Customer Reviews

Of Men and Monsters

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You can already tell a bit from the author just from his name, William Tenn, it's a pseudonym (a take-off on William Tell maybe) and the title of the book, a take-off from Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, only men are now in the place of mice, and in the place of the men... the Monsters, who are now the dominant species on earth. Actually humankind are more like roaches to the aliens, with the same aversion to humans as humans have to roaches. And like roaches, humans `infest' the house of the Monsters, and like humans, the Monsters have their own attempts at pest-control. The satire by Tenn that humans thrive as vermin, but never had the opportunity because they never before had such a `wealthy host' still has me reeling in my head from laughter, bewilderment, and a bit of realization that this could be a little true. Don't need to think about some ethereal, omnipotent being like a god, the Monsters take that niche, are quantifiable, and humans can sleep in peace in that respect without agonizing theological mental deliberations.

Humans are beaten badly in an invasion from an alien race of huge beings, as tall as 100 men shoulder on shoulder (500 feet, 200 meters or so) and the story is set centuries after the invasion. There is precious little information remaining of humanity before the invasion, but a few technological advances. Humans ultimate weapon is their ingenuity and their resilience. The ending is not quite what would be expected, but at the same time is perfect. The human mantra is To hit back at the Monsters and they get to do just that.

It's been written that William Tenn is a bit misogynist, a hater of woman. I don't think so. He is writing about how the human race had to revert somewhat back to savagery after a devastating defeat by aliens, so any Me Erik You Jane type of ritualistic mating patterns written are not that unrealistic. Also writing about what might be the female monsters being terrified of the roach or mice like humans is also not that unrealistic. One time when walking along the beach with my girlfriend at the time, who liked to show she could be tough in a masculine way, we came upon a stretch of sand where apparently thousands of baby crabs had recently hatched just beneath the sand and you could feel their little pincers nibbling at your feet. I just wanted to keep walking without squishing the things so they could live out their merry lives, but she just up and screeched and hip-hopped as fast as possible away from the shore. So I'm just guessing that more than a few human females might panic if an army of roaches or a group of mice took up attack formation around her and advanced towards her.

I read this book growing up and it had been my number one favorite for years. In rereading other favorites from my youth I've groaned in realizing how bad they were or were not as philosophical as I thought. So with my first time rereading Of Men and Monsters since then, I had a thought of a potential massive let-down of one of my favorites from its pedestal, but I can see why it had appealed to me then. It's a good book for a young adult as it deals with a rite of passage to adulthood (Initiation/Confirmation/etc) and is adventurous as it's set in the midst of an upheaval, or actual several upheavals. So there are travels and adventures, almost Tolkien-style, through Monster territory and more. And it has living zombies is a way too. And because of the Lilliputian style of the humans, it's something newly grown or growing children or young adults can identify with. As a creatively written book, also adults can enjoy it and appreciate the satire such as most of the tribe's children look just like the chief of the tribe, gee, I wonder why that is... and deals with power, the lust for power, jockeying for status, and so forth. So although I would give it 4 stars for adults, imho I can maintain a 5 star rating for young adults. I'm glad to see that the book is back in print although too bad it has the yellow book cover and not the drawing on my copy which shows a good rendition of the alien with its tentacles and praying mantis like head. The book version of Of Men And Monsters was released in 1968 using portions that were written as The Men In The Walls from 1963. Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle reference Tenn's The Men In The Walls, but in their novel they make sure that the alien invasion doesn't come to same kind of alien victory. Although the setting of the book can be considered dark, it takes an upbeat position and a viewing of are-things-really-as-bad-as-they-seem.

I ask you: is there any genre other than science fiction in which the classic, seminal novels go out of print and stay that way forever? It's not bloody fair. Tenn's body of work is fairly small; it could easily be reprinted in a singal omnibus o' goodness. At any rate...Of Men and Monsters is, as noted, very nice indeed. I'll admit I would have liked to see a little bit more of some of the minor characters, and it is admittedly mildly misogynistic, in that old-fashioned, early-sixties way--really not likely to cause much offense. But I don't even know why I'm trying to dredge up bad things about it. A highly enjoyable and thought-provoking book. Find and read.

I read this book two decades ago, and I still remember it vividly. The images of human beings living in the walls of gigantic alien houses will stay with you for a long time. It would also make a great movie! Although the book is not available in the US, it has just been re-released in the UK and is available from Amazon UK. So don't hesitate to get it. If you are looking for a remarkable science fiction classic, you will not be disappointed.

Before you spray those pesky ants that are crawling around in your walls, pick up a copy of this book and have a quick read. Now how do you feel about those pesky intruders? William Tenn does a nice job of capturing the powerful ability of mankind to survive and flourish. Instead of the conqueror, however, we find humans in the role of the ant inside the walls. If you can't beat them, eat their food and live in their houses...

On a future earth ruled by giant monsters, men have become little more than mice. We follow the adventures of the remenants of humanity as they struggle to survive as ... pests?!! A quirky POV and a strong feel for character and language are the hallmarks of this book. Highly recommended.

I read this book as a teenager, and my feelings about it are mixed. On the one hand, I would not put it up with the works of the best sci-fi authors -- Le Guin, Bradbury, Wells, etc. The prose has that vaguely chummy tone that to my mind mars Heinlein and other authors whose cleverness of ideas outweighs their elegance of expression. The presentation of the monsters is absurdly comical -- but it might be seen as working in a sort of Swiftian satirical tradition.

Tenn is good at exploding human pretensions, and this is really where "Of Men and Monsters" finds its stride. A simple mental flip-flop -- what if men were pests, the cockroaches to another, larger species? -- allows Tenn to take our race down a notch, and have fun doing it.

This is not the classic work of sci-fi that some have made it out to be, but it's a good read nonetheless.

This was one of the very first sci-fi books that I ever read (I was about 11 yrs old). It turned me on to the genre. In the future, giant monsters rule the earth and mankind is forced to live in burrows made in the insulation of monster dwellings. Starting to sound familiar? This book is also an allegory for the "communist scare" of the 1950's, and human nature in general.

This book was pretty cool, an entertaining read. Humans as pests. Good stuff that even adults will like. The really good and smart people who know everything are somewhat predictable, but I found the story to be a very interesting, thought-provoking adventure.

My brother was the Sci-Fi reader in our family and I discovered this book, in the 60's, on his bookshelf. It's always been one of my favorite books thanks to the wonderful writing of William Tenn (Philip Klass) and his twisted imagination. The satirical concept of making men "vermin" and the aliens "superiors" was subversive and completely intriguing. Why this great book hasn't been made into a first-class Sci-Fi film is beyond me.

"Of Men and Monsters" is a well-known SF novel of the sixties that features humans as an endangered species, whose Earth has been taken over by a superior alien race. A previous Amazon reviewer mentioned Disch, who wrote the similarly small novel "The Genocides." I'll have to reread that one, because I remember being impressed with it years ago. Tenn's novel takes place long after said invasion, in which groups of humans have burrowed into the aliens' dwellings and differentiated into tribes of varying sophistication.

The story starts out in the tunnels of a particularly primitive tribe, whose gender roles have been retreated under the stress of constant and deadly threat. Despite the presence of the aliens, this tribe is rife with treachery and distrust of other tribes -- Tenn seems to be pointing out a view of humanity in desperate need of a Leviathan of rules, morals and technologies.

The book is pretty good and generally fun to read: 4 stars. But reading it now, just after "victory" was largely declared for Nesrallah and Hizbollah following Israel's pummeling of South Lebanon, takes on another disturbing implication. The humans in the story inhabit a role of inferiority and can therefore embrace survival, or rather infestation, within the alien walls as an overarching goal of their culture. Arcane mythology is in place to support a power structure that includes polygamy, taboos of all kinds, corporal punishment and a caste system. Are these backward ways a necessary part of a culture that can only hope to survive into the next generation?

It might be too easy to claim that Tenn's satire is to serve as a commentary on all of mankind. "Of Men and Monsters," however, takes on the fallacy of generalizing this one tribe as typical of all mankind as a major theme. To me, Tenn is more sharply focused than Pohl or Sheckley; there's a big difference in the hardscrabble primitves and the more advanced tribes, who lack individual courage but treat their women better and (not give anything away) are actually going places. Here, Tenn definitely demonstrates different cultures and finds more value in one more than the other, something not so easily done these days.