Mockingbird

by Walter Tevis, Nicole Poole (Narrator), Robert Fass (Narrator)

In a world where the human population has suffered devastating losses, a handful of survivors cling to what passes for life in a post-apocalyptic, dying landscape. A world where humans wander, drugged and lulled by electronic bliss. A dying world of no children and no art, where reading is forbidden. And a strange love triangle: Spofforth, who runs the world, the most perfect machine ever created, whose only wish is to die; and Paul and Mary Lou, a man and a woman whose passion for each other is the only hope for the future of human beings on earth. An elegiac dystopia of mankind coming to terms with its own imminent extinction, Mockingbird was nominated for a Nebula Award for Best Novel.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Dystopia, Post Apocalyptic, Audiobook, Speculative Fiction, Robots

Audio CD

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Walter Stone Tevis was an American novelist and short story writer. Three of his six novels were adapted into major films: The Hustler, The Color of Money, and The Man Who Fell to Earth. The Queen's Gambit has also been adapted in 2020 into a 7-episode mini-series. His books have been translated into at least 18 languages.

Reviews

[Jeffrey Keeten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could tell with in the first few paragraphs of this book I was really going to like it. The story starts with Robert Spofforth, a very special robot, in fact a Make Nine robot, whistling as he walks down the street. Now to me whistling is a very distinctive human trait. I know some birds can be taught to whistle and I'm sure someone has spent numerous hours of their life teaching their dog to whistle, but generally I think humans are the only entity on the planet bad ass enough to actually whistle as we walk through the woods or across the plains announcing our presence to everything "here I am".

Alright so Tevis got my attention right away. I put the book on my stack of reading now books and promptly got caught up in a monster of a book 900+ that I checked out from the library and had a deadline to finish, a self imposed deadline as I still like to torture myself in ways that make no sense to any one else. It was a long time before I had a chance to get back to Mockingbird, but the whole time I'm flagellating myself with the large tomb from the library I'm thinking about Mockingbird.



When I do get back to it I'm nearly salivating, I sit down like a guy who has been lost in the desert and is about to drink his first glass of water that wasn't freshly squeezed out of a cactus. I fall in. My daughter asks me a question and I look at her with a blank look before promptly returning my eyes to the pages. Okay so I'm not going to win Dad of the year and I was so close this year.



The idea of having robots do our work for us sounds like a great idea. We should be able to edify ourselves, spend our time reading great works (Christians could finally read the bible.), writing poetry, learning to paint, and having philosophical discussions about whether the chair and table do really exist. Unfortunately I fear that most people would just spend more time in front of the television inhaling their drug of choice. I may be too cynical here, but in Mockingbird that is exactly what happened. People take handfuls of sopors and killed time until the television programs started. Over several generations after building more and more robots to the point that the human race can no longer fix or design or have an original thought the robots, due to a lack of interest by the human race, take over. There was no coup, no uprising with humans fighting to take back there place at the top of the heap. We simply handed over our lives to our creations.

In the movie Surrogates starring no other than, Bruce Willis, (the salvation of the human race time and time again), we have an avatar idealized version of ourselves that we move about the world to go to work, to have sex, basically a realized version of a video game that allows the human race to not only stay home, but stay in one room wired into their surrogate all day. We of course turn to mush. I would have really been worried about our chances if Bruce Willis hadn't been in the movie.



Well in Mockingbird, Paul, is our Bruce Willis. He is a university professor who really doesn't teach anything anymore because over several generations people have quit learning to read. Not even the robots know how to read. Paul starts researching old silent movies and has an epiphany that the subtitles at the bottom, the squiggles, actually represent what is being said in the film. Over the course of watching many, many films he teaches himself the rudimentary words of the English language. Lets just say the genie is now out of the bottle.

Paul has to fight against the pithy statements that have been drilled into his head: "Quick sex is best.", "Don't ask; relax." He starts to replace these short bits of controlling propaganda with pieces of literature that just keep nagging at him. "My life is light, waiting for the death wind, Like a feather on the back of my hand." and "Only the mockingbird sings at the edge of the woods." These thoughts are a little more complex. They stretch Paul's mind and he starts to see the world for what it really is a shallow, unsatisfactory, anti-utopian.

There is a lot more to this book than what I've decided to touch on here, for only 247 pages the book really packs a wallop. I'm a big fan of Dystopia society books and this will certainly be one I add to my recommendation list.

[Apatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

“What is it exactly that you do with a book?”
“You read it.”
“Oh,” she said. And then, “What does ‘read’ mean?”
I nodded. Then I began turning the pages of the book I was holding and said, “Some of these markings here represent sounds. And the sounds make words. You look at the marks and sounds come into your mind and, after you practice long enough, they begin to sound like hearing a person talking. Talking—but silently.”

There are quite a few books or reading related quotes in this book, the above is not the most eloquent one but I love the way something we take for granted is explained as if it is a weird esoteric concept. Mockingbird has been described—somewhat inaccurately—as an unofficial sequel to Fahrenheit 451. An understandable comparison, but in some ways, it is the opposite of “451”. While both books feature the theme of how important books are to civilization and mental development, in “451” the authorities burn books to prevent people from reading them, in Mockingbird the authorities do not need to do that, nobody wants to read the bloody things! Most people do not even know what reading is or what a book looks like. However, the books have not been destroyed, they can be found in storage and shut up libraries, but only two people in the world know how to read them.

I knew nothing about Mockingbird prior to reading it, only that it is part of the excellent “SF Masterworks” series and the length (about 250 pages) is just right for me, after finishing the 1000+ pages of Words of Radiance I wanted to read a short sci-fi novel. So I picked this one out almost at random, though the 4.13 average GR rating is the clincher.

Mockingbird is set in a grim and decaying America, mostly New York City, in the 25th Century. Though the time of the setting is not clearly indicated in the book, as the year numbers are no longer used in this era (I only found the time period from the book’s “About the Author” section). It is yet another sci-fi dystopia but this time there is no cruel or fascist authorities governing the populace. The human race is on its last legs, winding down and fading away. No children are being born and the populace is constantly doped up and living dull lives without anything to look forward to. Suicide by immolation is commonplace, and it is a painless process due to drugs. Humanity is taken care of and governed by robots, social mores have been developed by some long-dead social engineers to value privacy and inwardness above all else; family, friendship, and love are unknown concepts, and “quick sex is best” is a commonly used slogan.

The narrative begins from the point of view of Spofforth, a robot who has been living for centuries and yearns to die but is programmed against committing suicide. Spofforth holds several positions of power and as a Dean of a university, he discovers Paul Bentley who has accidentally discovered a reading tutorial from an old film archive and taught himself to read from there. Later Paul meets Mary Lou, an unusual woman who does not take drugs and is therefore, very clear headed and rebellious. The narrative soon switches to Paul’s first person accounts of his life in the diary form. After living with Mary Lou for a while and teaching her how to read, Paul is arrested by Spofforth and sent to prison. Through his life in prison and subsequent his escape, he learns much about the world he lives in and about himself.

Suicidal Spofforth

Don’t worry I have not spoiled the book, Mockingbird is not about a prison break, it is a journey of self-discovery. The book defied my expectations several times. At the beginning, I thought it was going to be about Spofforth the paranoid android (the words robot and android are used interchangeably in this book), his disillusion with his life, and his struggle to find the origin of his consciousness which is based off a human. Soon the point of view is shifted to Paul who starts off as dazed and doped up like everybody else, but the discovery of books and reading begin to transform him. Mary Lou also undergoes transformations through reading, though she ahs the advantage of being clearheaded, to begin with. Mockingbird is at its best when the narrative focuses on Paul’s explorations and self-discovery process. He learns the value of human interactions (normally taboo) and the meaning of friendship in prison, after escaping he begin his journey towards New York in search of Mary Lou. On the way he falls in with a Christian community for a while, in an exalted position of The Reader, to read Bible passages to the illiterate members. While he finds much of the Bible interesting, the organized religion of the community is not to his taste.
“The God they worship is an abstract and ferociously moral thing, like a computer. And the compelling, mystical rabbi, Jesus, they have turned into some kind of moral Detector.”
He then resumes his journey and self-development.

Mockingbird was first published in 1980, it is much much more interesting and thought-provoking than the popular (mostly YA) dystopia of today. Walter Tevis vividly portrays a world where humans are living comfortably but without purpose. The robots their ancestors have left in charge are mostly of subhuman intelligence and have no idea or interest in facilitating some kind of meaningful lives for their human charges. One of my favorite scenes is a chapter about a closed system toaster factory where sub-moron robots work. Due to a slight flaw in the process all the toasters are defective and rejected, and the rejects are destroyed then fed back into the production process. An infinitely loop and a “parody of productivity”.

Mockingbird is a happy discovery for me, the best dystopian I have read for a long time; thought-provoking, moving, compassionate and even inspiring. A classic of this SF subgenre.
__________________
Notes:
• “Only the mockingbird sings at the edge of the woods.” is a key phrase in this book. I don't know what it means but I read from online discussions that it is likely to represent some kind of mimicry, though it is unclear who is mimicking whom. Is Spofforth mimicking humans or are Paul and Mary Lou mimicking the people they have seen on the old films? Is the “edge of the woods” the edge of enlightenment but still in the forest of ignorance? Walter Tevis leaves the nomenclature of the novel ambiguous; like a bit of homework for the readers, I suppose.

• An almost anachronistic reference to data storage on magnetic tapes is mentioned. Don’t worry about it. Sci-fi is not about predicting technology.

• Paul’s relationship with Mary Lou reminds me of Winston Smith and Julia in 1984 a bit, but Big Brother is not watching here, nobody is watching, or giving a damn.

Quotes:
“All of those books—even the dull and nearly incomprehensible ones—have made me understand more clearly what it means to be a human being. And I have learned from the sense of awe I at times develop when I feel in touch with the mind of another, long-dead person and know that I am not alone on this earth. There have been others who have felt as I feel and who have, at times, been able to say the unsayable.”

“There at the other end of the restaurant were three people, seated in a booth, in flames / there was no sign of pain. They might have been playing gin rummy, except there they were, burning to death.”

“You know what work is these days. They have to deactivate robots to find things to pay us for doing.”

“It was, as the genetic engineers were fond of saying, an improvement upon the work of God. Since none of the engineers believed there was a God, however, their self-praise was unsound.”


A great depiction of Spofforth in this French edition

[Ines · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book in the very early morning and it is there nailed in my head, I have transgressed to my strict rule, never read in the morning because then it prevents me sometimes to be clear in the reception of thought and clear mind with my patients.
I do not have much to say about this book , only that it is a hymn to the life, beauty, truth and mystery of man..... I never advise anyone to read certain books, but this absolutely is, don’t read it as a sci-fi book, but as an elegy to the wretched of humanity...
Even in the darkest hours for man, there will always be those who will carry within the heart, questions about the true meaning of things, about what the heart seeks and desires...
During the reading I often thought of these two photos, what great people!!


Single man against tanks in Tienanmen Square 1989



Sophie School and the White rose non violent resistance


Ho finito questa mattina prestissimo questo libro ed è l�� inchiodato nella mia testa, ho trasgredito ad una mia regola ferrea, mai leggere alla mattina perchè mi impedisce a volte di essere limpida nell' accoglienza di pensiero dei i miei pazienti.
Non ho molto da dire su questo libro , solo che è un inno alla vita, alla bellezza, alla verità e al mistero dell' uomo..... non consiglio mai a nessuno di leggere determinati libri, ma questo assolutamente sì, non leggetelo in veste di libro sci- fi, ma come elegia al miracolo dell' umanità...
anche nei giorni piu' bui per l'uomo, ci sarà sempre chi porterà dentro al cuore, domande sul vero significato delle cose, su ciò che il cuore cerca e desidera...
Durante la lettura ho pensato spesso a queste due foto, che grandi persone!!

[Gabrielle (Reading Rampage) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something I find endlessly fascinating with dystopias and post-apocalyptic fiction is that very often, the authors show the readers what they are afraid we, as a civilization, will lose, through the changes they imagine the world to have gone through. Reading “Mockingbird” showed me that Walter Tevis was afraid of losing intellectual curiosity and physical intimacy. Maybe I loved the book because I am also afraid of losing those things to a world that is turning culture into sound-bites and human relationships into commodities…

Written in 1980, there are clear echoes of “Fahrenheit 451” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) and “Brave New World" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) in this work of philosophical sci-fi. I did a little digging, and Tevis was also sick with the cancer that would eventually kill him when he wrote this book, which is probably why the theme of death, both of wanting it and struggling against it, play such an important part in this strange story. Distressed by the rate at which literacy in his students was declining, he combined that sense of an approaching end with the idea of a world where no one reads, and voilà.

Several hundreds of years in the future, humans no longer know how to read, and no longer have children. All their needs are provided for by robots who keep the great machine of society running, albeit, very weirdly, and most humans pop pills like candies simply to make it through the day. In this bizarre future, Spofforth is the most sophisticated robot ever built, a Make Nine: fully conscious, highly intelligent, almost human, but programmed differently from the other robots of his make. He is the only one who cannot kill himself, as the others Make Nines have. Despairing of his situation, he accidentally finds a single human, Paul Bentley, who taught himself to read, and brings him to the “university” where he works. But Bentley soon meets a woman who has rejected the drugs everyone else is so eager to consume, and teaches her to read as well – with very surprizing consequences.

There is a lot to unpack in this book, but mostly, what I found there is Tevis’ deep love of art and culture and his sadness at the indifference with which it is often met. The robots think they are offering humans a perfect life by removing all effort and discomfort from their lives, but they also accidentally remove life’s very meaning by making them numb, leading them to a desperation they don’t even have words for anymore. Perfection ceases to be perfect if that’s all there is. But truly, what makes this book stand apart is that there is hope amidst the bleak settings the characters have to live in. If you have books, love and a cat, you can figure it out. Post-apocalyptic fiction is rarely soothing, but strangely, this book soothed me.

If you have only read “The Queen’s Gambit” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), do yourself a favor and check out more of this man’s work: it is completely different in tone and subject matter, but it touches similarly deep and authentic nerves.

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1980 (but likely began much earlier) this is at first glance another contestant in the Brave New World / 1984 sweepstakes for cautionary tales related to dehumanizing authoritarian regimes. The first half lives up to this summation, the world Tevis describes is formed in this template and I motored through with tepid enthusiasm.

And then Tevis turns on the lights and throws us a change up and makes this much better than just another dystopian / post-apocalyptic knock off.

First of all this is set much later in the de-evolution of mankind. We find a starkly depopulated world where the battle for our humanity has been fought - and lost - generations before. The sad, lonely inheritors of humankind are just going through the motions and suicidal. Indeed, why not end it all?

We have classes of human like androids who run things and the remaining people are a watered down version of what we once were. But then our protagonist finds some books and starts to read and things change for him and for us all.

I noticed that Tevis and Philip K. Dick share many similarities, but whereas PKD was a manic typing, prolific publisher of great SF. Tevis, an unfortunate alcoholic, was not nearly as productive. We do find some interesting books in his canon including The Hustler, Color of Money, The Man Who Fell to Earth and Queen’s Gambit. This is an understated gem and the last third of the book was hard to put down.

Recommended for SF fans.

[Luciano Bernaroli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finalmente un vero distopico coi controtutti!
C'è tutto: l'analisi sociologica del distopico, il dettaglio tecnico e psicologico, c'è puzza di 1984, di Dick, di Asimov e di tantissimi riferimenti della fantascienza classica, c'è pure la love story per chi ne sente la mancanza (e non è una love story buttata li perchè fa share ma perchè DEVE esserci e io sono un ferreo sostenitore dell'odio per le storie d'amore all'interno di un libro che non è un romance xD ).

[Mª Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Solo el sinsonte canta en la linde del bosque".

Una distopía que pasa a estar entre mis mejores lecturas del año. Un libro a recomendar.

Dice la sinopsis:
Dentro de cientos de años, la Tierra se ha convertido en un mundo sombrío y distópico en el que los robots trabajan y el ser humano languidece, arrullado por la dicha electrónica y la felicidad narcótica. Es un mundo sin arte, sin lectura y sin niños, en el que la gente opta por quemarse viva para no soportar la realidad. Spofforth, decano de la Universidad de Nueva York, y la máquina más perfecta jamás creada, es un androide de duración ilimitada que ha vivido durante siglos y cuyo anhelo más ferviente es poder morir. El único problema es que su programación le impide suicidarse. Hasta que en su vida se cruzan dos personajes: Paul Bentley, un humano que ha aprendido a leer tras descubrir una colección de viejas películas mudas, y Mary Lou, una rebelde cuya mayor afición es pasarse las horas en el Zoo de Nueva York admirando a las serpientes autómatas. Pronto Paul y Mary, como dos modernos Adán y Eva bíblicos, crearán su propio paraíso en medio de la desolación.

¿Qué me ha gustado de este libro?

La trama, que por más de un motivo resulta muy creíble. Walter Tevis escribió la novela en 1980. Estamos ante un mundo distópico. Los robots, creados inicialmente para facilitar la vida de los humanos, son los que manejan el mundo. Los humanos ya no trabajan ni crean ni aprenden. Viven aletargados por las drogas y las pantallas. En las escuelas y universidades se enseñan asignaturas como la introspección y defensa férrea de intimidad personal. Consignas como "no preguntes, relájate" o "el sexo rápido es el mejor" se han convertido en el nuevo abecedario. En un intento de acabar con la agresividad y la violencia, hace ya tiempo que las relaciones interpersonales, la creatividad y el juicio crítico están prohibidos. Se fomenta la soledad y se administran drogas para paliar la infelicidad que conlleva. No se enseña a leer porque la lectura transmite emociones. Ya no queda nadie que sepa arreglar lo que se estropea ni poner en marcha algo nuevo. La sociedad se deteriora y languidece, la población está en vías de extinción y los suicidios a la orden del día.
Contado así parece imposible llegar a extremos semejantes, pero a poco que nos paremos a pensar es perfectamente posible; quizá no con una sociedad sometida a la introspección, pero con el desarrollo de la IA es fácil caer en la tentación de delegar en las máquinas y sucumbir al hedonismo, ser cada vez más dependientes de las pantallas de las drogas recreativas y dejar de lado todo esfuerzo. A partir de ahí que cada cual imagine.

El paralelismo bíblico entre Mary Lou y Paul. Me gusta la metáfora utilizada.

La estructura narrativa bien llevada y sencilla. Alterna capítulos titulados con el nombre de uno de los tres protagonistas. Es de ritmo pausado. No esperéis mucha acción porque no la hay, de hecho no pasa casi nada. El enganche viene del querer saber de la evolución de los personajes y sobre todo de las reflexiones que el autor desgrana a lo largo de toda la lectura.

Los personajes son magníficos. Sopofforth, el robot "máquina nueve" que quiere morir. Creado para servir a la humanidad, pero sin capacidad de empatía, busca la manera de poder acabar con su vida a costa de lo que sea. Paul Bentley, que por casualidad ha aprendido a leer y quiere enseñar a otros. La evolución de este personaje es de lo mejor del libro. Pasa de saber juntar unas cuantas letras sin comprender la mitad de lo que lee a entender de manera profunda la libertad y las armas de las que dota el conocimiento. Por último Mary Lou, la rebelde, el catalizador.

El final, que es el germen de un nuevo comienzo.

¿Y qué me ha gustado menos?

La parte de la comuna religiosa me ha parecido introducida a capón y no termino de verla. Es la razón de que le quite una estrella.

En conclusión. Una distopía bien planteada, de ritmo pausado y reflexivo. Buenos personajes y buen desarrollo de la historia. Recomendable.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brave, brainy robot, Spofforth is tired of taking care of humans; he has done so for centuries. Bentley and Mary are just the humans to help, Bentley by teaching himself to read and then teaching Mary. They start a journey of connection to each other and then to the rest of humanity. Mockingbird is a marvelous look at why reading is so important and why we should never lose this great gift.

[Dagio_maya · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Noi siamo gli uomini vuoti.
Noi siamo gli uomini impagliati
appoggiati gli uni agli altri
con le teste piene di paglia.
Ahimè!
Le nostre voci aride
quando bisbigliamo insieme
sono fioche e insensate
come il vento tra l’erba secca…

"The Hollow Men" -Thomas Stearns Eliot- 1925


Cos’è una distopia se non uno specchio deformante?
Una lente che ingigantisce le paure di un mondo contemporaneo cosciente di essere, per molti versi, in un vicolo cieco.

“Mockingbird “ (il titolo originale, che tradotto è semplicemente “Mimo”) fu pubblicato nel 1980.
In Italia usci con Mondadori qualche anno dopo con il titolo “Futuro in trance”.

I tre protagonisti, infatti, ci accompagnano tra le strade di un America senza sogni e con un'umanità ipnotizzata in via di estinzione.
E’ il 2467.
La collettività è sepolta sotto uno schiacciante individualismo, talmente dominante da essere, in realtà, un'omologazione di massa.

Le tre voci narranti intrecciano le loro esistenze quasi per caso.
Spofforth – il robot più simile all’umano che sia mai stato concepito- verrà a sapere per caso dell’esistenza di un uomo che sa leggere: Bentley, detentore di un sapere ormai scomparso.
E, sempre per caso, Bentley incontrerà Mary Lou...

“Il mimo canta al limitar del bosco” è una battuta di un vecchio film.
Ma non è il significato in sé ad avere importanza piuttosto l’emozione che provoca:
una tristezza felice.
Un sentimento contraddittorio che attanaglia questi personaggi.

Un ossimoro che modella un'umanità bifronte:
da una parte, la tristezza per il dolore che viene a galla quando ci si rende conto che tutta la propria vita è stata manipolata;
d'altra, una sensazione di felicità che sopravviene quando alla nuova coscienza si allinea qualcosa di totalmente nuovo a questa umanità da laboratorio:
la volontà di poter cambiare il proprio destino.

E se leggere fosse il modo per salvarci?


” Bob mi ha guardata.
«Suppongo che tutto sia iniziato quando gli uomini impararono ad accendere il fuoco, per riscaldare la caverna e tener lontani i predatori. Ed è finito con il Valium atemporale».”


Grazie al Popolo che Legge e che più e più volte mi ha sospinto verso questa meravigliosa lettura!!!

----------------------------
Curiosità-
Dopo “L’uomo che cadde sulla terra” anche qui Tevis fa un riferimento al quadro di Pieter Brueghel: Paesaggio con la caduta di Icaro.
Evidentemente, per l’autore, è un’immagine che racchiude perfettamente la storia dell’uomo…








”L’oceano deve essere immenso; per me rappresenta la libertà e le possibilità.
Schiude qualcosa di misterioso nella mia mente, come lo fanno a volte le parole che leggo nei libri; mi fa sentire più vivo di quanto avrei mai creduto di potermi sentire, e più umano.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose not to read this based on an allegorical bent, and instead chose to enjoy the oh so clear voice of the Robot Who Would End Humanity. Of course, he'd do so only because it seems to be the only way to circumvent his programming to live to serve humanity, but them's the breaks, right, humans?

Lol, no, this isn't a biting satire of us like the inestimable Roderick, but it does have some wonderful punches built right in to the text.

First of all, don't let the whole christian reading (or non-reading) experience get us down. The later portions of the novel are full of pretty heavy-handed character surrogates of bible-thumpers minus the bibles, but that's just a thin veil to the real issue.

No one reads. At all. Humanity has lost the knack and is pushed along the pasture by the robots that tend them.

It first looks like a utopia, but of course it isn't, despite all the sex and drugs you might want, all your wants, satisfied. Hey... wasn't this all set up so all you proper christians can study the scripture? Ah well, human nature is what it is.

Too bad that our poor MC, an android designed to serve and make all the executive decisions happens to have no greater wish than to die. His long game is very impressive, but things don't always turn out the way it is planned. He falls in love with one of the last women.

In 1980, when this was published, marks a rush of a brand new torrent of SF focused not only on hard-hitting ideas, but great combinations of plot, characterizations, and interesting worlds. The quality is on the rise. And this one is pretty awesome when it comes to the quality. Very readable, very strong voice for the narrator.

My problem with it is pretty simple, unfortunately. I don't agree with the premises. *shrug* I don't think that we'll ever stop reading. :) Oh, and I don't think that any religion can maintain itself without it, and that's including all the help from the substandard robots. Not every robot is built quite like the MC, after all. :)

Otherwise, I loved it. :) This is my second Walter Tevis and it was kinda surprising to learn that, since I had read The Man Who Fell to Earth years and years ago and loved it, primarily because I saw the movie with Bowie and loved it, too. :) It's odd how these things turn out. :)

[Sean Gainford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately Ends Up Just Being Average

This is the first time that for the first 80 pages of a book I couldn't put it down and then for the rest of the book it ends up being below average. At first it was so interesting, so bizarre. I was fascinated and entranced by this dystopia world and thought I had found another great author. But then it seems the author just ran out of steam. I actually thought to myself that Tevis is sabotaging his work on purpose. The characters started to become boring, there were pointless scenes, grammatical errors, and he even named one of his main characters incorrectly!

The message of the book is also a bit too academic and lacks subtlety:


Inwardness, privacy, self-fulfilment, drugs, pleasure, technology = bad. Reading, knowledge, friends, family = good.


I couldn't understand what Spofforth was about though. If the message of the book is that reading and knowledge and intellectual curiosity is a good thing, this definitely wasn't the case for Spofforth, who is more knowledgeable then anybody left on the planet, seems to appreciate beauty, but whose mind is always tired and who wants to die. So the message I was getting was what is the point of it all? Why not just snuff it?

I'm also not sure about the phrase that Paul keeps repeating throughout the book: `Only the mockingbird sings at the edge of the woods'. Maybe arbitrarily saying such strange things is some kind of side effect of popping one too many sopor pills. I have no idea what it means and it is probably some line out of a bad poem. It is obvious that Paul doesn't know what it means either. But that is probably the point of it - you don't need to know what it means you just have to feel something when the phrase is said. It personally made me feel bored every time I heard it.

There were definitely some scenes in the book that were quite boring and should have really just been cut altogether. The whole encounter with the religious sexist commune was too mundane and contemporary actually. It seemed like something that you would still find in some small redneck southern town in America. Then Paul discussing parts out of the bible and analysing Jesus was just pointless and dull.

I think this book possibly could have been much better if the relationship between Mary Lou and Paul was developed more strongly, rather than just having Mary Lou become nonchalant about their relationship and Paul ending up being just a sad, whining character in love with a woman who doesn't care much about him.

Unfortunately I think the conversation Mary Lou has with Spofforth sums the book up:

`If no one gets born,' I said, `there won't be any more people on the earth.'
He was silent for a minute. Then he looked at me. `Do you care?' he said. `Do you really care?'
I looked back at him. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know if I did care.

And by the end of the book, the reader isn't really inspired to care either. Supposedly this book was written by Walter Tevis towards the end of his life and after he battled depression and alcoholism for many years. To me this book didn't convince me that Walter Tevis was leaving this world a man completely convinced that this world was worth saving. Maybe the character that best portrays Tevis is Spofforth. A man with great amount of knowledge and skill, who can appreciate beauty, but still can never overcome his sadness he has. Who knows.

I'll still give this book three stars, because there was some really good ideas in it and because this book is definitely going to bring some type of response from the reader. I doubt that anybody can read this book and just be nonchalant about it. It is just disappointing though because it could have been great, and could really have been a SF Masterwork.

[Aletheia · Rating 5 out of 5]

No me esperaba lo mucho que me ha gustado este libro.

"Sinsonte" es una distopía a tres voces en que nos encontramos con un androide tan inteligente que no soporta su existencia pero está programado para vivir; un hombre que descubre, gracias a la lectura (una capacidad en desuso), que la vida es mucho más que lo que le habían contado; y una mujer rebelde e inteligente que cambia la historia sin proponérselo. Los tres sobreviven como pueden en un mundo futuro peligrosamente despoblado donde, los últimos homo sapiens viven sus últimos y estériles días empastillados y aislados unos de los otros, mientras se dejan cuidar por los robots que crearon sus antepasados.

A lo mejor me equivoco, pero desde el principio me daba la impresión de que el poso de esta novela llevaba tiempo dando vueltas en la cabeza de Tevis sin saber muy bien cómo darle forma; y, al terminarla, he leído que la idea surgió dando clases en la universidad, presenciando cómo año a año la capacidad de redacción de sus alumnos iba disminuyendo y... es que me parece una premisa GENIAL. Qué perdemos como especie cuando perdemos la capacidad de leer y escribir, llevado hasta sus últimas consecuencias. Pero es que esta novela, escrita en 1980, abre muchos más melones: qué es ser humano, el cambio climático, la energía, la espiritualidad y religiosidad, la obediencia ciega a la autoridad, la pérdida del sentido de pertenencia a la tribu por la individualidad, el eterno debate sobre el "bien común", el abuso de los psicofármacos para tratar absolutamente cualquier contratiempo vital, la amenaza de la inteligencia artificial sin control y la total dependencia en la tecnología que pocos entienden... por todas estas cosas me parece un libro sobre el que podría debatir con pasión durante horas y no me cansaría.

Creo que Impedimenta hizo una apuesta ganadora con esta reedición y la traducción de Jon Bilbao se lee sola, qué tono tan espontáneo. Es una oda depresiva a la curiosidad, a la lectura, al cine, a la pasión y a la vida compartida con los otros y, ¡qué final tan catártico!

A mí me ha gustado tanto que me cuesta encontrarle defectos más allá de los paralelismos cristianos que son un poco repetitivos pero se perdonan; leyendo por ahí veo que le achacan su falta de acción... nos presentan un mundo que agoniza lentamente, y cuya única salida es la inmolación (no entiendo eso de que sea en tríos, tendré que pegarle una vuelta) o abrazar el suelo de Manhattan. Más acción creo que sería superflua.

Me leeré todo lo que pille de Tevis a partir de ahora, en resumen.

[Repix Pix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tiene detalles originales, Spofforth y la degradación de la humanidad por, precísamente, la desaparición de esta es brillante pero, también, es simple y poco sutil, casi infantil. La parte de la comuna religiosa ya es el remate, sobraba totalmente.

[nettebuecherkiste · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Deducting 0.5 stars since in my opinion the solution has a little flaw. Apart from that, this was a highlight in my reading year.

Robert Spofforth ist - unter anderem - der Dekan der New Yorker Universität. Wenn man das, was in dieser Zukunft existiert, noch so bezeichnen kann. Tatsächlich können die wenigen verbleibenden Menschen nicht lesen, sie dürfen es nicht mal. In den komplett von Robotern verwalteten Bildungseinrichtungen lernen sie nur noch, dass die Privatsphäre des Individuums über allem steht und strenge Regeln diktiert, etwa, dass zwei Menschen nicht länger als eine Woche zusammen leben dürfen - "quick sex is best". Für die täglichen Bedürfnisse haben sie eine Kreditkarte, über die sie über ebenso von Maschinen gesteuerte Ausgabestellen Dinge des täglichen Bedarfs sowie Nahrung und die Drogen, mit denen sie ruhiggestellt werden, beziehen können.

Um zu Robert Spofforth zurückzukommen, er ist das ultimative Robotermodell (wir würden ihn heute eher als Androiden bezeichnen), von denen er der letzte ist, und sein größter Wunsch ist: zu sterben. Dummerweise ist ein Suizidverhinderungsmechanismus in ihn eingebaut. Eines Tages erhält Spofforth Besuch von einem Mann namens Paul, der sich mithilfe einer alten Fibel das Lesen beigebracht hat und es gerne an der Universität unterrichten würde. Das geht natürlich nicht, doch Spofforth erlaubt ihm, alte Stummfilme, die nur mit Untertiteln versehen sind, zu synchronisieren. Als dritte Protagonistin lernen wir Mary Lou kennen, die sich dem KI-Staat entzogen hat und in dem von Robotertieren und Roboterkinderimitaten bevölkerten Zoo lebt.

Angesichts der KI-Debatte könnte diese Dystopie aus dem Jahr 1980 gar nicht aktueller sein. Sie zeigt auf, welche Risiken eine grenzenlose Mechanisierung aller Prozesse birgt. In dieser Beziehung hat das Buch starke "The Machine Stops"-Vibes (eine Geschichte von E. M. Forster), denn die Menschen haben längst verlernt, wie man Maschinen bedient und KIs programmiert und sind vollkommen von diesen abhängig. Auch die beste Maschine zeigt jedoch irgendwann Abnutzungserscheinungen, was harmlosere Folgen haben kann, wie etwa, dass es keine Toaster mehr gibt, weil in der entsprechenden Fabrik eine Schraube in eine Maschine gefallen ist, und kein Mensch da ist, der das Ganze überprüft. Oder aber auch gravierende Konsequenzen, wie dass die Menschheit am Aussterben ist. Es ist unmöglich, alle Folgen abschätzen zu können, die eine Programmierung mit sich tragen kann, so wie das auch in "Views" von Marc-Uwe Kling geschieht. Es ist nicht so, dass die Roboter bösartig werden, aber auch, sie so zu programmieren, dass die Menschen zufrieden sind, kann tragische Konsequenzen haben.

Die Auflösung dieses großartigen und ungeheuer hellsichtig erscheinenden Science-Fiction-Romans hat meiner Meinung nach eine kleine Schwäche, die sich mit etwas gutem Willen jedoch erklären lässt und der Genialität dieser Dystopie keinen Abbruch tut. Jahreshighlight. Unbedingte, dringende Leseempfehlung.

Zum Hörbuch: Die Umsetzung ist gelungen und empfehlenswert, die Aussprache des Englischen sehr gut verständlich, Mary Lous Passagen liest Nicole Poole, Spofforths und Pauls Passagen Robert Fass.

[Evi * · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finora ho letto circa una ventina di libri di fantascienza, in questo bel romanzo distopico di Walter Tevis ne ritrovo numerose suggestioni.

C’è, innanzitutto, il filo conduttore di tutta la storia: la lettura, che ricorda Fahreneit 451 di Ray Bradbury.

Da immemore tempo l’umanità ha perso la capacità di leggere, in un bel passaggio Mary Lou, la protagonista femminile, trova per caso un libro, per lei non rappresenta altro che un oggetto fisico e se lo rigira perplessa tra le mani senza sapere cosa farne.

Leggere è diventato un reato.

Nella rigida osservanza del principio della Privacy vigente che vieta ogni condivisione, leggere rappresenta un atto sovversivo perchè viola l’individualità, è un atto intimo che veicola emozioni e sentimenti, ma soprattutto leggere rappresenta un modo per superare quella solitudine che invece nella società distopica di Tevis rappresenta l'unica condizione esistenziale ammessa, in un mondo dove essere innamorati è cosa terribile e dove il sesso, se e quando c'è, deve essere rapido, non coinvolgente, arido, non replicabile.

Ritroviamo anche il mondo di Asimov, popolato dai Robot, Robot così intelligentemente stupidi da essere perfettamente in grado di fare operazioni complesse ma interdetti di fronte alle situazioni più semplici e di buon senso.
C’è una scena, grottescamente amara, in cui un gruppo di robot lavora ad una catena di montaggio dove si assemblano tostapane; il processo gira a regime, i tostapane finiti arrivano all’ultimo robot che fa da supervisore e ha il compito di azionare l’interruttore per farli funzionare ma, ohiibò, i tostapane non si accendono perché manca il collegamento elettrico, cosa fa allora il nostro genio, la nostra supermente teconologica? Li prende tutti i e li getta nel bidone del riciclo, e il ciclo continua così all'infinito in questa fabbrica, a sistema chiuso che non fa che fare e disfare gli stessi aggeggi inutilmente da decenni

Sicuramente ne Solo il mimo canta al limitare del bosco ci sono anche larghe anticipazioni dell’Infinite Jest di DFW con individui catatonici che si spengono il cervello davanti alla Tv, obbligati ad assumere droghe prescritte dal Sistema perché aiutano a non pensare, a non avere desideri e a soffrire meno.

E nei Robot Rilevatori che hanno la supremazia del controllo della società si sentono gli echi dell’orwelliano 1984.

Il rapporto ambiguo tra donna e robot rammemora il Dick di Ma gli androidi sognano pecore elettriche?

Mary Lou è l'unica donna al mondo che si è rifiutata di prendere le pillole che inibiscono la fertilità e nel suo grembo giace il destino dell’umanità intera.
Prova una intensa attrazione fisica per Spofforth il Robot negro, ahimè asessuato, di intelligenza superiore rispetto agli altri suoi simili, bello ma triste possiede un cervello di uomo impiantato nel suo corpo tecnologico, può amare ma non fare l'amore e di notte, al buio, il suo cuore palpita inquieto, rincorrendo i sogni della persona da cui la sua intelligenza proviene.
Programmato per restare vivo fino all'ultimo superstite umano, Spofforth agisce per portare l'umanità, ora ridotta a solo diciannove milioni di individui, alla sua estinzione definitiva.
In grado di rigenerarsi cavalca l'esistenza attraverso i decenni, vive il dono dell'immortalità concessagli come un peso che non gli permette di dimenticare nulla e capisce che è solo la morte a dare un senso alla vita.

E nella seconda parte si ritrova anche l'esperienza vissuta ne La strada di Cormac MCarthy solo che al posto di un padre e un figlio, c’è un uomo e Biff il suo gatto.

Non sono in grado di dire con precisione a chi Tevis sia debitore e quali autori successivi di sf siano invece debitori a lui, dovrei porli tutti sulla linea immaginaria del tempo e cercare possibili e probabili interazioni, debiti e crediti, ma non è questo il punto, so solo che amalgamando suggestioni vecchie e nuove ne è venuta fuori un’opera di fantascienza, delicata e dolcemente malinconica, conciliante e che si fa amare molto.

[Ajeje Brazov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una lettura davvero splendida, una storia che mi ha dato e fatto vivere emozioni e sensazioni che raramente ho provato con altri libri.
Ovviamente un paragone con i mostri sacri, con i capisaldi del genere distopico è d'obbligo.
Partendo da "Noi" di Zamjatìn, ho trovato affine la poetica in alcuni passaggi. Con "Il mondo nuovo" di Huxley invece ho trovato la stessa oppressiva e catastrofica ossessione per la tecnologia. Con "1984" di Orwell c'è la formula a diario della narrazione e conseguenti e crescenti stati d'animo del protagonista. Infine con "Fahrenheit 451" di Bradbury c'è la passione per i libri e la conoscenza. Ma nel complesso ciò che accomuna questi 5 capolavori della letteratura sono l'amore e la libertà.
Tornando a "Solo il mimo canta al limitare del bosco", qui l'autore ci ha messo tutto se stesso, tutte le sue emozioni, si sentono proprio ad ogni pagina, sprizza di libertà, di felicità e poi si sente la tristezza per ciò che l'umanità si sta infliggendo da sola e non riesce a capacitarsene.
E quindi, per me, Tevis ha scritto questo libro-inno alla vita, per urlare al mondo intero: "Pensiamo e riflettiamo su ciò che stiamo facendo!"
"L'oceano deve essere immenso; per me rappresenta la libertà e la possibilità. Schiude qualcosa di misterioso nella mia mente, come lo fanno a volte le parole che leggo nei libri; mi fa sentire più vivo di quanto avrei mai creduto di potermi sentire, e più umano."

[S̶e̶a̶n̶ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in 1980 and written by the author of other books that are ironically more well known due to their adaptation into visual media form, Mockingbird is a dystopian novel set in the 25th century that, while it employs the basic structure and some of the tropes of the genre, expands beyond the standard dystopian offering into an eloquent and provocative investigation of the dangers that an overreliance on artificial intelligence (AI) could pose to an increasingly isolated and distracted society. As our own society currently has one collective foot extended out over just such a precipice, this novel can be read as a cautionary tale of utmost contemporary pertinence, though one that will likely only speak to those already concerned and powerless to act other than through their own meager attempts at nonparticipation. It is a story that effectively probes at the facets of humanity that set us apart as a species and what can happen when that native encoding is gradually stripped away by the effects of our own educational programming, psychopharmaceutical drug use, and mindless media consumption. As we continue traveling along that continuum, turning increasingly further inward, we sever the connections with other humans that were the basis of our ancestral beginnings. Simultaneously, under the guise of corporate altruism, creators of technology—and specifically AI—offer a cynical alternative to people working together for a common good by producing human-like ‘things’ that make life simpler to navigate on an individual basis. In a global society where those with the economic means now expect to access everything from groceries to knowledge in an increasingly faster and less ‘engaged’ way, this type of rapid, shortsighted technological advancement could just as easily lead to a degeneration into mass stupidity and complete illiteracy as it could result in a more enlightened, intelligent population—as Tevin so methodically demonstrates. In the novel, the majority of humans can no longer read, and so-called Privacy and Mandatory Politeness rules forbid close interaction with others (e.g., extended eye contact, physical touching, assisting others beyond giving them drugs, etc.) and ensure that people remain strictly focused inward on their own comfort and desires. Tevin delves deep into the acts of reading and writing—exploring their different strands of value, some of which we may take for granted, and what inspires or discourages them. Although the first-person narrative rotates among the three main characters, the most prominent and interesting thread is the personal journey of now-former professor Paul Bentley, who undertakes a kind of hero’s quest through the wreckage of what was once a flourishing United States of America. While in the end I disagreed to a point with what I perceived to be Tevin’s relative optimism about the potential fate of humanity, I found this book to be a riveting read, despite some early uncertainty as to how it would play out. It’s certainly among the top dystopian novels that I’ve come across and especially offers a lot of food for thought on our current fast-paced love/hate affair with AI.

In the basement of the apartment building we live in, a very old building that has been restored many times, is a crudely lettered phrase on the wall near the reactor: WRITING SUCKS. The wall is painted in an institutional green, and scratched into the paint are crude drawings of penises and women’s breasts and of couples engaged in oral sex or hitting one another, but those are the only words: WRITING SUCKS. There is no laziness in that statement, nor in the impulse to write it by scratching into tough paint with the point of a nail or a knife. What I think of when I read that harsh, declarative phrase is how much hatred there is in it.

[Laubythesea · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 ⭐️

En un futuro incierto, encontramos la ciudad de Nueva York poblada por robots y algunos humanos. Pronto, nos damos cuenta de que esta historia de ciencia ficción tiene también mucho de distopía (y aquí, amiguis, yo pegaba saltos de alegría).
 
Los humanos viven una vida, a nuestros ojos, gris. Sin demasiadas preocupaciones, basada en el entretenimiento instantáneo y casi constantemente narcotizados (todo legal), en una sociedad donde impera la individualidad y básicamente las relaciones humanas de cualquier tipo brillan por su ausencia, conceptos como familia o amor, forman parte del pasado y la mayoría han olvidado su significado. Al mismo tiempo… es relativamente común ir por la calle y ver a gente quemándose viva. Vaya, asistimos a una decadencia humana que parece estar abocada a la extinción.
 
Ah, pequeño detalle, tampoco hay libros, la gente ya no aprende a leer. Bueno, el conocimiento en general parece haber desaparecido, olvidado. Sin embargo, Paul, encuentra por casualidad unos antiguos libros infantiles y aprende a leer. Gracias a eso, será contratado por un robot del más alto nivel (que, por cierto, quiere morir, pero su programación se lo impide) para transcribir películas mudas de siglos atrás. Así, Paul llega a NYC, donde abrirá los ojos gracias a la lectura, conocerá a Mary Lou y bueno, obviamente… pasan cosas.
 
Escrita en 1980, este clásico de ciencia ficción, rezuma actualidad (desde de la lucha por la individualidad, descenso de la natalidad, enfriamiento de las relaciones humanas… ¡hasta el auge del vanlife!). De verdad, de esos libros que te sorprende que no se haya escrito ayer porque parece mirar con ojo crítico a la sociedad de nuestro tiempo y te hacen darte cuenta de que, igual, no hemos cambiado tanto como pensamos.
 
Una historia de esas que se cuece a fuego lento, que no es todo acción, y que yo tanto disfruto. Muy bien escrita, con una construcción del mundo profunda, que vas conociendo con el paso de las páginas, con una mirada atenta no solo a lo que se dice, sino también a lo que se intuye. ¿Qué temas toca? La desintegración de la sociedad, los peligros del aislamiento y del fin del pensamiento crítico, religión, familia, soledad y el derecho de decidir sobre el fin de la vida propia.
 
¿Los narradores? ¡Humanos y robots! Los primeros, se expresarán a través de un diario, que muestra un enorme ejercicio del autor a la hora de mostrar los avances en el aprendizaje de los protagonistas, tanto a nivel de escritura como de autoconocimiento.
 
Una genial novela que me ha hecho conectar y disfrutar mucho de un género (la ciencia ficción) que en general me da pereza. Si buscas que las novelas te hagan reflexionar, ¡apunta esta!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set roughly 400 years from now, Tevis' 1980 dystopian novel seems in the process of moving even beyond dystopia. More and more, the characters in this story appear to care less and less. This is a tale infused with melancholy; the sadness is palpable. People seem to become infected by it. Perhaps because what seems to be deepening inside the fabric of all those we meet is the idea that it's best to just... give up... to wait for mankind to die out completely. 

Or, if you can't wait, self-immolate; a fairly common occurrence.

The idea of someone new being born at this point, while not impossible, is practically unheard of.   

Although it's still possible to be jailed in this narrative, efforts towards that seem somewhat half-hearted. Besides, the prisons are like most other areas we come across here; they're overseen and patrolled by moronic, ineffectual robots.

If there's little interest in dehumanizing others, it's because - whether achieved by 'sopors' or not - the dominant human disease is dis-ease. 

What, more than anything else, led to this state of things? Apparently, apathy towards literacy. In a riff on the 'Fahrenheit 451' scenario, books weren't confiscated and burned. People just stopped reading. They seemed to capitulate to a realization that the human experiment had failed. So why continue attempts at learning? Let T.S. Eliot be the prophet he seemed: "This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper."

But, strangest of all... Tevis' book is a romance. It also holds something of a fighting spirit.

That's why my favorite part comes midway, when the protagonist (Paul) escapes from prison and begins an arduous return to the woman he awkwardly, in a sea of self-doubt, has learned to love. This section has its own added complications - and I found it the most satisfying and compelling aspect of the story on its own terms. 

Tevis gives the homeward-bound Paul the PK Dick-ian element of a talking vehicle:

'I see what I want to see,' the bus said. 'And I enjoy the work I have to do. I was made that way. I do not have to decide what is good for me.'
'Why are you so... so pleasant?' I said.
'We all are', the bus said. 'All thought buses are pleasant. We were all programmed with Kind Feelings, and we like our work.'
*That's better programming than people get*, I thought, with some vehemence.
'Yes,' the bus said. 'Yes it is.'

'Mockingbird' is ultimately also a love letter to books - and to reading. I don't know that I fully bought into the world-building of the novel... but I was consistently engaged, and I did sense a feeling of renewal; an increase in my love of reading - more than the love already there.

[The Frahorus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prima opera di Walter Tevis che leggo, ed è subito amore!

Siamo nel futuro, nel 2467, a New York e scopriamo che il mondo è governato dai robot mentre gli esseri umani si trovano ad un passo dall'estinzione visto che prendono continuamente droghe (e questo ricorda Il mondo nuovo di Aldous Huxley) come se fossero medicine e non hanno più figli. I suicidi sono all'ordine del giorno e le persone non hanno alcun scopo se non sballarsi. Seguiremo le storie dei tre protagonisti: Robert Spofforth, un' androide dai ricordi e sentimenti umani che ha un solo desiderio: morire; Paul Bentley professore che impara a leggere e Mary Lou che rifiuta le droghe e desidera avere un figlio.

Walter Tevis ci fa riflettere sul fatto che il sogno dell'uomo, anche se si avverasse (ovvero essere serviti dai robot) non porta alla felicità: anzi, ciò ha portato l'umanità alla sua quasi estinzione. L'uomo invece di usare la tecnologia viene manipolato da essa. Walter ha una poetica e certi passaggi davvero delicati e bellissimi. Ho apprezzato ad esempio l'evoluzione umana di Bentley (secondo me il vero protagonista del romanzo) il quale riesce per caso a leggere e così scopre cos'è stata davvero l'umanità (in un certo senso ricorda Montag, il protagonista di Fahrenheit 451) e, conosciuta la sua Eva, sono gli unici due esseri umani a non prendere più quelle droghe anticoncezionali. Egli scopre tutte le emozioni dell'essere umano: l'amore, la condivisione, la curiosità, il libero arbitrio; ma anche, non meno importanti, il senso della famiglia, l’amicizia, la rabbia, il piacere del cibo e la bellezza di un corpo sano. L'androide Robert è una sorta di dio che dovrebbe aiutare gli esseri umani ma che, stanco di vivere per sempre (egli non può suicidarsi perché il suo programma glielo vieta) vive la solitudine e la depressione.

Nonostante questa opera abbia quasi 40 anni le tematiche che contiene sono ancora attuali: questo romanzo distopico estremizza i mali e le pessimi abitudini dell'uomo del XX secolo e l'effetto che questi hanno sulla società, evidenziando come certi cambiamenti radicali vengano posti in essere da piccole abitudini e modi di fare che subdolamente e spesso in punta di piedi entrano nella nostra vita, diventano parte della quotidianità per poi evolvere verso forme diverse più estreme e fortemente invasive, la cui "azione" è agevolata dal fatto che sono già presenti nella nostra vita (agiscono dall'interno) e che quindi non trovano nessun tipo di difesa da parte nostra. Un vizio evidente è il diventare dipendenti da felicità effimere (le droghe che oggi sono gli smartphone, dei quali tutti siamo dipendenti) che ci isolano dagli altri, illudendoci di essere con gli altri.
Il finale dovrebbe essere catastrofico ma Tevis, fortunatamente, ce ne regala uno pieno di speranza: ci lascia il messaggio che i valori possono sempre essere riscoperti e possono uscire fuori.

Tutti quei libri, anche quelli noiosi e quasi incomprensibili, mi hanno fatto capire più chiaramente che cosa significa essere umano. E ho imparato dal senso di soggezione che provo a volte quando mi sento in contatto con la mente di un’altra persona morta da molto tempo e so di non essere solo su questa Terra. Ci sono stati altri che hanno provato ciò che io provo e, a volte, sono riusciti a dire l’indicibile. “Solo il Mimo canta al limitar del bosco”. “Io sono la via e la verità e la vita. Chi crede in me, anche se muore, vivrà”. “La mia vita è leggera ed attende il vento della morte, come una piuma sul dorso della mia mano”.

[Rodrigo · Rating 3 out of 5]

No ha estado del todo mal la historia, ha sido amena, lástima el ritmo, demasiado lento para mí.
Vamos a ver los puntos de vista de 3 protagonistas, Spofforth, un robot última generación (máquina 9) que tiene pocas ganas de vivir y quiere suicidarse y no puede, una rebelde Mary Lou que no se droga para evadirse de la realidad y Paul, un autodidacta que aprendió a leer y escribir solo, siendo esto una rareza ya que hace muchooo tiempo que nadie sabe ni leer ni escribir.
Los destinos de estos 3 protagonistas van a confluir y se separaran por momentos y veremos las vicisitudes que les ocurren, sobre todo a Paul, que es el principal prota.
Estamos bastante adelantados en el tiempo en el siglo xxv.
Valoración: 6.75/10
Sinopsis: Dentro de cientos de años, la Tierra se ha convertido en un mundo sombrío y distópico en el que los robots trabajan y el ser humano languidece, arrullado por la dicha electrónica y la felicidad narcótica. Es un mundo sin arte, sin lectura y sin niños, en el que la gente opta por quemarse viva para no soportar la realidad. Spofforth, decano de la Universidad de Nueva York, y la máquina más perfecta jamás creada, es un androide de duración ilimitada que ha vivido durante siglos y cuyo anhelo más ferviente es poder morir. El único problema es que su programación le impide suicidarse. Hasta que en su vida se cruzan dos personajes: Paul Bentley, un humano que ha aprendido a leer tras descubrir una colección de viejas películas mudas, y Mary Lou, una rebelde cuya mayor afición es pasarse las horas en el Zoo de Nueva York admirando a las serpientes autómatas. Pronto Paul y Mary, como dos modernos Adán y Eva bíblicos, crearán su propio paraíso en medio de la desolación.

[Ｆｒａｎｋｈ · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite speculative fiction of all time is Michael Cunningham's Specimen Days which I read back in 2012, while the very first science fiction I read was Aldous Huxley's Brave New World . I read these books only a few months apart and I was forever changed because of them and this change has definitely got me interested to venture on acquiring and experiencing more of what the science fiction genre has to offer as much as I could. Eleven more sci-fi books later, I remained insatiable, more so after finishing this one.

The very first thing that struck me while in the middle of consuming this novel by Walter Tevis is that it was unmistakably a majestic blend of both the dystopic landscapes featured in Huxley's book, and written in the same nostalgic manner of aching, melancholic sensibility and spiritual contemplation very much alive in Cunningham's work.

With that, I couldn't help but find myself deeply embedded in the pores of this haunting tale of Mockingbird.

Like most sci-fi books, it started with an off-beat promising premise that slowly developed into something personal and tragic for both the characters and a reader like myself. I think books like this one work very well for me because they lavish on the often inarticulately beautiful quality of human life and the art and terrible burden of living itself; how precious and fleeting our lives truly are, and what happens when a certain moral decay or a disintegration of long-held valuable things occur.

Truth be told, Mockingbird is a tapestry of themes I mostly associate with some of my favorite sci-fi stories like Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Daniel Keyes' Flowers for Algernon and Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End, to name a few. There's the usual existential crisis where characters live in an age of detachment from self and/or others but suddenly and quite poignantly awaken from their stupor to contemplate and pursue the meaning of why they exist to begin with and why the world has been reduced to shambles, whether physically or metaphorically.

Mockingbird follows the same formula with its own invigorating narrative. The central theme of this book focuses on the grim possibility of humanity losing literacy, particularly their ability to read, and how that seemingly simple negligence would follow a series of other significant losses due to population control via fertility-inhibiting drugs (and other forms of recreational drug use to numb everything away), the disappearance of any creative endeavor like art and literature, and utter extinction of family, community and religious inclinations.

