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Brain
Short Story by S. Fowler Wright.
The story of an attempt to seize power in a technocratic future by a scientist armed with various brain-controlling drugs, similarly anticipates - albeit in lurid fashion - modern concerns regarding the advancement of psychotropic chemistry.
The story of an attempt to seize power in a technocratic future by a scientist armed with various brain-controlling drugs, similarly anticipates - albeit in lurid fashion - modern concerns regarding the advancement of psychotropic chemistry.
- GenresScience Fiction
ebook
First published January 1, 1932
3 people want to read
About the author
S. Fowler Wright
116 books12 followersSydney Fowler Wright (January 6, 1874 – February 25, 1965) was a prolific British editor, poet, science fiction author, writer of screenplays, mystery fiction and works in other genres. Most of his work is published as by "S. Fowler Wright", and he also wrote as Sydney Fowler and Anthony Wingrave.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 29, 2019
Though I am a fan of the work of Mr. Wright, I would not recommend this short story/novelette to those readers new to his science fiction. Though the concepts are really great in this dystopia that is set in the "future" of 1990, the execution is a bit off. Fowler Wright is no stranger to abstraction and symbolism, so it was not surprising that I got lost a few times in his lyrical prose. But honestly, it seemed like he purposefully bathed key plot developments in such obscurity that the entire story was unnecessarily difficult to follow. By the end, you will be left scratching your head wondering, "What just happened?" and feeling like some pages must have been left out of the book or something. There's nothing wrong with a story that doesn't wrap everything up neatly for the reader, but in this case, it feels like a first draft with unfinished narrative holes. It's not thought-provoking, just irritating.
Now, beneath the technical difficulties lies more of Wright's genius as a 20th Century philosopher and a 21st Century prophet. It is full of disturbing yet unforgettable mad scientist tropes, such as grafting the brains of children into the bodies of dogs and vice versa, while predicting the very real development of the modern psychotropic pharmaceutical industry. Also, it is a classic example of how different Wright is from his contemporary H. G. Wells. Whereas Wells was writing about how wonderful life would be if a few elite intelligentsia ruled over the ignorant masses, Wright warns that oligarchy is always a disaster in the making. The world is nothing but groups of humans who think they know better than other groups of humans. Whenever one group is elevated in status and power, it is human nature that the other groups are mistreated as lesser. Therefore, Wells' one-world government utopia is a misguided fantasy to Wright. The "Brain" in this story is ultimately the collective experience and tastes of all of human culture, which is made sick and ultimately dies by the tumor that is a "benevolent" oligarchy of 21 half-senile and fully megalomaniacal scientists.
Initially found in the collection "The New Gods Lead," and now available on its own through various avenues, "Brain" is worth reading if you've checked out some of Wright's other work and still want more.
Now, beneath the technical difficulties lies more of Wright's genius as a 20th Century philosopher and a 21st Century prophet. It is full of disturbing yet unforgettable mad scientist tropes, such as grafting the brains of children into the bodies of dogs and vice versa, while predicting the very real development of the modern psychotropic pharmaceutical industry. Also, it is a classic example of how different Wright is from his contemporary H. G. Wells. Whereas Wells was writing about how wonderful life would be if a few elite intelligentsia ruled over the ignorant masses, Wright warns that oligarchy is always a disaster in the making. The world is nothing but groups of humans who think they know better than other groups of humans. Whenever one group is elevated in status and power, it is human nature that the other groups are mistreated as lesser. Therefore, Wells' one-world government utopia is a misguided fantasy to Wright. The "Brain" in this story is ultimately the collective experience and tastes of all of human culture, which is made sick and ultimately dies by the tumor that is a "benevolent" oligarchy of 21 half-senile and fully megalomaniacal scientists.
Initially found in the collection "The New Gods Lead," and now available on its own through various avenues, "Brain" is worth reading if you've checked out some of Wright's other work and still want more.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews