Customer Reviews

Jack Faust

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The story of Faust has ancient roots: the over-reaching anti-hero who offers the core of his being in return for material benefit is present in many folk tales and legends. In its best-known form it is a tragic cautionary tale of mediaeval Christianity: the sacrifice of the soul for wordly power and knowledge. This is how both Marlowe and Goethe presented the message.

During and after the industrial killing frenzy of the Twentieth Century it became difficult to portray evil as 'outside': Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus is a more subtle work about art and Nazism, and the very human processes of self-annihilation that lead down the road to the the concentration camps and the gas chambers. By the end of the Twentieth Century though, science and technology had become the points of contention. Though knowledge has always been key to the Faust story, Michael Swanwick puts scientific and technical knowledge at the heart of his re-telling.

It begins, as with Marlowe and Goethe, in mediaeval Germany, and a fine, dirty and pungently atmospheric Germany it is too. Swanwick's descriptive style is immensely rich and seductive and quickly pulls the reader into a world before computers, before cars, before factories, before steam, before states, before industrial warfare. Faust is desparing. He, alone of all scholars, has seen through the hypocrisy of contemporary scholarship, and he despises every bit of it. Burning his books to the dismay of his servant, Wagner, he is confronted with Mephistopheles, not a demon or a devil in the traditional sense, but a collective entity from another dimension, immensely knowledgeable (beyond Faust's wildest dreams), but also afraid of what humanity could become and unable on their own to do anything about it. Instead they intend to destroy the world through scientific knowledge. Even the name, Mephistopheles, is presented to Faust as a complex equation about quantum energy, the details of which he cannot understand, but the import - oh, is it not everything that he wants? The deal then is simple: Faust will have total knowledge, but in return, this being a thoroughly millenial retelling, that knowledge will destroy not just Faust but all humanity, irrevocably and forever. The cruelty then is not so much with Mephistopheles but with Faust from the beginning: he always knows that his knowledge will destroy and kill, and even understanding that there will be no divine salvation - one of Mephistopheles' first revelations is that there is no God - he still fools himself into believing that he can control the forces which he is about to unleash. This self-deception is only confirmed for him by the fact that he wins the heart of the one woman whom Mephistopheles tells him he cannot have: Margaret, daughter of a wealthy merchant.

At first Faust tries to spread elements of his new knowledge in pure scientific form, for free, throughout Europe, but he finds only rejection and scorn. Finding that there is no interest in 'pure science', and with the wealth of Margaret's family behind him, Faust turns to applied science: engineering and the production of new (mainly military) technologies, and starts to produce rapid changes. Mediaeval Europe industrialises at frightening speed. But the technologies are soon beyond Faust's control, and in combination with the most base human desires for power and conquest they take on a destructive logic of their own.

As in earlier tellings: the end is inevitable and tragic in the true sense of the word. Faust can see it approaching: he is destroyed as a human being and left bitter, loveless and empty long before the conclusion - his deal has left him as nothing in the face of the destructive power produced by his machines. He is left to use his knowledge to pursue petty projects of personal vendetta and to further destroy the hopes of the most hopeless. The holocaust comes earlier and more fiercely than in our own history.

The Faust story is a bleak one, and Swanwick's variation is perhaps the bleakest and most nihilistic yet, particularly because it is unclear if there is any lesson of possibility of redemption (spiritual or material). There are hints that love in its purest human form might have saved Faust if he had not abandonned it, but this is not explored. Is Swanwick suggesting that there is no future for humanity in pursuing a technology-driven society? Is he effectively casting technology as the new devil? I don't know. The cumultive effect of this book is powerful, disturbing and pessimistic especially with the curt and cold ending.

...but, by the same token, not all that great, either. Michael Swanwick is one of science fiction's most accomplished literary artists, and for good reason. However, Jack Faust falls short. Mephistopheles, the classic character from the many re-tellings of the equally classic tale Faust (one of the more prominent of which was written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe), can be viewed as evil incarnate. However, I would put him a notch lower than that, since his malevolence falls short much of the time. As the story goes on, though, Mephistopheles becomes more than simply two-dimensional and fleshes out into a fully realized character, his evil notwithstanding. The novel loses steam, however, when Faust begins to descend, morality-wise. The plot also begins to wind down, until we reach the horrendously predictable ending. Swanwick, I think, couldn't find anywhere else to go with the novel, so he slapped on the ending and sent it off to the publisher. Despite all the bad things I've said about this book, however, it's good and worth reading. Swanwick is clearly a good storyteller, but Jack Faust isn't up to his usual par.

Although not as richly rewarding and complex as "The Iron Dragons Daughter", this is another well-written, dark and ominous work by one of science fictions greatest story tellers. I have read many reviews and comments about this novel that stress (all too strenuously) the faults in Jack's character. Maybe I enjoyed the novel so much because I EXPECTED THEM!! It's a story about greed. The greed for knowledge, recognition, and power by all of the major characters. Knowing well the original tale by Goethe, I was well prepared to deal with Faust and all of his bungles.

Rather I found the true protagonist to be Mephistopheles. True he IS the "devil" in the tale, and the object of his desire IS the destruction of the human race, but he states this in the beginning and Faust still makes the pact! Who is the REAL devil there? Mephistopheles even goes so far as to warn Jack that once begun it will be unnavoidable, but Faust is so naive about human nature, and ignorant of his own faults that he is sure he can prevent it. The way that society exploits Jacks 'wonders', and its leaders wrestle over the newfound power, by the end of the novel I WANTED Mephistopheles to win. Humanity gone by-by. But then again, maybe that's because I (unlike Faust) understand human behavior all so well.

I highly recommend this book. If not for the challenging and emotional work usually derived from Swanwick's novels, then for the thought stimulation alone. Even those who disliked it have strong views about it, and anyone with an interest in history, science, sociology, (or all of the above) should read it and form their own opinion. And if that fails to stir your imagination, it is still a well-paced, fun read. And certainly worth your while.

"Jack Faust" is one of those books that takes something classical and twists it, and you wonder as you start it if the writer - no matter how talented - can pull it. Michael Swanwick pulls it off in this tale of Johannes Faust who is contacted by aliens that wish to trade knowledge to the medieval scholar for his soul. Even though he is told that his acquisition of this knowledge will be mankind's ruin, Faust doesn't believe it, instead holding closely his belief that greater knowledge can only lead to a greater mankind.

Well, of course a medieval mind is no match for that of an advanced alien culture bent on the destruction of all that is human. Faust's early attempts to share his new scientific "discoveries" meet with only scorn and disbelief. But Faust soon fashions ways to use his new found knowledge and single-handedly ushers in the industrial revolution centuries before its time and before human civilization is ready for it. Will Faust fulfill the alien's predictions and wishes and bring the destruction of mankind?

This is a fantastic, modern take on a classic subject and a classic story; one that I think Goethe would be proud of.

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A Guide to my Book Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

This book is pure evil! I loved every page of it. Michael Swanwick's short fiction makes up half the Hugo nominees for short stories this year, and if you've read this book, you won't be surprised as to why.

Having read some of his Fiction I was excited to finally get hold of a novel by Michael Swanick. It is a brilliant novel but it's quite a disturbing read. Most people who really enjoy reading like it because they get into the minds of the characters but at the centre of Fausts mind is evil itself. After a while it gets a bit claustrophobic. The ending is chilling. Buy it, but don't expect to finish it with a smile on your face.

For me, the most striking thing about this novel is the way that it is written. After reading through various descriptions of writing genre, I'd say it was "Lovecraftian" (but hey, I'm not a literary critic by trade - I'd be interested anyone who can share with me the correct description of the style).


The book plot promises a more exciting read than I feel it ultimately delivered. It starts strong and engaging, but somehow loses its way midway though the book and by the end of the book its as if the author cut out the last 50% and replaced it with a vision of what was to come.

So overall, I finished this book dissappointed that a story with such great potential and a quick & engaging writing style was somehow squandered by the author wasting space with what seemed to me irrelevancies and then rushing the conclusion.

Three stars.

It was a great book which I couldn't stop thinking about and wanted to tell everyone about. While the characters didn't seem very real, I think the novel is more about the story and is all about the way in which Mephistopheles manipulates Faust into the path which will destroy the world.

You'd think an old story like the Faust legend and the SF chestnut of a society unprepared for technology getting the atom bomb wouldn't make for such a good book. But "Jack Faust" is one of the best SF novels I've read recently. It's sort of a throwback to the days when SF was basically our society's conscience; it's incredibly well-written and you read and keep reading. This is an excellent book I heartily recommend.

I thought it was a really awesome book!!!!!