práci, takže některé věci prostě automaticky vyhlásí, že nejdou (teleportovat bomby, zbraně a teroristy) a dost povídek je postavených na vysvětlujících dialozích, ale rozhodně je to jedna z těch zajímavějších sci-fi prací. Až čtenáře zamrzí, že je spousty motivů jen tak nahozených, že by z toho mi mohl být zajímavý román.
Ale asi je to takhle lepší. Spotřebič není převratné dílo, ale rozhodně je to fajn a trochu poetická sci-fi záležitost, která svou náladou může připomínat povídky Raye Bradburyho.
January 7, 2024
I expected more from this book after seeing all the accolades the author received. The book is fragmented into multiple stories that are independent from each other but share the overarching theme and development of the “appliance” that allows beaming people around. Because of these shorter independent stories the book lacks character development and depth. As soon as I got used to one new character, the part was over and it moved on to a new story. To me it felt like a lot of topics were just slightly touched on but never dove deeper than that, which I would have liked. Otherwise, the general topic and idea is interesting.
February 11, 2025
Yllättävän raikas tieteisromaani teleportaatiosta! Tässä ei matkusteta tähtiin, vaan kirjan tarinat kertovat siitä, miten uusi, maailmaa perustavanlaatuisesti muuttava keksintö otetaan vastaan, alkaa jalkautua ja kehittyä.
Yksi tarinoista kertoo esim. muuttofirmasta, joka alkaa kokeilla teleporttia liiketoiminnassaan. Mutta pysyykö atomeiksi hajotettu ja toisessa paikassa koottu maalaus ainutlaatuisena teoksena vai muuttuuko se kopioksi?
En yleensä välitä hirveästi episodiromaaneista, mutta tässä ratkaisu toimi, koska tarinat nostavat samasta aiheesta miellyttävän erilaisia näkökulmia esiin.
Ihan sattumanvaraisesti kirjaston hyllystä poimittu.
Yksi tarinoista kertoo esim. muuttofirmasta, joka alkaa kokeilla teleporttia liiketoiminnassaan. Mutta pysyykö atomeiksi hajotettu ja toisessa paikassa koottu maalaus ainutlaatuisena teoksena vai muuttuuko se kopioksi?
En yleensä välitä hirveästi episodiromaaneista, mutta tässä ratkaisu toimi, koska tarinat nostavat samasta aiheesta miellyttävän erilaisia näkökulmia esiin.
Ihan sattumanvaraisesti kirjaston hyllystä poimittu.
January 30, 2024
A quick read, the differing perspectives was interesting but a little frustrating as there was a few perspectives I'd have loved to hear more of, and some that felt unfinished. This was a book club choice of my mother's, which definitely fit that sort of environment, I wish I had people to explain bits I probably wasn't clever enough to understand! I had slight issues with the speech too, it occasionally felt like I was being told instead of shown, or that characters were talking in ways that just do not seem natural at all. Quick easy read that would lead to lots of discussion!
Want to read
December 17, 2023Jared Shurin recommended this fix-up in the Tor.com year-end reviewer's choice picks:
"A throwback to the old-fashioned ‘stitch-up’ novel: interconnected SF shorts, exploring the invention, adoption, and adaptation of technology. (Matter transmission!) A bit like the above, this is an appreciative, imaginative approach to a classic format, packed with warm and thoughtful stories."
https://www.tor.com/2023/12/13/tor-co...
I plan to give it a try.
"A throwback to the old-fashioned ‘stitch-up’ novel: interconnected SF shorts, exploring the invention, adoption, and adaptation of technology. (Matter transmission!) A bit like the above, this is an appreciative, imaginative approach to a classic format, packed with warm and thoughtful stories."
https://www.tor.com/2023/12/13/tor-co...
I plan to give it a try.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews