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Profundis
1st Pan 1979 edition paperback vg+ book In stock shipped from our UK warehouse
152 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 26, 2025
The last remnants of humanity are alone on a gigantic undersea ship. It's a generational ship and most of them have been there awhile already. It's mostly a humor book, which I did not realize (although I probably should have after rereading the back cover). The humor didn't click with me very well. Much of it felt like edgy teen styles of humor.
The second half of the book drops most of the attempts at humor but also just tries to end the story as soon as possible. This would normally have been a negative but I wasn't enjoying myself much so it kept me from needing to DNF it.
This is by no means Cowper's most famous book and as long as they aren't all SF/humor books I'll try something else eventually. This one was just a rushed and muddy mess of a story I wouldn't recommend to anyone.
The second half of the book drops most of the attempts at humor but also just tries to end the story as soon as possible. This would normally have been a negative but I wasn't enjoying myself much so it kept me from needing to DNF it.
This is by no means Cowper's most famous book and as long as they aren't all SF/humor books I'll try something else eventually. This one was just a rushed and muddy mess of a story I wouldn't recommend to anyone.
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December 25, 2023i genuinely dont know how to rate this. its beautiful and problematic and funny and terrible and everything to me. i will be posting a more in depth review on my tumblr but what the fuck. this is the book of all time that's for sure
August 28, 2013
Richard Cowper is a pseudonym for John Middleton Murry Jr, son of John Middleton Murry, a significant English writer and critic during the pre WWII era. Murry Jr first wrote fiction under the pseudonym Colin Murry before then venturing into science fiction during the 1960’s. Profundis is my first encounter with Cowper. I was lured by both the desire to read some 1970’s science fiction and also the book’s fantastic old school cover art.
Profundis is a post nuclear apocalypse novel, the kind of science fiction work that was rife the 1970’s when the cold war was growing ever colder and the production of nuclear weapons was escalating out of control. Set in the then near but just far enough away future of the early twenty first century, the gigantic submarine HMS Profundis trawls the depths of the oceans, staying out of the way of the harmful radiation generated by WWIII.
The eponymous submarine turns out to be a microcosm of what it left behind, with all of the social, economic and political problems that had blighted humanity before the unthinkable happened. This premise allows Cowper to satirically critique humanity’s flaws. The plot is driven by the misadventures of the innocent yet talented protagonist Tom Jones (no not that Tom Jones). Tom attracts the attention of the fantastically named Admiral Horatio Prood, who is up for some messianic manipulations. Initially the most interesting fact about Tom is that he can talk to dolphins and fortunately for him it turns out that the dolphins quite like him. Despite Tom’s talents he’s totally naïve, even about himself; a characteristic that allows Cowper to show how the innocent can be corrupted by the system.
Despite such serious themes Profundis is not science fiction at its best, but it doesn’t stoop to pulp level either. Cowper’s stylistic abilities make the novel an enjoyable one to read in a Sunday afternoon movie kind of way. Cowper writes with a nice dose of sly humour and his style is subtle and lyrical in places. Apparently Cowper was well known for displaying a more human centric approach to his science fiction writing, rather than relying on technology and outrageous plot devices; something reviewers of the time often criticized him for. Profundis does indeed display such characteristics, but also present are the familiar science fiction tropes of androids, a conscious super computer and humans with enhanced psychic abilities. Perhaps Cowper had been listening to his critics?
The main trouble with Profundis is that it initially seems to one of those science fiction novels that is building to a mind-blowing twist, but then unfortunately it doesn’t quite happen. It also doesn’t help that the last third is a bit muddled both in terms of plot and pacing. Profundis ends with a mildly satisfying conclusion when what was really needed was something dramatic to underline the novel’s thematic concerns.
To be fair Cowper was probably a much better science fiction writer than Profundis would suggest. Apparently The Twilight of Briareus (1974) and The Road to Corlay (1978) are the ones to read. Cowper was a good friend of the great Christopher Priest, who wrote a nice obituary when Cowper died in 2002. If Cowper comes highly recommended by Priest then I’ll give him another chance. No doubt he’ll crop up again in one of my favourite second hand bookstores in the near yet just far enough away future.
From my blog http://excelsiorforever.blogspot.com.au/
Profundis is a post nuclear apocalypse novel, the kind of science fiction work that was rife the 1970’s when the cold war was growing ever colder and the production of nuclear weapons was escalating out of control. Set in the then near but just far enough away future of the early twenty first century, the gigantic submarine HMS Profundis trawls the depths of the oceans, staying out of the way of the harmful radiation generated by WWIII.
