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Drunkard's Walk
Book by Frederik Pohl
142 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
3 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
About the author
Frederik Pohl
1,152 books1,068 followersFrederik George Pohl, Jr. was an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years. From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited Galaxy magazine and its sister magazine IF winning the Hugo for IF three years in a row. His writing also won him three Hugos and multiple Nebula Awards. He became a Nebula Grand Master in 1993.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
October 28, 2011
Amusing send up of academe and a mystery story about Cornut, a suicidal mathematician. He's tried to kill himself in his sleep nine times and so have a group of other academics, none of them lasting past the next few attempts. Despite the silliness that they still use magnetic recording tape and film, flapping in the projector, in the far flung future, I like Pohl's Galaxy era style. No nonsense, plot driven storytelling. Plus I have the Ballantine first edition with a marvelously ludicrous cover, a nude girl on a rug watching television, which has absolutely no relation to the book's contents.
May 18, 2018
przedziwna mała książeczka z bardzo ciekawym pomysłem, który po drodze łagodnie rozpadał się na kawałeczki. fragmenty o matematyce - wspaniałe.
August 6, 2023
Bilim Kurgu türünün en iyi yazarlarından Frederik Pohl’dan kısa bir roman olmasına rağmen içinde kişisel ilişkilerden telepatiye, antropolojiden matematiğe, polisiyeden hastalık salgınına pek çok unsuru bir arada toplayan hoş bir kurgu.
March 9, 2021
pretty boring! only about 10 pages of 166 were good, and even then they were like, kind of good. some interesting ideas in here that feel like they arent explored in a satisfactory way at all, with a dogshit pointless romance and some weird stuff with race. give it a miss i reckon!
November 4, 2011
Every so often, I feel this odd need to read a math book. While I'm not a mathmatician or math student, I am a programmer, and the logical world of numbers is fairly familiar place to visit. The expection to this generally aimiable tourism of math has been probability. The fact of the matter is that most of us don't really understand probability. We, as a species, are resoundingly bad at handling probability. Pohl explains things like the Monty Hall puzzle and how we find patterns where there are none and how we don't really know what a random distribution looks like. He does so in a way that often lets you understand, even without understaning all the higher math behind how this is proven. If you're interested in understanding probability and how randomness shapes our perceptions, I recommend it.
September 22, 2011
Did the audio, could not finish. Slow. Not my type. I'm not that smart to get into a book like this!
June 3, 2024
Our protagonist in this one is called Cornut…he is a young professor of mathematics who has lately been feeling compelled to end his life…despite not wanting to do so.
Drunkard’s Walk is set in the distant year of 2166. The population on Earth has grown to 12 billion people and everyone seems actively engaged in providing resources for the masses. University Lectures are televised and anyone who has access to a television can study the courses offered. Assignments and Tests are graded automatically by a computer or artificial intelligence nicknamed “Sticky Dick”.
However, despite the accessibility of education very few do enter the halls of academia and are routed to more utilitarian functions in society. Vast numbers of the population live and work on offshore facilities called “Texases”. It is on these facilities that the jobs that are too “loud and smelly” take place. It seems that careers in Academia are reserved for those who are not only suitably qualified but also born into it. There is a phrase used to distinguish between the different types…”town or gown”.
Cornut is a popular professor in his thirties who has lately taken to trying to kill himself. These notions are contrary to how he feels as he is quite content with his place in society. These compulsions usually occur upon waking or when he is fatigued and not fully aware. He has taken to setting five alarm clocks to wake himself. He also has his building maintenance person call him as well as have his assistant ensure that he does nothing lethal to himself upon waking. After undergoing a full battery of tests, we have established that there is nothing wrong with Cornut…but he is given pills to take…just in case. Along with this we discover that Cornut’s malady is not an isolated one. There have been several cases not merely confined to the university and there are no survivors. What ensues is Cornut’s discovery of a sinister cabal with a nefarious plot to eliminate millions.
This is the first Frederik Pohl novel I have read and for some reason I felt as though I was reading something by Kurt Vonnegut. This is perfectly fine as I enjoy Vonnegut. I enjoyed this as well. It’s basically a mystery as we try to unravel the reason Cornut is so driven to commit suicide despite his better judgement. It’s straight-forward but laced with humour. First published in 1960s, some of the descriptions and attitudes seem dated but I feel it’s still readable. The resolution to the mystery and the villain may seem obvious ( clues are abundant ) but even so, at a slim 165 pages, it was a pleasant diversion. I will definitely sample some of Pohl’s better known work after this.
Drunkard’s Walk is set in the distant year of 2166. The population on Earth has grown to 12 billion people and everyone seems actively engaged in providing resources for the masses. University Lectures are televised and anyone who has access to a television can study the courses offered. Assignments and Tests are graded automatically by a computer or artificial intelligence nicknamed “Sticky Dick”.
However, despite the accessibility of education very few do enter the halls of academia and are routed to more utilitarian functions in society. Vast numbers of the population live and work on offshore facilities called “Texases”. It is on these facilities that the jobs that are too “loud and smelly” take place. It seems that careers in Academia are reserved for those who are not only suitably qualified but also born into it. There is a phrase used to distinguish between the different types…”town or gown”.
Cornut is a popular professor in his thirties who has lately taken to trying to kill himself. These notions are contrary to how he feels as he is quite content with his place in society. These compulsions usually occur upon waking or when he is fatigued and not fully aware. He has taken to setting five alarm clocks to wake himself. He also has his building maintenance person call him as well as have his assistant ensure that he does nothing lethal to himself upon waking. After undergoing a full battery of tests, we have established that there is nothing wrong with Cornut…but he is given pills to take…just in case. Along with this we discover that Cornut’s malady is not an isolated one. There have been several cases not merely confined to the university and there are no survivors. What ensues is Cornut’s discovery of a sinister cabal with a nefarious plot to eliminate millions.
This is the first Frederik Pohl novel I have read and for some reason I felt as though I was reading something by Kurt Vonnegut. This is perfectly fine as I enjoy Vonnegut. I enjoyed this as well. It’s basically a mystery as we try to unravel the reason Cornut is so driven to commit suicide despite his better judgement. It’s straight-forward but laced with humour. First published in 1960s, some of the descriptions and attitudes seem dated but I feel it’s still readable. The resolution to the mystery and the villain may seem obvious ( clues are abundant ) but even so, at a slim 165 pages, it was a pleasant diversion. I will definitely sample some of Pohl’s better known work after this.
April 20, 2020
Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
"Frederik Pohl’s best early SF was produced with his frequent collaborator C. M. Kornbluth—the most notable of which include the masterpiece The Space Merchants (1953) and Gladiator-In-Law (1954). The solo work I have read so far from the same period does not reach the heights of his Kornbluth collaborations but rather fluctuates between downright dull satires with intelligent dogs in the vein of Slave Ship (1956) to solid [...]"
"Frederik Pohl’s best early SF was produced with his frequent collaborator C. M. Kornbluth—the most notable of which include the masterpiece The Space Merchants (1953) and Gladiator-In-Law (1954). The solo work I have read so far from the same period does not reach the heights of his Kornbluth collaborations but rather fluctuates between downright dull satires with intelligent dogs in the vein of Slave Ship (1956) to solid [...]"
December 14, 2023
Meh. The story was just OK. The writing was a little repetitive and there are definitely parts that are cringey to a modern audience. You really don't understand what is happening until the very end, so the pacing is pretty slow and then bam, it's over and everything is fixed, but it doesn't make a lot of sense.
August 11, 2022
me gusto mucho la idea al principio pero ya tirando para el final medio que se va del tema del principio y es algo que no te esperas lo de despues de la muerte de Carl y que tampoco necesitabas, el final no me gusto y lo hubiera hecho diferente
October 30, 2022
A huge improvement on Pohl's first solo novel Slave Ship. I love the way of shielding oneself against telepathic attacks that try to induce their victims to kill themselves. Read in a lovely Penguin Science Fiction paperback copy too.
February 3, 2024
Short and forgettable. Much of the novel is a rather odd satire of academia ossified into an elite class. The plot doesn't develop much until the last few pages, when all is explained and then settled immediately. Other work by Pohl is much better.
November 19, 2025
Not one of Pohl's best, and it takes a long, LONG time setting the stage before the plot comes forward. But I was charmed somewhat by the underlying theme, which is very much inspired by Darwin's "The Next Million Years". Glad I read it but I don't expect to do so again.
March 1, 2018
aggiornamento vecchio libro letto chissà quando
December 18, 2018
Conspiracy theories, a suicidal math professor, elite super beings!!!!
The book was a great quick read with references to Brownian motion and I never saw the end coming.
The book was a great quick read with references to Brownian motion and I never saw the end coming.
February 13, 2022
An interesting premise initially that turned out to just become another superior race story. It was ultimately not the book it could have been.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 19, 2024
I don't even remember this book now...but I recall really not liking it.
June 11, 2023
Spectacular, speculative fiction, classic science fiction at it's best!
All to often I forget about this author, but he was a brilliant writer in an understated way; the actual writing! All too often these days the writing is merely the vehicle for telling the story, no actual effort seems to go into sentence structure, flow of thoughts, elegant use of the English language or similar. Pohl does write beautifully and even without the exciting story I think he would be well worth reading.
He creates excellent characters that are flawed but intriguing to read about. With most books and characters I personally prefer to have an emotive connection but Pohl does not really pander to that. His characters remain somewhat remote at best, but I do find myself absorbed in them and their experiences.
The story itself is a really exciting, absorbing one, (though it is an intellectual excitement rather than guns and explosions) Cornut is a teacher of mathematics at a university. From that statement, every reader will think they now know something about Cornut, but no! In this future Earth universities, academics and teaching are all very different to what universities and teachers are today. I adored, absolutly loved the quite understated world building, the idea of a hereditary university class system, the notion of the position of teaching in society and the broadcasting of lectures were all visionary. When you think that this was published in 1960, it was beyond visionary.
Cornut should be a happy man, he is one of the youngest teachers ever, he loves his work, he is deeply absorbed in some anomalies in the Wolgren mathematical theorem he is working on (I suspect the Wolgren, which is pivotal to the plot, is an invented theorem). Cornut however is not especially happy because, for some reason that he does not understand he keeps trying to commit suicide. He is not alone, there appears to be a rash of unexplained attempted suicides among academics around the world. There is a limit to how many / how long the attempts can go of for though, before they become successful suicide attempts and Cornut is running out of time.
The world building is what makes this book a superstar, but the characters and the plot line and the everything just combine to make it one of the better books I have read this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFlNw...
All to often I forget about this author, but he was a brilliant writer in an understated way; the actual writing! All too often these days the writing is merely the vehicle for telling the story, no actual effort seems to go into sentence structure, flow of thoughts, elegant use of the English language or similar. Pohl does write beautifully and even without the exciting story I think he would be well worth reading.
He creates excellent characters that are flawed but intriguing to read about. With most books and characters I personally prefer to have an emotive connection but Pohl does not really pander to that. His characters remain somewhat remote at best, but I do find myself absorbed in them and their experiences.
The story itself is a really exciting, absorbing one, (though it is an intellectual excitement rather than guns and explosions) Cornut is a teacher of mathematics at a university. From that statement, every reader will think they now know something about Cornut, but no! In this future Earth universities, academics and teaching are all very different to what universities and teachers are today. I adored, absolutly loved the quite understated world building, the idea of a hereditary university class system, the notion of the position of teaching in society and the broadcasting of lectures were all visionary. When you think that this was published in 1960, it was beyond visionary.
Cornut should be a happy man, he is one of the youngest teachers ever, he loves his work, he is deeply absorbed in some anomalies in the Wolgren mathematical theorem he is working on (I suspect the Wolgren, which is pivotal to the plot, is an invented theorem). Cornut however is not especially happy because, for some reason that he does not understand he keeps trying to commit suicide. He is not alone, there appears to be a rash of unexplained attempted suicides among academics around the world. There is a limit to how many / how long the attempts can go of for though, before they become successful suicide attempts and Cornut is running out of time.
The world building is what makes this book a superstar, but the characters and the plot line and the everything just combine to make it one of the better books I have read this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFlNw...
April 25, 2011
Realised I'd read this probably about 20 years ago from page 1, but it's a Fred Pohl story and that means it stands looking at again.
Master Cornut is a mathematician at the to of his game, working at an elite university in a world which is teemingly overpopulated, with 12 billion human souls on the planet. Ultra-privilegedon this unhappy world, but Cornut keeps trying to kill himself, and he doesn't know why...
The task of finding out gives this little novel the structure of a detective novel, with the clue-solving coming from a bit of smoke-and-mirrors stuff about 'Wolgren anomalies' which apparently predicts some surprising stuff about populations and the people who make them up.
'Drunkard's walk' is apparently another way of talking about Brownian motion, whch is the random movement of atomic particles. But is is also what is needed to take on the villains who are out to get Master Cornut... Enjoyable, quick read. Glad I stumbled on it again.
Master Cornut is a mathematician at the to of his game, working at an elite university in a world which is teemingly overpopulated, with 12 billion human souls on the planet. Ultra-privilegedon this unhappy world, but Cornut keeps trying to kill himself, and he doesn't know why...
The task of finding out gives this little novel the structure of a detective novel, with the clue-solving coming from a bit of smoke-and-mirrors stuff about 'Wolgren anomalies' which apparently predicts some surprising stuff about populations and the people who make them up.
'Drunkard's walk' is apparently another way of talking about Brownian motion, whch is the random movement of atomic particles. But is is also what is needed to take on the villains who are out to get Master Cornut... Enjoyable, quick read. Glad I stumbled on it again.
August 1, 2012
Conspiracies, refundable marriages, and epic-scale academic lectures. Oh yes!
What's good about it?
- No nonsense Sci-Fi... straight into things without endless chapters of universe familiarisation.
- Hilarious suicide attempts by the main character.
- Conspiratorial academics in their high chairs teaching mathematical mnemonics. Sweet!
- Comparison of events to Einstein's 'Brownian Motion'.
What could have been better?
- Slightly convoluted conspiracy theory
Should you read it?
Yup. A quick read for sure, but an enjoyable one. I definitely didn't see the last few chapters coming!
What's good about it?
- No nonsense Sci-Fi... straight into things without endless chapters of universe familiarisation.
- Hilarious suicide attempts by the main character.
- Conspiratorial academics in their high chairs teaching mathematical mnemonics. Sweet!
- Comparison of events to Einstein's 'Brownian Motion'.
What could have been better?
- Slightly convoluted conspiracy theory
Should you read it?
Yup. A quick read for sure, but an enjoyable one. I definitely didn't see the last few chapters coming!
January 1, 2015
Sometimes, the most efficient way of levelling chances of successfully fighting formidable opponents is by imbibing two ounces of brandy. Stochastically, conspirationally and humoristically speaking, of course.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 7, 2015
I love this book, it is one I reread every few years and would not part from. I am surprised it hasn't been made into a film. (Do correct me if I'm wrong) I think it's where the Red Dwarf writers got the idea for the Depression Squid.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 22, 2016
This is a fun mystery in science fiction form. The perpetrators are an interesting idea, because they require the advancement of man for their power to become apparent. About that I won’t say more, except that statistics rule us all.
October 31, 2010
Good piece of sci-fi. Full of satire and black humour. Takes a while to get going though.
January 18, 2011
I had heard many of the example cases before, but I still enjoy this type of work. Interesting to see the things that everyone takes as true, debunked as coincidence, and vice versa.
September 19, 2012
Second-rate Pohl, with some very unconvincing maths behind it.
June 12, 2013
Not as catchy as the Space Merchants, but a novel idea of what happens when a stodgy elite gains control of running the world, and why such a stodgy elite exists.
October 25, 2013
Ustadan çok zayıf bir bk romanı.
July 14, 2014
Pretty good for fifty year old science fiction.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews