Limbo [Paperback]

Bernard Wolfe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1987

Dr. Martine, a neurosurgeon, flees a limited nuclear war to a forgotten island in the Indian Ocean. After 18 years of performing "humane" lobotomies on island natives, he sets out to rediscover the world. What he finds is a grotesque post-bomb society in which self-mutilation and installed prosthetic limbs are used to mute the urge to make war. Bernard Wolfe, co-author of Really The Blues, grapples with the largest issues of our century in Limbo.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

BERNARD WOLFE (1915-1985) was an American journalist and novelist. He wrote a number of novels including The Great Prince Died.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 413 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub (August 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 088184327X
• ISBN-13: 978-0881843279
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,815,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A future that could have been., September 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Limbo (Paperback)

This novel of a post-apocalyptic world seemed very real to me when I first read it in 1966 as a junior in high school. I had read 1984 a year earlier and this book had a realism of a nightmare future in ways more compelling than Orwell's. Set in the mid 1970's the story tells the adventures of one man who leaves his solitude on an Indian Ocean island and travels to what's left of the United States. Bernard Wolf's characters and themes in this book are delightfully twisted and filled with a macabre humor. I only read this book once, but it has haunted the back of my mind all these years. Growing up in the thick of the cold war this book was all my nuclear nighmares come true. Please read the book with this perspective and you will not be disappointed!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Little Known & One Of Science-Fiction's Best, January 1, 2003

By 

DOC BARHAM "COACH HOLLYWOOD" (LOS ANGELES, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Limbo (Paperback)

David Pringle's 100 Best Science-Fiction Novels is a decent resource and shopping list for well-read SF fans. I was rounding out my classic post-apocalyptic & distopian future books part of the list (i.e. 1984, Brave New World, We, Canticle For Leibowitz, etc.) when I came across Limbo. The fact that I'd never heard of Limbo or it's author, Bernard Wolfe, and that it was, apparently, the only SF novel he ever wrote, intrigued me. I wasn't disappointed.

This is a wonderful 50's era cautionary tale, Swiftian in many ways, all dressed up as science fiction. Wolfe writes quite well and with a depth not encountered in much of SF. It makes for a great read not to mention a great recommendation to friends because it is so little known. Though the book seems quaintly dated at some points, the various themes all regard fundamental questions of the human condition that are timeless and universal.

It is essentially a commentary on Cold War era America through the device of future projection. In the spirit of great satire, Wolfe extrapolates an extreme and ludicrous version of the present moment and places it far into the future. The statement is simple: This is what we're going to be like if we keep going this way. It's all there - WWIII, nuclear devastation, rebuilding what's left with the few that are left, but here's the kicker: since we obviously will never learn to control ourselves and to prevent future destruction, everyone will lay down their arms and legs, literally, via amputation, and replace them with nuclear powered, auto-controlled limbs. Absolutely absurd and that's precisely the point.

I don't want to give away any more specifics. I'm sure you can find more elsewhere if you need to. As far as SF goes, I'm a pretty harsh critic. To this day Limbo remains one of my favorites, and IMO, may be the best American contribution to the distopian novel genre. It's a great ride that'll have you aching for your own brand new set of nuclear powered limbs by the end.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some of the Greatest Dystopian Fiction You`ve Never Heard of..., March 19, 2010

By 

D_Bowie_Fan ""I`m a victim of circumstanc... (CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Limbo (Paperback)

Bernard Wolfe`s 1952 masterpiece "LIMBO" is some of the finest and most intellectually stimulating dystopian literature written in the 20th century.All but forgotten by the mainstream reading audience and with only limited,small-run reprintings(1987,and ?)"LIMBO" is most likely the single most esoteric work of dystopian fiction authored in modern times.For comparison:Aldous Huxley`s "Brave New World" was written in 1931(pub.1932),George Orwell`s "1984" was written in 1949 and Bernard Wolfe`s "LIMBO" in 1952.Even devoted followers of dystopian fiction are largely unfamiliar with Wolfe`s seminal work in this genre.In my humble opinion "LIMBO" should be ranked alongside those other two classics of modern dystopian literature:"1984" and "Brave New World".This would be,in my opinion,the Holy Trinity of Modern Dystopian Literature.

A brief synopsis of the novel(w/out spoilers)taken from [...]:

Martine returns from self-imposed exile after the end of a World War to find that his cynical and satirical musings about society in his diary have been used as a blueprint for the rebuilt society.
Disarmament has been taken literally with men volunteering to have one or more limbs amputated.
This movement has split into two factions: one which remains helpless - paraded in baby carridges by their wives or mothers; another that replaces me missing limbs with more powerful artificial limbs.
Martime finds himself the hero and founder of a society he finds despicable, and one which is restarting the Cold war that led up to the last one, with each side trying to use him for its own ends."Immob"(imobilised/imobilization),"Volamp"(voluntary amputation/voluntary amputee),"Dodge the Steamroller"---some of the language/concepts from Wolfe`s stimulating and satirical book.

"Limbo" is one of the most important and socially relevant dystopian works of our time and anyone interested in the genre MUST read this novel.I place Bernard Wolfe`s fictional view of a futre world-wide dystopian society on a par with those of Orwell and Huxley.Three completely different and complex dystopian futures created by three different writers...but all in a span of 20 years.Although I laud Bernard Wolfe`s "Limbo" as being of the same high caliber as "1984" and "Brave New World" I`m also the first to admit that "Limbo" does`nt read as "easy" nor as "fun" as the two aforementioned works.This novel is complex and weighs heavy on the reader at times."Limbo" definately bears several re-readings over several years(as does most fine