Customer Reviews

The Disappearance

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One of the most remarkable novels ever written, The Disappearance must have caused a sensation in 1951 when it first appeared. I won't belabor the plot, because others have already recounted it. But its frank analysis of the way in which our society separates men and women, teaches children to be ashamed of their bodies, teaches men and women NOT to fulfill their potentials and destinies but to fill the paths set down by our narrowminded forebears, is every bit as poignant today as it was then.

Wylie's two protagonists -- Bill Gaunt the philosopher and is wife Paula -- a PhD in languages -- are three-dimensional and fascinating. His assessment of the world of men without women disintegrating into lawlessness is frighteningly real. His world of women discovering that very few of their number have been trained in the rudiments of running the society is sobering. And although women have come a long way in that respect since 1951, the glass ceiling still exists. The perception of the "role" of women or men in a particular situation hasn't gone away.

The whole story is told with insight and a wicked sense of humor. Just look at his picture of the wives of the government officials trying to run the government of women. Unfortunately, politicians do not always choose wives for their intelligence but for a host of other attributes and skills that do not help them to cope with the catastrophe. And the showdown between the American and Soviet women will leave you breathless and laughing.

To me, the best example of the way Wylie chose to tell this story is Chapter 13, which does not further the plot at all. Bill Gaunt is asked by the President and a committee of scientists and other thinkers to prepare an essay assessing what it all means. Chapter 13 is that essay. Even the title of the chapter lets impatient readers know that if they skip it, they will lose none of the sense of the story. DON"T SKIP IT!!

Not for the faint of heart, but DEFINITELY for the inquiring mind. Those of us who have already read this one (several times) are pleased it is back in print so we can replace the lop-eared copies we have been reading for years.

Note to Hollywood: Wouldn't this make a fascinating subject for a movie? Probably not. Its subtleties and interweaving of plots and events would go beyond Hollywood's ability to translate it without succumbing to the temptation to mess with it. So I guess we'll just have to read it again.

One cautionary note: Be aware that the novel does have one bit of baggage that is left over from the time it was written. Its Cold War politics may seem out of place today, but it carries the story forward. Aside from that small anachronism (from our point of view), the novel could have been written yesterday.

If you've never heard of this one, give it a chance. You'll be as amazed as I was.

I read this book once only about 40 years ago and had always intended to read it again. Unfortunately, my paperback fell apart after some 30 moves and four different countries and was basically beyond repair as whole chunks of pages went missing. I loved it and at the time, not being aware of the genre, didn't even know it classified as Science Fiction. The Disappearance ranks with Finley Wren, by the same author, as two of the finest books I've ever read. The issue of the separation of the sexes was novel then and remains a novel idea today. I have not seen the notion duplicated in any other novel and certainly nothing with the style of Philip Wylie. I would dearly love to buy another copy to read again. Incidentally, even though it's been some 40 years since I read it, I still remember much of the story vividly, which is more than one can say for some of the more forgettable novels around today.

I am posting this since I had written a review earlier in the year. After much searching on the web and waiting, I found a copy in an out-of-print bookstore in New Jersey. I am embarassed to say I paid $162.00 for a hardbound copy in good condition. I received it last week and could hardly wait to read it again. I just finished it and found that I remembered not only the characters, but most of the scenarios and even some of the words. It was just as timely last week as it was the first time I read it about 40 years ago. The ideas are still as intriguing as ever and it is amazing to think about how little we have really progressed since this was written. Can you run a power plant? I will never lend my copy to anyone again unless I sit with them while they read it!!!!!!

I first read this book about 40 years ago and loved it (read it at least 10 times while I had it in my possession)...passed it along to friends who loved it as well but always had it returned to me. Somewhere along the line, it was not returned. I didn't think anything of it until I wanted to re-read it and couldn't find it anywhere. In about 1985, I managed to borrow a copy from the library (had to wait 4 weeks, they got it from somewhere far, far away and I was only allowed to keep it for a week.) I even tried to copy it at work when my boss wasn't around but got caught. The ideas of independence, self-reliance, cooperation, love and interdependence as so well illustrated that they have stuck in my mind forever. You really care about the characters. This is a book that is really ageless (oh yes, some things are a little dated) but the premise remains perhaps more timely than ever. Everyone should HAVE to read it...they should have it in the schools. If anyone finds a source, please let me know.

This book made me think about our place in the world and in society. It brought to light just how much we depend on each other and did so in an intelligent, insightful way. The way the men dealt with the disappearance and the way the women dealt with it makes for interesting topics of discussion. It would be a real shame to let this one go the way of the "out of print" books.

I'm one of these people that forgets a book shortly after I've read it. There are very few that stick in my mind, but The Disappearance by Wylie has remained memorable for over 40 years! In this day and age of blending roles for men and women, plus recent books like "Men Are From Mars, Women From Venus"...Wylie's book shows how dependent we truly are on each other. As I recall, the ladies fared much better, so perhaps the feminists out there will really enjoy reading this book.

I've been searching for a copy for years. PLEASE,don't let this one go out of print! All of Wylie's books..Finley Wren, Innocent Ambassadors, Generation of Vipers should once again be on bookshelves. They speak as much to us today as they did years ago.

For some years I was familiar with the name Philip Wylie as one of the authors of the disaster story "When Worlds Collide". I was also surprised to find that one of his books ("The Gladiator") influenced the creation of the hero Superman. "The Disappearance" (1951) is the first book I've read by Wylie.

In the introduction to this edition of "The Disappearance" Robert Silverberg thought it more appropriate to regard this book as fantasy rather than science fiction. Bizarre happenings in science fiction stories are usually "explained" and rationalised in an effort to achieve plausibility. The mysterious phenomenon that occurs here - the world suddenly splitting into two realities where men and women exist separately - is never actually explained, although characters in the story try to attribute it to things like mass hallucination or divine intervention.

From two perspectives, male and female, we see how events unfold following the disappearance of the opposite sex, and the way it has affected society in either world. The basic message is that one can't live without the other. The all-male society slides into violence and aggression, atomic weapons devastate certain cities, and martial law is declared. The all-female society is little better off, because most of the women lack such practical skills for things that were once (in the 1950s at least) considered "mens work". Anything technical or scientific was outside the women's experience, considered too rough or complicated for their abilities. Gradually though, the women adapt and attempt to live off the land despite such crises as lawlessness, disease and starvation.

"The Disappearance" is an entertaining story, and quite philosophical (which is appropriate since one of the main characters is a philosopher). For anyone who enjoyed this book I also recommend John Wyndham's novella "Consider Her Ways" (1956). In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Wyndham had read "The Disappearance" because the premise is quite similar: a regimented all-female society in the future where men have been rendered extinct by a virus. In Wyndham's scenario women are coping quite well on their own and believe they're far better off without men. They also found a way to reproduce without needing a man. One character argues that in a two-sexed society women were conditioned to be unthinking consumers and parasites, that it suited commerce to trick women into embracing a life of slavery and serving the household. The bait used to entice women into this trap was called "Romance". Philip Wylie discusses these issues and others in more detail in his own work.

Although society has changed a lot since "The Disappearance" was first published in the 1950s it is still very readable. I've heard some feminists say that even now, in the early twenty-first century, women still lack equality in a world that is still considered male-dominated. Whatever the case may be, "The Disappearance" is a book that deserves to be read.

I was part of the innocent pre me-generation of the chrome and fins 50's. I was attending high school in Miami Beach and this book magically found it's way into my life. It was my first awareness that, indeed, male and female existed on two different planets - both one and the same. Then and there, I became determined to know my way around a tool box and to imagine survival without men. Shortly after reading the last page, Mr. Wylie visited our high school and I, awash in adulation escorted him through our school. I have not forgotten his book and I have not forgotten him. And to his honor, I am an artist with a screwdriver.

UPDATE to my original review:
Finally Bison Frontiers of Imagination, who brought us a splendid omnibus edition of WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE and AFTER WORLDS COLLIDE, has reissued this classic masterpiece more than a half-century after its first publication. And though some might cavil at certain elements in it being "dated", it was remarkably prescient and is still extremely relevant in most of its particulars, beside being one helluva good read.

For those interested, Wylie also wrote two of the finest nuclear-war novels, TOMORRROW! and TRIUMPH. The former was written in 1954, when even scientists did not have full understanding of the implications of nuclear war. Yet Wylie was spot-on in most particulars (he even dealt with fallout, though in 1954 little was known for sure about it, and most of that was classified). This novel was in large measure the inspiration for the famous TV movie THE DAY AFTER, which did not follow its plot, but incorporated a good number of elements from Wylie's book. (And its description of the detonation of the nuclear weapon over the fictitious midwest twin cities of Green Prairie and River City is a masterpiece of awe and horror.) The second, later novel TRIUMPH is darker and more uncompromising-- and resembles elements in the premise of Neville Shute's nuclear classic ON THE BEACH, though not as utterly dark as that great nightmare novel. Both are highly recommended, and also give one an inkling of societal and intellectual conditions at the height of the Cold War.

I wrote in July 1998:
Once again Philip Wylie showed what a great author he was in this hard-to-classify work, Sci-Fi? Fantasy? In an instant, all the women disappear from the men, and all the men disappear from the women -- and two parallel worlds exist. Wylie as usual shows an uncanny ability to zero in on the topics which would (and have) become the most pressing. Even where it's dated it's still entertaining and never condescending. I find it particularly interesting that the Men get into a nuclear war --- and the Women make world peace. It also doesn't avoid many of the philosophical implications of the premise. Highly recommended!

Philip Wylie got into a lot of trouble with Generation of Vipers. He wrote that he wished he had never written it. But his one, I'm glad he wrote this one. The problems we create for ourselves or are imposed on us, get cast in stark light around the issue of gender differences. I wish we could get together (men and women) but I doubt if we ever will, at least not generally. This novel convincingly portrays why not and why the few that do, have done it. There is another novel with something like this idea (the women die off rather than just disappear though). It's not half as thoughtful, rather is more pornographic: World Without Women. A third that is excellent, John Brunner's (a favorite of mine) Webs of Everywhere. It's also about scarcity rather than complete disappearance; it makes having a woman of your own a status symbol with concomitant behavioral adaptions by men, rather like a role reversal of today's dismissal and devaluing.