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Max
A dystopian society on the brink of revolution; a population chipped, regulated and drugged into submission; an overpopulated planet defined by the One Mother, One Child policy... Into this world a baby is a child with the power to change everything.
425 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 21, 2017
Любая дистопия сейчас неизбежно автоматически подстегивается к 1984, и мы начинаем разбирать, насколько далеко от Оруэлла ушел автор (или не ушел). И действительно, сложно, видимо, придумать что-то новое в смысле того, что общество с нами делает. Но Хотону удалось — его мир настолько обыденно и незаметно отличается от нашего нынешнего (особенно здесь) кошмара, что разница эта как-то не особо ощущается. Разве что чипы в ладони еще не вживили. Но от этого читать «Макса» тягостно и не очень весело.
Поскольку это роман, среди прочего, о системе и противодействии ей, о генезисе протеста, он может оказаться очень полезным сейчас и здесь, за несколько месяцев до «выборов». И именно поэтому его, видимо, никогда здесь не издадут, до того система укоренилась в мозгах граждан за последние сто лет.
Но стоит отметить, конечно, что пишет Хотон не только об этом — с удивительным бесстрашием он от книги к книге продолжает гонять каких-то своих очень личных бесов. Каких, говорить не буду, это не спортивно. Читайте сами.
А кроме того, мне, конечно, не может не понравиться книжка, которая практически моя тезка.
Поскольку это роман, среди прочего, о системе и противодействии ей, о генезисе протеста, он может оказаться очень полезным сейчас и здесь, за несколько месяцев до «выборов». И именно поэтому его, видимо, никогда здесь не издадут, до того система укоренилась в мозгах граждан за последние сто лет.
Но стоит отметить, конечно, что пишет Хотон не только об этом — с удивительным бесстрашием он от книги к книге продолжает гонять каких-то своих очень личных бесов. Каких, говорить не буду, это не спортивно. Читайте сами.
А кроме того, мне, конечно, не может не понравиться книжка, которая практически моя тезка.
May 11, 2013
This was a real surprise to me. I'd only read The Apprentice by Gordon Houghton before this, and that blew me away; but hhe seemed to stop writing, because I haven't seen anything since. Then I was doing a random search on Amazon last year and found a few more, so I picked this one up because of the reviews and it gripped me from first to last. It's SF rather than the dark comic horror of The Apprentice, but it's just as beautifully and poignantly written, with moments of grim comedy to lighten the load. I won't reveal the plot, but it's a great metaphor for how we suppress the rebellious side of ourselves in exchange for a comfortable life, and how that suppression can cause a sudden flowering of resistance. Well, that's just the main plot - there's a subplot too which is all about human fertility and the knots of feeling it binds us with. A very emotional, gripping read, set in an all-too-believable dystopian future. Highly recommended!
January 5, 2023
Dreams sneak up on you. Dreams can make you happy or terrified beyond measure. In any case, dreams have total control of your world. They are the world until you wake up.
Unlike classic dystopian tales of 20th century with its strong grip on reality, in the world of Max this grip seems either loosening or completely lost.
Collective dreaming with commercial reality completely covering the desert of the real. You go to work, you take your pills, you watch TV.
Your eyes are open and yet you are asleep.
Every great dystopian tale is a warning.
In this sense, the world of Max is an ultimate dystopia since there's a world just like ours in many respects. And exaggerations have horrifying quality precisely because it's not so far from where we're standing. Where freedom is not taken away by explicitly fascist state, but rather slowly withered out. A forbidden word here, a movement limitation there, a limitation of freedom of assembly. It's all for your own protection, you see.
("MindrepTM sessions are confidential; however all treatment is recorded for training purposes, and we are required by law to report any information to Secpol which may assist their enquiries into terrorism, insurgency, or related illegal activities. Your statutory rights are not affected.")
There's no point in summarizing the story. Not because there are twists that can turn everything upside down (although it is matter of perspective) but because of the same reason as with other Houghton books.
It's not the narrative itself that hits you, but how it is presented - with utmost sadness, compassion, peculiar and piercing humor (just read various advertisement parts), with moments of profound horror (like in meat-unit factory).
And behind the great dystopian tale there's a story of regret, sorrow, anxiety, loneliness and crumbled families.
Hopes and dreams of people drowned in the everlasting noise.
Sometimes I think that one of the reasons why Houghton writes the way he does because he wants to find an answer to some ultimate question.
But it's just a guess.
Unlike classic dystopian tales of 20th century with its strong grip on reality, in the world of Max this grip seems either loosening or completely lost.
Collective dreaming with commercial reality completely covering the desert of the real. You go to work, you take your pills, you watch TV.
Your eyes are open and yet you are asleep.
Every great dystopian tale is a warning.
In this sense, the world of Max is an ultimate dystopia since there's a world just like ours in many respects. And exaggerations have horrifying quality precisely because it's not so far from where we're standing. Where freedom is not taken away by explicitly fascist state, but rather slowly withered out. A forbidden word here, a movement limitation there, a limitation of freedom of assembly. It's all for your own protection, you see.
("MindrepTM sessions are confidential; however all treatment is recorded for training purposes, and we are required by law to report any information to Secpol which may assist their enquiries into terrorism, insurgency, or related illegal activities. Your statutory rights are not affected.")
There's no point in summarizing the story. Not because there are twists that can turn everything upside down (although it is matter of perspective) but because of the same reason as with other Houghton books.
It's not the narrative itself that hits you, but how it is presented - with utmost sadness, compassion, peculiar and piercing humor (just read various advertisement parts), with moments of profound horror (like in meat-unit factory).
And behind the great dystopian tale there's a story of regret, sorrow, anxiety, loneliness and crumbled families.
Hopes and dreams of people drowned in the everlasting noise.
Sometimes I think that one of the reasons why Houghton writes the way he does because he wants to find an answer to some ultimate question.
But it's just a guess.
May 3, 2013
Top book from a top writer. Read The Apprentice back in the day, and was pleased to discover this on Kindle. It's not the usual run-of-the-mill dystopia, but a very thoughtful, deep, human one, where the political and personal are bound tightly together. It manages to be exciting and thought-provoking at the same time, and the atmosphere it creates has stayed with me for months. Recommended for SF and mainstream readers alike. Ending brought tears to my eyes.
September 19, 2016
With population control, computers that monitor and control your livelihood, to inserted digital chips that carry and track every aspect of your life, this is a future world that already exists in some form today. Reminiscent of 1984 and A Clockwork Orange if they were written in Kurt Vonnegut's writing style, Houghton spins an imagined future that is downright scary how real it can truly be. I highly recommend it to all.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews