Customer Reviews

The Demolished Man

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Even 49 years after its initial publication, The Demolished Man still stands as a true science fiction novel. The story of Ben Reich living in a future world where mind reading is a commonality amongst a group known as 'Espers.' In a world without crime, for one can know when you will commit one, how is one to go about plotting a murder? Ben Reich has the perfect plan. This book captivated me from beginning to end when I read it 10 years ago and I continually reccomend it to those that enjoy science fiction. Author, Alfred Bester, won the first Hugo Award for Science Fiction for The Demolished Man. In my opinion this book is still the hallmark of science fiction novels, unfortunately, however, Bester himself is so unheard of in many literary circles and more so in the general public. I highly reccomnend this book for anyone who has a flare for science fiction.

Bester's "The Demolished Man" is a true classic of the sci-fi genre, and perhaps the first cyberpunk novel. Though it does appear dated at times, Bester's work remains as fun and powerful as when it was written fifty years ago. Threads of Bester's comic book roots can be seen woven throughout the story, which moves along at a brisk, almost frantic, pace.

A near future world where a small minority has developed their latent ESP, Bester's world is a compelling mix of utopia and dystopia. The mind police have virtually eliminated crime, either by rooting it out beforehand, or by always catching their man after-the-fact. But this safety comes at a dear price, where the unenforcable promise of the ESPers is only guarantee of privacy that most have.

However, Ben Reich, as head of a major corporate powerhouse, feels that he can outsmart the ESPers. Haunted in his dreams by a mysterious man, and driven by uncontrolled passions, Reich decides to eliminate his chief rival, D'Courtney. The murder sets off a brilliant battle of wits between Reich and the head investigator, Powell, which can only end in the "demolition" of Reich, or the total embarrassment of Powell.

Who gets demolished? What IS "demolition"? Why would Reich risk so much to kill D'Courtney? With so many pressing questions, it was amazing to see Bester wrap this book up in such a fulfilling way. A great mystery with a clever ending, set in a compelling near future world - despite its age, "The Demolished Man" remains a standard-bearer of its field.

The Demolished Man was the first novel to win the Hugo award. The book has everything: plot, strong characters. In the future, to committ a crime is an impossible task, due to all those telepaths running around. In case somebody do committ a crime, there is no prison ,what they do is just swipe your mind clean. However, Ben Reich decided that he will committ a crime anyway, He is even hired a telepath to help him to block his thougths. This is actually more the detective novel developing in Futuristic scenario. The Demolished Man is a novel of the future, where along with all new ways of life and powerful technology, only one thing remains unsolved: the mystery of human soul.

P.S. Also if you like this novel read The Stars, My Destination. I think, this is the best novel Alfred Bester written.

I welcomed the re-issue of this book as it gave me a chance to read what has been touted as one of the truly great works of science fiction. With these expectations, I could only be let down. It has a complex plot (although it seems simple enough at first), and some of the surprises are truly masterful. I particularly liked the description of demolition. The best part of the novel is a long, psychic vs. normal police investigation where Bester has two characters handicapped by aspects of their society place a wonderfully written chess game where the final stake is the oft-mentioned demolition. But, overall the book has some failings.

A lack of character

The characters of the book are too simple and too Freudian. Lincoln Powell is by far the most interesting, but the alter ego that Bester sets up for Powell never really reaches the climax that it deserves. Ben Reich starts off as your simple, marxist caricature of a rich man, and really has little room to grow, either into an interesting character or a truly hateable antagonist.

Sometimes science gets in the way of science fiction ...

and this is a classic case. It is hard to read this book because the science is so dated. It is a hardcore Freudian read, and the characters are strictly governed by Id, Ego, Superego, and refer to these as truths. Although Freud is very influential in the way we think about thinking, Bester uses ideas about disorders that were fresh at the time, but have not aged well and have become dated.

Buy the book

Go ahead and buy The Demolished Man. It truly is an influential book. Gibson echoes many of the themes and characters, and the television show, Babylon 5 has a whole organization structured around its Espers Guild. Read it for what it is, a truly influential work of science fiction from sci-fi's early days. Do not look for it to speak too much for today's society, and don't look for it to keep to the standards of current masters such as Clarke, Gibson, and Robinson (Its lack of characterization makes it even have trouble standing up to past masters like Heinlein). It is good, enjoyable, fast paced science fiction. It doesn't, though, leave the reader with either the social questions or the post-technological awe of great science fiction.

