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2018 A.D.
Book by Lundwall, Sam J.
158 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
6 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Sam J. Lundwall
254 books14 followersSam Thore Jerrie Lundwall (born 24 February 1941), published as Sam J. Lundwall, is a Swedish science fiction writer, translator, publisher and singer. He translated a number of science-fiction-related articles and works from Swedish into English.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 23, 2020
DAW Collectors #142
Cover Artist: Josh Kirby.
Name: Lundwall, Sam Thore Jerrie. Birthplace: Stockholm, Sweden, 24 February 1941
Swedish author, editor, critic, translator and publisher who has also periodically worked as a singer/songwriter, Television producer, photographer and cartoonist. Lundwall is the preeminent figure in Swedish sf.
"2018 A.D." is a pastiche of nineteenth-century fantastic adventure novels, complete with mustachioed villains and weird Inventions.
Cover Artist: Josh Kirby.
Name: Lundwall, Sam Thore Jerrie. Birthplace: Stockholm, Sweden, 24 February 1941
Swedish author, editor, critic, translator and publisher who has also periodically worked as a singer/songwriter, Television producer, photographer and cartoonist. Lundwall is the preeminent figure in Swedish sf.
"2018 A.D." is a pastiche of nineteenth-century fantastic adventure novels, complete with mustachioed villains and weird Inventions.
December 11, 2017
This dystopian novel from 1975, although satirical in nature, makes some surprisingly accurate predictions in a general way about life in 2018. Of course, several of the specific details are wrong, such as how computers would work, and changes in television technology. But in the social-political matters there are some scary scenarios happening as I write this. Lundwall envisions a world in which national governments have significantly reduced power, and waste their time on petty wars and altercations with each other, ignoring massive and violent protests at home. The real power is located in giant, multinational corporations that have commercialized virtually every aspect of life - housing, water, medicine, new age self-help schemes, even death. However, these corporations themselves are unaware that the real power is held by the "owner" of the world, a Bedouin prince who, because of the demand for petroleum, has managed to gain the control of all the corporations that rely on oil money, since most corporations of any kind in Lundwall's world of 2018 are either openly or secretly held by oil conglomerates. First world countries have a huge, largely unnoticed underclass created by a huge wealth disparity. It is all quite familiar to those of us actually living in 2018.
The novel itself has a basic plot - find the girl. In this case, low-ranking ad executive Erik Lenning receives an order from his overbearing superior to locate a young Swedish woman who was supposedly born right at the turn of the millennium so she can partake in a beauty-pageant ad campaign as Miss Armpit Cream. The novel has three protagonists whose stories unfold in parallel - Lenning and his increasingly absurd and dangerous search for the girl; Anniki Norijn, the young woman being sought, a person numb to the suffering of others because of her own downtrodden life; and Sheik Umir ar-Rechehidd, the Bedouin chieftain whose brother "owns" the world. If there is a hero in the book, it is Sheik Umir, who fails to understand the "white devils" and their obsession with oil and who wants nothing more than to be rid of them. Other characters are, in typical fashion of satires, self-absorbed and expressed more by their worst characteristics than by their best. The novel is at times very funny and very depressing. It is definitely not for all tastes, but if a reader enjoys astute social commentary in fictional form, this may be the right novel to read.
The novel itself has a basic plot - find the girl. In this case, low-ranking ad executive Erik Lenning receives an order from his overbearing superior to locate a young Swedish woman who was supposedly born right at the turn of the millennium so she can partake in a beauty-pageant ad campaign as Miss Armpit Cream. The novel has three protagonists whose stories unfold in parallel - Lenning and his increasingly absurd and dangerous search for the girl; Anniki Norijn, the young woman being sought, a person numb to the suffering of others because of her own downtrodden life; and Sheik Umir ar-Rechehidd, the Bedouin chieftain whose brother "owns" the world. If there is a hero in the book, it is Sheik Umir, who fails to understand the "white devils" and their obsession with oil and who wants nothing more than to be rid of them. Other characters are, in typical fashion of satires, self-absorbed and expressed more by their worst characteristics than by their best. The novel is at times very funny and very depressing. It is definitely not for all tastes, but if a reader enjoys astute social commentary in fictional form, this may be the right novel to read.
Want to read
May 2, 2008Only two-bits at The Book Worm! "The bestseller SF novel that shocked Sweden"...and it was a multimedia attack, too: "...it was too uncomfortably prophetic to be just satirical science fiction. Its musical accompaniment, entitled King Kong Blues, became a top hit record - a rock-beat for the next century."
In the appendix, the author notes that the novel is "based upon several thousand clippings from newspapers and news magazines"...a quick read-through makes it obvious that, no, you probably won't have any real luck tracking them down:
"Sa ga tysk TV till botten nar man underhaller" was published in Aftonbladet on March 30, 1971, for example. Go ahead, go swim with the microfiches if you desire.
The publisher notes that you can order the album of Lundwall's songs now, directly from the artist - before an American contract (still pending) for distrubition is made; also, he writes that a movie version would be shot in "late 1975 in Stockholm, London and New York."
One wonders - now so close to the closing date - what happened to the celluloid dream; how it all fell apart.
***
Opening paragraph:
It was a beautiful wedding. The bride was high-bosomed and long-legged, and dressed in a bridal dress of the latest fashion that barely concealed the most conspicuous erogenous zones.
The satire comes in, now, when the wedding is interrupted by the priest reading a "...few words from our sponsor. A wedding without attire from the NK department store is not a wedding. Only attire from NK assures you a life in eternal connubial bliss."
In the appendix, the author notes that the novel is "based upon several thousand clippings from newspapers and news magazines"...a quick read-through makes it obvious that, no, you probably won't have any real luck tracking them down:
"Sa ga tysk TV till botten nar man underhaller" was published in Aftonbladet on March 30, 1971, for example. Go ahead, go swim with the microfiches if you desire.
The publisher notes that you can order the album of Lundwall's songs now, directly from the artist - before an American contract (still pending) for distrubition is made; also, he writes that a movie version would be shot in "late 1975 in Stockholm, London and New York."
One wonders - now so close to the closing date - what happened to the celluloid dream; how it all fell apart.
***
Opening paragraph:
It was a beautiful wedding. The bride was high-bosomed and long-legged, and dressed in a bridal dress of the latest fashion that barely concealed the most conspicuous erogenous zones.
The satire comes in, now, when the wedding is interrupted by the priest reading a "...few words from our sponsor. A wedding without attire from the NK department store is not a wedding. Only attire from NK assures you a life in eternal connubial bliss."
January 27, 2026
DNF. I can see this was meant to be a fierce satire on capitalism as conceived by a Western author in the 1970s, but it was far too sadistic and sexist for me to wish to continue reading it. Besides, characters felt very flat. I rarely quit reading halfway through a boom, but time is far too precious to devote it to a story which makes me feel miserable, sad and angry. Books are meant to illuminate, not bring discomfort, so thanks but no thanks to this one for me.
May 31, 2023
Take a trip into the future. Unfortunately (or fortunately) your starting point is the late seventies. Predictions did not allow for the digital age and the world wide Web. You are on a journey, a quest, to find the first woman born in Sweden at the turn of the millennia. All this for an advertising campaign for underarm cream.
Predictions are made, based on factual data in existence at the time of writing.
We see...
Subliminal advertising (block it out if you can or you may be in debt for the rest of your life).
The advent of reality TV.
Pollution.
The oil industry.
4 channel sound (wow!) and the use of closed circuit TV to monitor populations with video recorders to record this on endless reams of magnetic tape.
Pensioner gangs (avoid if possible or you may be critically injured and in debt for the rest of your life).
And on and on....
Only slightly misogynistic and bigoted (as was the world in the seventies), definitely male centralised (as was the majority of the characters). ...You had to be there...
This book would have been more entertaining (5 stars) if it was consumed in the seventies. The only real spoiler is the way the world has evolved since then.
So,
Take a trip into a parallel universe and, if you can avoid the delinquent pensioners, avoid the threat of being sacked from your job or transferral to some place in Northern Russia, avoid the atom bombs and the conflict between the United States and Britain or you may end up in a high rise cemetery or, if funds allow, a cryogenic freezer on the moon.
You always have a fall back to sanity. All you really need is...
YOUR CAMEL, YOUR RIFLE, YOUR WOMAN, AND YOUR CHILDREN.
Predictions are made, based on factual data in existence at the time of writing.
We see...
Subliminal advertising (block it out if you can or you may be in debt for the rest of your life).
The advent of reality TV.
Pollution.
The oil industry.
4 channel sound (wow!) and the use of closed circuit TV to monitor populations with video recorders to record this on endless reams of magnetic tape.
Pensioner gangs (avoid if possible or you may be critically injured and in debt for the rest of your life).
And on and on....
Only slightly misogynistic and bigoted (as was the world in the seventies), definitely male centralised (as was the majority of the characters). ...You had to be there...
This book would have been more entertaining (5 stars) if it was consumed in the seventies. The only real spoiler is the way the world has evolved since then.
So,
Take a trip into a parallel universe and, if you can avoid the delinquent pensioners, avoid the threat of being sacked from your job or transferral to some place in Northern Russia, avoid the atom bombs and the conflict between the United States and Britain or you may end up in a high rise cemetery or, if funds allow, a cryogenic freezer on the moon.
You always have a fall back to sanity. All you really need is...
YOUR CAMEL, YOUR RIFLE, YOUR WOMAN, AND YOUR CHILDREN.
August 30, 2009
In 2018 AD or the King Kong Blues, Sam J. Lundwall's dystopian future forecasting is, for the most part, dead on. Overpopulation, peak oil, and a society obsessed with tawdry reality television (and bombarded with constant advertising) make the novel's setting eerily resonant, and resemblances between this 1975 novel and the present day abound. Then again, the technology of Lundwall's future remain mired in the 70s, with centralized magnetic tape and punchcard-controlled computers, and recorded music played (in six-channel sound) from LP records. At times hilarious, 2018 AD or the King Kong Blues hasn't aged well; too many of the novel's characters are two-dimensional stereotypes and infodumps abound, making this a book tentatively recommended to students of yesterday's tomorrows and those intent on exploring pull-dated dystopian visions. Casual SF readers need not apply.
January 24, 2018
Zanimljiva ideja, zastrašujuća točnost trenutne sociopolitičke slike svijeta i jezivo moguć scenarij razvoja ne-tako-daleke budućnosti. S književnoteorijskog pak gledišta, Lundwallu nedostaje fikcijske inventivnosti u izgradnji teksta zbog čega djelo značajno gubi na kvaliteti. Preporuka za čitanje onima koji imaju strpljenja prolaziti kroz eklektičan i kaotičan tekst koji je na mjestima dosadnjikav, a s druge strane zrcali atmosferu jednako kaotične i disperzne radnje.
September 16, 2021
I previously tried to read this last year and gave up at page 100, claiming Lundwall's only purpose was to shock and offend. Since then I've read other Lundwall novels, what's available in English at least, and absolutely loved them. So I returned to this one, and I have absolutely no idea why I was originally so annoyed. Another strong science fiction novel from Sweden, not as hilarious as Lundwall's Bernhard books, but not meant to be. Really quite interesting. I don't understand myself.
May 21, 2020
I was quite surprised by this book.
In someways it is obviously a product of it's time (the early 1970s). There are some very surprising "predictions."
Mr. Lundwall's idea about water being bottled and sold is one. Similar to what has happened.
His account of the Oil industry is also very close.
I recommend this book.
In someways it is obviously a product of it's time (the early 1970s). There are some very surprising "predictions."
Mr. Lundwall's idea about water being bottled and sold is one. Similar to what has happened.
His account of the Oil industry is also very close.
I recommend this book.
June 20, 2013
Extremely accurate portrayal of the future.
May 20, 2024
Depressing, sexist, racist and pro cruelty and violence. It does predict some things correctly.
April 19, 2018
Yes I only read this to find out how 2018 turns out... Imagine a vision of 2018 where everyone is addicted to tv, either mundane reality shows, or horribly dangerous gameshows. Where there's no such thing as privacy, and a network of computers records every fact about your daily life. And where disagreement between the nations of the world has meant that the oil sheiks control all of the world's money through secret bank accounts in tax havens... It's remarkable how accurate this 1974 satirical novel turned out. It's not all successful as the social predictions were off, and it's pretty sexist. But overall, it feels strange reading a book like this today when so many of the predictions were on the money.
July 30, 2020
The satirical futurism was prescient (although not funny), and there were a ton of real world examples of cultural ridiculousness that I enjoyed learning about.
There was, however, no story to speak of, no characters of note, and nothing that made this more interesting than a wiki about how dumb things are and how dumb things could get would be.
Plus there was weird anti-Norwat stuff that must only make sense to Swedes.
There was, however, no story to speak of, no characters of note, and nothing that made this more interesting than a wiki about how dumb things are and how dumb things could get would be.
Plus there was weird anti-Norwat stuff that must only make sense to Swedes.
June 5, 2025
2018 A.D. or the King Kong Blues will appeal to anyone who ever thought that Orwell's 1984 would have been more enjoyable if it had been written as a comedic farce.
Sam Lundwall's future-casting may have largely missed the mark from a purely technological perspective, but his cultural and economic themes remain as relevant now as they were when this book was released.
Sam Lundwall's future-casting may have largely missed the mark from a purely technological perspective, but his cultural and economic themes remain as relevant now as they were when this book was released.
February 16, 2025
Honestly a good read. It was weird in all the right ways. The pacing was fast but interesting the characters were fun and the guess of what life would be like on 2018 was honestly not as far off and I think that author might have hope he’d be. Solid read 3.6 on the paul scale I’d say.
May 29, 2017
Nice one. :)
January 14, 2019
I just could not get into this book. I'd suggest rereading some other dystopian paranoia book.
December 30, 2020
Written in 1875, many of the exaggerations really come true- corporate control of everything, pollution, water shortages, reality TV and worse.
Read
March 26, 2024Se deja leer.
https://liblit.com/sam-j-lundwall-kin...
https://liblit.com/sam-j-lundwall-kin...
June 28, 2016
Av någon anledning blandar jag alltid ihop Sam J. Lundwall med Åke Ohlmarks. Redan där börjar vår relation att skeva. Sedan gör jag någon association till någon mailinglista som inte (heller) har något att göra med Lundwall, annat än möjligtvis genremässigt - och (tyvärr) kvalitetsmässigt.
Jag har svårt för språket och jag har svårt för storyn, som inte riktigt finns där. Det är ju ett problem. Och den hinner nätt och jämnt lyfta förrän boken är slut. Hoppsan, liksom.
Men konceptet är bra: Bygg en framtidsvision på hur nutiden redan ser ut genom att ta inspiration från tidningsklipp. Den idén är värd att låna. Om inte för att skapa något eget, så i alla fall som skrivövningar.
Det räcker så. Och den medföljande skivan fick jag aldrig höra eftersom den inte följde med. Kanske den finns på Spotify? Nej.
Jag har svårt för språket och jag har svårt för storyn, som inte riktigt finns där. Det är ju ett problem. Och den hinner nätt och jämnt lyfta förrän boken är slut. Hoppsan, liksom.
Men konceptet är bra: Bygg en framtidsvision på hur nutiden redan ser ut genom att ta inspiration från tidningsklipp. Den idén är värd att låna. Om inte för att skapa något eget, så i alla fall som skrivövningar.
Det räcker så. Och den medföljande skivan fick jag aldrig höra eftersom den inte följde med. Kanske den finns på Spotify? Nej.
March 5, 2018
I loved how horribly wrong it was on some aspects and hoe eerily accurate on others.
Not a bad quick read.
Not a bad quick read.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews