Anton York, inmortal

by Eando Binder

Anton York es el hijo de un ilustre científico que ha inventado el «Elixir», una sustancia que ofrece la inmortalidad a quien la ingiere. No hace falta comer, ni respirar, ni tener necesidades fisiológicas. El Elixir da, en resumidas cuentas, la vida eterna y permite abolir cualquier tipo de dependencia física. La envidia es muy mala, y pronto York se gana numerosos enemigos, que se suceden a lo largo de los siglos, hasta que se revela cuáles son los antagonistas verdaderos: los Tres Eternos, un triunvirato mitológico que trata a los mortales como inferiores y manejan el mundo a su antojo como si fueran dioses grecorromanos. Es ciencia ficción al estilo de los años 60, con todo lo que eso conlleva: Un estilo austero, personajes planos (aunque se agradece el personaje femenino «con personalidad» que es Vera, la mujer de York), y una narración a veces algo torpe, aunque destaca por su fluidez de vocabulario. Lo mejor es que el libro cambia de registro varias veces. De hecho, varios capítulos parecen relatos que pueden considerarse una unidad temática. Pasamos de la historia de super héroes, al thriller, a la space-opera o el terror psicológico. Además, hay un tono hasta humorístico en la principal pregunta que se plantea en la novela: ¿qué hacer con tanto tiempo disponible? Así, Anton York es un arquetípico superhombre marveliano que ayuda a construir planetas y a «cuidar» del Sistema Solar, viajando por el espacio a placer. El giro narrativo principal viene con la aparición estelar de Kaligor, una especie de cyborg que hace que el libro mejore muchísimo, dando una vuelta de tuerca e ignorando las típicas aventuras que han transcurrido anteriormente. Kaligor ha estado encerrado 20,000 años en una guarida subterránea. Como no puede morir, los Tres Eternos pensaron que la manera de neutralizarle sería mantenerle allí para que perdiera la cordura. En 20,000 años, a Kaligor le da tiempo de inventarse un universo paralelo, y está a punto de enloquecer cuando Anton York y Vera le rescatan, al chocar el universo de su mente con la realidad. Es una escena magnífica y que plantea una estupenda tesis sobre el solipsismo. ¿Somos nosotros fruto de un Kaligor que nos ha inventado por hastío o aburrimiento? Qué decir. «Anton York Inmortal» gana dos o tres puntos sólo por el personaje de Kaligor, que es, faltaría más, mucho más interesante que el matrimonio protagonista. Lo que era un relato clásico de ciencia ficción de repente se transforma en una reflexión inteligentísima. Esta novela es en realidad un «fix-up» formado por cuatro narraciones publicadas previamente por separado: 1937 - La conquista de la vida (Conquest of Life). 1938 - Vida eterna (Eternal Life). 1939 - Los tres eternos (The Three Eternals). 1940 - El secreto de Anton York (The Secret of Anton York).

Genres: Science Fiction, Pulp

270 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1965

About the author

A pseudonym used by brothers
Earl Andrew Binder and Otto Oscar Binder

Reviews

[Phil Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took a detour in my usual reading preferences for my first book of 2013. I've read some science fiction in the past, but usually the type of that uses the genre to comment on greater issues. Think Ray Bradbury. In reality, I'm fairly ignorant of the genre, even though I've enjoyed such shows as The Twilight Zone and other mainstream instances of the genre. I've been wanting for a long time to read more of the stuff, to immerse myself in these hugely imaginative works. I've read about the genre, read about many books that sound downright awesome, but until now I haven't done anything about my thirst for space stories.

I read a book called Anton York, Immortal. It consists of four stories written written between 1937 and 1940 by Eando Binder (a pseudonym for brothers Earl and Otto Binder) and collected within the copy I have in 1965. Check out the Goodreads page for the cover alone (that's what caught my eye when I came across this book in a used bookstore): http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15....

I loved this book. It tells the story of Anton York who as a child is injected with an elixir by his scientist father. There are two outcomes for Anton: immortality or death. Some father, huh? Of course the elixir works and Anton ages until 35 at which point his body is immune to disease and the aging process. In all, he lives for 2,000 years. He packs those years with scientific space adventures, from moving planets and rendering uninhabitable planets habitable for pioneering humans to defeating a number of villains who've also achieved immortality. York's adventures are improbable and his escapes from danger are impossible. But that's what makes the stories so good. This is the type of reading I remember as a kid, the kind in which you allow the story to take you places, many times down narrow dangerous roads that seem to lead to a dead end. Except every time there's something right before that dead end that allows the hero to escape. Or perhaps there was no dead end to begin with, only the allusion of one. It's escapist reading at its best, and though I'm not yet well-versed in the genre, it seems this book is a fairly decent one since it did incorporate many technical terms and scientific theories, yet never allowed those usually pedantic topics to slow the pace of the all-important story.

Happy reading.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this as teenager and loved it. Remembered the name Anton York. The story impressed me so much that at age 23 I named my son Anton York.

Looking to buy, read again and gift to my son. At this time he has no idea this was the inspiration for his name.

[Librarianocnj · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite pulp scifi novels. Read it about once a year.

[Luisg2099 Eduardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulosa, la leí en secundaria o prepa, llena de imaginación, impresionante. Excelentes recuerdos.

[Gary Daly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ludicrous story. It’s amusing at times but ultimately this book, ‘Anton York Immortal’ would have been great as film made by Ed Wood (Plan 9 From Outer Space). The book has all the grandeur of total abandonment. A character who can do anything and he does. All challenges are overcome after one or two difficult delays. It’s so smooth one could almost believe it’s a documentary of an acid trip. I think the foundations of the novel (as it was published by Belmont Books in 1968) is sourced from the late 1930s. Still the book survives out in the world and finally reached me to read in the 21st Century. Authentic effort but ultimately difficult to recommend when we have so many books to read and so little time. Bought from Gould’s Books for $9.90.

[Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pure Sci-fi pulp, and it's fantastic. Anton York has developed a serum for eternal life and spends his thousands of years defending Earth from the evils of others that have the same gift of life he has. It's very much in the vein of E.R.B adventure books. The first few parts of the book are fairly bland and predictable, but the last section deals with him exploding into a different universe and taking on new perils there and trying to figure out the different physics that make up that universe. I thought those were some cool ideas and fun to read. Not bad stuff overall.

[Tracy Thorleifson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Earl Andrew and Otto (Eando) Binder were prolific authors of the pulp Sci-Fi age. Anton York, Immortal (the 1965 Belmont paperback edition) was the very first book I ever purchased with my own money (from a spinning book rack at at a Stuckey's road stop restaurant, no less). Although it was published in 1965, the book is derived from stories the Binder brothers were publishing in the pulps in the '30s and '40s, and is a perfect example of the science fiction of that era. It's a real treat. :-)