Thursday, April 14, 2016

Review of Immortality, Inc. by Robert Sheckley



I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Robert Sheckley is one of the real Big Three from science fiction’s Silver Age.  Heinlein or Asimov can take a seat, preferably both.  Producing more sophisticated, intelligent content, having a deeper focus on the human condition, and being a better word-by-word, line-by-line writer than Asimov and a more universal humanist than Heinlein, his novels, nevertheless, have gotten the short end of the stick in terms of historical recognition.  This blog’s charter does not include beating a drum for overlooked books and writers, but in exploring classic science fiction I certainly have come across works bearing that second look.  Sheckley’s brilliant debut Immortality, Inc. (1959) is well worth a return visit.

Where Asimov often prostrates himself to the possibilities of science and technology, Sheckley lends a more skeptical eye.  Dynamically satirical, Immortality, Inc. looks at the pitfalls of life-eternal via time travel, all with a witty eye to humanity’s virtues and vices.  Thomas Blaine, rich yacht designer, is driving down the road one day when an accident takes his life.  His last thoughts on mortality, it’s something of a surprise to wake up, alive.  His mind having been illegally transported by the Rex Corporation a century into the future, he wakes comfortably his mental self, only in a stranger’s body.  But it’s out on the streets of 22nd century New York that Blaine discovers just how slight the idea of death has become.

Suicide booths, bezerkers (people who go crazy and kill in public—sound familiar?), zombies (people whose mind transfers to the future only partially succeeded), a new and improved Church (when the spiritual afterlife has been replaced by a physical one, what else can the Church do?), human hunting games, corrupt body practices by the rich, corporate malpractice, and a variety of other scenarios are encountered by Blaine in the “immortal” world of the 22nd century.  His path through these encounters no-holds-barred, Blaine and the reader experience, often through the blackest of humor, just what it means to be in a society where the need for heaven, hell, and the fear of death have been removed.

Stylistically, Immortality, Inc. is a riot.  Sheckley’s tongue forever in cheek, the suicide booths, the justifications Rex Corp. and others offer for their actions, and the wild social scenarios resulting from the significantly diminished meaning of death are a rollercoaster of dark humor and sharp human observation conveyed in cutting prose.  Undoubtedly later writers like James Morrow and Bruce Sterling (one of contemporary science fiction’s most under-appreciated satirists) were influenced by Sheckley.

In the end, Immortality, Inc. is a fine debut novel that gives every indication of the writer Sheckley would go on to become.  Perpetually killing two birds with one stone, humanism is juxtaposed upon engaging storytelling, dark humor is plotted versus real-world concerns, and religious and social idealism are taken to task by a bit of fantastical technology that spins the idea of ‘alive’ in a new direction—at least foremost so.  Multiple layers to what on the surface could be a simple time travel story, it shows a sustained intelligence and wit that renders Asimov’s major time travel novel The End of Eternity incomparable, and anything by Heinlein too narrow ideologically.  #CampaignnewBigThree!! 

6 comments:

  1. So who would be the other two of the New Big Three?
    Regards,
    Klaas

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    1. I thought for a moment to include my nominations, but then I thought for a moment longer and realized there are too many good choices. Algis Budrys, C.M. Kornbluth, Walter M. Miller, James Blish, Clifford Simak, Alfred Bester, Wilson Tucker... If I was pushed into a corner, however, I think I would choose Theodore Sturgeon, Ray Bradbury, and Robert Sheckley. But I hate leaving Simak and Kornbluth off that list...

      What do you think? Heinlein-Asimov-Clarke is fair?

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    2. I have read several Heinlein novels (and although I have two or three yet-unread Heinleins on the shelf, I doubt that I will read them any time soon); I swore off Asimov after about a hundred pages of Foundation and a couple or three robot stories; and I found Clarke very dry -- I prefer Kubrick's version of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and I believe I have only one other book by Clarke, but, again, doubt that I will read it.

      I have the same problem as you, Jesse, my Big Three of that era would be Bradbury, Bester, Sheckley, Simak and Dick (for his immense short story output -- novels starting with the Sixties). I am ashamed to admit, I haven't yet read anything by Budrys -- but the film adaptation of Who? still haunts me today, and I first saw it some time i the Eighties. What I have read of Sturgeon was very good. Miller's Cantlice for Leibowitz is definitely a classic, and those few short stories that I have read are good as well. I really liked Matheson's novels of the Fifties, but haven't read any of his short stories ... yet.

      Heinlein-Asimov-Clarke definitely didn't do it for me.

      Regards,
      Klaas

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    3. What?!?!? There is a film adaptation of Budrys' Who? ?!?!? I must go look...

      Yes, Clarke is a little dry in style. (Heinlein was the best line by line writer of the Big Three). But his stories have such a solid foundation in humanism that I find it very difficult to push him aside in favor of other writers from the era. Sure, not the greatest sf novel ever written, but I liked how Clarke reminded us how tiny humanity is set against the vast, unknowable universe in Rendezvous with Rama. The premises are related in simple terms, but I also enjoyed how The City & the Stars described mankind's relationship with space and how Childhood's End examined humanity's next step toward civilization. Sturgeon's classic More than Human likewise envisions humanity's next steps, but from a cheesy telekenetic perspective. By comparison, Childhood's End and The City & the Stars have worn their years with more grace. Overall, given Clarke's more humane approach, I'm not as bothered by his inclusion in the Big Three - even if he was not the greatest prose stylist. It's Heinlein and Asimov I find lacking...

      Anyway, thanks for the reply.

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  2. No Budrys! (hah)

    That said, I enjoyed this one as well. If you haven't already, I highly recommend Journey Beyond Tomorrow -- despite the horrid title, it's a hilarious romp (actually funny) that plays with narrative in such a fun and poignant manner.... Highly recommended.

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    1. I'm on the Budrys bandwagon, but he just didn't have the output to rival Sheckley, Bradbury, or Sturgeon... Big Five, and he has a case. :)

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