Customer Reviews

Make Room Make Room

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book scared the hell out of me when I read it as a young teenager back in the 60's, because it was so believable. I was sure this was what the future of America held. At the time, overpopulation was a big issue, what with books like Paul Ehrlich's The Population Bomb, The 20th Century Book of the Dead by Gil Elliot, and so on, dramatizing the issue. There seemed no doubt in many people's minds that something similar to the world portrayed in this novel would be the reality in 35 years if nothing were done to halt the population explosion, and since nothing really was being done in that regard, this seemed like a foregone conclusion.

Well, 35 years later the world hasn't quite worked out this way, which still amazes me no end, although David Brin's recent novel, Earth, is an updated reprisal of this theme. Harrison's book is still a great read. Another book on the same theme that came out a few years later was John Brunner's novel, Stand on Zanzibar, which won a Hugo award for that year. So if you enjoyed this book you might also want to try these two novels.

This book comes from a time when the environmental movement was just getting under way, and Paul Ehrlich's "The Population Bomb" enjoyed pride of place on the bookshelves of environmentalists everywhere. It was also a time when it was easier to discuss overpopulation without drawing charges of racism. In the book (presumably), and in the 1973 movie Soylent Green (definitely), most of the characters and people seen in the street are white, as they would have been in 1966 and 1973. Hence there was no need to discuss issues of immigration and demographic shift, which are closely linked to America's soaring population today. As a result, in both the book and the movie, the issue of overpopulation is completely de-ethnicized, which makes it a universal, human problem. For that reason alone everyone should either read the book or see the movie.

Harry Harrison is normally a funny writer so reading this book from him was a bit of a shock. It's not funny at all and rather depressing actually, the ending isn't all that happy and nothing has changed, society keeps plugging along on the same path to oblivion, people have lived and died and in the end it's all the same. No wonder why it was taken out of print. But by the same token, it'll be one of the best books you've ever read. For those who watch movies, the film Soylent Green was based on this but the main point of that movie doesn't even come into play here. If anything it's a love story disguised as a mystery story, showing how people still try to live and love with too many people crammed into too many creaking, cold and leaky apartment buildings, the measures the police have to do to survive along with everyone and it submerges you completely in this world that makes you glad that you can go outside and not have to withstand the crush of millions of people. One of the best books in this line of reasoning, a very similar and probably better examination of this (though not by much) would be Thomas Disch's 334 and for a wider look at the entire planet with too many people try John Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar. All three form some of the keystone books of thought on the matter of overpopulation in fiction and if you want to do even more exploring, look for The World Inside by Robert Silverberg, which I haven't read but I think deals with the same issues. Make room for it on your shelf today.

"Make Room! Make Room!" is an excellent sci-fi novel which envisions our overcrowded future. It is a very entertaining read, with vivid characters and a neat premise. The book will make you realize how much you take simple things like drinking water and living with only your family members rather than strangers. I think this book needs to be reprinted, and am saddened that more books of this nature aren't written today.

This novel, in and of itself, is not a heavy piece of Literature. But, taken with the film, "Soylent Green," inspired by Harrison's work, it can be seen as an interesting commentary on the challenges we face in the near future.

The themes of environmental degredation, overpopulation, political and social impotency of the people, and the conflicting nature of human and machine (e.g., the over-urbanized hell-world that is NY in this novel) all combine to take a seemingly innocent sci-fi cop-story into a chillingly accurate account of where we, as humans, are heading in the world and bewteen eachother.

Without seeing the film, which takes the central figures and throws in a sinister twist ("Soylent Green is PEOPLE!"), this novel does tend to lose some of its verve in social criticism. I'd like to see a reissue of both and a marketing tie-in. It's an essential read for any sci-fi fan, or simply anyone wishing to find hidden nuggets of social commentary within the pages of a good summer read.

The book starts off a little slow, but if you keep with it, you will find it is worth it. A great book even for thoes who don't like Sci-Fi. For thoes of you who say the movie (Soylent Green)Don't Be Fooled! The movie is NOTHING like the book! The book has great attention to detail and keeps you involved!Although this book is hard to find,it is well worth the time it takes to find it! For great suspense, real characters, and an exciting plot...READ... MAKE ROOM! MAKE ROOM!

I love the movie Soylent Green, which is based on this book, and had heard that the book was substantially different than the movie. Many of my favorite ideas from the movie - the whole 'soylent green is people' concept, Sol's poignant suicide scene - are not present in the book; the plot lines are substantially different. Instead, the book develops a sensitive and beautiful relationship between the cop, Rusch, and the girl from the apartment, Shirl. These characters are exactly as they are in the movie, as are Sol and the police chief, but are more fully explored in the book. The background is the same dystopian vision of an overcrowded future. In the book I found this interesting backdrop used to tell a very realistic and somewhat bittersweet love story. Highly recommended.

This novel was the basis for the 1973 sci fi classic SOYLENT GREEN. I would have to say that this is the one time where an adaptation is much better than the original novel; the film is a detective story; the novel just sort of wanders around so the author can show the disastrous effects of overpopulation. This is worth reading, but don't expect Soylent Green.

Originally written back in 1966, the book has been put on the big screen with actor Charlton Heston as "Soylent Green". But whereas the movie told a terrible crime story of a government creating "food" from corpses, the book is basically a love story between young cop Andrew and top callgirl Shirl. Andrew lives in the cruel world of an over-populated New York with 35 million inhabitants, whereas Shirl uses her exceptional beauty to live with the "upper class". Both are led together by the assassination of Shirls "lover", that Andrew has to investigate, and they fall in love with each other. But love is luxury in an over-crowded world that isn't affordable anymore... Basically, a very sad and pessimistic story, but definitely a milestone in non-technical SF.

Written in 1966 and set in 1999. Detective Andy Rusch is a detective in New York, a city of 35 million people, working for a police department understaffed and overworked. When he begins investigating the murder of a man with important political connections, he finds himself doing twice as much work to finish an investigation that is soon forgotten by everyone else. Set against the backdrop of an overcrowded city (and world) with ever dwindling resources, this book is at its best in its descriptions of the desperation of the starving, essentially homeless citizens. We are drawn into the squallor and get a glimpse of the lengths people will go to survive. These compelling glimpses tie an otherwise pedestrian story together and make it an interesting read. The biggest weakness here is the sermonizing about the merits of birth control. While these concerns may have been valid at the time the book was written, the author's worst fears have not materialized, and birth control is now widely accepted and practiced, so that this book reads a bit like someone preaching to the choir. Over all, a diverting book, but certainly not the greatest distopia ever composed.