فارنهایت واهی

by Alfred Bester, مهرداد تویسرکانی (Translator)

(Short Story)

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, Horror, School, Audiobook

96 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1954

About the author

Alfred Bester was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books.

Though successful in all these fields, he is best remembered for his science fiction, including The Demolished Man, winner of the inaugural Hugo Award in 1953, a story about murder in a future society where the police are telepathic, and The Stars My Destination, a 1956 SF classic about a man bent on revenge in a world where people can teleport, that inspired numerous authors in the genre and is considered an early precursor to the cyberpunk movement in the 1980s.

AKA:
Άλφρεντ Μπέστερ (Greek)

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oddly compelling story of an android with a flair for murder and an unhealthy relationship with his owner. Told in abruptly shifting third and first person narration from the POV of both the android and the owner. I've never seen anything quite like that, and I found it quite compelling.

[Amy H. Sturgis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This macabre "android gone wrong" story is a classic for good reason. Alfred Bester's prose is noir-style tight and punchy, but the focus resolutely remains on the psychological horror of the tale -- not only the fact that the android kills when the mercury rises above a particular temperature, but also the fact that the playboy owner of the android seems to have lost his own identity to the android. Or perhaps that's the other way around. Bester's masterful jumbling of first-person and third-person pronouns blurs the lines between the two psyches while never confusing the reader about what action is taking place. It's a dark and twisted tale, well worth reading.

[Adam · Rating 1 out of 5]

-From The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One-

I love Alfred Bester, but this is a hard no for me. A story about a killer android, which should be an impossibility, and the shared psychotic disorder of its owner. Interesting premise that is lit on fire by an execution that is overly bold. Bester uses third person and multiple first person perspectives in a pronoun mosh pit style of storytelling that left my head feeling like a drum kit. I get what he was trying to do here, and I applaud him for his bravery, but it was almost unreadable for me.

[G.G. Melies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy, muy buen cuento de ciencia ficción. Al principio pareciera que existe algún problema con la traducción que confunde en la lectura, pero luego todo va cobrando sentido.
No puedo spoilear, es un cuento... solo puedo decir que puede que con el tiempo este tipo de casos sucedan.

TE ATRAPA.

[Chrystyna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fondly Farenheit by Alfred Bester - Good

A short story written in 1954 and remarkably prophetic in places. Similar to Isaac Asimov in using the laws of robotics, but in this case an android has somehow overcome the law against murder.

A couple of things I noted about how the author was prophetic:


"Each man wore a walkie-talkie belt pack, the speaker button in his ear, the microphone bug clipped to his throat, the glowing view-screen strapped to his wrist like a green-eyed watch."

&

“Work at what? You know I’m good for nothing. How could I compete with specialist androids and robots? Who can, unless he’s got a terrific talent for a particular job?”

Interesting that 60+ years later... well we have smart watches linked to our smart phones and social media.... and many are still finding themselves replaced in the job market by machines that can do the job faster and more accurately.

Hmm. Hope the rest of the story is less likely to come true!

[Bill S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considered to be one of the all-time great science fiction short stories. In this universe, androids serve humans with the protagonist hiring his out so he does not have to work. Androids are programmed not to kill or harm property, but this one commits crimes including murder whenever the temperature rises above 90. His owner does not want to lose his meal ticket so they keep moving from planet to planet to stay ahead of the law.

The story delves into the problem of projection. Psychotics project their illness on others to externalize their problems. Eventually, those who live with a psychotic may well come to believe what the sick person is implying - that they are psychotic and become one. Thus, the protagonist and the android come to become one and the use of the pronoun "I" is used interchangeably. At the close of the story the android is killed, but the human continues his killing spree. He projects his pscychosis onto a new android.

[Grant McAlpine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story, well written for a Sci fi fanatic. Kindle version plagued with typos and grammar issues.

[M.W. Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

_Fondly Fahrenheit_ by Alfred Bester recieves 4 stars from me due to the narrative skill and complex character (s).

Bester does a great job with in the space of a few pages. What impressed me the most about the story is the confusion over the narrator. He achieves this by tossing around pronouns in what might seem erratic, or perhaps a misprint. The story fits in the genre of androids going roque. However, this android doesn't go roque all the time, just occasionally. Finding out why this happens is a part of the narrative.

Bester has a good clean narrative style that makes for good relaxing reading, while at the same time his character in this story is complicated. Is this an unreliable narrator? Perhaps.

One negative: the version I got from amazon, that was free, is a bad ebook. There are mistakes in spelling and in formate which both make for more confusion than needed. I found a pdf on line and read it after reading a few pages of the ebook.

Recommended: yes, great fun. A good one for a student to write a paper on as well. Not too long, but lots in there.

[Lizabeth Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Vandaleur and his android are on the run after the android kidnaps and kills a child, something previously thought impossible.

I don't know how to describe this. It is a confusing narrative with multiple fluid viewpoints. Fluid as in it can be hard to understand who is narrating, whether there is two or three present during certain scenes. Once farther into the story it gets easier to understand what Bester is up to. But despite the initial confusion, this was an intriguing psychological story. As Mr. Spock would say, fascinating. 4 out of 5.

There's a short commentary following the story itself in which Bester discusses his writing process in general and in regard to this particular story. A nice glimpse into how the sausage is made.

[Pamela Merritt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gem of a story, which has a kind of cozy mystery appeal, in that the violence creeps in, and he creates a portrait of a man and "his" machine, he owns it and it supports him. Both have... manufacturing defects.

Yet he gets so much moral weight into it, all with this breezy style and his amazing ability to plant lines in my head from when I was a child and first discovered his work.

Many writers can't do both short and long forms, but I love both his novels equally because he can expand from a simple, known, concept to an elaborate new world. Almost behind our backs.

I see his short stories as glimpses into further worlds that have the fascinating Bester stamp on them.

[J_BlueFlower · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fondly Fahrenheit by Alfred Bester
Read July 2023 in
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One 1929-1964

I really like that the The Science Fiction Hall of Fame collection is sorted chronologically, so you can see how the development in psychology influenced science fiction. This story is yet an example on spill over from psychology. I really did not like the super flimsy use of synaesthesia. Also the link to temperature was flimsy. I liked the confusing double-I narration.

[Jimgosailing · Rating 5 out of 5]

So what do you do when you’re on the lam, and somebody recognizes you? You do as they ask.

I liked the shifting back and forth between third person and first person; the shifting from the android’s point of view to the protagonist’s and back. And shared psychosis?

And though the story embraces Asimov’s rules of robots (so maybe this idea didn’t necessarily originate with Asimov but because of his stories it is associated with him) like they are immutable, I’ve always been skeptical of rules that supposedly can’t be broken.

[Elena B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published in 1954.
If you ever wondered what a book child of Edgar Allen Poe and Isaac Asimov would read like, this could be it.

He doesn’t know which of us we are these days, but they know one truth. You must own nothing but yourself. You must make your own life, live your own life and die your own death.. . or else you will die another’s.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mans only source of income is a multi functional android that he inherits from his father. Unfortunately it tends to become a bit “murdery” when exposed to high temperatures.
Told in first person from two different characters as well as some third person narrative. All in a choppy strange writing style.
Can an intelligent android become insane? It’s owner certainly can.

[Seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have so many questions. Like, why does nobody in this story have a healthy sense of self-preservation? And why does the deliberately erratic perspective sometimes switch to a third character who does not actually exist?

[Sean Walczak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting short story to read; it is a definite page-turner, and it still comes across as fresh and interesting despite how long ago it was written. That's saying something for a sci-fi novel that involves the standard fare of robots and interplanetary travel.

[Karen K - Ohio · Rating 4 out of 5]

The switching of the narrative point of view had me confused. But it proved to be necessary. Vandaleur’s psychosis manifests itself as a loss of identity so his narrative changes from I to he to we.

[Rob Keenan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Sci Fi Sundays

[Camila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ciencia ficción/suspenso psicológico, qué podría salir mal.

[Željko Filipin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story written in a strange style about a man and an android. At least one of them is crazy. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume One, 1929-1964 #23.

[Gr1972 · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 out of 5

[Jeff Ferry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Androids as bad hanging companions

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early robot gone bad tale.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

read for school
so perfect and spooky

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

fire.

[Kaleigh · Rating 1 out of 5]

"I don't know which of us he is these days... If you live with a crazy man or a crazy machine long enough, I become crazy too. Reet!"

I've got a headache now and I have only the faintest idea of what I've just read.

[T.A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting short story of can someone/things behavior/personality change that of the person/android they are with.

[Frannie Cheska · Rating 4 out of 5]

creeepppy!!!! science fiction just keeps getting better and better lol a machine hugh? very i robot if u ask me lol

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story, interesting delivery. Well worth the (short) time.

[Cornelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am so confused...