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Парень и его пес
Год 2024. Парень по имени Вик и его верный друг — разумный пёс-телепат Блад рыщут по сгоревшей земле в поисках еды и, если повезет, женщин. Пес интеллектуально превосходит своего спутника, и по существу является его воспитателем.
А глубоко под землёй, в огромном убежище, живут добропорядочные американцы, сохранившие патриархальный уклад жизни, но испытывающие дефицит свежих генов и гормонов. Вику выпадает большое счастье — попасть в этот "рай".
А глубоко под землёй, в огромном убежище, живут добропорядочные американцы, сохранившие патриархальный уклад жизни, но испытывающие дефицит свежих генов и гормонов. Вику выпадает большое счастье — попасть в этот "рай".
36 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1969
307 people are currently reading
2849 people want to read
About the author
Harlan Ellison
1,082 books2,811 followersHarlan Jay Ellison (1934-2018) was a prolific American writer of short stories, novellas, teleplays, essays, and criticism.
His literary and television work has received many awards. He wrote for the original series of both The Outer Limits and Star Trek as well as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; edited the multiple-award-winning short story anthology series Dangerous Visions; and served as creative consultant/writer to the science fiction TV series The New Twilight Zone and Babylon 5.
Several of his short fiction pieces have been made into movies, such as the classic "The Boy and His Dog".
His literary and television work has received many awards. He wrote for the original series of both The Outer Limits and Star Trek as well as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; edited the multiple-award-winning short story anthology series Dangerous Visions; and served as creative consultant/writer to the science fiction TV series The New Twilight Zone and Babylon 5.
Several of his short fiction pieces have been made into movies, such as the classic "The Boy and His Dog".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 220 reviews
May 20, 2018
This is one hell of a divisive short story. The fact it's written very well, that it evokes so many positive and negative emotions, although, MOST of them are negative, speaks very well of the author even I hate what's going on inside the story.
I've only read a few of Ellison's works and I guess I've been avoiding it for a long time. Mostly because he's a known jerk and iconoclast and while he's also doing most of it for the shock value almost as if he's the Marylin Manson of the 60's. I can respect a man who knows his own mind and writes stories that are shocking and repulsive and funny at the same time
This definitely falls into that category. Rape. Rapey stuff. Brutal dystopian world that not only condones but explicitly encourages the objectification of women. But wait! Isn't that most of the dystopian literature, these days!?
Yeah, I guess it is. But back in '69 when this little gem came out, it threw all the optimistic post-nuke claptrap out the window and dived deep into the truly ugly side of men vs. women.
Come on. He uses his telepathic dog (who is much smarter than him) to serial-rape women. Just because he finds one that just likes sex and talks about love doesn't excuse his past behavior (or anyone else's).
But damn! Ellison writes this so damn well and with a lot of dark humor. The twist at the end was nasty and gorgeous and rather fitting, too. I can't fault this. It's too dark. Too funny.
So in one respect, I just want to give this a one star. In another, I can't help but be impressed by the writing and the controversy and the way it sparks a LOT of huge emotions in every reader. This is what art is meant to do, no? Well, this succeeds.
I've only read a few of Ellison's works and I guess I've been avoiding it for a long time. Mostly because he's a known jerk and iconoclast and while he's also doing most of it for the shock value almost as if he's the Marylin Manson of the 60's. I can respect a man who knows his own mind and writes stories that are shocking and repulsive and funny at the same time
This definitely falls into that category. Rape. Rapey stuff. Brutal dystopian world that not only condones but explicitly encourages the objectification of women. But wait! Isn't that most of the dystopian literature, these days!?
Yeah, I guess it is. But back in '69 when this little gem came out, it threw all the optimistic post-nuke claptrap out the window and dived deep into the truly ugly side of men vs. women.
Come on. He uses his telepathic dog (who is much smarter than him) to serial-rape women. Just because he finds one that just likes sex and talks about love doesn't excuse his past behavior (or anyone else's).
But damn! Ellison writes this so damn well and with a lot of dark humor. The twist at the end was nasty and gorgeous and rather fitting, too. I can't fault this. It's too dark. Too funny.
So in one respect, I just want to give this a one star. In another, I can't help but be impressed by the writing and the controversy and the way it sparks a LOT of huge emotions in every reader. This is what art is meant to do, no? Well, this succeeds.
May 20, 2018
This was one of those stories I read to brush up on the big names, the classics.
I'm aware when this was written and, sadly, what people thought "a real man" should be like or, equally, how a woman should behave. Nevertheless, this is unacceptable. And considering that Harlan Ellison supposedly has spoken out against sexism for decades, it is VERY disappointing to read him pulling off the same shit in this story.
We follow Vic, a teenaged boy, and his dog, Blood, through the wastelands that used to be the US before WWIII. It's an alternate world where science has figured out a way for people to communicate telepathically with animals. The boy's dog sniffs out women for the boy because the boy is horny. So yeah, the protagonist is a serial rapist. And no, I didn't find the slightest clue that this was satire, unfortunately.
One day, they thus find another girl, but she is not exactly like the others before, even leading the boy to a group of people living underground.
Stuff happens and then we get one hell of a funny mind-fuck as the ending.
I must say that I don't mind but the whole image of women here is just so wrong.
Supposedly (I haven't done enough research to confirm this myself yet), this author is known to be provocative. As in making people uncomfortable with his stories. And he definitely succeeds.
If he had written this story slightly differently to emphasize his dislike of sexism and rape culture (such as in Meg Elison's books - funny that they share a last name, although spelled slightly differently), I would have applauded him. As it is, it feels as if this story outraged people more for the fact that than for the rapey stuff happening.
I must also confess, however, that the writing style is superb (especially considering the age of the story), engaging (enfuriating) and that I did not see that ending coming.
Defintiely a story that gets people talking, then and now.
It was therefore very hard to rate this story because of the aforementioned problems but also how it has influenced people (including me) and started countless discussions. So it did its job of being provocative and maybe the author wanting to provoke in the first place does mean he was/is critical of the status quo?
I'm aware when this was written and, sadly, what people thought "a real man" should be like or, equally, how a woman should behave. Nevertheless, this is unacceptable. And considering that Harlan Ellison supposedly has spoken out against sexism for decades, it is VERY disappointing to read him pulling off the same shit in this story.
We follow Vic, a teenaged boy, and his dog, Blood, through the wastelands that used to be the US before WWIII. It's an alternate world where science has figured out a way for people to communicate telepathically with animals. The boy's dog sniffs out women for the boy because the boy is horny. So yeah, the protagonist is a serial rapist. And no, I didn't find the slightest clue that this was satire, unfortunately.
One day, they thus find another girl, but she is not exactly like the others before, even leading the boy to a group of people living underground.
Stuff happens and then we get one hell of a funny mind-fuck as the ending.
I must say that I don't mind but the whole image of women here is just so wrong.
Supposedly (I haven't done enough research to confirm this myself yet), this author is known to be provocative. As in making people uncomfortable with his stories. And he definitely succeeds.
If he had written this story slightly differently to emphasize his dislike of sexism and rape culture (such as in Meg Elison's books - funny that they share a last name, although spelled slightly differently), I would have applauded him. As it is, it feels as if this story outraged people more for the fact that than for the rapey stuff happening.
I must also confess, however, that the writing style is superb (especially considering the age of the story), engaging (enfuriating) and that I did not see that ending coming.
Defintiely a story that gets people talking, then and now.
It was therefore very hard to rate this story because of the aforementioned problems but also how it has influenced people (including me) and started countless discussions. So it did its job of being provocative and maybe the author wanting to provoke in the first place does mean he was/is critical of the status quo?
