Jocul minții

by Norman Spinrad, Corina Popescu (Translator)

The Movement-was it the greatest con of all time, or the last true religion? A chilling novel about the evil of cults.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction Fantasy

426 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1980

About the author

Born in New York in 1940, Norman Spinrad is an acclaimed SF writer.

Norman Spinrad, born in New York City, is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science. In 1957 he entered City College of New York and graduated in 1961 with a Bachelor of Science degree as a pre-law major. In 1966 he moved to San Francisco, then to Los Angeles, and now lives in Paris. He married fellow novelist N. Lee Wood in 1990; they divorced in 2005. They had no children. Spinrad served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) from 1980 to 1982 and again from 2001 to 2002.

Reviews

[S.A. Barton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clear jab at cults-religions-spiritual systems that aim at controlling adherents for their own good. The villain in this one looks a lot like L. Ron Hubbard, but isn't, quite; he's a melange of several different faces of the mind control game. By the time you get to the end of this one, he doesn't look quite as much like a villain, either. The villain bears strains of victim and the victims bear strands of villainy and nothing is clear. The ending isn't happy. It's not sad, either. The entire book is an emotional ride through pain and anger and hope, an exercise in bittersweet.

Which is one of the reasons I liked it so much. This is not a piece of epic science fiction. It is a tour through some of the less savory neighborhoods of the human mind and it does not flinch from showing you the squalid alongside the... less squalid.

You'll probably close this one with mixed feelings about it. I did. It was great.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very (very) thinly veiled condemnation of Scientology. It's also a fairly decent, quick read. This ending is completely unsatisfactory (no spoilers) and feels like it was just tacked on to put a definite end to the story. Other than that, pretty good.

[Shuggy L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took me a while to read this book because I found a French copy on vacation this summer 2019. The description of the tentacle (at the end of the book) reminds me of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds..."la faille ombreuse qui serpentait au flanc de la colline, s'allongeant comme un noir tentacule vers les lumieres etincelantes de la ville". Perhaps Normand Spinrad is trying to tell the reader that people are sometimes their own worst enemy. All the trouble coming from too much self-interest.

Anyway, important not to compromise our principles and to stay true to our value system. Not a big fan of overt manipulation by an organization whose interests are at varience with its participants. Always told my children to think for themselves. I think it helped with all the teenage craziness and beyond. Ironic that the very industry that Jack Weller is in, TV production, doesn't gel well with the individualism mix, with its advertising and made for mass audience movies. The guys themselves seem very generically contrived too. Social roles seem rather typically portrayed with women on the sidelines and older women characterized negatively.

[Emmanuelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lost a whole day of productivity reading it in one go. 10/10 would deliver late again

[haxxy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5* - Nu e chiar SF, dar mi-a placut

[SpringLea Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took my time reading this one because there's a lot of thought crammed into this unassuming little paperback! It reads a lot like the movies The Conspiracy Theory and Blinded By the Light had a baby, but it's good for prodding one's brain into ruminating on things like ethics, self-direction, selling out, faith, and the way you can present yourself to others to help you achieve your goals. Good food for thought! The story itself was mildly predictable, and I never really *liked* the protagonist, but I was grateful for what he taught me about what choices I might make under similar circumstances. I recommend this book for anyone with a strong interest in religion, sociology, psychology, leadership skills, and creativity.

[Neal Umphred · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a rabid Spinradian since picking up BUG JACK BARRON off a paperback spinner in 1969 simply to find out what kind of bug Jack Barron was! I have enjoyed most of his novels and THE MIND GAME is a fave among them.

Is THE MIND GAME’s charismatic leader John B. Steinhardt and his Transformationalism based on Hubbard and Scientology? Probably.

Is THE MIND GAME’s spunky protagonist Jack Weller based on Spinrad? Possibly.

To say any more would tell you things about the story that are best experienced while reading that story. Needless to say, I recommend the latter and find out what Jack Weller found out.

[Claudio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me costó iniciarlo.Quizás, porque los personajes no me llamaban la atención ni lograba empatizar. Quizás porque representan mucho de aquello que no me gusta. Pero cuando comienza realmente la trama (el juego de infiltrarse en el transformacionalismo) agarra vuelo. Es un buen documento para descubrir las diferentes tretas de lavado de cerebro y es entretenida. Mi problema viene de que no me puedo comprar la motivación del personaje, cuando las circunstancias le muestran una y otra vez que su objetivo no tiene sentido. Pero bueno, si no fuera tan porfiado, no habría historia.

[Jeremy Hornik · Rating 3 out of 5]

An oddball book about a fictionalized version of L. Ron Hubbard. Sex, speeches, action, mind games. Man, I was really into Norman Spinrad back then. Go figure.

[Engie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es extraño: creo que es un libro genial, pero no lo recomendaría a nadie. Eso sí, el personaje principal está construido de una manera que me pareció asombrosa.