The eponymous submarine turns out to be a microcosm of what it left behind, with all of the social, economic and political problems that had blighted humanity before the unthinkable happened. This premise allows Cowper to satirically critique humanity’s flaws. The plot is driven by the misadventures of the innocent yet talented protagonist Tom Jones (no not that Tom Jones). Tom attracts the attention of the fantastically named Admiral Horatio Prood, who is up for some messianic manipulations. Initially the most interesting fact about Tom is that he can talk to dolphins and fortunately for him it turns out that the dolphins quite like him. Despite Tom’s talents he’s totally naïve, even about himself; a characteristic that allows Cowper to show how the innocent can be corrupted by the system.
Despite such serious themes Profundis is not science fiction at its best, but it doesn’t stoop to pulp level either. Cowper’s stylistic abilities make the novel an enjoyable one to read in a Sunday afternoon movie kind of way. Cowper writes with a nice dose of sly humour and his style is subtle and lyrical in places. Apparently Cowper was well known for displaying a more human centric approach to his science fiction writing, rather than relying on technology and outrageous plot devices; something reviewers of the time often criticized him for. Profundis does indeed display such characteristics, but also present are the familiar science fiction tropes of androids, a conscious super computer and humans with enhanced psychic abilities. Perhaps Cowper had been listening to his critics?
The main trouble with Profundis is that it initially seems to one of those science fiction novels that is building to a mind-blowing twist, but then unfortunately it doesn’t quite happen. It also doesn’t help that the last third is a bit muddled both in terms of plot and pacing. Profundis ends with a mildly satisfying conclusion when what was really needed was something dramatic to underline the novel’s thematic concerns.
To be fair Cowper was probably a much better science fiction writer than Profundis would suggest. Apparently The Twilight of Briareus (1974) and The Road to Corlay (1978) are the ones to read. Cowper was a good friend of the great Christopher Priest, who wrote a nice obituary when Cowper died in 2002. If Cowper comes highly recommended by Priest then I’ll give him another chance. No doubt he’ll crop up again in one of my favourite second hand bookstores in the near yet just far enough away future.
From my blog http://excelsiorforever.blogspot.com.au/
September 1, 2017
Several generations after a nuclear war has wiped out the majority of the human race, a huge submarine that contains the survivors continues to travel around the world, never surfacing. The majority of the thousands of inhabitants live a fairly miserable life, ruled by a series of slightly crazed captains, the ship's computer and an army of androids. One particular captain comes to the conclusion that he is God, the computer is the Holy Ghost and hence he must find someone to complete the trinity.
I personally didn't find this satire particularly funny or enjoyable, but at least it was fairly short. It's not a terrible book by any means, but I just didn't like it very much.
I personally didn't find this satire particularly funny or enjoyable, but at least it was fairly short. It's not a terrible book by any means, but I just didn't like it very much.
July 21, 2020
Typically gentle and wistful comedy - the giant submarine Profundis has survived the apocalypse and contains a pressure-cooker pastiche of British society. The profoundly nerdy but kind dolphin-handler hero has a better relationship with his charges than with humans and is aided by a mysterious voice from the vents of the ship. Also he can't seem to help being involved in sudden disasters and is branded a terrorist by the Captain, who has strange plans for him.
There is a explanation for everything and it is a fun read, though a little dated now.
There is a explanation for everything and it is a fun read, though a little dated now.
March 8, 2020
Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
"Richard Cowper’s science fiction (and fantasy) was recommended to me by 2theD over at Potpourri of Science Fiction Literature (be sure to follow him!). But ever since I procured a copy of Profundis (1979) more than a year ago, I’ve passed over it when searching for my next read — perhaps due to the silly “Three Kinky Kittens, talented sexboats with uninhibiting charms” [...]
"Richard Cowper’s science fiction (and fantasy) was recommended to me by 2theD over at Potpourri of Science Fiction Literature (be sure to follow him!). But ever since I procured a copy of Profundis (1979) more than a year ago, I’ve passed over it when searching for my next read — perhaps due to the silly “Three Kinky Kittens, talented sexboats with uninhibiting charms” [...]
August 23, 2014
‘KN4/2-034-17/Jones, T. (M(AQ)C GRADE 3) is naïve, impressionable and very, very willing. His chief talent is conversing with dolphins in the Aquatic Mammals Division of HMS Profundis, a gargantuan submarine – destined to roam the ocean depths for a century following a nuclear holocaust.
Years pass and mad captain succeeds mad captain. Eventually the ship falls under the command of one Horatio Prood, a kind, understanding man who finally comes to a startling conclusion. He is God the Father. The Almighty Himself. And all he needs now is a Son to sit at his right hand.
Enter the innocent Tom Jones of the Aquatic Mammals Division…’
Blurb from the 1980 Pan edition.
Cowper, although not as prolific as some of his peers, more than makes up for his lack of output with the quality of his novels.
And this is that rare thing, a satirical SF novel which is actually funny. The novel satirises the Industrial policies of the British Government of the Nineteen Seventies (amongst other things) although it's not really necessary to know the details in order to enjoy this.
‘Profundis’ is the brain-child of the Labour MP Mr Widgewood-Bing (a thinly-veiled reference to the late Left Wing Labour Minister Anthony Wedgwood-Benn) who, in an effort to subsidise the ailing manufacturing industry of the North West of England, commissioned the construction of a vast atomic submarine and a controlling Artificial Intelligence system, Proteus.
While Profundis is submerged deep undersea, the world erupts into brief and violent nuclear conflict, leaving the ship condemned to sail on beneath the waves until she can surface a hundred years on when radiation has fallen to a safe level.
The Captain controls a crew of eccentric androids which ruthlessly oversee the running of the ship by the lowest rung in the ladder, Humanity.
This is the backdrop against which the story is told, a story parodying, satirising, and yet, strangely affirming the story of Christ.
Control of the submarine is inherited by one Horatio Prood who is taken suddenly by the conviction that he is God. Not unnaturally, he sees the disembodied AI which controls most of the functions of the ship as The Holy Ghost, and thus now needs to complete the trinity, and sets out to locate the most likely candidate. As it happens, the most likely candidate is also the most unlikely candidate, since it is Tom Jones, the naive young man in charge of the dolphins in the Aquatic Mammals Division.
Cowper manages to create believable yet quite bizarre characters, helped by the author’s clever use of dialogue.
Years pass and mad captain succeeds mad captain. Eventually the ship falls under the command of one Horatio Prood, a kind, understanding man who finally comes to a startling conclusion. He is God the Father. The Almighty Himself. And all he needs now is a Son to sit at his right hand.
Enter the innocent Tom Jones of the Aquatic Mammals Division…’
Blurb from the 1980 Pan edition.
Cowper, although not as prolific as some of his peers, more than makes up for his lack of output with the quality of his novels.
And this is that rare thing, a satirical SF novel which is actually funny. The novel satirises the Industrial policies of the British Government of the Nineteen Seventies (amongst other things) although it's not really necessary to know the details in order to enjoy this.
‘Profundis’ is the brain-child of the Labour MP Mr Widgewood-Bing (a thinly-veiled reference to the late Left Wing Labour Minister Anthony Wedgwood-Benn) who, in an effort to subsidise the ailing manufacturing industry of the North West of England, commissioned the construction of a vast atomic submarine and a controlling Artificial Intelligence system, Proteus.
While Profundis is submerged deep undersea, the world erupts into brief and violent nuclear conflict, leaving the ship condemned to sail on beneath the waves until she can surface a hundred years on when radiation has fallen to a safe level.
The Captain controls a crew of eccentric androids which ruthlessly oversee the running of the ship by the lowest rung in the ladder, Humanity.
This is the backdrop against which the story is told, a story parodying, satirising, and yet, strangely affirming the story of Christ.
Control of the submarine is inherited by one Horatio Prood who is taken suddenly by the conviction that he is God. Not unnaturally, he sees the disembodied AI which controls most of the functions of the ship as The Holy Ghost, and thus now needs to complete the trinity, and sets out to locate the most likely candidate. As it happens, the most likely candidate is also the most unlikely candidate, since it is Tom Jones, the naive young man in charge of the dolphins in the Aquatic Mammals Division.
Cowper manages to create believable yet quite bizarre characters, helped by the author’s clever use of dialogue.
May 17, 2015
reviews.metaphorosis.com
3.5 stars
Tom Jones is a simple Mammals (Aquatic) Communicator aboard Profundis, a vast submarine that's the sole survivor of a nuclear war. Tom, called to play a part in the commanding officer's sudden and self-directed elevation to divinity, quickly finds himself out of his depth.
Profundis is profoundly funny as Tom struggles through his appointed role as Jesus, complete with versions of money changers, Pilate, and Mary Magdalene. He's baffled by the proceedings, and naturally has no idea what's really happening. There's a certain deus ex machina element to the story which adds its own level of humor, and which Cowper pulls off nicely
It's true that Cowper leaves quite a number of loose ends dangling. The ending is not quite in sync with the rest of the story. Tom passes in and out of character. But the whole is funny enough, and carried off well enough, that it doesn't really matter. It's not as strong a book as it could have been, but it's a fun, light read.
If you haven't encountered Cowper, this is as good a place as any to start. Profundis is not exactly exemplary, and far from his best, but it is enjoyable.
December 22, 2011
A fairly light but still toothy SF satire, with mad captains, toadying underlings, a sentient AI, dolphins, social commentary and a hapless innocent bumbling around in the midst of it. A good reminder that Richard Cowper is very much worth reading.
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August 23, 2008isbn,original
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews