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Kuldesak
Earth, 2000 years after the final holocaust which drove man deep underground; a ghostly, deserted planet peopled only by the diligent robots who, century after century, silently harvest grain which no man will eat.
Up into this eerie world comes Mel, a questioning young Roamer who has disobeyed the Law which says he must never venture into or beyond the Lost Levels. Together with three companions, and a companion not of this Earth, Mel takes on the awesome task of freeing human beings from the tyranny imposed on them by their remote ancestors; of justifying the agonized cry of Barney as he died in a Forbidden "I am a man! Everything is for man!"
Up into this eerie world comes Mel, a questioning young Roamer who has disobeyed the Law which says he must never venture into or beyond the Lost Levels. Together with three companions, and a companion not of this Earth, Mel takes on the awesome task of freeing human beings from the tyranny imposed on them by their remote ancestors; of justifying the agonized cry of Barney as he died in a Forbidden "I am a man! Everything is for man!"
- GenresScience FictionFiction
First published December 1, 1973
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 27, 2017
Any book that describes penises as "that Thing of Joy which is a Beauty for ever" is going to be a hard sell.
I can't tell if the cover copy spoils the parsimoniously-managed outlay of information to the reader, or if it provides the necessary context to get the story off the ground: that this society is in fact subterranean and surrounded by robots. It never explains any more than it absolutely has to, leaving the reader to suss out the differences between Plants and Handlers and Vectors and Roamers and Partners. Even with the additional knowledge, the reader still has to unravel a completely unnecessary use of flashback and figure out why so many words are capitalized.
The setting is the star of the piece: a shrinking underground civilization where inhabited Levels are surrounded by the Deads, and migrant Roamers periodically steal into these areas to scavenge raw materials. It is all overseen by a dictatorial god-voice whose nature is no secret to the reader. Logan's Run, anyone?
The ending, unfortunately, appears the point where Cowper decided arbitrarily to wrap it up, resolving problems by a near-literal deus ex machina.
I can't tell if the cover copy spoils the parsimoniously-managed outlay of information to the reader, or if it provides the necessary context to get the story off the ground: that this society is in fact subterranean and surrounded by robots. It never explains any more than it absolutely has to, leaving the reader to suss out the differences between Plants and Handlers and Vectors and Roamers and Partners. Even with the additional knowledge, the reader still has to unravel a completely unnecessary use of flashback and figure out why so many words are capitalized.
The setting is the star of the piece: a shrinking underground civilization where inhabited Levels are surrounded by the Deads, and migrant Roamers periodically steal into these areas to scavenge raw materials. It is all overseen by a dictatorial god-voice whose nature is no secret to the reader. Logan's Run, anyone?
The ending, unfortunately, appears the point where Cowper decided arbitrarily to wrap it up, resolving problems by a near-literal deus ex machina.
January 13, 2014
"Feel it rather than Read it" is the way I summed up the experience of reading this book.
I like a book where the set-up is explained to me and I can just go on to read the story - not a tale where strange words attempting to describe stranger concepts are set out. This was the immediate feeling I had when beginning to read Kuldesak. When you come across a sentence such as "All Minnie wanted was to curl up and ***ipate for a while" (a word describing the feeling you get when you wake up to a bright summer's day with the sensation of biting into a burger when you're famished)", you feel a bit lost. I know what the author was trying to convey, yet felt (unless he had a deeper purpose) that this wasn't the way to do it. You get a peppering of sentences such as this in the first chapter. It's at this point where, as Hopkins wrote "the faithful [may] waver, the faithless fable and miss".
Yet as I read on, I found I had begun to feel my way very nicely, and I was soon quite at home in the dark underground world of Mel and Frankie, Jo and Bitos not forgetting dear Coney the cute Partner who goes scampering off into all the small places where his master cannot go. I imagine Coney as an animal something like a chinchilla. He's cuddly and cute and his body shivers with delight at being able to go to his master's will. After he has been on one of his recces, Coney will snuggle into Mel's arms, then on hearing the command "Come on, boy, Tell!" he will inch his way up to his face and press his wet nose into Mel's closed eyes. That's the point at which the two become One. Coney relives his experiences and Mel lives through them first hand. My first feelings were "Oh I want one!", however the underground world where all of humanity lives is far from something which anybody desires. The System is as dark as the environment, the inhabitants bound by a meaningless Creed imposed by a God who is anything but godly. Force-fed such garbage to citizens by rote, draconian punishments are inflicted with a whipping just for failing to be in the correct place by curfew. This is imposed by by robot machines known as Factors who obey their programmed orders unseeingly, unfeelingly. Other punishments are worse.
Against this background we can imagine the feeling our little Coney has when he first pops his head up to the surface of the Earth and how thrilled we feel when he transfers these images to Mel: Mel who can make no sense of these pictures as he has nothing to relate them to. That's the setting into which we are cast as we begin reading the story, and an intriguing tale it is. Yet as the story went on, I had the feeling that this was more a work in progress than a finished product. There were a few rough edges which could have done have done with some tidying up, and the powers of the characters could have been better balanced. The abilities of Frankie, for instance, are far too wide ranging for anyone get the chance to muck in and do a bit of team-work.
And yet, you know, there is also the feeling that the author knows this perfectly well. Somewhere along the line I picked up a bit of writers versus publishers' gos, although I can't for the life of me think where: Richard Cowper (alias John Middleton Murray Jr) wrote this as a kind of riposte to publishers who had rejected his far superior work called The Twilight of Briareus.
If that is true, then I am more than a little intrigued at the way he is spiking his barbs. After rejecting Kuldesak, it is said, the publishers then accepted Briareus with open arms. How strange is that?
I like a book where the set-up is explained to me and I can just go on to read the story - not a tale where strange words attempting to describe stranger concepts are set out. This was the immediate feeling I had when beginning to read Kuldesak. When you come across a sentence such as "All Minnie wanted was to curl up and ***ipate for a while" (a word describing the feeling you get when you wake up to a bright summer's day with the sensation of biting into a burger when you're famished)", you feel a bit lost. I know what the author was trying to convey, yet felt (unless he had a deeper purpose) that this wasn't the way to do it. You get a peppering of sentences such as this in the first chapter. It's at this point where, as Hopkins wrote "the faithful [may] waver, the faithless fable and miss".
Yet as I read on, I found I had begun to feel my way very nicely, and I was soon quite at home in the dark underground world of Mel and Frankie, Jo and Bitos not forgetting dear Coney the cute Partner who goes scampering off into all the small places where his master cannot go. I imagine Coney as an animal something like a chinchilla. He's cuddly and cute and his body shivers with delight at being able to go to his master's will. After he has been on one of his recces, Coney will snuggle into Mel's arms, then on hearing the command "Come on, boy, Tell!" he will inch his way up to his face and press his wet nose into Mel's closed eyes. That's the point at which the two become One. Coney relives his experiences and Mel lives through them first hand. My first feelings were "Oh I want one!", however the underground world where all of humanity lives is far from something which anybody desires. The System is as dark as the environment, the inhabitants bound by a meaningless Creed imposed by a God who is anything but godly. Force-fed such garbage to citizens by rote, draconian punishments are inflicted with a whipping just for failing to be in the correct place by curfew. This is imposed by by robot machines known as Factors who obey their programmed orders unseeingly, unfeelingly. Other punishments are worse.
Against this background we can imagine the feeling our little Coney has when he first pops his head up to the surface of the Earth and how thrilled we feel when he transfers these images to Mel: Mel who can make no sense of these pictures as he has nothing to relate them to. That's the setting into which we are cast as we begin reading the story, and an intriguing tale it is. Yet as the story went on, I had the feeling that this was more a work in progress than a finished product. There were a few rough edges which could have done have done with some tidying up, and the powers of the characters could have been better balanced. The abilities of Frankie, for instance, are far too wide ranging for anyone get the chance to muck in and do a bit of team-work.
And yet, you know, there is also the feeling that the author knows this perfectly well. Somewhere along the line I picked up a bit of writers versus publishers' gos, although I can't for the life of me think where: Richard Cowper (alias John Middleton Murray Jr) wrote this as a kind of riposte to publishers who had rejected his far superior work called The Twilight of Briareus.
If that is true, then I am more than a little intrigued at the way he is spiking his barbs. After rejecting Kuldesak, it is said, the publishers then accepted Briareus with open arms. How strange is that?
September 15, 2013
Annnnd I've jumped into obscurity. After reading this, I'm not entirely sure why this is a relatvely unknown work. Kuldesak is a totally enjoyable sf novel that explores the theme of trying to grow and develop in a highly indoctrinated and devoulty religious society. It seems to be set in an immense underground world or fallout shelter. It is as if they moved entire cities underground, I think. And that is where this story falls short.
The main failing of this book is the lack of world building. Most things become clear in time but I didn't quite know what the godeyes, the plants or the handlers were for most of the book. A vast majority of the book takes place in the "levels" but you never really get a good sense of them. Still, it conveys the story of a boy trying to escape from a fallout shelter in the post apocalypse of the shelter's post apocalyse. I thought it was similar in tone to Harlan Ellison's A Boy and His Dog but I think Kuldesak was far more intriguing.
I wouldn't reccommend this to a complete newbie to sci fi, but alot of conventions are still in place. Still, quite good and lots of vivid imagery in the writing. A good depiction of the great magnitude of importance applied to the need for humanity's never ending search for the ultimate truth.
The main failing of this book is the lack of world building. Most things become clear in time but I didn't quite know what the godeyes, the plants or the handlers were for most of the book. A vast majority of the book takes place in the "levels" but you never really get a good sense of them. Still, it conveys the story of a boy trying to escape from a fallout shelter in the post apocalypse of the shelter's post apocalyse. I thought it was similar in tone to Harlan Ellison's A Boy and His Dog but I think Kuldesak was far more intriguing.
I wouldn't reccommend this to a complete newbie to sci fi, but alot of conventions are still in place. Still, quite good and lots of vivid imagery in the writing. A good depiction of the great magnitude of importance applied to the need for humanity's never ending search for the ultimate truth.
January 12, 2024
1983 Grade A+
2024 Grade A
I think this book is misunderstood by many people. It is not all about god or sex. What it is, is a very complex and intellectual cultural SciFi story. The humans in the book have lived isolated in a machine controlled society for 2000 years. All cultures evolve in that amount of time. For us, 2000 years ago the ancient Egyptians were still active. There is no more religion or sex in the book than there is now. It is just different!
I can see that the prose might confuse readers. Language evolves too, and the author has used some of those changes in the prose. So, some words do not mean exactly the same as they currently mean. Some have almost no understandable meaning. What is a planted person? Add to that a start with no human POV, and it can be confusing. But stick with it. The story quickly shifts to the human protagonists POV, becomes interesting as they explore the world, and eventually becomes rather exciting. All will be explained.
Frankly, it is a rather incredible novel.
RECOMMENDED!
2024 Grade A
I think this book is misunderstood by many people. It is not all about god or sex. What it is, is a very complex and intellectual cultural SciFi story. The humans in the book have lived isolated in a machine controlled society for 2000 years. All cultures evolve in that amount of time. For us, 2000 years ago the ancient Egyptians were still active. There is no more religion or sex in the book than there is now. It is just different!
I can see that the prose might confuse readers. Language evolves too, and the author has used some of those changes in the prose. So, some words do not mean exactly the same as they currently mean. Some have almost no understandable meaning. What is a planted person? Add to that a start with no human POV, and it can be confusing. But stick with it. The story quickly shifts to the human protagonists POV, becomes interesting as they explore the world, and eventually becomes rather exciting. All will be explained.
Frankly, it is a rather incredible novel.
RECOMMENDED!
September 1, 2024
3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
Summary
Mel, almost adult, is part of a small community of Roamers, who travel the tunnels occasionally interacting with the more sedentary Plants and hounded by the robotic Factors who enforce the law. But one of his Partner animals has found a path up to what appears to be a whole new region, without a roof, and exploration is at the risk of their lives.
Review
While I’m a fan of Richard Cowper’s writing, I’ve found his novels to be uneven. The terribly titled Kuldesak is happily one of the good ones.
Here, Cowper’s brevity works against him. He sets up an interesting world with an intriguing, complex backstory, but undercuts it both with his framing (an alien observer) and with a key characterization. I’d have been just as happy to see the humans work everything out on their own. The alien, while he does play an interesting role, is not strictly necessary, and is a bit of a distraction.The characterization is more of a problem. Frankie starts as something of an underdeveloped side character but suddenly (and mostly ex machina) becomes a key player in the whole drama. Unfortunately, that growth is not really accompanied by much in the way of character development. The solution to humanity’s problems springs up full-grown, essentially out of nowhere, and it feels distinctly disappointing, as if Cowper ran out of time, enthusiasm, or interest.
This is a story that deserved at least another 50 pages (it could easily have been double the length), and should perhaps have been told from Frankie’s perspective to begin with. It’s a good story, but the ending is flawed. Not Cowper’s best, but a good idea, and fun to read.
Summary
Mel, almost adult, is part of a small community of Roamers, who travel the tunnels occasionally interacting with the more sedentary Plants and hounded by the robotic Factors who enforce the law. But one of his Partner animals has found a path up to what appears to be a whole new region, without a roof, and exploration is at the risk of their lives.
Review
While I’m a fan of Richard Cowper’s writing, I’ve found his novels to be uneven. The terribly titled Kuldesak is happily one of the good ones.
Here, Cowper’s brevity works against him. He sets up an interesting world with an intriguing, complex backstory, but undercuts it both with his framing (an alien observer) and with a key characterization. I’d have been just as happy to see the humans work everything out on their own. The alien, while he does play an interesting role, is not strictly necessary, and is a bit of a distraction.The characterization is more of a problem. Frankie starts as something of an underdeveloped side character but suddenly (and mostly ex machina) becomes a key player in the whole drama. Unfortunately, that growth is not really accompanied by much in the way of character development. The solution to humanity’s problems springs up full-grown, essentially out of nowhere, and it feels distinctly disappointing, as if Cowper ran out of time, enthusiasm, or interest.
This is a story that deserved at least another 50 pages (it could easily have been double the length), and should perhaps have been told from Frankie’s perspective to begin with. It’s a good story, but the ending is flawed. Not Cowper’s best, but a good idea, and fun to read.
September 5, 2024
I enjoyed reading this book when I was in my early teens. The book has stayed with me for fifty years. I still enjoyed this book. My only criticism with it is that it feels too short.
Some people have criticised the writing (as Science Fiction), but I think the book is for a younger audience, and perhaps this wasn't understood? I could be wrong with this theory or - because I still enjoy reading it - perhaps I have never grown up..?
(Someone criticised the front cover, but it is clearly based on images of two elements from the story: sycamore leaves and the part where the two "factors" try to prevent the "Roamers" from leaving the "Levels".)
Some people have criticised the writing (as Science Fiction), but I think the book is for a younger audience, and perhaps this wasn't understood? I could be wrong with this theory or - because I still enjoy reading it - perhaps I have never grown up..?
(Someone criticised the front cover, but it is clearly based on images of two elements from the story: sycamore leaves and the part where the two "factors" try to prevent the "Roamers" from leaving the "Levels".)
July 22, 2022
I first read this book in the 70's. It made a deep impression and I always wanted to reread it. Recently, I finally got a copy, and I still loved it. And I still have no idea what kind of animals the 'patners' are. Coney suggests rabbits, but their eyes lighting up green suggest cats.
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December 29, 2017Ex library book
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews