Човекът във водата

by Robert Sheckley, Рени Димитрова (Translator)

Two men struggle for possession of a small boat alone on the wasteland of the Sargasso Sea. High adventure!

191 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1961

About the author

One of science fiction's great humorists, Sheckley was a prolific short story writer beginning in 1952 with titles including "Specialist", "Pilgrimage to Earth", "Warm", "The Prize of Peril", and "Seventh Victim", collected in volumes from Untouched by Human Hands (1954) to Is That What People Do? (1984) and a five-volume set of Collected Stories (1991). His first novel, Immortality, Inc. (1958), was followed by The Status Civilization (1960), Journey Beyond Tomorrow (1962), Mindswap (1966), and several others. Sheckley served as fiction editor for Omni magazine from January 1980 through September 1981, and was named Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2001.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Man in the Water is an expansion of a story of Sheckley's from Sea Adventures magazine which appeared in 1958. The first edition of the novel was published by Regency Books in 1961, and I believe that none other than Harlan Ellison was the editor of Regency at that time. It is not a science fiction story, but a contemporary adventure of survival and rivalry and conflict in the Sargasso Sea. I remember being impressed by the fact that several of the chapter breaks come in middle of sentences; it's weird, the minutiae that sticks with you. There was a film version in 1963 that I think I saw once on TCM, but I don't remember with any surety. If you are a fan of Hemingway, give it a shot.

[Ralph Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book. Well worth reading if you can find a copy.

[Raro de Concurso · Rating 3 out of 5]

Acostumbrado a leer a Robert Sheckley en novelas y cuentos de Ciencia Ficción me ha sorprendido en esta faceta suya, más cercana al suspense de Hitchcock.
Y es que efectivamente estamos ante una novela corta, casi un relato largo, puramente de suspense. Y con sólo un barco en la calma del Mar de los Sargazos y dos protagonistas: un robusto explorador que se las sabe todas y ha sobrevivido a todo y un joven algo trastornado que quiere demostrar que él también es un triunfador.
Como telón de fondo, el asesinato. Depredador y presa se van cambiando los roles. Ya imaginariamente debido a la sed, la fatiga y el calor de un solo de justicia, como real y físicamente.

Un buen libro que se lee del tirón. Ideal para noches de verano sin pegar ojo por el calor.

Esta edición, de 1971, peculiarmente traducida, por cierto.

[Cosimo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bien pero se hizo pesado por el estilo monotono de
un unico narrador.

[Henic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Неудачная попытка освоить новый жанр.