December 9, 2021
Brutal
A rather famous story by a rather famous author. I didn't like it. This re-read went no better than my initial read some decades ago. It is a brutal story about a brutal dystopian world and the brutal people who inhabit it. I don't like any of the characters including the dog. In my opinion, to be enjoyable this story needs a hero to rise above the brutality and squalor. But I don't think Harlan Ellison intended this one to be comfortable and enjoyable.
A rather famous story by a rather famous author. I didn't like it. This re-read went no better than my initial read some decades ago. It is a brutal story about a brutal dystopian world and the brutal people who inhabit it. I don't like any of the characters including the dog. In my opinion, to be enjoyable this story needs a hero to rise above the brutality and squalor. But I don't think Harlan Ellison intended this one to be comfortable and enjoyable.
November 7, 2018
LMFAO. What the hell did I just read? I seriously don't fathom how it could be that some people didn't like "A Boy and His Dog" but rated it 4 or even 5 stars just because of the controversy it's raised.
The writing is kinda fine because Ellison didn't use a shitload of adverbs, adverbial dialogue tags, and said-bookisms, which usually make me roll my eyes to the back of my skull. But there were a couple of sentences that were so hellishly long I had to gasp for air after reading them. Oh, boy. There was nothing special about the narration; it felt pretty dull, clunky, and amateurish at times.
The story is about a fifteen-year-old Vic and his dog, Blood, who could telepathically communicate with each other. They were survivors of a nuclear WWIII, and now they had to cope with the aftermath of the war. Vic made sure Blood was fed while Blood taught Vic to read and helped him find women so he could rape them. One day, they stumbled across a girl named Quilla June Holmes who was so different Vic thought he could watch her all night instead of raping her. Yeah, but it was just what he assumed because he ended up raping her anyway. Quilla June, however, liked it and fell in love with Vic. (Err...what? I thought only fanfic writers used this kind of plot, but apparently, I was deadly wrong.)
Fast-forwarding to the end:
I beg to differ. If you loved your dog, then you wouldn't have kicked him, or booted him, or sort of abandoned him to go get even with Quilla June.
I don't find it funny or dark or gritty or brilliant or whatsoever; it's just laughable. The twist at the end also didn't impress me, because it was kinda predictable given how plainly Vic the asshole was portrayed. It's even more ridiculous that this novella won the Nebula Award for Best Novella in 1969 and got nominated for the 1970 Hugo Award.
This is me after reading "A Boy and His Dog":
The writing is kinda fine because Ellison didn't use a shitload of adverbs, adverbial dialogue tags, and said-bookisms, which usually make me roll my eyes to the back of my skull. But there were a couple of sentences that were so hellishly long I had to gasp for air after reading them. Oh, boy. There was nothing special about the narration; it felt pretty dull, clunky, and amateurish at times.
The story is about a fifteen-year-old Vic and his dog, Blood, who could telepathically communicate with each other. They were survivors of a nuclear WWIII, and now they had to cope with the aftermath of the war. Vic made sure Blood was fed while Blood taught Vic to read and helped him find women so he could rape them. One day, they stumbled across a girl named Quilla June Holmes who was so different Vic thought he could watch her all night instead of raping her. Yeah, but it was just what he assumed because he ended up raping her anyway. Quilla June, however, liked it and fell in love with Vic. (Err...what? I thought only fanfic writers used this kind of plot, but apparently, I was deadly wrong.)
Fast-forwarding to the end:
Sure I know.
A boy loves his dog.
I beg to differ. If you loved your dog, then you wouldn't have kicked him, or booted him, or sort of abandoned him to go get even with Quilla June.
I don't find it funny or dark or gritty or brilliant or whatsoever; it's just laughable. The twist at the end also didn't impress me, because it was kinda predictable given how plainly Vic the asshole was portrayed. It's even more ridiculous that this novella won the Nebula Award for Best Novella in 1969 and got nominated for the 1970 Hugo Award.
This is me after reading "A Boy and His Dog":
June 26, 2018
I like the post-apocalyptic themes and the writing style, but I could do without the misogyny. I only read it because Fallout, one of my favorite video game series, was heavily inspired by it. The reason I gave it a 2 star rating and not a 1 star rating is because the writing style itself is alright, even though the plot is super rapey.
October 4, 2016
WARNING: Not for the Politically Correct! One of my all-time favourite stories, this biting, pointed black comedy of sorts might just be the second greatest love story ever written, after Romeo and Juliet. It's set in a chaotic, post-apocalyptic near future, and follows the adventures of teenager Vic and his dog Blood in a world where women are few and far between. The two are able to communicate with one another, and in truth Blood is the brighter of the two, though he's dependant on Vic for his survival. More than that I shall not say, except that you needn't be a sci-fi fan to enjoy this wonderful, wicked, highly entertaining, engaging, stinging tale (or is that tail?).
October 20, 2024
Set in the year 2024, the world is in ruins after World War IV. A man and his dog scour the wasteland, do what they can to survive and act in uncomfortably savage ways.
This is a violent story with a rapist as the main character. So, it goes without saying this book isn’t going to be for everyone.
However, if you enjoy post-apocalyptic stories that are brutal and ugly, and aren’t easily offended, you might find it, like I did, utterly compelling.
The relationship between the young man and his dog is very funny, and the world that Ellison conjures is vivid and fascinating.
The ending is surprisingly beautiful and quite perfect. This is my fourth Ellison story, and I’ve loved everyone of them. It’s still early but I think he might be my favourite short story writer.
Now to watch the film adaptation and read the prequel, Eggsucker and sequel, Run, Spot, Run.
P.s. I had issues posting this review until I changed the edition of the book. Goodreads just being Goodreads I guess.
This is a violent story with a rapist as the main character. So, it goes without saying this book isn’t going to be for everyone.
However, if you enjoy post-apocalyptic stories that are brutal and ugly, and aren’t easily offended, you might find it, like I did, utterly compelling.
The relationship between the young man and his dog is very funny, and the world that Ellison conjures is vivid and fascinating.
The ending is surprisingly beautiful and quite perfect. This is my fourth Ellison story, and I’ve loved everyone of them. It’s still early but I think he might be my favourite short story writer.
Now to watch the film adaptation and read the prequel, Eggsucker and sequel, Run, Spot, Run.
P.s. I had issues posting this review until I changed the edition of the book. Goodreads just being Goodreads I guess.
February 27, 2019
A pretty strong post apocalyptic story about a boy, and his telepathic dog. In it Harlan Ellison has managed to create a mood of total chaos and collapse. It feels like mankind is destined to die out at this stage, and it just hasn’t accepted the fact yet. This is the strongest aspect of the story in my view.
April 19, 2022
Edit: Id give this a 0 star if I could
I read this illgegalgy as an online pdf which was like 19 pages with 2 pages on each pdf slice, so this was like /40ish/ pages yet goodreads says its 77 ?? Confused on this but it seemed like linear story so I think goodreads has it wrong or something
I think calling this short story/ novella/ waste of time/ waste of energy/ waste of paper/ etc a dissapointing misogynistic chunk of trash is an understatement.
I am not one for writing reviews on things but this short story was quiet possibly one of the most painful things to read, behind most "fix-it" fanfictions and omegaverse smut. Please note this is my first literature review, so excuse me 🙄.
As a fan of my boy Harlan I am dissapointed. Very. Dissapointed. Lord help me if this short story was a restaurant becuase id scream for the manager and transform into the most horrifyingly viscous karen ever to walk the face of Earth. If I was AM (ihnmaims) I would personally bring this short story down and torture it for eternity, jelly Ted treatment and all.
Who decided to make this short story a "classic" ?? Its misogynistic rapist-sympathizing garbage disguised as a mEaNiNGfUl short "story" about mans best friend.
Ive heard people describe Ellison as misogynistic, but up until reading this I thought it was just people misreading his work. I was wrong. This man was a little bit ahead of his time in like, everything BUT women.
The story follows a protagonist named Vic, comminly nicnamed as Albert by his dog, and his intellignet dog, Blood. They live in a dystopian world where their area has so little women roaming around that many men have gotten it in or put it in the back end of eachother, if that makes sense. (Basically people turned to homosexuality, and I have a problem with this which ill get onto later.) But for those who arent gettin' jiggy wit the holes of men they spend their time watching prn in theaters having just a massive wank fest. When they actually find women, though, they rape them. Great. (Sarcasim). I was rooting for the protag until I found that information out. :)))
Our horny ass protagonist is enjoying a "movie" when Blood sniffs out a woman in the audiance. Oh yeah, forgot to mention. 🙄 They bred dogs to sniff out women. They follow the woman around when the movie ends, protag intending to rape her. They finally find her, get surrounded by other gangs, blah blah blah and all this hard to read action happens. The woman, known as Quilla June, Vic, and Blood are now trapped an a boiler while the place they were in burns. Then comes the worst scene I have EVER laid my eyes on. I have read horribly terrible things, seen terribly horrible things, but nothing has been as disgusting as this. Vic goes on to force himself onto Quilla June and describes it as how at first it was painful and bloody for her yet she started to enjoy it after a bit. It describes how when she O'd she held onto/ hugged Vic. And she enjoyed the experience and intitated sex more throughout their time in the boiler.
Its so hard to describe oh lord.
I may not be a rape specialist, or ever experienced it myself, but I GARUNTEE no woman, freshly raped, would EVER act like that, or want more. Honestly it sounds like Quilla June had more stockholm syndrome more than anything, but this was not Harlan Ellisons intention, so it was just "Oh she liked it that made it ok ☺️😊"
The story goes on with Quilla June betraying Vic and Blood, and continues to blah blah blah more crappy plot until the end where Vic sacrifices Quilla June as food for Blood, who is injured and hungry, at the end of the short story.
The main themes im getting are: "Mans best friend is worth everything" 🥺 and "Rape is OK if she cums and wants more😁".
The story really was about mans best friend, but I think anyone who has read A Boy And His Dog can agree this couldve been shown through a, well, better idea than this.
I would like to touch on the predictability of this story. Normally, im fine with predictable stories, sometimes I like the sense of certainty; predictability sometimes makes a bad ending/ event more chilling while you sit at the edge of your seat in anticipation! But this, this left me rubbing my head in anguish and embarassment looking like travis scot during his "apology" a few months back. I knew exactly what was going to happen at every turn, and the only thing that shocked me were the horrible atrocities the men in this story committed onto women. I can give a pass to authors that really try to be unpredictable, but I am shitting on Harlan today becuase he loooooves to claim he is unpredictable. I watched a few interviews with him a few days back, all of which I enjoyed very much ("Why do they make cheese in Wisconsin ?") and in one of these interviews he claims that when he sees something coming in a story as he writes he makes a sharp left and changes it up becuase he likes to think his reader are as smart (or smarter) than he is, so if HE can predict it so can his readers. I hate to say this, but this story made Harlan Ellison look like a brain dead snail that someone mustve poured an entire bag of salt onto, because only a braindead squirming snail dying from a hypertonic body mass couldve written such disgusting garbage.
I love his other works, just not this one. This one has no good qualities other than a mediocre ending.
I mentioned earlier how I dont like how the homosexuality is portrayed in this short story. It seemed like a half ass attempt at homosexuality, and I felt this story showed it as a "last option" as the men who chose this path had little to no acess to women.
I could go on about this short story, but ive ranted enough. I cry inside for all those whose first encounter with Harlan Ellison was this short story, as they probably are never reading his work again. I wouldnt blame them though.
Im just so upset. I had high hopes for this one! I trust society when they make a book so popular, a classic even!! I read a few negative reveiws before reading and went "Huh. I bet the same people writing these are the ones calling i have no mouth and i must scream torture prn. 🙄🙄" But no, the negative reveiws are right, there isnt any deeper ethical/ philosophical meaning to this story. My misogyny detector sucks and even I picked up the reeking stench of women-hating.
In conclusion, only read this short story if you want to not sleep at night from second hand embarassment for the author, publishers, and any dumbfuck who gave this a reveiw of higher than 3 stars.
If Harlan Ellison wasnt dead id challenge him to write ONE (1) story without objectifying or putting down women in one way or another.
To anyone who excuses any of the manevolent garbage written in this short story, sincerely never read or think again. You dont deserve it.
Thx for reading if you did (i dont expect anyone to have actually read this sorry)
Also pls excuse typoes, grammar errors ive turned off autocorrect LOL.
I read this illgegalgy as an online pdf which was like 19 pages with 2 pages on each pdf slice, so this was like /40ish/ pages yet goodreads says its 77 ?? Confused on this but it seemed like linear story so I think goodreads has it wrong or something
I think calling this short story/ novella/ waste of time/ waste of energy/ waste of paper/ etc a dissapointing misogynistic chunk of trash is an understatement.
I am not one for writing reviews on things but this short story was quiet possibly one of the most painful things to read, behind most "fix-it" fanfictions and omegaverse smut. Please note this is my first literature review, so excuse me 🙄.
As a fan of my boy Harlan I am dissapointed. Very. Dissapointed. Lord help me if this short story was a restaurant becuase id scream for the manager and transform into the most horrifyingly viscous karen ever to walk the face of Earth. If I was AM (ihnmaims) I would personally bring this short story down and torture it for eternity, jelly Ted treatment and all.
Who decided to make this short story a "classic" ?? Its misogynistic rapist-sympathizing garbage disguised as a mEaNiNGfUl short "story" about mans best friend.
Ive heard people describe Ellison as misogynistic, but up until reading this I thought it was just people misreading his work. I was wrong. This man was a little bit ahead of his time in like, everything BUT women.
The story follows a protagonist named Vic, comminly nicnamed as Albert by his dog, and his intellignet dog, Blood. They live in a dystopian world where their area has so little women roaming around that many men have gotten it in or put it in the back end of eachother, if that makes sense. (Basically people turned to homosexuality, and I have a problem with this which ill get onto later.) But for those who arent gettin' jiggy wit the holes of men they spend their time watching prn in theaters having just a massive wank fest. When they actually find women, though, they rape them. Great. (Sarcasim). I was rooting for the protag until I found that information out. :)))
Our horny ass protagonist is enjoying a "movie" when Blood sniffs out a woman in the audiance. Oh yeah, forgot to mention. 🙄 They bred dogs to sniff out women. They follow the woman around when the movie ends, protag intending to rape her. They finally find her, get surrounded by other gangs, blah blah blah and all this hard to read action happens. The woman, known as Quilla June, Vic, and Blood are now trapped an a boiler while the place they were in burns. Then comes the worst scene I have EVER laid my eyes on. I have read horribly terrible things, seen terribly horrible things, but nothing has been as disgusting as this. Vic goes on to force himself onto Quilla June and describes it as how at first it was painful and bloody for her yet she started to enjoy it after a bit. It describes how when she O'd she held onto/ hugged Vic. And she enjoyed the experience and intitated sex more throughout their time in the boiler.
Its so hard to describe oh lord.
I may not be a rape specialist, or ever experienced it myself, but I GARUNTEE no woman, freshly raped, would EVER act like that, or want more. Honestly it sounds like Quilla June had more stockholm syndrome more than anything, but this was not Harlan Ellisons intention, so it was just "Oh she liked it that made it ok ☺️😊"
The story goes on with Quilla June betraying Vic and Blood, and continues to blah blah blah more crappy plot until the end where Vic sacrifices Quilla June as food for Blood, who is injured and hungry, at the end of the short story.
The main themes im getting are: "Mans best friend is worth everything" 🥺 and "Rape is OK if she cums and wants more😁".
The story really was about mans best friend, but I think anyone who has read A Boy And His Dog can agree this couldve been shown through a, well, better idea than this.
I would like to touch on the predictability of this story. Normally, im fine with predictable stories, sometimes I like the sense of certainty; predictability sometimes makes a bad ending/ event more chilling while you sit at the edge of your seat in anticipation! But this, this left me rubbing my head in anguish and embarassment looking like travis scot during his "apology" a few months back. I knew exactly what was going to happen at every turn, and the only thing that shocked me were the horrible atrocities the men in this story committed onto women. I can give a pass to authors that really try to be unpredictable, but I am shitting on Harlan today becuase he loooooves to claim he is unpredictable. I watched a few interviews with him a few days back, all of which I enjoyed very much ("Why do they make cheese in Wisconsin ?") and in one of these interviews he claims that when he sees something coming in a story as he writes he makes a sharp left and changes it up becuase he likes to think his reader are as smart (or smarter) than he is, so if HE can predict it so can his readers. I hate to say this, but this story made Harlan Ellison look like a brain dead snail that someone mustve poured an entire bag of salt onto, because only a braindead squirming snail dying from a hypertonic body mass couldve written such disgusting garbage.
I love his other works, just not this one. This one has no good qualities other than a mediocre ending.
I mentioned earlier how I dont like how the homosexuality is portrayed in this short story. It seemed like a half ass attempt at homosexuality, and I felt this story showed it as a "last option" as the men who chose this path had little to no acess to women.
I could go on about this short story, but ive ranted enough. I cry inside for all those whose first encounter with Harlan Ellison was this short story, as they probably are never reading his work again. I wouldnt blame them though.
Im just so upset. I had high hopes for this one! I trust society when they make a book so popular, a classic even!! I read a few negative reveiws before reading and went "Huh. I bet the same people writing these are the ones calling i have no mouth and i must scream torture prn. 🙄🙄" But no, the negative reveiws are right, there isnt any deeper ethical/ philosophical meaning to this story. My misogyny detector sucks and even I picked up the reeking stench of women-hating.
In conclusion, only read this short story if you want to not sleep at night from second hand embarassment for the author, publishers, and any dumbfuck who gave this a reveiw of higher than 3 stars.
If Harlan Ellison wasnt dead id challenge him to write ONE (1) story without objectifying or putting down women in one way or another.
To anyone who excuses any of the manevolent garbage written in this short story, sincerely never read or think again. You dont deserve it.
Thx for reading if you did (i dont expect anyone to have actually read this sorry)
Also pls excuse typoes, grammar errors ive turned off autocorrect LOL.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2020
A jerk-off story for incels.
Ellison obviously had a deep-seated disgust/desire/fury complex directed at women, and this story manifests all of those sadistic tendencies in a totally unsympathetic protag and violent narrative that's frankly a little tedious thanks to its juvenile attempts to shock the reader.
I'm glad that science fiction is made of better stuff these days.
Ellison obviously had a deep-seated disgust/desire/fury complex directed at women, and this story manifests all of those sadistic tendencies in a totally unsympathetic protag and violent narrative that's frankly a little tedious thanks to its juvenile attempts to shock the reader.
I'm glad that science fiction is made of better stuff these days.
March 17, 2023
DNF at 40%. One of the most unlikable protagonists I’ve ever come across. Not for me.
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January 13, 2021I enjoy video games quite a bit. I wouldn't call myself a fanatic, I'm not obsessive over achievements or showing off my skills. I usually try to focus on the story, the characters, and the world that the game attempts to present. I started out young, playing the Lego game versions of franchises that I had grown up loving such as The Indiana Jones films, the Star Wars saga, and my favorite superhero Batman. I would move on to play shooters such as Call of Duty, eating up game after game until I realized its complete dip in quality, though it's seemed to have bounced back in recent years. I then went on to play more story driven games, which has how I've managed to acquire the taste that I have now.
Roger Ebert once asserted that video games would never be art, an egregious error on his part as well as an ironic one, considering films were also once viewed as a passing fad before becoming well regarded when better and more sophisticated techniques were used to improve film and allow it to be seen as an art form. Ebert would go on to inadvertently invalidate his own argument once he admitted that he had not played very many video games, so he had no position to really comment upon if video games should be considered art, but he wasn't going to take back his statement. Much as I admire and respect Ebert, I have to say that it was one of the few blunders of his career.
I would counter Ebert and say that I've played many video games that have been just as profound, beautiful, and touching as any other creative medium that I've encountered. I found The Last of Us, as well as its sequel, to be just as touching of an exploration of the post-apocalyptic genre alongside McCarthy's The Road, Romero's 'Dead' films, and Kirkman's The Walking Dead.
Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic, from the widely praised Bioware, is another game that I found to be not just as good, but more complex, entertaining, and nuanced than all of the recent Star Wars films combined, giving us a familiar world but one that is just as complicated, difficult, and nuanced as our own. What makes it so revolutionary and lasting is its daring to question the foundations of what the original films established. I have also heard its sequel is also audacious and ambitious in scope, though I've still yet to play it.
Another game I discovered through my journey of going through the best games is the Fallout series. I particularly found New Vegas to be an engaging, immersive, and thoughtful entry into the series with its explorations of war, power, and responsibility. In my curiosity, I decided to look through the game's history to find its influences, which is where I found A Boy and His Dog (ah, we're getting somewhere), which proved itself to be a disturbing, cynical, and even darkly funny take on the post-apocalyptic setting.
Ellison's reputation precedes him, as cantankerous and bitter as he could be, he certainly showed a willingness to explore new creative mediums, such as with comics and video games and his influence has been felt through many mediums from comics to television to video games, particularly with the Fallout games. I've found, however, that much like some of the other science fiction writers of his era, his persona and antics were sometimes more interesting than the stories that he wrote, there are certainly a few that he did that are worth the read, much like with this one.
Ellison's story is neatly paced and full of wit and cynicism, his world sometimes becoming as strange, alien, and disturbing as the worlds that he would later come to inspire. Though I sadly didn't find much of the political commentary and satire that I would find in the Fallout games, though Ellison does come close due to his acidic wit. Sometimes the pacing doesn't allow the characters to fully develop and absorb their surroundings, but I enjoyed the psychology and the depravity of the characters. Much of the story's focus is of the titular boy and his dog and their reactions to the world around them, alongside the many other people that they come across and their view of the worlds. I just never found that the story went deep enough with them, but I found it to be good enough.
The world is full of despair and hopelessness, and Ellison sometimes seems to be enjoying the awful situations that the characters are often finding themselves in, but Ellison makes a key point about humanity that the Fallout games would later expand upon: that humanity, being as frustrating as it is, never seems to learn the lessons that should have been learned from our history and even after we destroy ourselves, we'll still be killing each other over things like food, women, and weapons. Though unlike with Fallout, Ellison doesn't seem to offer a safety net or even a shred of hope, but much like the other writers of his time, seeks to offer us a glimpse of what our arrogance and ignorance could bring and it's never looked so bleak.
A Boy and His Dog is a classic for a reason, and one of my favorite stories from Ellison as well as one of my favorite post-apocalyptic stories of all time. However, I've found that perhaps the games and films that this story inspired may have surpassed this story in some ways, while also expanding upon the themes that Ellison put out. It makes me disheartened though, that video games are still struggling to be taken seriously as an art form. Though I do yearn for the day that we can not be judged for the way that we experience stories, no matter what format that it's in.
Roger Ebert once asserted that video games would never be art, an egregious error on his part as well as an ironic one, considering films were also once viewed as a passing fad before becoming well regarded when better and more sophisticated techniques were used to improve film and allow it to be seen as an art form. Ebert would go on to inadvertently invalidate his own argument once he admitted that he had not played very many video games, so he had no position to really comment upon if video games should be considered art, but he wasn't going to take back his statement. Much as I admire and respect Ebert, I have to say that it was one of the few blunders of his career.
I would counter Ebert and say that I've played many video games that have been just as profound, beautiful, and touching as any other creative medium that I've encountered. I found The Last of Us, as well as its sequel, to be just as touching of an exploration of the post-apocalyptic genre alongside McCarthy's The Road, Romero's 'Dead' films, and Kirkman's The Walking Dead.
Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic, from the widely praised Bioware, is another game that I found to be not just as good, but more complex, entertaining, and nuanced than all of the recent Star Wars films combined, giving us a familiar world but one that is just as complicated, difficult, and nuanced as our own. What makes it so revolutionary and lasting is its daring to question the foundations of what the original films established. I have also heard its sequel is also audacious and ambitious in scope, though I've still yet to play it.
Another game I discovered through my journey of going through the best games is the Fallout series. I particularly found New Vegas to be an engaging, immersive, and thoughtful entry into the series with its explorations of war, power, and responsibility. In my curiosity, I decided to look through the game's history to find its influences, which is where I found A Boy and His Dog (ah, we're getting somewhere), which proved itself to be a disturbing, cynical, and even darkly funny take on the post-apocalyptic setting.
Ellison's reputation precedes him, as cantankerous and bitter as he could be, he certainly showed a willingness to explore new creative mediums, such as with comics and video games and his influence has been felt through many mediums from comics to television to video games, particularly with the Fallout games. I've found, however, that much like some of the other science fiction writers of his era, his persona and antics were sometimes more interesting than the stories that he wrote, there are certainly a few that he did that are worth the read, much like with this one.
Ellison's story is neatly paced and full of wit and cynicism, his world sometimes becoming as strange, alien, and disturbing as the worlds that he would later come to inspire. Though I sadly didn't find much of the political commentary and satire that I would find in the Fallout games, though Ellison does come close due to his acidic wit. Sometimes the pacing doesn't allow the characters to fully develop and absorb their surroundings, but I enjoyed the psychology and the depravity of the characters. Much of the story's focus is of the titular boy and his dog and their reactions to the world around them, alongside the many other people that they come across and their view of the worlds. I just never found that the story went deep enough with them, but I found it to be good enough.
The world is full of despair and hopelessness, and Ellison sometimes seems to be enjoying the awful situations that the characters are often finding themselves in, but Ellison makes a key point about humanity that the Fallout games would later expand upon: that humanity, being as frustrating as it is, never seems to learn the lessons that should have been learned from our history and even after we destroy ourselves, we'll still be killing each other over things like food, women, and weapons. Though unlike with Fallout, Ellison doesn't seem to offer a safety net or even a shred of hope, but much like the other writers of his time, seeks to offer us a glimpse of what our arrogance and ignorance could bring and it's never looked so bleak.
A Boy and His Dog is a classic for a reason, and one of my favorite stories from Ellison as well as one of my favorite post-apocalyptic stories of all time. However, I've found that perhaps the games and films that this story inspired may have surpassed this story in some ways, while also expanding upon the themes that Ellison put out. It makes me disheartened though, that video games are still struggling to be taken seriously as an art form. Though I do yearn for the day that we can not be judged for the way that we experience stories, no matter what format that it's in.
March 6, 2023
Survival is not \\ knowing when to kill; rather, \\ knowing what love is.
#HAIKUPRAJNA - A Boy and His Dog [II]
Read online [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2023... ]
...
Hello readers,
I need to read the rest of the stories related to “A Boy and His Dog” by Harlon Ellison [Eggsucker, “Run, Spot, Run”, and the collected “Blood’s a Rover”].
As I referenced in the previous review, the title is deceiving, as this post-apocalyptic survival fiction story is R-rated with its descriptive gunfights, told from the protagonist’s point of view, and with its casual nudity, sex and social depravity.
I have read online that these stories served as inspiration for other nuclear wasteland franchises, such as the Fallout games, with shared features including gangs that upkeep local services, cutesy killer robots, nighttime nuclear monsters and an attention to epic gunfights or combat in a literary sense.
“A Boy and his Dog” followed Vic, a Solo from such gangs, who formed a pact with Blood, a telepathic dog; together, they were sniffing out Quilla June, a girl from a suburban downunder, which Vic later was lured into and was itching to escape from. Blood's pride in his telepathic parentage, and everything Vic learned from him, was a good way to provide readers with backstory and world-building.
Vic and Blood followed Quilla to an abandoned YMCA, but she was as depraved as him, highlighting the genre and setting through the conflicts of man vs self and nature. Blood's suggestion of burning down the YMCA, when they figured they were outgunned, was a great dramatization of this.
Quilla later escaped, so Vic planned to chase her for revenge, and he fought Blood reasoning for them to tend to their wounds.
Alone, Vic went downunder, where prewar suburban society had been frozen and bottled up, stopping progress. He realized Blood was right, that he was being lured into a trap. It is revealed to Vic that the men were impotent downunder and were in need of Vic.
An important aspect of the story is how resources, supply and demand, command not just one's impulsive desires, but also one's survival.
Anyway, Vic schemed to abuse their hospitality in order to escape after killing Quilla.
But, when he had his chance, the two found she and he were legit in love. So, they teamed together to escape, killing her 'pa and fighting other townsfolk along the way out.
The line where they were climbing, where he kept telling her he loved her, was genius for being both true and for continuing the thematic thread of love being a universal idea, an evolutionary survival outline.
When they got up top, Vic found Blood was still waiting, wounded and hungry. This was a complex situation; both Quilla June and Blood were fearful for their mortal wellbeing--both were dependent on Vic for their present situation. But Vic had to choose one of them, and choosing Blood was a given for Vic. Vic had picked both at different points in time, but he knew Blood was right about being lured, about love and history, since his love for Blood was stronger, despite the difficulty of feeding his dog.
"A Boy and His Dog" is about, of all things, how it means to love something, the effects of love and the lengths one will go for the ones they love most.
Previous review [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2021... ]
Thank you for reading.
Allen W. McLean
...
Need more Bite-sized Insights to relieve your stress and suffering?
Connect via email or social media [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/fo... ]
Readers are gifted a Kindle eBook on Fridays and Mondays--short story selection rotates every few weeks, so follow via email or visit My Author Profile [ https://www.amazon.ca/Allen-W-McLean/... ]
I write mindfulness meditation scifaiku and haiku poetry on my book reviews and on previews of my metaphysical stories, such as "Escape Perennial City". Learn more about my reviews here [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/bo... ]
Read the latest Project Roadmap [ https://medium.com/haikuprajna/202212... ]
Thanks to you, over ONE-THOUSAND (1000!) readers have joined us on Medium! Need to stay in the Medium Partner Program? Please follow and turn on email notifications; I will follow you back! "Ado the Owl" and "Hector Blake" are available to read, right now, on Medium. [ https://haikuprajna.medium.com/subscribe ]
April's psychedelic music videos, art and poetry is available on all streaming platforms; Electric Armchair - One Hook Hooker (Official Animated Lyrics Music Video [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4oad... ]
Electric Armchair - Amorphous I (FULL ALBUM) [ https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/ele... ]
"Falgara the Giant" is available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited! Add to Goodreads and learn more [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/fa... ]
Support by buying a sticker [ https://haikuprajna.redbubble.com ]
Kindle ebooks can be read on any device at www.read.amazon.com
These poems will be collected in future editions of the HaikuPrajna Collection.
...
2020 review below:
Today's book is another favorite, "A Boy and His Dog" by Harlan Ellison. Do not let the title of the story dissuade you; this is a messed-up tale of the lives of a young boy and his telepathic dog who live in a post-apocalypse Wasteland. Sex, drugs, gore and classism; Ellison had inspired the original Fallout developers with this horribly great story. If you take anything from this novella, at least read the last section on Ellison's dog, Ahbhu, and why you should never send these family members to strangers.
https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2021...
#HAIKUPRAJNA - A Boy and His Dog [II]
Read online [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2023... ]
...
Hello readers,
I need to read the rest of the stories related to “A Boy and His Dog” by Harlon Ellison [Eggsucker, “Run, Spot, Run”, and the collected “Blood’s a Rover”].
As I referenced in the previous review, the title is deceiving, as this post-apocalyptic survival fiction story is R-rated with its descriptive gunfights, told from the protagonist’s point of view, and with its casual nudity, sex and social depravity.
I have read online that these stories served as inspiration for other nuclear wasteland franchises, such as the Fallout games, with shared features including gangs that upkeep local services, cutesy killer robots, nighttime nuclear monsters and an attention to epic gunfights or combat in a literary sense.
“A Boy and his Dog” followed Vic, a Solo from such gangs, who formed a pact with Blood, a telepathic dog; together, they were sniffing out Quilla June, a girl from a suburban downunder, which Vic later was lured into and was itching to escape from. Blood's pride in his telepathic parentage, and everything Vic learned from him, was a good way to provide readers with backstory and world-building.
Vic and Blood followed Quilla to an abandoned YMCA, but she was as depraved as him, highlighting the genre and setting through the conflicts of man vs self and nature. Blood's suggestion of burning down the YMCA, when they figured they were outgunned, was a great dramatization of this.
Quilla later escaped, so Vic planned to chase her for revenge, and he fought Blood reasoning for them to tend to their wounds.
Alone, Vic went downunder, where prewar suburban society had been frozen and bottled up, stopping progress. He realized Blood was right, that he was being lured into a trap. It is revealed to Vic that the men were impotent downunder and were in need of Vic.
An important aspect of the story is how resources, supply and demand, command not just one's impulsive desires, but also one's survival.
Anyway, Vic schemed to abuse their hospitality in order to escape after killing Quilla.
But, when he had his chance, the two found she and he were legit in love. So, they teamed together to escape, killing her 'pa and fighting other townsfolk along the way out.
The line where they were climbing, where he kept telling her he loved her, was genius for being both true and for continuing the thematic thread of love being a universal idea, an evolutionary survival outline.
When they got up top, Vic found Blood was still waiting, wounded and hungry. This was a complex situation; both Quilla June and Blood were fearful for their mortal wellbeing--both were dependent on Vic for their present situation. But Vic had to choose one of them, and choosing Blood was a given for Vic. Vic had picked both at different points in time, but he knew Blood was right about being lured, about love and history, since his love for Blood was stronger, despite the difficulty of feeding his dog.
"A Boy and His Dog" is about, of all things, how it means to love something, the effects of love and the lengths one will go for the ones they love most.
Previous review [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2021... ]
Thank you for reading.
Allen W. McLean
...
Need more Bite-sized Insights to relieve your stress and suffering?
Connect via email or social media [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/fo... ]
Readers are gifted a Kindle eBook on Fridays and Mondays--short story selection rotates every few weeks, so follow via email or visit My Author Profile [ https://www.amazon.ca/Allen-W-McLean/... ]
I write mindfulness meditation scifaiku and haiku poetry on my book reviews and on previews of my metaphysical stories, such as "Escape Perennial City". Learn more about my reviews here [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/bo... ]
Read the latest Project Roadmap [ https://medium.com/haikuprajna/202212... ]
Thanks to you, over ONE-THOUSAND (1000!) readers have joined us on Medium! Need to stay in the Medium Partner Program? Please follow and turn on email notifications; I will follow you back! "Ado the Owl" and "Hector Blake" are available to read, right now, on Medium. [ https://haikuprajna.medium.com/subscribe ]
April's psychedelic music videos, art and poetry is available on all streaming platforms; Electric Armchair - One Hook Hooker (Official Animated Lyrics Music Video [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4oad... ]
Electric Armchair - Amorphous I (FULL ALBUM) [ https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/ele... ]
"Falgara the Giant" is available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited! Add to Goodreads and learn more [ https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/fa... ]
Support by buying a sticker [ https://haikuprajna.redbubble.com ]
Kindle ebooks can be read on any device at www.read.amazon.com
These poems will be collected in future editions of the HaikuPrajna Collection.
...
2020 review below:
Today's book is another favorite, "A Boy and His Dog" by Harlan Ellison. Do not let the title of the story dissuade you; this is a messed-up tale of the lives of a young boy and his telepathic dog who live in a post-apocalypse Wasteland. Sex, drugs, gore and classism; Ellison had inspired the original Fallout developers with this horribly great story. If you take anything from this novella, at least read the last section on Ellison's dog, Ahbhu, and why you should never send these family members to strangers.
https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2021...
February 21, 2019
Delirante y cruda novelita de ciencia ficción donde en un mundo que recuerda a Mad max asisitimos a los andares de un muchcacho y su perro. Los perros en este mundo han adquirido propiedades telépats y funciones de radar puesto que fueron usados como armas en la tercera guerra mundial. Ahora las pandillas de vándalos los usan como compañeros para sus fechorias. Al mismo tiempo en el subsuelo quedan algunas civilizaciones que viven en paz pero con una vida vacía cual robots. Vic y su perro "Sangre" encontrarán a una muchacha del subsuelo que ha salido al exterior en busca de marcha y que pondra a Vic en peligro.
Harlan Ellison tiene un estilo rudo, crudo y en ocasiones desagradable pero con poderosísimas ideas. De echo esta obra fue adaptada en la película "Vic & blood". El mundo que describe con chavales acompañados de perros de guerra buscando chicas a las que violar es jodidamente desolador.
Harlan Ellison tiene un estilo rudo, crudo y en ocasiones desagradable pero con poderosísimas ideas. De echo esta obra fue adaptada en la película "Vic & blood". El mundo que describe con chavales acompañados de perros de guerra buscando chicas a las que violar es jodidamente desolador.
September 29, 2021
I can't decide what I think about this. On one hand the story reads like it was written by an edgy 12 year old out to shock his ultra conservative parents. On the other hand those elements work within this story. This short story encapsulates all the reasons why I avoid the classics of sci-fi and the "master" authors of the genre. A serial rapist living in a post- apocalyptic world uses his telepathic dog to track down a woman. He rapes her. She doesn't seem to mind and it freaks him out. The ending is pretty predictable given the slant of the story and yes, the ending is meant to shock and horrify.
The juvenile attempts at shock horror were more exhausting then anything else. A Grungy amoral man-child living in a post apocalyptic world barely sees women as people. That's not shocking. That is any day that ends in -y nix the post apocalyptic setting. Men are all portrayed as children barely able to control their own impulses. Was this type of thing shocking and subversive in the 70's? Honest question, I really have no idea.
I foster dogs. My own dog is my best friend and has stopped a home invader from breaking in to my house. I would do anything to keep her safe and happy. I think that is the message that we are supposed to take away from this story, but it all gets buried under the rest of the garbage in this short story. There is no indication that Vic even likes his Blood until the last 3 paragraphs.
So what am I supposed to take away from all of this? And how creepy is it that this won a Hugo and a Nebula award. As I've said before, Sci Fi- this is why no one respects you.
The juvenile attempts at shock horror were more exhausting then anything else. A Grungy amoral man-child living in a post apocalyptic world barely sees women as people. That's not shocking. That is any day that ends in -y nix the post apocalyptic setting. Men are all portrayed as children barely able to control their own impulses. Was this type of thing shocking and subversive in the 70's? Honest question, I really have no idea.
I foster dogs. My own dog is my best friend and has stopped a home invader from breaking in to my house. I would do anything to keep her safe and happy. I think that is the message that we are supposed to take away from this story, but it all gets buried under the rest of the garbage in this short story. There is no indication that Vic even likes his Blood until the last 3 paragraphs.
So what am I supposed to take away from all of this? And how creepy is it that this won a Hugo and a Nebula award. As I've said before, Sci Fi- this is why no one respects you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
April 22, 2019not going to add a rating. it's one of those things—the writing's incredible and the ending is superb, but it's also a whole lot of bullshit. you can smell the male energy from this and it stinks like rotten corpses, truly and honestly.
so yeah, cult classic or not, i'm assuming we're supposed to gobble down this dude's dick because he was ahead of his time or whatever the fuck (really?) and he's one of the biggest names in sci-fi and whatnot, and maybe you wanna come up with some words on how much he's spoken out against sexism over the years, but... it doesn't change much now, does it. in fact, it changes nothing... unless we're out here actively blowing our own brains out so we no longer exist in the physical realm as women. kinda hard to reconcile the experience of being a human woman to the one of getting any real enjoyment out of this story.
also? the THOUGHT that anyone who has lived as a woman would find themselves in a place where they can enjoy the company of other women at least semi-freely and still manage to attach themselves to a fugly rapist in less than a day? y'all. i know heterosexuality is a full ass prison and all, but shit. men are truly fucking wild sometimes. imagine that? imagine having that be a thought in your head? could not relate. truly... sad!
so yeah, cult classic or not, i'm assuming we're supposed to gobble down this dude's dick because he was ahead of his time or whatever the fuck (really?) and he's one of the biggest names in sci-fi and whatnot, and maybe you wanna come up with some words on how much he's spoken out against sexism over the years, but... it doesn't change much now, does it. in fact, it changes nothing... unless we're out here actively blowing our own brains out so we no longer exist in the physical realm as women. kinda hard to reconcile the experience of being a human woman to the one of getting any real enjoyment out of this story.
also? the THOUGHT that anyone who has lived as a woman would find themselves in a place where they can enjoy the company of other women at least semi-freely and still manage to attach themselves to a fugly rapist in less than a day? y'all. i know heterosexuality is a full ass prison and all, but shit. men are truly fucking wild sometimes. imagine that? imagine having that be a thought in your head? could not relate. truly... sad!
May 10, 2024
I've seen the film before, so I knew the plot going into it. I think this was kind of a benefit for me, honestly, because I was able to read beyond the shock value and digest the story between the lines.
It feels very reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange, in the very matter-of-fact, conversational tone in which Vic recounts his atrocities. However, once the shock value settles, I don't really see him as malicious as Alex DeLarge is. Not intentionally malicious, that is. This brutality is all Vic really knows. It's like, he's raised in this environment where he's entirely driven by his id. He has no human connections, no goals, no dreams, no moral compass. All he wants is food and sex, because that's all that's been presented to him as valuable. Blood has the intelligence to try and teach Vic things like history, but he's still a dog, and dogs are famously loyal. He can't really act as any kind of moral guide, but he is, nonetheless, the one constant in Vic's life.
It was interesting to me how the idyllic "downunder" residents were referred to as "middle classers." It gave me the impression that the people who escaped to these underground facilities had a considerable amount of privilege compared to the people left on the surface. The way that Topeka is meant to resemble an early 20th century community was similarly interesting, as it's explicitly meant to be "before the First World War." It was a bit reminiscent of Fallout, which obviously took some inspiration from this story, though rather than the 50s, we have something before the concept of world wars even came into public consciousness.
I don't really have the inclination to applaud Ellison as a feminist, but I do think he's making some points here about sexual dynamics beyond what a lot of readers seem to just interpret as misogynist brutality. Vic bemoans the lack of women on the surface, and Topeka bemoans their lack of men. Both view sex as a scarce commodity, one that's been depleted by the war - Vic desires sex to satisfy his base desires, and Topeka desires sex to propagate their population. This is a world of selfish people, where everyone has ulterior motives. Consider how quickly Quilla June turns on her community, consenting to Vic killing her father, taking pot shots at the crowd, aiming to gun down her own mother. There are some subtle implications that Topeka is much darker than it presents itself as (Lew's rotted teeth felt metaphorical, and I think it's implied Quilla June's father might have molested her, or at least wanted to molest her). Topeka is like a fun-house mirror reflection of the more viscerally brutal surface world.
Vic is confronted by a community that presents itself as, on the surface, much more wholesome than what he came from, but ultimately they still intend to use him. The end returns us to Blood, Vic's one single constant, and he ultimately prioritizes this affection for Blood over his base desire for Quilla June. Even though he kills her and feeds her to his dog, in a strange and twisted sort of way, this ending feels almost like a very very small triumph of empathy. He didn't love Quilla June. He wanted her for sex. He did love the dog. In this ending, he chose the loving connection he has over his own selfish desires.
It feels very reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange, in the very matter-of-fact, conversational tone in which Vic recounts his atrocities. However, once the shock value settles, I don't really see him as malicious as Alex DeLarge is. Not intentionally malicious, that is. This brutality is all Vic really knows. It's like, he's raised in this environment where he's entirely driven by his id. He has no human connections, no goals, no dreams, no moral compass. All he wants is food and sex, because that's all that's been presented to him as valuable. Blood has the intelligence to try and teach Vic things like history, but he's still a dog, and dogs are famously loyal. He can't really act as any kind of moral guide, but he is, nonetheless, the one constant in Vic's life.
It was interesting to me how the idyllic "downunder" residents were referred to as "middle classers." It gave me the impression that the people who escaped to these underground facilities had a considerable amount of privilege compared to the people left on the surface. The way that Topeka is meant to resemble an early 20th century community was similarly interesting, as it's explicitly meant to be "before the First World War." It was a bit reminiscent of Fallout, which obviously took some inspiration from this story, though rather than the 50s, we have something before the concept of world wars even came into public consciousness.
I don't really have the inclination to applaud Ellison as a feminist, but I do think he's making some points here about sexual dynamics beyond what a lot of readers seem to just interpret as misogynist brutality. Vic bemoans the lack of women on the surface, and Topeka bemoans their lack of men. Both view sex as a scarce commodity, one that's been depleted by the war - Vic desires sex to satisfy his base desires, and Topeka desires sex to propagate their population. This is a world of selfish people, where everyone has ulterior motives. Consider how quickly Quilla June turns on her community, consenting to Vic killing her father, taking pot shots at the crowd, aiming to gun down her own mother. There are some subtle implications that Topeka is much darker than it presents itself as (Lew's rotted teeth felt metaphorical, and I think it's implied Quilla June's father might have molested her, or at least wanted to molest her). Topeka is like a fun-house mirror reflection of the more viscerally brutal surface world.
Vic is confronted by a community that presents itself as, on the surface, much more wholesome than what he came from, but ultimately they still intend to use him. The end returns us to Blood, Vic's one single constant, and he ultimately prioritizes this affection for Blood over his base desire for Quilla June. Even though he kills her and feeds her to his dog, in a strange and twisted sort of way, this ending feels almost like a very very small triumph of empathy. He didn't love Quilla June. He wanted her for sex. He did love the dog. In this ending, he chose the loving connection he has over his own selfish desires.
November 25, 2023
"You'd better be dang sure."
"Okay, I'm dang sure. Also fuckin' sure!"
A failed experiment. It seems like Ellison was attempting to do one of those self-imposed challenges writers sometimes take on ("can I write a story where the protagonist is an unrepentant rapist?") and then forgot to actually make it work.
My big problem is not that it's, in so many words, politically incorrect, but that it's unimaginative and mundane. Vic, a neoprimative, Burroughsian Wild Boy born at the end of the world, happens to have the same interests and preoccupations as Harlan Ellison (movies from the 1940s, dogs, screwing chicks). Blood, a hyperintelligent mutant dog, talks like a groovy dude from the late-60s ("Shit, man, let's split!") which might've felt cutting edge in the late-60s, I guess.
Tack some rushed, threadbare social satire onto the end (everyone suddenly becomes southern?) and you have Ellison in one of his sloppy, lazy, chauvinistic modes.
May 21, 2017
*Warning - this title contains graphic content that will not be suitable for all.
Okay. The truth is I really like and dislike this short story at the same time. The difficulty lies within the fact that very elements I disliked about the story played into it so well. Ultimately I am going to rank it highly, and will not be able to dispute those who disagree. After all, the content is difficult and reading is so individualized.
The writing is on par for the post apocalyptic theme and must have been well ahead of its time. I cannot imagine what a stir this graphic story might have generated in 1969. That combined with the fast pace, well developed plot and twisted ending, delivers us a brief but rewarding experience that explores a boy's love for his dog. Recommending for fans of dystopian reads that can stomach sexual and violent content.
Okay. The truth is I really like and dislike this short story at the same time. The difficulty lies within the fact that very elements I disliked about the story played into it so well. Ultimately I am going to rank it highly, and will not be able to dispute those who disagree. After all, the content is difficult and reading is so individualized.
The writing is on par for the post apocalyptic theme and must have been well ahead of its time. I cannot imagine what a stir this graphic story might have generated in 1969. That combined with the fast pace, well developed plot and twisted ending, delivers us a brief but rewarding experience that explores a boy's love for his dog. Recommending for fans of dystopian reads that can stomach sexual and violent content.
December 25, 2018
A story with a juvenile prose which describes the wet dreams of a 14 old.
Not my cup of tea.
Not my cup of tea.
February 2, 2023
A dog is a persons best friend
April 12, 2020
დიდი ხანია ასეთი კარგი მოთხრობა არ წამიკითხავს
October 22, 2024
Ellison doesn't know how to write women. He uses them in his stories to say things about men. Nothing wrong with that but if you're going to write one dimensional characters they need to be consistent.
The point of the story is to show how much the boy cares for his dog. Yeah, it's somewhat contractional but I think there's evidence that either one of them could have replaced the other but they don't because they love each other.
Sometimes the girl is written sweetly so that at the end the reader has to think "which love is more valid? A boy and his dog or boy meets girl?" This can bring the reader to reflect on the non romantic relationships in their own life and ask how important they are. Has the reader been giving these relationships the respect they deserve. If this murderous kid can give up the girl, who he enjoys, surely we can sacrifice more time and effort for our friends.
However, this is tarnished by the fact the girl is also occasionally psychotic, and the boy sees this. If she's psychotic then there can't be love between them. With that in light it turns the story into "will this kid's libido force him to make another bad decision or not".
The point of the story is to show how much the boy cares for his dog. Yeah, it's somewhat contractional but I think there's evidence that either one of them could have replaced the other but they don't because they love each other.
Sometimes the girl is written sweetly so that at the end the reader has to think "which love is more valid? A boy and his dog or boy meets girl?" This can bring the reader to reflect on the non romantic relationships in their own life and ask how important they are. Has the reader been giving these relationships the respect they deserve. If this murderous kid can give up the girl, who he enjoys, surely we can sacrifice more time and effort for our friends.
However, this is tarnished by the fact the girl is also occasionally psychotic, and the boy sees this. If she's psychotic then there can't be love between them. With that in light it turns the story into "will this kid's libido force him to make another bad decision or not".
June 2, 2018
Really enjoyed this one, as usual Ellison says a lot in very few words/pages. His dialogue is always razor-sharp and you can't help but chuckle when you realize the conversations the main human character is having with his dog. As most probably know, the depictions of post-nuclear war America (a bombed out wasteland, scavenger gangs, underground vault dwellers, mutants, etc) in the story came to heavily influence the popular Fallout video game series. Some may have issues with the motivations of the main character Vic in regards to women, but I think Ellison made it clear that the post-nuclear world isn't the best place and Vic's not exactly a hero.
Surprisingly most notable was the little afterward in this edition about Ellison's dog that he used as inspiration for the dog featured in the story. It described him picking up the dog as a puppy and then the sad day he had to be put the sleep, a sad tale every pet owner can relate to.
Surprisingly most notable was the little afterward in this edition about Ellison's dog that he used as inspiration for the dog featured in the story. It described him picking up the dog as a puppy and then the sad day he had to be put the sleep, a sad tale every pet owner can relate to.
May 5, 2020
Another fun post-apocalyptic short read, just after I finished with A SteamPunk's Guide to the Apocalypse.
This short story / novelette is concentrated, comic book-like and very powerful. In some ways, the atmosphere reminded me of Lucretia and the Kroons, but these adventures of Vic and Blood are definitely more fun and grounded in the real world.
It's gory and pretty hardcore, but comical at the same time. The ending has an unexpected twist that definitely places the entire book into even more 'different' territory, with all the weirdness, horror and delight which come with it.
This short story / novelette is concentrated, comic book-like and very powerful. In some ways, the atmosphere reminded me of Lucretia and the Kroons, but these adventures of Vic and Blood are definitely more fun and grounded in the real world.
It's gory and pretty hardcore, but comical at the same time. The ending has an unexpected twist that definitely places the entire book into even more 'different' territory, with all the weirdness, horror and delight which come with it.
November 6, 2021
Really not my style. Luckily it is super short and the pain of reading through it is fast. The setting is a bit interesting in that it is some post apocalyptic world with talking dogs and monkeys. I did not enjoy reading this and I'm certain this is what the author intended. These reviews obviously are subjective but it has several topics which I don't like.
December 27, 2017
I just didn't like it. It seemed self-aware enough that I read to the end, thinking maybe it would have a twist ending. I don't know if its ending was intended to be a twist ending? It was just a cruel and rapey dystopia all the way through.
March 30, 2022
Very "we live in a society"
May 10, 2023
A psychotic and harrowing picture of post-apocalyptia but lacquered over as a pornographic rape fantasy. It doesn't tell you much more than women are worth nothing, nothing at all.
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