Mockingbird (S.F.Masterworks S.) [Import] [Paperback]

Walter Tevis (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Gollancz; New Ed edition (June 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575079150
• ISBN-13: 978-0575079151
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.8 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,284,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Miss this Wonderful Book, March 5, 2006

By 

Natalie - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mockingbird (Del Rey Impact) (Paperback)

"Mockingbird" is one of my favorite books of all time. Set in 25th-century America, Tevis paints a picture of an eerie yet believable world, made all the more spooky by the fact that the twenty-five years since the book's publication has brought us ever closer to Tevis' imagined world: of a humankind drugged with chemicals, TV, and ignorance; where robots have broken down and can't repair things or each other; where there are no families and no more children being born; and where people are taught that "privacy is supreme," "quick sex is best," and "don't ask; relax." No one knows how to read; nor do any books, or even signs, exist. Human history is dead.

The main characters are Paul, who manages to teach himself to read and in so doing becomes an outlaw on the run; Mary Lou, who drops out of the system and finds herself the only pregnant woman in the world; and Spofforth, the last of the last line of robots to be built, sick of life but programmed to be incapable of suicide. The way the lives of these characters intertwine weaves a complex and surprising story of human relationship and what it really means. The two humans - and even the robot - gradually emerge from the nightmare of state-provided pleasure and into the real world of pain, loss, and love.

The book has a tight and nicely-paced plot, as well, and the ending does not disappoint. It is also punctuated with rich ideas, poignant vignettes, and such tenderness that you want to cry. One such vignette - I don't want to give anything away - but it involves a toaster factory inefficiently run by robots that Paul comes upon in his travels; what Paul discovers at the toaster factory is such a metaphor for our 21st-century world, it left me awed.

Tevis died in 1984, at the age of 56. What an incredible loss. I would love to have seen what would have come from his fertile imagination, and what cautionary tales he would be telling us today. An interesting factoid: the book was written in 1980, while the Twin Towers were standing, but in Tevis' 25th-century New York, the Empire State Building is the tallest building in the world. Hm... what did Tevis know?

In a post-meaning world, where humans have had all emotion and spiritual longings educated out of them, Paul finds a copy of the Bible. He says: "In reading the New Testament..., I developed a strong admiration for Jesus, as a sad and terribly knowing prophet - a man who had grasped something about life of the greatest importance and had attempted, and largely failed, to tell what it was. I can feel, in myself, a kind of love for him and for his attempt, in saying things like, `The Kingdom of Heaven is within you,' for I think I glimpse his meaning, here, looking out of the thought-bus window toward the still and gray expanse of the Atlantic Ocean with the sun about to rise on it."

This book is now out of print, which is ironic, since it is about a world without human literacy, where books only exist in dusty forgotten warehouses. Find a used copy, buy it, and cherish it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the science fiction classics of the 80's, May 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mockingbird (Hardcover)

This book is one of my all time favorite books. I have read it many times (in fact I feel like reading it now) I look out for second hand copies of it so I can loan it to other people without fear of losing my original copy or, as my original copy is starting to fall apart, to keep as a spare.

It is a remarkable book. I have never come across another book that so succinctly explains the learning to read process. And of course, I look forward to a day when "Thought Buses" are cruising the streets. The ending is fantastic, one of the best! I urge anyone with a yen for unusual literature to read it if they can find one of those rare copies out there.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, February 3, 2004

By 

Eric (Iowa, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mockingbird (Del Rey Impact) (Paperback)

This is a great book. I'm currently a high school senior (as of Spring 2004). Most likely, I haven't completely read 7 novels since I was concieved; but this book has sparked a new interest in literature within me. It brings up a lot of issues that were and are relevant in society. Anyone who likes Sci-Fi must read this book! I highly recommend this read!