All of these set-ups sound awfully familiar already, and rightly so because Tevis does share his dystopic characterizations of his world in the same vein as Huxley's inarguably superior novel Brave New World. However, what does elevate Mockingbird in another new level entirely is the quality it also shares with another novel I love to pieces, Specimen Days, when it comes to its character arcs and relationships.

"My upbringing, like that of all the other members of my Thinker Class, had made me into an unimaginative, self-centered and drug-addicted fool. Until learning how to read I had lived in a whole underpopulated world of self-centered, drug-addicted fools, all of us living by our Rules of Privacy in some crazy dream of Self-Fulfillment." ~ Paul Bentley

The summary found at the back of the book was slightly misleading. I originally thought that the android character Spofforth would be the main focus of the entire novel but it turns out that this responsibility belongs to two other characters; a man and a woman named Paul Bentley and Mary Lou respectively who are instantly recognizable as the representational equivalent of their world's very own Adam and Eve, as both stumble their way into consciousness and awareness together.

Paul was introduced as the only human being who has the ability to read which he picked up on by accident when he unearthed an instructional videotape on the subject. Spofforth hired him to record the written dialogues in the archives of silent films which was an activity Paul has learned to enjoy and appreciate. By learning to read and watching film from a forgotten era, certain feelings were brought forth from Paul; thoughts and emotions he never recognized which only deepened when he begins a relationship with Mary Lou who dared him to question and outright ignore the rules programmed into them as children. True to being a biblical Eve, Mary Lou dares Paul to challenge the status quo.

Paul's journey to "memorize his life" as suggested by Mary Lou was done by the very simple act of scribbling his daily grind into pages upon pages of diary entries. But the more he records his own memories and encounters, the more miserable he becomes when he realizes how dull the world has become with its people caught in a standstill, burying all their self-awareness through drugs and quick sex. His nuanced journey from imprisonment to liberation on two levels--the physical and the emotional--is, for me, the most humane aspect of this book. I eagerly discovered things alongside him as he devoured what scarce books he can find in the places he travels. One notable place is an abandoned mall outlet where small groups of Christian families reside. His collective experience with these people is one of the most ironically comical yet heartwarming moments found in the novel.

"Why don't we talk to one another? Why don't we huddle together against the cold wind that blows down the empty streets in the city? People used to read, hearing the voices of the living and the dead speaking to them in eloquence silence, in touch with a babble of human talk that must have filled the mind in a manner that said I am human. I talk and I listen and I read. Why did we stop reading? What happened?" ~ Mary Lou

Mary Lou is an engaging, clever and intelligent young woman who was inquisitive enough to figure out by herself that there is something amiss in the world she lives in. All her life she has been on the run, disobeying rules and making a mockery of the robot-police state, all for the sake of not forgetting what makes her human and unique in spite of the initial programming all children are required to undergo which diminishes personality and identity.

Paul was understandably drawn to her and as he teaches her to read, she in turn opens him up to a realm of turbulent feelings and creative musings, instilling in him dismissed qualities such as imagination and intellectual curiosity. Her journey in this book is about satisfying that same curiosity as well as understanding why children have become extinct and accepting that there is a faint glimmer of hope that she may have found a way to turn things around if she's brave and resolute enough to do it.

"I would like to know, before I die, what it was like to be the human being I have tried to be all my life." ~ Robert Spofforth

Spofforth is the first character we get introduced to in this book but the role he plays is much less personal but nonetheless just as moving and sad. A robot created by implanting another living person'a brain, he suffers dreams and thoughts from that late person's life and so develops an acute sense of 'humanness'. This is troubling because what Spofforth really wants to do is to cease to exist but his programming does not allow him to die as long as humans still have a need for his kind, a robot of the Make Nine series, and probably the last one there is. For an android, Spofforth is surprisingly humane and often relatable, especially during such times he is subjected to gloom and suicidal thoughts.

Mockingbird is an enduring work of the heart and the imagination, an enchanting tale about human resilience and creativity while also being a painful yet also humorous commentary on the qualities that we as humans value and celebrate and the awful aftermath that follows once we take these same things for granted in the long run.

Much like Brave New World, this book's take on a dystopic society of drug-addled and individual-based society is unforgettable, and its prose is sparse yet can powerfully illuminate dark recesses of the soul in the same manner Specimen Days has achieved as well.

The world Paul and Mary Lou live in may be underpopulated but their story will certainly proliferate strong emotions from readers who will consume it and hopefully appreciate such simple yet essential things in life we can so easily forget and destroy. A MUST-HAVE AND READ!

RECOMMENDED: 9/10

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[Gabril · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il titolo suggestivo allude al messaggio profondo di questa storia distopica che immagina un mondo futuro squallido, arido, sia nel paesaggio urbano sia nel cuore degli esseri umani ancora in circolazione, oramai assuefatti all’individualismo, alla televisione, alle droghe soporifere e al sesso rapido e dove “leggere” e “libro” sono parole ormai prive di significato.
Il futuro di cui narra Tevis inizia dalla “Morte del petrolio”, evento che inaugura l’era dei robot, classificati da 1 a 9 a seconda del grado di specializzazione, di comprensione e soprattutto di potere su una realtà che, come già detto, diventa via via più semplificata. Le macchine decretano la solitudine degli uomini, soli, condizionati, apatici...talmente infelici da praticare il suicidio collettivo, rito pubblico dominato da una assurda beata indifferenza: la morte diventa banale come è banale la vita stessa.

Tre sono i personaggi a cui è affidato l’intreccio della storia:
~ Spofforth, robot raffinato (è un Nove), umano mancato: degli umani ha l’intelligenza ma anche la capacità di provare emozioni; è per questo che patisce i due soli invalicabili limiti che lo estromettono dalla comunità umana: il sesso e la morte. La sua infelicità lo porterà a fare scelte diverse da quelle programmate.
~Bentley, unico a narrare in prima persona, è un uomo che il suo tempo non ha ancora schiacciato: soffre di una vaga nostalgia, è oppresso dalla realtà della “serenità chimica” e dalla sua stanzetta in permoplastica isolata e protetta dal mondo. Bentley sta cercando qualcosa, anche se di preciso non sa cosa. La sua inquietudine lo guiderà, portandolo a intraprendere un percorso completamente nuovo e sovversivo.
~Mary Lou, personaggio femminile determinante, giovane donna intelligente e soprattutto disubbidiente; è l’unica a praticare la trasgressione anarchica delle leggi in corso, una sorta di dissidenza del comportamento, in virtù di una mente lucidamente critica e resistente alle droghe. Involontaria maestra di libertà, diventerà il centro dell’interesse degli altri due protagonisti, polo di attrazione e causa indiretta di azioni indirizzate verso il riscatto.

Saranno i libri la causa prima di questo percorso di liberazione da un mondo finto e meccanico, costruito da umani immorali che sembrano avere in odio il destino della Terra (concetto attuale, attualissimo), un mondo che può essere smantellato solo a partire dal recupero di una sensibilità autentica e vibrante. Altrimenti si verificherà la profezia che Eliot esprime nei versi tanto amati da Bentley e Mary Lou:

È così che il mondo finisce
È così che il mondo finisce
È così che il mondo finisce
Non con uno schianto ma
con un gemito.

Ma finché il mimo canta al limitare del bosco c’è speranza.

[Simona F. 'Free Palestine, Stop Genocide' · Rating 5 out of 5]

In un futuro molto lontano da noi ma estremamente coerente, macchine e robot altamente sofisticati svolgono la quasi totalità dei lavori: dalla produzione industriale, al governo societario e dei singoli Stati, mentre tutta una serie di attività man mano cessa perché inutile, fino a sparire anche dai ricordi (leggere, scrivere, recitare, fare o ascoltare musica...). Gli uomini, privi di qualsiasi impegno, languono in uno stato quasi vegetativo sotto l'effetto del SOPOR, una pastiglia miracolosa, inizialmente prodotta e distribuita per ridurre i crimini violenti, sfruttata poi, opportunamente modificata, per risolvere il problema della sovrappopolazione globale, inibendo la fertilità di tutti gli esseri umani e allo stesso tempo inibendo istinti e desideri. Incomprensibilmente il SOPOR continua ad essere distribuito anche quando la popolazione mondiale è drasticamente diminuita. Fino a quando cessano le nuove nascite e rimangono soltanto persone al di sopra dei trent'anni, per lo più single.
In questa società costituita da una massa pigra e indolente, totalmente individualista ("l'unica realtà è quella dentro di te", si insegna nelle scuole), assuefatta al sesso veloce e a spettacoli televisivi ipnotici ed alienanti, in cui non ci si può più toccare, né guardare negli occhi, il reato più diffuso è quello di violazione della Privacy.
Romanzo splendido, dallo stile travolgente, dalla storia avvincente, dalla caratterizzazione dei personaggi perfetta, sia per quanto riguarda i protagonisti umani che per quanto riguarda il robot Spofforth.
Il romanzo offre inoltre continui spunti di riflessione che spaziano dai temi più cari alla fantascienza classica all'abuso delle droghe, al concetto di famiglia e di comunità, alle relazioni sociali, ai disagi e al suicidio.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Only the mockingbird sings at the edge of the woods.'
Wow! This blew me away! On a par with Brave New World, an alternative version of future dystopia. What bibliophile wouldn't love a quote like this:

'I feel free and strong. If I were not a reader of books I could not feel this way. Whatever may happen to me, thank God that I can read, that I have truly touched the minds of other men.'

Don't ask. Relax. This is the message the population are programmed to think in this futuristic USA.
The technological themes of this book seem particularly prevalent to me in our current age. What is the meaning of life? What does it mean to be happy? What is the role of family in society? What does it mean to be an individual?Tevis explores these philosophical themes and also takes a look at religion while doing so..ambitious for a relatively short book! And he pulls it off..a very thought provoking read.

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started Mockingbird because it was on my TBR from 2010, and somehow thought it was a detective novel of sorts. Wrong! It starts with a robot in a robot-dominant landscape who is unable to end his life, and brings in a human who has taught himself to read, something humans no longer do. Then he meets a woman who isn't on the mind-altering drugs.... Very readable and engaging!

[Marcos GM · Rating 4 out of 5]

[ESP/ENG]

Solo el sinsonte canta en la linde del bosque.

Antes que nada, aclarar que la nota real sería de 3.5⭐, pero redondeo hacia arriba porque me ha gustado bastante, aunque le encuentre problemas.

Este libro llevaba un tiempo en mi lista de pendientes, y aprovechando que tocaba su lectura en el grupo de Ciencia ficción en español era hora de ponerse. Lo primero que entra por la vista es la portada, que es una maravilla. Y la sinopsis ayuda bastante, nos plantea un mundo decadente con una humanidad en extinción, robots y una suerte de nuevos Adán y Eva. Y aquí viene el primer problema, ya que creo que está mal enfocada. Todo lo que se cuenta en ella es lo importante de la novela, sí, pero invita a pensar en algo diferente a lo que sucede.

Su punto fuerte es la otra parte de la sinopsis, la ambientación y los personajes. Vamos por partes:
Ambientación: Un mundo decadente, lóbrego y anodino, con vestigios de una civilización ya pasada en el que nadie quiere hacer nada, ya no se lee ni se hace arte, solo se toman drogas, se ve la tele y se intenta superar el hastío a diario. Está muy bien construído por parte del autor, te mete de lleno en la obra.
Personajes: Podemos comentar 3, los demás son de segundo plano y con poco que reseñar. Robert Spofforth, un máquina nueve que es prácticamente perfecto pero con un deseo suicida muy desarrollado; Paul Bentley, un tipo que por su cuenta ha aprendido a leer y quiere enseñar a otros a hacerlo; Mary Lou, una mujer inteligente y rebelde. Son ellos 3 quienes llevan la trama, y aunque cada uno tiene cosas interesantes me quedo de lejos con Paul, es el que tiene más evolución y el que es más cercano al lector.

Tras estos elementos, muy positivos bajo mi punto de vista, hay otros interesantes, aunque también los hay que no me han gustado nada.
Entre los primeros me gusta la filosofía que subyace en la obra, la búsqueda de qué es ser humano y si lo puede ser por ejemplo un robot (aquí vendría muy bien el esloga de Blade runner, aquel de "Más humano que los humanos"), y por supuesto el amor a la lectura y el porqué leer es tan importante.

Cuando el alfabetismo murió, también lo hizo la historia.

En la parte negativa, es una obra de ritmo muy pausado, y sin mucha acción o incluso movimiento. La mayoría de la obra está contada en forma de diario o relatos, y el ritmo empleado es lento. Quienes no estén acostumbrados o no les guste pueden tener aquí un problema.
Otra cosa que no me gusta es el hecho de que se empleen drogas y químicos para controlar a la humanidad, pero cuando vemos a un "humano liberado" se aficiona al whiskey y a los cigarros, lo que resulta irónico pero no en buen sentido.
Y por supuesto, la parte de la comunidad religiosa, que mucha gente refiere por este mismo motivo. Se alarga en exceso y aporta poco.

Es una obra que merece la pena ser leída, pero de la que quizá esperaba más. Aún con todo, me ha parecido una buena lectura.

Mi vida es ligera, a la espera del viento de la muerte,
Como una pluma en el dorso de mi mano.


------------------------------------------------


Only the mockingbird sings at the edge of the woods.

First of all, clarify that the real grade would be 3.5⭐, but I round up because I liked it a lot, although I find problems with it.

This book had been on my TBR list for a while, and taking advantage of the fact that it was going to be read in the Spanish Science Fiction group, it was time to get started with it. The first thing that meets the eye is the cover (this particular edition, of course), which is wonderful. And the synopsis helps a lot, it presents us with a decadent world with an endangered humanity, robots and a kind of new Adam and Eve. And here comes the first problem, since I think it is poorly focused. Everything that is told in it is what is important in the novel, yes, but it makes you to think about something different from what is happening.

Its strong point is the other part of the synopsis, the setting and the characters. Let's see it:
Worldbuilding: A decadent, gray world, with vestiges of a bygone civilization in which nobody wants to do anything, they no longer read or make art, they only take drugs, watch TV and try to overcome boredom on a daily basis. It is very well built by the author, he inmerses you fully into the book.
Characters: We can comment on 3, the others are in the background and with little to mention. Robert Spofforth, a machine nined who is practically perfect but with a highly developed suicidal desire; Paul Bentley, a guy who has learned to read on his own and wants to teach others to do it; Mary Lou, an intelligent and rebellious woman. This 3 are the ones who carry the plot, and although each one has interesting things, I stand with Paul, he is the one that has the most evolution and the one that is closest to the reader.

After these elements, very positive from my point of view, there are other interesting ones, although there are also some that I didn't like at all.
Among the first, I like the philosophy that underlies the book, the search for what it is to be human and if it can be, for example, a robot (here the slogan of Blade runner would come in handy, that of "More human than humans"), and of course the love of reading and why reading is so important.

When literacy died, so had history.

On the negative side, it is a book with a very slow pace, and without much action or even movement. Most of the book is told in the form of a diary or stories, and the pace used is slow. Those who are not used to it or do not like it may have a problem here.
Another thing I don't like is the fact that drugs and chemicals are used to control humanity, but when we see a "liberated human" he becomes fond of whiskey and cigars, which is ironic but not in a good way.
And of course, the part of the religious community, which many people refer to for this very reason. It lengthens excessively and contributes little.

It is a book that is worth reading, but from which perhaps I expected more. Still, I found it a good read.

My life is light, waiting for the death wind.
Like a feather on the back of my hand.

[Daniel Villines · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating novel about how the end-of-days for the human race may come about. It's set in the middle-distant future where humans have been coaxed by mental conditioning and therapeutic feel-good drugs into a state of apathy towards everyone and everything. There is no desire or drive left in anyone other than the fulfillment and satisfaction of the self. The human race is dying out simply because no one cares if it does. This sets up the story of the main Character, Paul Bentley, who awakens in these last days of humanity by stumbling upon the act of reading.

From there, Bentley shows us the pleasure and joy of reading and learning. Additionally, Bentley, in his awakening, discovers love and friendships and the rich meaning they give to human existence. All of these discoveries make this an intellectual adventure novel, which is further enhanced by writing that is both sensitive to life and filled with insightful observations.

While I thoroughly enjoyed Mockingbird, I also found that it was easy to be critical of its premise. Why wouldn't other Paul Bentleys come into existence and see a real opportunity for personal power and gain? Another question, being that this is set in America, is where are all the guns? Tevis' dystopian world is tailor-made for his plot and it's sketchy on how his world came into being. All of these things tend to diminish Mockingbird's relevance as a science fiction novel in the present-day world in which we live.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

* Updated- Corrects Hal's number*
3.8⭐ Rounded Up
Another excellent, imaginative tale by Walter Tevis, who wrote The Man Who Fell To Earth and The Queen's Gambit. This one's a parable about a society stupifying itself with technology, drugs and television. Sound familiar? It's told from three perspectives: Paul Bently, the last man on Earth who can read; Mary Lou, the rebel Bently teaches to read and Robert Spofforth, the last remaining 'Make 9' high intelligence robot.

A few similarities to other books occur to me: the clueless, drugged humans and the robots who (supposedly) serve them bring to mind the Eloi and the Morlocks from Wells' The Time Machine. Also Spofforth reminds me of Hal 9000 from Clarke's 2001: A Space Oddessy, who in his technologically driven madness was more human than the humans he served.

Well written with well developed characters and very well paced, it's another example of the idea heavy science fiction Tevis excels at.
Required suspension of disbelief: mild to moderate. Highly recommended.-30-

[Joshua Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This far future work of science fiction is one of the best of its kind that I've read. I don't know if you can call this post-apocalyptic as there is not an apocalypse in the book, but rather a degradation of human life over the span of centuries from an over-reliance on technology that turns them inward and isolated. The setting was quite jarring at first because it felt so different than many books of this type that I've read, and the exploration of "how did we get here?" was fascinating. A central premise revolves around an individual learning what it means to be human, while living in this technology-reliant, drug addicted and illiterate society. If you like your sci-fi thought-provoking, this is one for you; this one will live in my mind for awhile.