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Tom O'Bedlam
A tortured man’s visions hold the key to mankind’s future in Robert Silverberg’s post-apocalyptic masterpiece Life in the blasted wasteland of 2103 California is nasty, brutish, and short. If the savage “scratchers” don’t kill you, the poisoned environment will. But one man wanders this desolate landscape and sees glorious visions of impossible places and majestic beings not of Earth. Scorned and mocked as a madman, Tom doubts his sanity until his visions mysteriously begin to spread to others and a returning star probe offers evidence that they are real. Now, as a new religion is born, with Tom as its reluctant messiah, violent forces are unleashed—forces that have the power to transform humanity . . . or destroy it.
438 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1985
25 people are currently reading
317 people want to read
About the author
Robert Silverberg
2,342 books1,600 followersThere are many authors in the database with this name.
Robert Silverberg is a highly celebrated American science fiction author and editor known for his prolific output and literary range. Over a career spanning decades, he has won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards and was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2004. Inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1999, Silverberg is recognized for both his immense productivity and his contributions to the genre's evolution.
Born in Brooklyn, he began writing in his teens and won his first Hugo Award in 1956 as the best new writer. Throughout the 1950s, he produced vast amounts of fiction, often under pseudonyms, and was known for writing up to a million words a year. When the market declined, he diversified into other genres, including historical nonfiction and erotica.
Silverberg’s return to science fiction in the 1960s marked a shift toward deeper psychological and literary themes, contributing significantly to the New Wave movement. Acclaimed works from this period include Downward to the Earth, Dying Inside, Nightwings, and The World Inside. In the 1980s, he launched the Majipoor series with Lord Valentine’s Castle, creating one of the most imaginative planetary settings in science fiction.
Though he announced his retirement from writing in the mid-1970s, Silverberg returned with renewed vigor and continued to publish acclaimed fiction into the 1990s. He received further recognition with the Nebula-winning Sailing to Byzantium and the Hugo-winning Gilgamesh in the Outback.
Silverberg has also played a significant role as an editor and anthologist, shaping science fiction literature through both his own work and his influence on others. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, author Karen Haber.
Robert Silverberg is a highly celebrated American science fiction author and editor known for his prolific output and literary range. Over a career spanning decades, he has won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards and was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2004. Inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1999, Silverberg is recognized for both his immense productivity and his contributions to the genre's evolution.
Born in Brooklyn, he began writing in his teens and won his first Hugo Award in 1956 as the best new writer. Throughout the 1950s, he produced vast amounts of fiction, often under pseudonyms, and was known for writing up to a million words a year. When the market declined, he diversified into other genres, including historical nonfiction and erotica.
Silverberg’s return to science fiction in the 1960s marked a shift toward deeper psychological and literary themes, contributing significantly to the New Wave movement. Acclaimed works from this period include Downward to the Earth, Dying Inside, Nightwings, and The World Inside. In the 1980s, he launched the Majipoor series with Lord Valentine’s Castle, creating one of the most imaginative planetary settings in science fiction.
Though he announced his retirement from writing in the mid-1970s, Silverberg returned with renewed vigor and continued to publish acclaimed fiction into the 1990s. He received further recognition with the Nebula-winning Sailing to Byzantium and the Hugo-winning Gilgamesh in the Outback.
Silverberg has also played a significant role as an editor and anthologist, shaping science fiction literature through both his own work and his influence on others. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, author Karen Haber.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
April 13, 2025
This is a spiritualist post-apocalyptic novel set in 2103. There are a lot of different storylines and characters that eventually intersect, but it never quite comes together and many of the puzzles posed, and questions asked, are never explained or resolved. It's way too long for the plot to carry, but the characters and situations are interesting, and Silverberg, as always, is quite masterful with his narrative skill and language. I recommend Book of Skulls, Nightwings, or perhaps Downward to the Earth, and if you like those then tackle this one.
February 8, 2018
In a world ravaged by radiation humanity has been scattered. A crazy man strolls through the debris, preaching of the Gods. People start experiencing dreams so beautiful and vivid that the notion of Faith is resurrected, for they all share the same dreams. In the Nepenthe centre Dr Lewis is starting to believe that crazy Tom is the source of these visions. She has to make up her mind what to do with him fast, because here come a million cult members eager to follow an ex cab driver to the North Pole.
An enjoyable read, but one that promises a lot more than it actually delivers.
An enjoyable read, but one that promises a lot more than it actually delivers.
March 8, 2015
Introduction:
This was recommended to me by my dad. He was nice enough to lend me his copy after I promised that I wouldn't break the spine and that I would put it back in the plastic wrapper when I wasn't reading it. Admittedly, I thought it was more trouble than it was worth. His copy was yellowed and smelt like vinegar and it made me worry about how a book about the future would translate like 20 years later.
Possible spoilers ahead!
What I Liked About It:
1) Several storylines that seem to be exclusive that converge in the end
I loved how the book was written. There are several different storylines that seem separate from one another, until the end when they all converge together. I love stories like this because as you're reading you're wondering what all these people have to do with each other. You're anticipating when they meet or when their storylines finally run parallel to one another and make one cohesive story. I enjoyed learning about each of these characters before they came together. I feel like knowing their back story – who they are; how they got to where they are – was very important and it was presented in an effective way. I will say there are stories that I wish were focused on more. For example, I would have loved to read more about the scratchers - even after Tom, because they added a bit of action to the book (and I loved Charley) and I probably could have done with less of Ed's story.
2) Concepts of the future are not outdated
I really would like to commend Silverberg for writing a novel in which the content still has that 'futuristic' feel even though so many years have passed. It is, in a sense, timeless. Until some day in the future when we do have synthetic people and fancy clinics that steal your short term memories, at which point I would buy all the synthetic people because then I would have SO MANY FRIENDS.
3) The ending
If you like nice, neat endings this is not the book for you. If anything, the ending brought up more questions for me. But this feeling of the unknown is what fuels the book. Even when we seem to get some semblance of an answer, it seems so outlandish and impossible that the reader is left questioning the reliability of the character.
4) At its heart this is a story about faith
Faith not only by the characters, some of whom are struggling to believe what is happening and what Tom is capable of, but also of the readers, who must decide how much they wish to believe. It is not only what fuels the story, but what you choose to believe and what you choose not to believe can create the story. I found this really neat because in a sense it has the ability to create a different story for anyone who reads it.
Someone could be unconvinced:
And someone could be convinced:
And then the book kind of becomes like multiple stories – open to your own interpretation and it can have a different feel for anyone who reads it.
5) I loved the idea of the pick
Though wiping memories isn't a unique idea in itself, I thought it was presented in a very eerie and interesting way. It's not an 'underground' thing. It's very clinical. It just had a very creepy feeling to it. These people don't necessarily choose to be there, but every day like clockwork they go get their minds picked of certain memories. It seemed like an awful place to me, but they way they go about it and the way that it's described was very casual and clinical. Creepy vibes, folks.
6) All the different worlds
There's so many different worlds/dimensions that you might think they're difficult to remember. But each one is so distinctive and colourful and well described that you can see them all clearly. Except that Luilllialllialil place or whatever. Screw you and your complicated name!
What I Didn't Like About It:
1) Masculine
This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but to me the book definitely seemed like it was geared towards male readers. Which is fine – I imagine it's mostly guys reading this type of book anyway. But I just wanted to make note of a few things that might bother some ladies with more delicate sensibilities.
First, this guy really likes describing boobs. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Maybe what I usually read should go into more detail regarding the female anatomy. But it doesn't. Reading all the descriptions of glistening breasts and nipples poking through shirts made me giggle….because I'm a mature 26 year old woman that still finds boobs funny.
Second, many of the women in this book seem to serve the purpose of being a sexual object for the men to take advantage of. Alleluia is basically a sexbot; April will do anything if you touch her supple boobies; Jaspin's lady serves no purpose other than being his sexual partner. I will say, I found Elzsabet to be a great female character. She was strong, she was rough, and it was a refreshing relief from the other females.
2) With so many characters it can be hard to keep them straight at first
Don't get me wrong – as I mentioned earlier I loved all the different story lines! But I think part of the reason this took me so long to read was because I'd read about someone and then be like hey, where have I heard that name before? And then of course I had to flip back through the pages hopelessly trying to find where I recognized it from.
3) Slow in the middle
Pretty self explanatory. I thought it had a good start and a very strong ending, but the middle was a little slow without any action or anything particularly exciting to push it along.
4) I would have liked to have learned more about the dust wars.
I feel like the story could have delved a little deeper into describing what happened during the dust wars. It almost felt like a sequel to me (I'm gonna feel like a total dummy if it is a sequel) where there's all this history and background in the first book that I never read. And really, the dust wars sounded totally cool! I would have loved to learn more about them!
Favourite Passage:
"I never had an assurance of any damn thing, except that I had to make my own luck because there was no one out there going to make it for me. You follow me? Sometimes I'd like to pray too, just like everybody else, only I know there's no use in it. So I feel myself sitting outside what a lot of people know for certain. And when these sort of weird dreams come along, and everyone says how beautiful, how wonderful and I don't get them – you know how I feel? Go on, tell me I'm paranoid. Maybe I am or I wouldn't be in a place like this, but I never could believe in anything I couldn't touch with my own hands and I'm not touching these dreams." (P.77)
Final Verdict:
If you're looking for a somewhat philosophical read try this out. It's a book that can, at times, test your mind and your beliefs. If you're looking for an action-filled sci-fi romp or a nail-biter dystopian novel this book is not for you.
Rating:
3.75 rounded up to 4 stars.
This was recommended to me by my dad. He was nice enough to lend me his copy after I promised that I wouldn't break the spine and that I would put it back in the plastic wrapper when I wasn't reading it. Admittedly, I thought it was more trouble than it was worth. His copy was yellowed and smelt like vinegar and it made me worry about how a book about the future would translate like 20 years later.
Possible spoilers ahead!
What I Liked About It:
1) Several storylines that seem to be exclusive that converge in the end
I loved how the book was written. There are several different storylines that seem separate from one another, until the end when they all converge together. I love stories like this because as you're reading you're wondering what all these people have to do with each other. You're anticipating when they meet or when their storylines finally run parallel to one another and make one cohesive story. I enjoyed learning about each of these characters before they came together. I feel like knowing their back story – who they are; how they got to where they are – was very important and it was presented in an effective way. I will say there are stories that I wish were focused on more. For example, I would have loved to read more about the scratchers - even after Tom, because they added a bit of action to the book (and I loved Charley) and I probably could have done with less of Ed's story.
2) Concepts of the future are not outdated
I really would like to commend Silverberg for writing a novel in which the content still has that 'futuristic' feel even though so many years have passed. It is, in a sense, timeless. Until some day in the future when we do have synthetic people and fancy clinics that steal your short term memories, at which point I would buy all the synthetic people because then I would have SO MANY FRIENDS.
3) The ending
If you like nice, neat endings this is not the book for you. If anything, the ending brought up more questions for me. But this feeling of the unknown is what fuels the book. Even when we seem to get some semblance of an answer, it seems so outlandish and impossible that the reader is left questioning the reliability of the character.
4) At its heart this is a story about faith
Faith not only by the characters, some of whom are struggling to believe what is happening and what Tom is capable of, but also of the readers, who must decide how much they wish to believe. It is not only what fuels the story, but what you choose to believe and what you choose not to believe can create the story. I found this really neat because in a sense it has the ability to create a different story for anyone who reads it.
Someone could be unconvinced:
And someone could be convinced:
And then the book kind of becomes like multiple stories – open to your own interpretation and it can have a different feel for anyone who reads it.
5) I loved the idea of the pick
Though wiping memories isn't a unique idea in itself, I thought it was presented in a very eerie and interesting way. It's not an 'underground' thing. It's very clinical. It just had a very creepy feeling to it. These people don't necessarily choose to be there, but every day like clockwork they go get their minds picked of certain memories. It seemed like an awful place to me, but they way they go about it and the way that it's described was very casual and clinical. Creepy vibes, folks.
6) All the different worlds
There's so many different worlds/dimensions that you might think they're difficult to remember. But each one is so distinctive and colourful and well described that you can see them all clearly. Except that Luilllialllialil place or whatever. Screw you and your complicated name!
What I Didn't Like About It:
1) Masculine
This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but to me the book definitely seemed like it was geared towards male readers. Which is fine – I imagine it's mostly guys reading this type of book anyway. But I just wanted to make note of a few things that might bother some ladies with more delicate sensibilities.
First, this guy really likes describing boobs. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Maybe what I usually read should go into more detail regarding the female anatomy. But it doesn't. Reading all the descriptions of glistening breasts and nipples poking through shirts made me giggle….because I'm a mature 26 year old woman that still finds boobs funny.
Second, many of the women in this book seem to serve the purpose of being a sexual object for the men to take advantage of. Alleluia is basically a sexbot; April will do anything if you touch her supple boobies; Jaspin's lady serves no purpose other than being his sexual partner. I will say, I found Elzsabet to be a great female character. She was strong, she was rough, and it was a refreshing relief from the other females.
2) With so many characters it can be hard to keep them straight at first
Don't get me wrong – as I mentioned earlier I loved all the different story lines! But I think part of the reason this took me so long to read was because I'd read about someone and then be like hey, where have I heard that name before? And then of course I had to flip back through the pages hopelessly trying to find where I recognized it from.
3) Slow in the middle
Pretty self explanatory. I thought it had a good start and a very strong ending, but the middle was a little slow without any action or anything particularly exciting to push it along.
4) I would have liked to have learned more about the dust wars.
I feel like the story could have delved a little deeper into describing what happened during the dust wars. It almost felt like a sequel to me (I'm gonna feel like a total dummy if it is a sequel) where there's all this history and background in the first book that I never read. And really, the dust wars sounded totally cool! I would have loved to learn more about them!
Favourite Passage:
"I never had an assurance of any damn thing, except that I had to make my own luck because there was no one out there going to make it for me. You follow me? Sometimes I'd like to pray too, just like everybody else, only I know there's no use in it. So I feel myself sitting outside what a lot of people know for certain. And when these sort of weird dreams come along, and everyone says how beautiful, how wonderful and I don't get them – you know how I feel? Go on, tell me I'm paranoid. Maybe I am or I wouldn't be in a place like this, but I never could believe in anything I couldn't touch with my own hands and I'm not touching these dreams." (P.77)
Final Verdict:
If you're looking for a somewhat philosophical read try this out. It's a book that can, at times, test your mind and your beliefs. If you're looking for an action-filled sci-fi romp or a nail-biter dystopian novel this book is not for you.
Rating:
3.75 rounded up to 4 stars.
March 26, 2019
review of
Robert Silverberg's Tom O'Bedlam
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - March 24-26, 2019
I have 7 other bks by Silverberg in my collection: Invaders from Earth (1958), Conquerors from the Darkness (1965), The Man in the Maze (1969), Up the Line (1969), World's Fair 1992 (1970), The World Inside (1970), & The Reality Trip And Other Implausibilities (1958-1971). I have the 1st 4 marked as read & not the last 3 but I've probably read them all. Whatever I read I read before the fall of 2007 when I started reviewing all the bks I read for Goodreads. I have a very vague recollection of The Man in the Maze & that's it. I don't remember the rest at all. In the front of Up the Line I wrote 2 pencilled notations:
p 94 — stupid use of "anarchy"
p 101 — " " " "
The examples chosen are: "Their roughnecking was verging on anarchy; no one was safe in the streets after dark." & "I said, "You're talking anarchy!" / "Nihilism, to be more accurate["]".
Apparently, I keep returning to his work b/c I often find it affordable & I don't remember it so it occurs to me that I shd try reading something else by him in case he's someone I've underappreciated.
Tom O'Bedlam has praise on the front cover by popular author Peter Straub: "A WONDERFUL BOOK". I don't trust such praise. I've never read anything by Straub. Looking at a list of his novels online I don't recognize any of the titles. I associate him with Stephen King & Dean Koontz. I've read a little by both of them & didn't like it. I see online that King & Straub collaborated so at least half of my association is born out. Anyway, what I'm getting at here is that if Silverberg is aiming for Straub's market then I probably shdn't have high hopes. I found this bk to be mediocre in the same way that I found Koontz's work to be mediocre. It also occured to me that Silverberg was 'getting on in life' when this was written (1985) & he might've tried to make the-bk-that-wd-become-the-movie & give him a nest-egg to live comfortably off of in his declining yrs. The movie doesn't seem to've been made. No great loss.
I DID approach this w/ an 'open mind'. I was positively inclined to it just b/c of the title. "Tom O'Bedlam" (not the currently well-known actor/whatnot):
""Tom o' Bedlam" is the name of an anonymous poem in the "mad song" genre, written in the voice of a homeless "Bedlamite." The poem was probably composed at the beginning of the 17th century; in How to Read and Why, Harold Bloom calls it "the greatest anonymous lyric in the [English] language."" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_o%2...
I reckon Silverberg gave a pretty powerful spin to the character but it's the type of spin that's more fantastic than it is psychologically rich.
Predictably, the shared visions that constitute the core subject of the bk, are gradually revealed.
""I heard what you were saying when you were in that fit," Charley went on. His voice was low, barely more than a whisper. "About the green world. About the crystal people. Their shining skins. Their eyes, like diamonds. How did you say their eyes were arranged?"
""In rows of three, on each side of the heads."
""Four sides to the head?"
""Four, yes."
"Charley was silent a while, poking at the fire. Then he said, in an even quieter voice, "I dreamed of a place just like that, about six nights ago. And then again night before last.["]" - p 20
Cut to a healing center where sick people are sent to get their minds 'picked'.
"Lansford called out from the control console, "Blood sugar okay, respiration, iodine uptake, everything checks. Delta waves present and fully secured. Everything looks fine. I'm popping the Father's pick into the slot now. Elszabet?"
""Hold it a second. What reading do you get on mood?"" - p 22
There were some good ideas in this bk (sez me) but they were repeated far too much (sez me). I got the idea pretty early on & didn't need to go thru the reiterations in an extra 100pp of fluff. By page 28 all of the main ingredients are introduced.
"From unseen loudspeakers came a deep, unhurried, relentless drumming. The ground shook. They probably had it wired, Jaspin thought. Electrostatic nodes all over the place, and synchronized pulsation chips. Tumbondé might be primitive and elemental but it didn't seem to scorn technology." - p 28
Silverberg throws a synthetic woman into the mix. Having her be artificial makes it easier to hyper-sexualize her w/o being easily accused as sexist. Personally, I prefer the Ron Goulart approach more.
"There was a tap on the door.
""Who?" Ferguson called.
""Alleluia," said the most musical female voice he had ever heard.
"Something stirred in his muddled and mutilated memory bank, but he was unable to get hold of it. He touched his ring and said, "Request Alleluia."
""Fellow patient at Nepenthe Center. Synthetic woman, terrific body, fucked-up personality. You've been screwing her on and off all summer."" - p 39
Even Alleluia is having the visions.
""A couple of them. The green world was one. My dreams seems to stay with me, you know? I suppose because I'm a synthetic. Maybe the pick doesn't always work right on me. There's another world I've seen once or twice, with two suns in the sky."
"Ferguson caught his breath sharply.
"She said, "One's red, and the other one—"
""—is blue?"
""Blue, yes!" she said. "You've seen it too?"
"He felt the chills run down his back. This is crazy, he thought. "And there was a big golden thing with horns, standing on a block of white stone?"
""You have seen it! You have!"
""Jesus suffering Christ," Ferguson said." - p 42
I say: blame it on Ferguson for catching his breath too sharply & having it mutilate the chills running down his back.
"Switching on the little recorder in front of her, Elszabet said, "Let's get started, people, shall we? Monthly staff meeting for Thursday, July 27, 2103, Elszabet Lewis presiding, Drs Waldstein and Robinson and Patel and Ms. Corelli in attendance, 1121 hours. Okay? Instead of starting with the regular progress reports, I'd like to open with a discussion of the unusual problem that's cropped up in the past 6 days. I'm referring to the recurrent and overlapping dreams of a—well, fantastic nature that our patients seem to be experiencing["]" - p 53
Maybe they're all just watching the same tv shows. Running from reality straight into the boob tube.
"In college at Berkeley, she had been an athlete, a runner, track team, all-state champion in almost every medium-distance event, the 800 meters, 1500 meters, 1600-meter relay, and more. Those long legs, the endurance, the determination. "You ought to consider a carreer as a runner," someone had told her. She had been nineteen, then. Fifteen years ago. But what did that mean, a career as a runner? It was a waste of a life, she thought, giving yourself up to something as hermetically sealed, as private, as being a runner. It was a little like saying, You ought to consider a career as a fire hydrant." - p 82
At least as a hydrant you might get the trickle-down. But, seriously folks, I considered a career as a push-up artist until someone pointed out that I meant stick-up artist. Besides, that fits right in to my boob tube theory.
""What's your theory?"
""That we're getting some kind of broadcasts from an approaching alien space vessel."" - p 84
Or maybe they're just delivering a pizza. I mean that's no weirder than writing a boob of the march. Does Playboy have a boob of the month club now?!
""Truth, yes." Senhor Papamacer leaned forward. His eyes were ablaze. "I tell you what to do. You march with me, with Senhora Aglaibahi, with the Inner Host. You write a book of the march. You have the words, you have the learning.["]" - pp 101-102
What say we knock back a few while we watch the Playboy channel, boss?
""I guess you forgot, on account of being picked. But I'm an alcoholic. I've got a conscience chip in my gullet. Any booze hits my throat, the chip's going to make me throw up.["]" - p 193
Imagine if Rump had a conscience chip that made his nose grow every time he said something stupid. Do you think he'd start making porn? Rumpy the Nosepecker?
"["]What I think is that this man is in the grip of a psychosis so powerful that he's somehow able to broadcast it to others. A kind of psychic Typhoid Mary capable of scattering hallucinations across thousands of kilometers. And the closer you get to him, Elszabet, the more intense and frequent the hallucinations are["]" - p 211
Yeah, but don't forget the boob tube, he cd've never gotten elected w/o it.
"["]Now the thing you have to know," Tom said, "is that the universe is full of benevolent beings. Okay? There are more suns than anybody can count, and all of the suns have planets, and those planets have people on them, not people like us, but people all the same. They're all alive and out there right this minute, going about their lives. Okay? And they know we're here. They're beckoning to us. They love us, every one of us, and they want to gather us to their bosom.["]" - p 225
Right. Just wait 'til you get the bill.
Robert Silverberg's Tom O'Bedlam
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - March 24-26, 2019
I have 7 other bks by Silverberg in my collection: Invaders from Earth (1958), Conquerors from the Darkness (1965), The Man in the Maze (1969), Up the Line (1969), World's Fair 1992 (1970), The World Inside (1970), & The Reality Trip And Other Implausibilities (1958-1971). I have the 1st 4 marked as read & not the last 3 but I've probably read them all. Whatever I read I read before the fall of 2007 when I started reviewing all the bks I read for Goodreads. I have a very vague recollection of The Man in the Maze & that's it. I don't remember the rest at all. In the front of Up the Line I wrote 2 pencilled notations:
p 94 — stupid use of "anarchy"
p 101 — " " " "
The examples chosen are: "Their roughnecking was verging on anarchy; no one was safe in the streets after dark." & "I said, "You're talking anarchy!" / "Nihilism, to be more accurate["]".
Apparently, I keep returning to his work b/c I often find it affordable & I don't remember it so it occurs to me that I shd try reading something else by him in case he's someone I've underappreciated.
Tom O'Bedlam has praise on the front cover by popular author Peter Straub: "A WONDERFUL BOOK". I don't trust such praise. I've never read anything by Straub. Looking at a list of his novels online I don't recognize any of the titles. I associate him with Stephen King & Dean Koontz. I've read a little by both of them & didn't like it. I see online that King & Straub collaborated so at least half of my association is born out. Anyway, what I'm getting at here is that if Silverberg is aiming for Straub's market then I probably shdn't have high hopes. I found this bk to be mediocre in the same way that I found Koontz's work to be mediocre. It also occured to me that Silverberg was 'getting on in life' when this was written (1985) & he might've tried to make the-bk-that-wd-become-the-movie & give him a nest-egg to live comfortably off of in his declining yrs. The movie doesn't seem to've been made. No great loss.
I DID approach this w/ an 'open mind'. I was positively inclined to it just b/c of the title. "Tom O'Bedlam" (not the currently well-known actor/whatnot):
""Tom o' Bedlam" is the name of an anonymous poem in the "mad song" genre, written in the voice of a homeless "Bedlamite." The poem was probably composed at the beginning of the 17th century; in How to Read and Why, Harold Bloom calls it "the greatest anonymous lyric in the [English] language."" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_o%2...
I reckon Silverberg gave a pretty powerful spin to the character but it's the type of spin that's more fantastic than it is psychologically rich.
Predictably, the shared visions that constitute the core subject of the bk, are gradually revealed.
""I heard what you were saying when you were in that fit," Charley went on. His voice was low, barely more than a whisper. "About the green world. About the crystal people. Their shining skins. Their eyes, like diamonds. How did you say their eyes were arranged?"
""In rows of three, on each side of the heads."
""Four sides to the head?"
""Four, yes."
"Charley was silent a while, poking at the fire. Then he said, in an even quieter voice, "I dreamed of a place just like that, about six nights ago. And then again night before last.["]" - p 20
Cut to a healing center where sick people are sent to get their minds 'picked'.
"Lansford called out from the control console, "Blood sugar okay, respiration, iodine uptake, everything checks. Delta waves present and fully secured. Everything looks fine. I'm popping the Father's pick into the slot now. Elszabet?"
""Hold it a second. What reading do you get on mood?"" - p 22
There were some good ideas in this bk (sez me) but they were repeated far too much (sez me). I got the idea pretty early on & didn't need to go thru the reiterations in an extra 100pp of fluff. By page 28 all of the main ingredients are introduced.
"From unseen loudspeakers came a deep, unhurried, relentless drumming. The ground shook. They probably had it wired, Jaspin thought. Electrostatic nodes all over the place, and synchronized pulsation chips. Tumbondé might be primitive and elemental but it didn't seem to scorn technology." - p 28
Silverberg throws a synthetic woman into the mix. Having her be artificial makes it easier to hyper-sexualize her w/o being easily accused as sexist. Personally, I prefer the Ron Goulart approach more.
"There was a tap on the door.
""Who?" Ferguson called.
""Alleluia," said the most musical female voice he had ever heard.
"Something stirred in his muddled and mutilated memory bank, but he was unable to get hold of it. He touched his ring and said, "Request Alleluia."
""Fellow patient at Nepenthe Center. Synthetic woman, terrific body, fucked-up personality. You've been screwing her on and off all summer."" - p 39
Even Alleluia is having the visions.
""A couple of them. The green world was one. My dreams seems to stay with me, you know? I suppose because I'm a synthetic. Maybe the pick doesn't always work right on me. There's another world I've seen once or twice, with two suns in the sky."
"Ferguson caught his breath sharply.
"She said, "One's red, and the other one—"
""—is blue?"
""Blue, yes!" she said. "You've seen it too?"
"He felt the chills run down his back. This is crazy, he thought. "And there was a big golden thing with horns, standing on a block of white stone?"
""You have seen it! You have!"
""Jesus suffering Christ," Ferguson said." - p 42
I say: blame it on Ferguson for catching his breath too sharply & having it mutilate the chills running down his back.
"Switching on the little recorder in front of her, Elszabet said, "Let's get started, people, shall we? Monthly staff meeting for Thursday, July 27, 2103, Elszabet Lewis presiding, Drs Waldstein and Robinson and Patel and Ms. Corelli in attendance, 1121 hours. Okay? Instead of starting with the regular progress reports, I'd like to open with a discussion of the unusual problem that's cropped up in the past 6 days. I'm referring to the recurrent and overlapping dreams of a—well, fantastic nature that our patients seem to be experiencing["]" - p 53
Maybe they're all just watching the same tv shows. Running from reality straight into the boob tube.
"In college at Berkeley, she had been an athlete, a runner, track team, all-state champion in almost every medium-distance event, the 800 meters, 1500 meters, 1600-meter relay, and more. Those long legs, the endurance, the determination. "You ought to consider a carreer as a runner," someone had told her. She had been nineteen, then. Fifteen years ago. But what did that mean, a career as a runner? It was a waste of a life, she thought, giving yourself up to something as hermetically sealed, as private, as being a runner. It was a little like saying, You ought to consider a career as a fire hydrant." - p 82
At least as a hydrant you might get the trickle-down. But, seriously folks, I considered a career as a push-up artist until someone pointed out that I meant stick-up artist. Besides, that fits right in to my boob tube theory.
""What's your theory?"
""That we're getting some kind of broadcasts from an approaching alien space vessel."" - p 84
Or maybe they're just delivering a pizza. I mean that's no weirder than writing a boob of the march. Does Playboy have a boob of the month club now?!
""Truth, yes." Senhor Papamacer leaned forward. His eyes were ablaze. "I tell you what to do. You march with me, with Senhora Aglaibahi, with the Inner Host. You write a book of the march. You have the words, you have the learning.["]" - pp 101-102
What say we knock back a few while we watch the Playboy channel, boss?
""I guess you forgot, on account of being picked. But I'm an alcoholic. I've got a conscience chip in my gullet. Any booze hits my throat, the chip's going to make me throw up.["]" - p 193
Imagine if Rump had a conscience chip that made his nose grow every time he said something stupid. Do you think he'd start making porn? Rumpy the Nosepecker?
"["]What I think is that this man is in the grip of a psychosis so powerful that he's somehow able to broadcast it to others. A kind of psychic Typhoid Mary capable of scattering hallucinations across thousands of kilometers. And the closer you get to him, Elszabet, the more intense and frequent the hallucinations are["]" - p 211
Yeah, but don't forget the boob tube, he cd've never gotten elected w/o it.
"["]Now the thing you have to know," Tom said, "is that the universe is full of benevolent beings. Okay? There are more suns than anybody can count, and all of the suns have planets, and those planets have people on them, not people like us, but people all the same. They're all alive and out there right this minute, going about their lives. Okay? And they know we're here. They're beckoning to us. They love us, every one of us, and they want to gather us to their bosom.["]" - p 225
Right. Just wait 'til you get the bill.
May 27, 2021
Wowww...
Odlicna knjiga, Silverberg, kao uvijek ulazi u ljudske psihe i analize. Tom kao lik je predivan, onako blago zaostao i zanesen a do samog kraja se ne zna "tko" je on. Njegova ekipa koju je prvo sreo, lik Charley mi je odlican jer onako ima dobro i lose (takozvano) u sebi, a opet izvrstan lik do samoga kraja.
I sad sta reci, mogu razmisljati dugo o knjizi, nekako i moja vjera ide da na kraju ostavimo ovo tijelo koje nosimo i odemo na neku drugu planetu, recimo Green World. A opet mozda sam i lud sto tako razmisljam.
E upravo je knjiga o tome.
Odlicna knjiga, Silverberg, kao uvijek ulazi u ljudske psihe i analize. Tom kao lik je predivan, onako blago zaostao i zanesen a do samog kraja se ne zna "tko" je on. Njegova ekipa koju je prvo sreo, lik Charley mi je odlican jer onako ima dobro i lose (takozvano) u sebi, a opet izvrstan lik do samoga kraja.
I sad sta reci, mogu razmisljati dugo o knjizi, nekako i moja vjera ide da na kraju ostavimo ovo tijelo koje nosimo i odemo na neku drugu planetu, recimo Green World. A opet mozda sam i lud sto tako razmisljam.
E upravo je knjiga o tome.
October 11, 2024
A lot weaker then Downward to the Earth, which is the only other book I've read by Silverberg. I felt let down by all the build up amounting to what we get in the end. Silverberg's weird 1970's ideas on race, sexuality, and masculinity are apparent in the book and is off putting to say the least. Well written and definitely not terrible, but just didn't do enough with all the potential it had.
May 17, 2023
It's 2103 and the world is made up of patches of blasted wastelands, full of radioactive particles, made uninhabitable by the Dust War. The coastal areas of the former United States are havens of clear air and thousands of refuges had made their way there in the decades following the dusting. Life is still hard in California--the winds from the east might blow the radiation in or savage scratchers (looters) might kill you for what you have (or what they think you have). But into this landscape comes Tom--poor Tom--crazy Tom. Tom is a man who has scene visions from the time he was young. He sees other planets and other peoples. Godlike beings who rule in peace and joy for all. As he makes his way north through California, he realizes the time the Crossing is at hand--a time when the other worlds will beckon and mankind will be able to join in a new age of peace. And as the time nears, Tom isn't the only one having visions of the other worlds, soon hundreds and thousands of others are having the visions too and they converge on a psychic healing center where Tom has found friends. Also headed north is a huge caravan of people following another prophet of the gods. A former taxi driver who also believes a time of changes is coming. But when these groups meet up with a band of scratchers who are also looking for Tom, will it result in a new age or just the end of humanity?
First thoughts: Very confused. This is a post-apoplectic world There are people who find it hard to believe that there once were airplanes that could make the trip across the United States in a few hours and yet...there are "mind picker" machines that can wipe selected memories from people's minds. The center has walls which act like viewscreens that can display information. There are vehicles that can hover along the ground rather than having wheels. There are "cubes" that will play any kind of music the owner selects. All sorts of technology seems to have survived the Dust War that left radioactive dust across the country's midsection and disrupted everything.
Second thoughts: I'm quite sure that I would have liked this a lot more if I'd read this during my heavy science fiction phase. At that time (1980s/early 90s) I was reading everything by Silverberg that came along. Silverberg can get pretty "out there" (Dying Inside, anybody?) and this novel is out there on the edge. Reading Silverberg in the latter half of my life is more of a crap shoot (The Masks of Time didn't do a whole lot for me when I read it in 2012; The Silent Invaders had a much better hook and story line).
Third thoughts: Silverberg could have used a more ruthless editor on this one. The book is almost 400 pages long--about twice as long as necessary. We really don't need a dozen or more rehashings of the various otherworldly dreams (especially the Green World and how beautifully green and peaceful it is). We got it the first time. Honest.
Fourth thoughts, Robert Silverberg, I'm sorry, but I'm just not feeling this one. It took too long to get to the Crossing and then when we got there....it just fell flat and it seemed like there should have been something more. Very anticlimactic. Not the best Silverberg I've read (but then...I'm wondering what I would think now of some of the work I enjoyed so much back in the 80s).
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
First thoughts: Very confused. This is a post-apoplectic world There are people who find it hard to believe that there once were airplanes that could make the trip across the United States in a few hours and yet...there are "mind picker" machines that can wipe selected memories from people's minds. The center has walls which act like viewscreens that can display information. There are vehicles that can hover along the ground rather than having wheels. There are "cubes" that will play any kind of music the owner selects. All sorts of technology seems to have survived the Dust War that left radioactive dust across the country's midsection and disrupted everything.
Second thoughts: I'm quite sure that I would have liked this a lot more if I'd read this during my heavy science fiction phase. At that time (1980s/early 90s) I was reading everything by Silverberg that came along. Silverberg can get pretty "out there" (Dying Inside, anybody?) and this novel is out there on the edge. Reading Silverberg in the latter half of my life is more of a crap shoot (The Masks of Time didn't do a whole lot for me when I read it in 2012; The Silent Invaders had a much better hook and story line).
Third thoughts: Silverberg could have used a more ruthless editor on this one. The book is almost 400 pages long--about twice as long as necessary. We really don't need a dozen or more rehashings of the various otherworldly dreams (especially the Green World and how beautifully green and peaceful it is). We got it the first time. Honest.
Fourth thoughts, Robert Silverberg, I'm sorry, but I'm just not feeling this one. It took too long to get to the Crossing and then when we got there....it just fell flat and it seemed like there should have been something more. Very anticlimactic. Not the best Silverberg I've read (but then...I'm wondering what I would think now of some of the work I enjoyed so much back in the 80s).
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
December 29, 2016
Often hailed as one of Silverberg's most original efforts, TOM O'BEDLAM is a mainstay of New Age/Spiritual SciFi, a genre that peaked during the 1970's and 1980's. Robert Silverberg, penning novels since the mid-1950's, has been one of the genre's most prolific authors. He published TOM O'BEDLAM in 1985, during the height of his popularity and while he was writing some of his most imaginative fiction. The book takes place on a near-future, post-apocalyptic Earth, in which war has left civilization in rapid decline and the general status is one of desperation. This is a sad world, where new religions are cropping up, memory-wiping therapy is the go-to treatment, and rampaging gangs make their own law. The book revolves around Tom, a seeming lunatic with visions of distant galaxies and strange beings. When other people start sharing these so-called "space dreams", the possibility of extraterrestrial life and transitioning into a new state of existence actually starts to take hold. As the characters battle with personal struggles dealing with how this new reality may effect them, the reader is treated to complex views of the human psyche and our receptibility to strange new ideas.
Silverberg doesn't avoid stepping on sensitive toes here, as he routinely includes social and religious messages in this book. Throughout, heavy-handed allusions to Christianity seem to call into question the validity of the religion. I'm sure many Christians have been offended by this, as the book seems to compare our current-day religions to these New Age, hallucinatory-based pseudo religions. There is also the free-love, no-worries lifestyle espoused here, which was so par for the course in New Age SciFi of the time. Again, offensive to the most sensitive, but accepted as one man's right to social commentary by most. Open-minded and practical readers will appreciate this book for what it is, a brilliantly-imaginative work of art by one of our most-loved SciFi authors. Highly recommended.
Silverberg doesn't avoid stepping on sensitive toes here, as he routinely includes social and religious messages in this book. Throughout, heavy-handed allusions to Christianity seem to call into question the validity of the religion. I'm sure many Christians have been offended by this, as the book seems to compare our current-day religions to these New Age, hallucinatory-based pseudo religions. There is also the free-love, no-worries lifestyle espoused here, which was so par for the course in New Age SciFi of the time. Again, offensive to the most sensitive, but accepted as one man's right to social commentary by most. Open-minded and practical readers will appreciate this book for what it is, a brilliantly-imaginative work of art by one of our most-loved SciFi authors. Highly recommended.
June 18, 2013
A rescued book from my own shelves via the transfer station. My book has this cover but is a paperback. I've liked Silverberg in the past. He's one of that classic generation of 50's and 60's writers. Starting today/tonight...
And off and reading last night spite of busyness. I like the post-apoc. stories. We'll see how this ones stacks up.
Slow progress so far but I'll be able to get into it tonight. It's time for something to happen I'm guessing.
Still progressing slowly halfway through the book. Maybe the author is milking a thin idea here. It's getting a bit repetitive. Who was/is Tom O'Bedlam? The name of an anonymous early 17th century poem... the name given to people who feigned mental illness... Edgar in "King Lear" disguises himself as Tom O'Bedlam...
Finished last night and not impressed. What I thought might have been a Maguffin wasn't. It just went on and on and then it ended. Certainly far from the author's best work. Seems like RS might have knocked this one off in a month or less. A thin idea padded out into a book. A mash-up of some TC Boyle Cali-Post-Apoc./generic post-apoc. with a bit of Rapture-ism, generic religiosity and a hint of Jim Jones and Jonestown. This morning I found myself feeling a bit more generous but the best I can do is 2.5 stars which rounds down to 2*. I felt like I wasted my time...
And off and reading last night spite of busyness. I like the post-apoc. stories. We'll see how this ones stacks up.
Slow progress so far but I'll be able to get into it tonight. It's time for something to happen I'm guessing.
Still progressing slowly halfway through the book. Maybe the author is milking a thin idea here. It's getting a bit repetitive. Who was/is Tom O'Bedlam? The name of an anonymous early 17th century poem... the name given to people who feigned mental illness... Edgar in "King Lear" disguises himself as Tom O'Bedlam...
Finished last night and not impressed. What I thought might have been a Maguffin wasn't. It just went on and on and then it ended. Certainly far from the author's best work. Seems like RS might have knocked this one off in a month or less. A thin idea padded out into a book. A mash-up of some TC Boyle Cali-Post-Apoc./generic post-apoc. with a bit of Rapture-ism, generic religiosity and a hint of Jim Jones and Jonestown. This morning I found myself feeling a bit more generous but the best I can do is 2.5 stars which rounds down to 2*. I felt like I wasted my time...
January 27, 2019
Silverberg never disappoints. This story of a future America, decimated by the Dust Wars, includes an apparently crazy man who has visions of other planets, a prophet who has received those visions and created a religion, as well as a series of people surviving in the post apocalyptic world as best as they can. Descriptions of the planets are so vivid and enticing that I'm hoping to be Crossed Over myself!
May 28, 2024
I eventually gave up, this just never gripped me enough to be bothered to finish it...
June 23, 2024
Robert Silverberg is one of the few SF authors who has put out consistently good works over his entire writing career. This one is no exception. I really enjoyed it. One aspect of the novel I like was its setting in "post" post-apocalypse. It's decades after the events of a nuclear war, and large swaths of the Mid-West are covered in radioactive dust. The rest of the world has also suffered from this cataclysm. However, large portions of humanity remain scattered. Essentially, there are still universities, sad decrepit grocery stores, and large cities that cover the Western seaboard. Humanity doesn't end in one big event but in a slow decrepit process of wasting away. For example, one of the characters who is an anthropologist considers "Why write my book when, in the end it doesn't even matter." The novel then follows Tom, a man in the desert who has waking visions of other galaxies and a coming rapture like event to send people to these other galaxies.
I really enjoyed this novel. However, my one gripe is, I wish Silverberg delved more into the world and setting. As well as the landscapes. He is a very character oriented writer, which isn't bad, but sometimes his character interactions seem to take a page longer than probably could be. 4/5
I really enjoyed this novel. However, my one gripe is, I wish Silverberg delved more into the world and setting. As well as the landscapes. He is a very character oriented writer, which isn't bad, but sometimes his character interactions seem to take a page longer than probably could be. 4/5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 16, 2024
Gostei muito mais do que a classificação do Goodreads e não imaginava a história como é construída.
Existem zonas dos EUA contaminadas por uma poeira radioativa e cidades que não são seguras. A personagem Tom anda perdido e maltrapilho como um louco com visões de 9 planetas e civilizações que são uma espécie de paraíso e droga mental para o refúgio de um planeta que já não é o que deveria ser.
O Tom vai encontrar um grupo de homens algo violentos mas liderados por um homem Charley que fica fascinado por ele e as histórias dos mundos extraterrestres.
Num retiro para pessoas que sofrem de uma doença obsessiva, existem uma série de pessoas que são tratadas diariamente para se esquecerem do que fizeram antes, com manipulação das memórias, e é aqui que surge Elzsabet que gere o centro e tem como objetivo ajudar as pessoas .
Várias personagens vão sendo atraídas para as visões do Tom e existe um culto de seguidores fanáticos .
A questão que fica em toda a história é quem é Tom, um louco ou um profeta que como Messias era predestinado a levar os seus filhos à terra prometida .
Muito bem escrito e com um pendor religioso e extra terreno fascinante
Existem zonas dos EUA contaminadas por uma poeira radioativa e cidades que não são seguras. A personagem Tom anda perdido e maltrapilho como um louco com visões de 9 planetas e civilizações que são uma espécie de paraíso e droga mental para o refúgio de um planeta que já não é o que deveria ser.
O Tom vai encontrar um grupo de homens algo violentos mas liderados por um homem Charley que fica fascinado por ele e as histórias dos mundos extraterrestres.
Num retiro para pessoas que sofrem de uma doença obsessiva, existem uma série de pessoas que são tratadas diariamente para se esquecerem do que fizeram antes, com manipulação das memórias, e é aqui que surge Elzsabet que gere o centro e tem como objetivo ajudar as pessoas .
Várias personagens vão sendo atraídas para as visões do Tom e existe um culto de seguidores fanáticos .
A questão que fica em toda a história é quem é Tom, um louco ou um profeta que como Messias era predestinado a levar os seus filhos à terra prometida .
Muito bem escrito e com um pendor religioso e extra terreno fascinante
March 10, 2022
One of my favorite sci-fi books, I recently read it for the fourth time, though the first in a couple of decades. A very fun read. What is the "what if?" of Tom O'Bedlam? It's one of the most fantastic in all of science fiction, that through in utero exposure to radiation, the brain of one person on the planet is able to tap into the signals of a highly advanced multi-galactic network of super-civilizations and further, can transmit those signals as visions into the minds of those around him, in a way that seems utterly real. But while taking that premise, the novel spends all of its time with a tightly woven plot with three main protagonists, in an early 22nd century California that is something of a refuge in a fractured and war-torn world.
December 6, 2024
I tried to like this. I gave it 100 pages - then I went to 200. Then I stopped. I kept reading in hopes that there might be a single chapter without the 'Dream' invading the story because I was tired of hearing about it. Quite frankly I became more interested in why the world was the way it was, and very bored of the 'Dream' and it's machinations.
Obviously the 'Dreams' and 'Visions' were what Silverberg started with as a way to tell the stories of his very mundane cast, but it's just not enough to make me care about what happens. So people are having the same 'Visions', big deal. Either it all ends in salvation, apocalypse, or the 'Visions' are just the affect of the 'Dust War'...so what.
Obviously the 'Dreams' and 'Visions' were what Silverberg started with as a way to tell the stories of his very mundane cast, but it's just not enough to make me care about what happens. So people are having the same 'Visions', big deal. Either it all ends in salvation, apocalypse, or the 'Visions' are just the affect of the 'Dust War'...so what.
February 24, 2018
Not Silverberg’s best. I felt that this book was really boring and repetitive. It was a struggle to finish. And worst of all, the story had no resolution.
“The green world, the green world, the green world...” Descriptions of the dreams snd visions start wearing on you as you read this. And Tom as a character is annoying. In the end, I didn’t really care about any of the characters. I just wanted it to end. That’s a bad sign.
I’ve read a lot of good stuff from Silverberg but this one? Eh, not recommended, I’m afraid. Sorry.
“The green world, the green world, the green world...” Descriptions of the dreams snd visions start wearing on you as you read this. And Tom as a character is annoying. In the end, I didn’t really care about any of the characters. I just wanted it to end. That’s a bad sign.
I’ve read a lot of good stuff from Silverberg but this one? Eh, not recommended, I’m afraid. Sorry.
July 21, 2023
I read this two years ago and can still remember the characters and course of events, so that’s saying something. This was an engaging book that I looked forward to picking up each time, a tale about an America that is mostly a radioactive wasteland from “dust bombs” meant to cripple our bread-basket states, but the coastal cities are still intact. The three different, but quite interesting, main characters eventually converge around the main theme: people are having the same dreams about a God-like alien who lives on a paradise world (cue in the music from Close Encounters). However, Silverberg’s imagination runs rampant with seven different worlds all inhabited by fantastic creatures. Written in 1985, he must have just watched Cosmos when Carl Sagan talked about aliens not likely to have humanoid form but rather forms that we can hardly imagine, such as floating jellyfish cloud creatures, and yep, some of these ideas show up in this story.
To say anymore would spoil some of the fun, but I have to say that Silverberg opts for an enigmatic and somewhat disturbing non-ending which leaves the reader unsure as to whether this was a science-fiction story of an advanced race contacting us telepathically – or – a disturbing tale of a radiation-induced viral hallucinogenic psychosis. Whew. Have to confess that I was disappointed in the non-ending, but on the basis of strong characterization and level of engagement with the narrative this still warrants at least three stars.
To say anymore would spoil some of the fun, but I have to say that Silverberg opts for an enigmatic and somewhat disturbing non-ending which leaves the reader unsure as to whether this was a science-fiction story of an advanced race contacting us telepathically – or – a disturbing tale of a radiation-induced viral hallucinogenic psychosis. Whew. Have to confess that I was disappointed in the non-ending, but on the basis of strong characterization and level of engagement with the narrative this still warrants at least three stars.
July 13, 2017
A gently post-apocalyptic world. Tom wanders the west coast, which decays from occasional radioactive winds and the loss of major modern conveniences or travel and communication. Tom's character sound much like a classic storybook prophet, soft in character and questionably sane. He talks of visions from space, and those begin to appear in people's dreams.
I enjoyed the premise and the world. The prose was fine, but the characters and pacing didn't catch me.
I enjoyed the premise and the world. The prose was fine, but the characters and pacing didn't catch me.
August 26, 2019
"To see my Tom of Bedlam, 1000 years I'd travel.
Mad Maudlin goes on dirty toes to save her shoes from gravel"
-- Bedlam Boys (a song sung to the tune of Tom o' Bedlam, I think written by Buffy St. Marie)
There are recreating folk tales & then there are stories like Tom O'Bedlam. I don't want to reveal too much but I have to say Silverberg has come up with a beautiful way to re-envision Tom's visions. I'd opt for the Green World m'self.
Mad Maudlin goes on dirty toes to save her shoes from gravel"
-- Bedlam Boys (a song sung to the tune of Tom o' Bedlam, I think written by Buffy St. Marie)
There are recreating folk tales & then there are stories like Tom O'Bedlam. I don't want to reveal too much but I have to say Silverberg has come up with a beautiful way to re-envision Tom's visions. I'd opt for the Green World m'self.
February 23, 2024
This is interesting as a post apocalyptic world, as the down fall of the planet feels inevitable. The survivors though seem to be making a come back but a messianic character offers his way of surviving and transforming as the next step for our species. The story is simple for how long the book is. Many of the characters are cliched and old fashioned.
August 2, 2020
The Bedlam character is starting a cult. He says he can save the souls - or the psyches, of a group of trusting people. He can send their minds to the stars, he says. But is he a savior, a madman, or conman?
December 30, 2017
An OK story but way to mystical a story for me
October 8, 2022
This is a bizarre little gem of a book. It ends a bit abruptly for my liking, but the rest of the story is rather fascinating, a mix of post-apocalyptic sci-fi and weird, off-world hallucinations.
March 8, 2024
Strange. Exciting. Illusionary. What's really going on here?
May 26, 2024
My first alien sci fi read and I loved it! Super entertaining. The book does contain verses from the Bible which I did like.
May 26, 2024
What a wild Ride!! Only Robert Silverberg could carry it off!!!
March 7, 2021
The sort of comfortable and humanist SF the '70s and '80s excelled in, and which seems rarer on the ground as time goes on. Somewhat New Age in its concerns, though deeply characterised throughout, and the plot threads pull together towards an ambient ending that may disappoint, but which seemed perfect for the tale.
January 9, 2012
by Robert Silverberg, published in 1985.
I have yet to read a Silverberg novel I didn’t like, but this one came close to having me indifferent.
The story is pretty far-fetched - Tom O’Bedlam, crazy Tom, has been getting images and sendings from space since he was a small boy. And boy, are these some unbelievable images and sendings. There are hundreds, even thousands of alien species in the galaxy, and Tom knows about them all and their worlds and interrelationships.
Or does he?
The setting is post apocalyptic, a good place for the human race to start dreaming of other sentient beings in the universe less violent and with beautiful worlds where creatures live in harmony and peace.
That is Tom’s message anyway, and the entire population of North America, begins having the very same images and sendings as Tom does. How can this possibly be? Well two theories prevail. One is that Tom is creating the stuff in his own mind and transmitting it to others, or the images are real.
Both possibilities seem crazy and right in the middle of it all it Tom. Crazy Tom, poor Tom.
Tom travels around from place to place and falls in with some scratchers. These people are cruel and violent and will kill if they feel they must. Tom tries to tell them not to do it since soon, the “Crossing” will be possible. You see Tom is convinced he will have the power to send human souls up to any of the worlds out there to join in those other civilizations.
There is a place where minds are cleansed, an institute which “picks” your mind of unwanted thoughts to make you better. Creepy place for sure and you guessed it, this is where Tom ends up but not as an inmate but a visitor with a message. And since most of the inmates are having the dreams, he fits right in an fuels the belief.
And an entire ensemble of believers following a prophet are commuting across the lands to head to a place where they think the gods will descend to earth and save them. Yup, thousands of them all sharing the visions.
A tightly plotted book this is, and all these seemingly unrelated groups of people converge in the end - and Tom starts to show them the way to make the Crossing.
Only problem is, when Tom sends the first one on his way - he dies. So, is Tom able to kill people or are their souls going to a better place?
You will need to read this book to find out - but be warned the answer you find may be from within and not from without.
I have yet to read a Silverberg novel I didn’t like, but this one came close to having me indifferent.
The story is pretty far-fetched - Tom O’Bedlam, crazy Tom, has been getting images and sendings from space since he was a small boy. And boy, are these some unbelievable images and sendings. There are hundreds, even thousands of alien species in the galaxy, and Tom knows about them all and their worlds and interrelationships.
Or does he?
The setting is post apocalyptic, a good place for the human race to start dreaming of other sentient beings in the universe less violent and with beautiful worlds where creatures live in harmony and peace.
That is Tom’s message anyway, and the entire population of North America, begins having the very same images and sendings as Tom does. How can this possibly be? Well two theories prevail. One is that Tom is creating the stuff in his own mind and transmitting it to others, or the images are real.
Both possibilities seem crazy and right in the middle of it all it Tom. Crazy Tom, poor Tom.
Tom travels around from place to place and falls in with some scratchers. These people are cruel and violent and will kill if they feel they must. Tom tries to tell them not to do it since soon, the “Crossing” will be possible. You see Tom is convinced he will have the power to send human souls up to any of the worlds out there to join in those other civilizations.
There is a place where minds are cleansed, an institute which “picks” your mind of unwanted thoughts to make you better. Creepy place for sure and you guessed it, this is where Tom ends up but not as an inmate but a visitor with a message. And since most of the inmates are having the dreams, he fits right in an fuels the belief.
And an entire ensemble of believers following a prophet are commuting across the lands to head to a place where they think the gods will descend to earth and save them. Yup, thousands of them all sharing the visions.
A tightly plotted book this is, and all these seemingly unrelated groups of people converge in the end - and Tom starts to show them the way to make the Crossing.
Only problem is, when Tom sends the first one on his way - he dies. So, is Tom able to kill people or are their souls going to a better place?
You will need to read this book to find out - but be warned the answer you find may be from within and not from without.
October 19, 2013
A post-apocalyptic novel. Earth is ravaged by radioactive warfare, and social fragmentation. Tom O'Bedlam is a crazy (perhaps!) wanderer, dreaming of alien races on other planets. His dreams become widely shared, and Tom and others talk of leaving their bodies to travel to the alien planets, leaving earth behind. Perhaps it is a shared illusion propagated by O'Bedlam's mental powers. But after images from a space probe show aliens from the dreams, maybe perhaps it is all true. Or, perhaps it is all madness.
This book has a lot: Post-apocalyptic madness and violence. A brain research and therapy institute in Northern California. A mass cult religion based in San Diego. Striking similarities to the Heaven's Gate suicides that occurred in San Diego 12 years after this book was published. (However, the cult was already known in the 1980's and might have influenced Silverberg?)
This book has a lot: Post-apocalyptic madness and violence. A brain research and therapy institute in Northern California. A mass cult religion based in San Diego. Striking similarities to the Heaven's Gate suicides that occurred in San Diego 12 years after this book was published. (However, the cult was already known in the 1980's and might have influenced Silverberg?)
April 23, 2014
Aliens are coming, and in a run-down, post-nuclear America, one man can see them particularly clearly. Or, maybe, he's a mutant giving everyone around him hallucinatory visions. It doesn't really matter which until characters have to decide whether to let him send their spirits across space, leaving their (dead) earthly bodies behind. But at that point, for the characters - and the reader - the question becomes much more urgent: what do you believe is happening, death or transcendence?
A bit slow at times, but the book is a thoughtful, pulp-y exploration of the nature of faith. It could have been told more conventionally as a story about religious faith, but the fact it is framed as science fiction perhaps makes the question more accessible for a secular audience. The book has aged well - reading it for the first time in 2014, it still feels fresher and more relevant than most other science fiction from the mid 1980s.
A bit slow at times, but the book is a thoughtful, pulp-y exploration of the nature of faith. It could have been told more conventionally as a story about religious faith, but the fact it is framed as science fiction perhaps makes the question more accessible for a secular audience. The book has aged well - reading it for the first time in 2014, it still feels fresher and more relevant than most other science fiction from the mid 1980s.
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