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";s:4:"text";s:22418:"Stand on Zanzibar is a dystopian New Wave science fiction novel written by John Brunner and first published in 1968. I understand why this is a classic. And then the novel seems to allow its modernist style to retreat into the background, allowing for a classic pulp-style plot – the sort that Brunner cut his teeth on at the start of his career with his early, largely conventional space operas – to come to the fore. Read more. I have wondered why other authors of the new wave like Leguin, Ellison and of course Philip K Dick are better remembered or respected. Over at science fiction and other suspect ruminations, Joachim Boaz has written about the excellent Walter M. Miller Jr short story, Death of a Spaceman (1954, aka Momento Homo).James Harris has also been inspired to blog about the same story at Classics of Science Fiction. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. With John Schneider, Mindy Robinson, Dion Baia, Matthew Cutter. I bought and read this book in 1968, it is without doubt one of the most amazing Sci-Fi books of all time. Brunner published Stand on Zanzibar as the New Wave SF movement was in full swing in Britain, and the novel can easily be mistaken for part of that wave. This psychedelic novel, is set in the far distant future, 2010! As if all that isn’t prescient enough, it even has a character called President Obomi, and predicts the Euro, electronic music, Honda cars (at the time they were known as a motorbike manufacturer; their first car came out a year after Stand on Zanzibar was published), the decline of the popularity of tobacco, the decriminalising of marijuana, the desolation of the city of Detroit, global news channels, the TiVo or Sky box, the video phone call, Viagra, laser printers, and the legalisation of same-sex marriage. The book moves between storytelling and world-building, with some chapters dropping in bits of information about this future world in a variety of different textual forms. OK, it's fair that "1984" and "Brave New World" received greater critical acclaim - there's no doubt that they are better. 6.0 stars (One of my All Time Favorites). He wrote his first novel, Galactic Storm, at 17, and published it under the pen-name Gill Hunt, but he did not start writing full-time until 1958. Stand on Zanzibar, winner of the 1969 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel and the British Science Fiction Association award the same year, is regarded as his greatest achievement. In my view it stands up pretty well to the test of time. I bought and read this book in 1968, it is without doubt one of the most amazing Sci-Fi books of all time. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. :: Stand on Zanzibar is one of my favorite novels :: [one protagonist is basically insane after being brainwashed by the government and the other protagonist learns that the only way to stop humans from being ferociously aggressive animals is to tamper with them genetically, This psychedelic novel, is set in the far distant future, 2010! The Earth is dying slowly, a sad end for the former, magnificent, blue planet, Donald disappears and Chad reappears, not to worry though, Shalmaneser, G. T.'s , powerful computer, that doesn't make mistakes, (they believe) will come to the rescue, and the all knowing machine will save the day...An American diplomat, stationed in the little west African state of Beninia, ( I haven't heard of it either, my friends) comes up with a scheme to take over that impoverished country, in all but name and bring prosperity to Beninia (this, right after the end of oppressive, colonialism in Africa). His work is leading General Technics to the forefront of global domination, both in the marketplace and politically—it's about to take over a country in Africa. Niblock House is a rising executive at General Technics, one of a few all-powerful corporations. Back to the Hugos: Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner John Brunner's dystopian vision of 2010 may not be completely accurate – but his grungy world is … I will say it's incredibly, depressingly prescient. In 1968 the way this book was written was different to anything I had ever read, it was and remains a stand out book. I know things are nowhere near that bad, but there are a lot of good predictions there with a whole lot of counter sprinkled culture all over. The book, published in 1969, is set in the year 2010, and this allows us to make a point-by-point comparison, and marvel at novelist John Brunner’s uncanny ability to anticipate the shape of the world to come. As long as they know why they're doing it. “Stand on Zanzibar is an information overload on topics that sensible people would never want to learn about.” ― John Brunner, quote from Stand on Zanzibar “Much earlier than Richardson, before World War I, in fact, Norman Angell had shown that the idea of fighting a war for profit was obsolete. This is a wacky, dense, and incredible world-building behemoth that is still relevant as shit today. I have wondered why other authors of the new wave like Leguin, Ellison and of course Philip K Dick are better remembered or respected. Highly recommended for any Sci-Fi fan. Novels like Shockwave Rider (proto- Cyberpunk), The Sheep Look Up (eco-horror), and Crucible of Time (A truly weird novel about alien civilization)to name a few. It’s a masterpiece. Probably as irrelevant. I know the term is used in some novel I read many years ago and somehow I think it was this one. Check out detail reviews rating quotes community of Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner. This one did. But there must be a hundred people who have read them for every one who's read Zanzibar, and that's not an accurate reflection of the difference in quality. But then many people say the same about Ulysses, one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century. Others simply find it unreadable. What’s the most prophetic book you can name? Posts about Stand On Zanzibar written by antyphayes. I know things are nowhere near that bad, but there are a lot of good predictions there with a whole lot of counter sprinkled culture all over. Busy Norman works as an executive and only black man, for General Technical Corporation, (G T to its loyal and not so loyal employees) and still run by the legendary founder Georgette Tallon Buckfast , a sprightly, 91- year- old. It shows how that technique, first used in the 1920s and 30s really did anticipate the way modern people would experience the world and perhaps how it is the only way to portray the multi-faceted and data-overloaded modern/future world. The Secret Library: A Book-Lovers’ Journey Through Curiosities of History. 2. a. To assume or maintain an upright position as specified: stand straight; stand to one side. All of this is very interesting, but is the book any good? For every one of those Brunner had as many works of pure genius as any of the giants. But even Verne’s novel has to take second place to John Brunner’s Stand On Zanzibar (S.F. MASTERWORKS), which was published over fifty years ago, in 1968. The happening man is Mr.Norman Niblock House, he lives in a domed Manhattan, the rest of New York. Giant corporations have large enough economies to control entire countries. Stand On Zanzibar is a Hugo Award-winning dystopian novel by John Brunner. It depicts a time of massive over population, a time when huge corporations were in control. I absolutely loved this book and consider it one of the true classics of Science Fiction. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. The first edition of the novel was published in 1968, and was written by John Brunner. Start by marking “Stand on Zanzibar” as Want to Read: Error rating book. Written in a way that echoes John Dos Passos'. Everywhere (deep fakes) and us leaving more and more decisions for AIs. Some love this book and some hate it. Donald Hogan is his rather lethargic, mysterious , intellectual roommate, the city, much overcrowded, who apparently from an unknown source of income, somehow has plenty of money. He predicted that the world’s population would have exceeded 7 billion by 2010. The happening man is Mr.Norman Niblock House, he lives in a domed Manhattan, the rest of New York City's citizens, are not important enough to have that structure, is this a Republic? He served as an officer in the Royal Air Force from 1953 to 1955, and married Marjorie Rosamond Sauer on 12 July 1958, “It's supposed to be automatic, but actually you have to push this button. Either way, it made for excellent reading. One of my early high school favorites. All these years later the foresight Brunner had is alarming. I will definitely be reading this one again. A Google search turned up an excerpt from the 2011 re-issue of Stand on Zanzibar (page xii) in the Foreword, written by the respected science fiction author Bruce Sterling. Essentially, what I'm saying is that the famous "technique" of this novel is just a shtick, one that feels very anchored in the 60's, and not one that alters or improves the basic, conventional storyline at its centre. Nostradamus’ notebooks? That era's mad prophet Chad C.Mulligan, a best selling writer, read by millions of people, (real books too) trouble is, no one follows Mulligan's advice, so the wealthy, disgusted man drops out, and becomes a street wino...Yes, he is rather weird , things are not perfect in the second decade, of the 21st century, the endless Vietnam War, is going on after 50 year , also the draft, the population bomb has finally arrived, and crime rates have increased to unprecedented levels, anarchy prevails. Ellison, it was his insane personality and with Dick, it was the films made after his death. The characters leave me cold (with the exception of Chad Mulligan - he was great), which is a problem for such a long book. "Muckers" for example where people who went inexplicably mad in public places, indiscriminately killing as many people as they could, in 1968 it was unheard of, by 2017 it has happened on numerous occasions. In his introductory essay, Sterling comments, "Some bits are just eerie: the book's major figure is … A funny and zany tribute to the 1977 cult classic, Smokey and the Bandit. Rich in characters, a superbly crafted story that moves very quickly and deals with some very important issues. Donald Hogan is his roommate, a seemingly sheepish bookworm. This novel won many awards, including the Hugo Award for Best Novel, BSFA Award and Prix Tour-Apollo Award. Bruce Sterling is an American science fiction writer, born in Brownsville, Texas on April 14, 1954. Some novels should only be read once. The novel has been reprinted in the SF Masterworks series, so is still in print and available for a reasonable price. Genre: Science Fiction. ing, stands v.intr. The Soviet Union is defunct as a superpower, but China is rapidly industrializing and increasing in power. b. b. One of the best SF dystopias from the late 60s about overpopulation in the future, and deserving of a much broader audience. fig. There are two main threads, developing from the lives of two room-mates in 2010 New York, both of which involves first-world intervention in third-world nations. The title Stand on Zanzibar is an allusion to this: in the early twentieth century it was calculated that every single member of the world’s population could fit shoulder-to-shoulder on the Isle of Wight, but given the population growth since then, Brunner estimated that a bigger island, like Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean, would be required for 2010’s seven billion inhabitants. Not in a bad way, but wow. My second book by Brunner. But the more you immerse yourself in Brunner’s extraordinarily vividly realised future world, the more you get carried along by it and become involved with the principal characters’ struggles, especially those of the two housemates: Donald Hogan, an undercover spy posing as a postgraduate student; and Norman Niblock House, an ‘Afram’ or African-American Muslim man who has risen quickly up the corporate ladder and is vice-president of the large corporation for which he works. Growing up to 60cm tall, this tropical gem cuts a dark-green, upright shape. That was 600+ pages of sheer eccentricity! We’d love your help. ISBN 1857988361, 9781857988369. Stand on Zanzibar is a Hugo Award -winning dystopian novel by John Brunner, often considered one of the best works to come out of the New Wave Science Fiction movement of the 1960s. This is not to pretend that it isn’t sometimes a challenging read, especially the first few hundred pages. Their criminals are executed using the electric chair. 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That moves very quickly and deals with some very important issues an upright on., play around with indirect narrative the great science-fiction achievements of the future. All these years later the foresight Brunner had is alarming and make purchase... Builds on it and pushes it a little furthjer to tell a political/social tale of the twentieth..";s:7:"keyword";s:17:"stand on zanzibar";s:5:"links";s:768:"Acme Digital Coupons,
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