This is a classic science fiction novel first published in 1952, which is a must read for anyone interested in the history of the genre. Age has been much kinder to this novel than to most from that era, and this still is a good read today. It is the winner of the first ever Hugo award in 1953, and was nominated for the International Fantasy Award in 1954. It was recognized by the fans when it was rated the 7th best science fiction book in the 1956 Astounding/Analog poll, and moved up to 5th on that poll in 1966. It has faired well on the Locus polls as well, being rated 14th for All Time Novel in 1975, tied for 18th for All Time SF Novel in 1987, and finally 22nd for SF Novel before 1990 in 1998. It is considered by some, to be the beginning of modern science fiction.

It is the story of Ben Reich who is the extremely rich head of a large corporation, and his decision to kill a business rival with whom he has become obsessed. The biggest problem he has is the "Espers", telepaths who can read his plan from his mind, and stop him or easily have him convicted after the crime. This theme will sound familiar to fans of Philip K. Dick, but the two stories are quite different. There are many more events in this book which cause it to twist and turn, but it would be impossible to talk about them without spoiling the story. This is a great book, and well deserving of the awards and accolades it has received.

(First, just to make something clear: this book has no connection to the Snipes/Stallone stinker movie _Demolition Man_.)

Bester's first novel (after years of short stories, comics, and radio) also won the first Hugo Award, and deserved it. This is cyberpunk mayhem thirty years before anyone invented the term, a lightning ride through language, deception, and murder. The book I find it most closely resembles is Paul Cain's crime thriller _Fast One_, duplicating its speed and moral relativism.

In Bester's imagined future, Espers (telepaths) make murder impossible to commit, so mad industrialist Ben Reich just has to find a way to get away with it. The plot follows policeman Lincoln Powell, a powerful esper, in his quest to nail Reich, and Reich's delirious evasions. At stake may be the whole of society.

I have only one negative thing to say for this book: it still isn't as good as Bester's other great novel, _The Stars My Destination_. Buy both of them today and plunge into the best of science fiction.

Yep; that's it. If one hasn't read A. Bester's other novel, the later 'The Stars my Destination', one can easily give 'the Demolished Man' a 5-star rating.

I happened to have read the former. So I was, understandably, disappointed with 'The D-Man'.

Understandably? Uh-hm; maybe not.

The problem arises because both novels share a number of great ideas and themes. Central is Bester's obsession with the power of the human mind and the feats (or defeats) it can lead us to: In 'The D-Man' we have Ben Reich, multi-billionnaire; in 'The Stars' G. Foyle, (interstellar) seaman: both have a mind capable of amazing potential to understand - or DISTORT! - and to achieve - or DESTROY.

A secondary but very important theme (though hidden as to its true nature in 'The D-Man' until the last pages) is that of revenge: both Reich and Foyle want to kill for having been rejected. Other common sub-themes abound: Telepathy (foremost in 'The D-Man'), beautiful and sexy women, Corporate business and High-society parties, typographic colour and colourful typography (thank God for the author having worked in the Comix and Advertising industries!). Lastly, the two Bester novels share a 'detective story' format where an all-revealing surprise is sprung at the end.

Here the similarities end and the problem manifests itself: whatever 'The D-Man' does, 'The Stars' does better. Far better.

'The D-Man' is not as rich and varied in its settings and its characters; not as broad in its scientific scope (Telepathy dominates from beginning to end). It is not very 'tight' in plot development, there are too many 'loose ends' (How could a Solar-System-Wide famous tycoon like D'Courtney have a grown-up daughter that noone has heard of - not even his arch rival? How and why did Barbara, fleeing the murder site half-mad, end up in Chooka's Rainbow house? Why did Quizzard, sent to kill the girl, go there with his wife instead of one of his goons and why did he end up -being blind- choosing to fondle this girl insted of killing her? Why... why...)

But the major flaw of 'The D-Man' is not its inconsistencies, its quaint coincidences (Powell, the Police prefect, who can only marry another telepath like him, discovers the girl he has fallen in love with is a latent TP) or its, at times, naivete (Reich, with a Solar-wide Commercial empire to run, having a 'hands-on' approach). It is the implausibility of its central premise: The motive of Reich having gone to all the trouble to plan and execute the impossible crime against all odds - murder in a society that employs mind readers - rings hollow.

Equally weak seems the solution Powell resorts to to nail his man after all else has failed. So do I have any nice words to say about this book? You bet I do!

The basic concept is absolutely fascinating: murder in a society where cops can read your brain - WOW! - this alone is worth the price of admission. But Bester's creativity does not end here. Throughout the story the reader is treated to a host of other original ideas - ever heard of cyberpunk? ... this was not the very first Hugo winner by accident! At the time it came out there was NOTHING like it on the scene; it created waves whose ripples can be felt to this day.

Inventiveness aside there's the story-telling. Could Mr. Bester write! The prose is vibrant throughout, the economy exemplary, more in time with our fast-paced times than the half century ago when this story was penned. In fact, the reasons this book wears its age so well have more to do with its style than with its scientific insights and predictions. All in all, an enjoyable read, not just an essential read for all serious SF fans. Certainly a lot better than a lot of the crap Editorial Marketers feed us these days.

But 'The Demolished Man' is not a top novel, at least not after the stardards Bester's own 'The Stars my Destination' set. That, is probably the Best SF work of all time.

Only maybe it wouldn't be if Alfred Bester had not experimented with his pet themes in 'The D-Man'. Think of this book as the studies Rembrandt or Michelangelo did leading up to their Master paintings and sculptures.

'Understandably' disappointed? Uh-hm, cross that out.

I could not understand why _The Demolished Man_, a classic in the science fiction field, has been out of print for so long. So when Vintage Books finally reissued it in July of this year, it signalled the end of a ten year search for a copy of the book, and it did not disappoint. The concept is intriguing. Ben Reich is the head of one of the largest corporations in the future, but one man, his rival D'Courtney, stands in his way, and so he must die. The catch: society is policed by Espers, people with telepathic powers, who make it virtually impossible for anyone to successfully commit murder and get away with it. Can Reich get away with murder? How he does it and how he tries to get away with it are just some of the questions that will be answered when you pick up the book. But be prepared. Fasten your seatbelts. The action is so fast paced that transitions virtually disappear. In a style that foreshadows William Gibson and the cyberpunks, Bester masterfully creates a decaying world whose ultimate survival depends on the capture of Ben Reich. And he keeps us guessing until the very end

Not to be too gushy, but this 1951 classic is one of THE towering classics of 1950's hardcore Science Fiction, and it's the winner of the very FIRST EVER HUGO AWARD.

As if that wasn't praise enough, J.M. Straczynski, the creator of the highly acclaimed and award winning "Babylon 5" series, repeatedly paid open and worshipful homage to the author, Alfred Bester, by basing his "Psi Corps" on the police force in this book. He also named the head of that organization after the author himself. Walter Koenig (Checkov on Star Trek: TOS) was cast as Bester in B5, and Harlan Ellison begged and pleaded until JMS let him made a guest appearance as a Psi Cop working directly for him.

Getting dizzy yet ? Good. I'm not done yet.

Issac Asimov has called it "one of the all-time classics of Science Fiction".

This book also the direct spiritual heir of George Orwell's dark 1949 classic "1984", and the case could also be made that Gibson's classic "Neuromancer" may have been strongly inspired, in part, by this book.

It's a hard hitting, well written, and highly original tour de force, and it rightly earns my highest recommendations. It richly deserves to be re-discovered by a new generation of scifi fans.

I just finished reading this incredible book. I was a little apprehensive because it was written in the 1950's - not that the stories weren't good back then, but sometimes they are obviously dated and have that certain early sci-fi "feel". However, I was stunned to find that this book sounded as if it could have been written this year - except for a few things that dated it, e.g., use of the word "Negro." The subtlety and the complicated facets of this futuristic society were deftly woven in a very innovative manner which I would have associated more with modern SF. I really enjoyed the thriller/crime novel plot and disagree with the reviewer who felt it didn't seem like science fiction at points - if it felt that way, that's because of the skillfulness of the writing! The plot moved quickly and kept me entirely mesmerized (although because of the plot twists and some pretty complicated ideas I sometimes had to reread parts!). What might have improved the book or at least made it even more fascinating was further or clearer explication of Reich being "the type of man" who only comes every few centuries or so, who can "bend society to his own reality" - an interesting concept but only vaguely sketched. All in all, however, a really wonderful, intense tale which I highly recommend.