Totalitarian Dystopia

We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin, is one of the very first science fiction novels. Zamyatin sets the story in a dystopic universe controlled by the One State and led by the great Benefactor. The individuals of the One State are identified not with names but as Numbers. The family as an institution has ceased to exist. The inhabitants of this dystopia live in apartments with glass walls, making solitude impossible though every individual lives alone.

The narrator of the tale is D-503, who is purportedly recording his thoughts as part of a larger social writing project sponsored by the One State. D-503 is the chief engineer of The Integral, a spaceship bound for outer space. This space ship will carry the writings of the many Numbers to other lands and life (though the details of space life forms are left deliberately vague). However, with each entry D-503 adds to his notes, the more his life seems to veer away from the prescribed patterns given by the One State.

The instigator behind D-503's unorthodox actions and thoughts is I-330, a woman who seems to have taken an interest in him simply because he is interesting. She invites him to the Ancient house where she asks him questions and challenges his views of the world. As he is challenged D-503 seems to lose his stability, and to swing back and forth between the official version of reality as given by the One State and alternate possibilities proffered by I-330. The effect is disconcerting as D-503's entries become increasingly confused – reflecting his states of mind. His ability to be confused at all is threatened when the One State decides to perform imagination lobotomies on all Numbers.

The One State is a prefiguring of a totalitarian regime, and many people suggest that it resembles Stalinist Russia which came into existence after the novel. The book is not hampered by being told through D-503's diary entries, but it is limited to the perspective of D-503. As he is an unreliable narrator it would be useful to hear the perspective of another character.

The delineation of individuals is done succinctly (and repetatively) by describing specific features. I-330, for instance, is delineated by the sharp lines of her face. O-90, D-503's assigned partner, is described in terms of circles and roundness. This technique is particularly appropos for the setting of the book where individuals have been shorn of their identities – they are still individualized by features that can not be erased. Originally published in Russia in 1920-21 I read the translated version by Mirra Ginsburg, published in 1972.

Puerile Science Fiction

Jupiter, by Ben Bova, is part of the "Grand Tour series" through the universe. In terms of space adventure this is an interesting book, but the human personalities and interactions are so stunted and underdeveloped that one can only imagine Bova was intending it for a readership of 12 year old boys.

Briefly, Grant Archer is a doctoral student in Astrophysics on an Earth of some indeterminate future. On this future earth the political fighting is fierce and comes down to science versus religion. One faction, the "New Morality," is anxious to learn what is happening at the space station orbiting Jupiter. Choosing Grant as their spy, he is sent to the station with the assignment of finding out what secrets are being withheld. As a newly married man he is very upset to leave his wife on Earth four years, possibly more, but given no choice. When Grant arrived on the Jupiter station he discovers that he must study the dynamics of the Jovian ocean which will not allow him to work on his dissertation.

"Finding any kind of alien life was seen as a threat to belief in God. Every time scientists discovered a new life-form anywhere, some people gave up their faith. Atheists crowed that the Bible was nonsense, a pack of scribbling by ancient narrow-minded men steeped in superstition and primitive ignorance." This is one of Grant's inner thoughts used to position his belief system and understanding of the relation between faith and science. This statement could plausibly be applied to today's earth as well, although no extraterrestrial life has yet been discovered.

Grant is not only a brilliant scientist, a prerequisite for a science fiction hero, but he is also quite religious. Due to his religious feeling his understanding of morality is inflexible. Excerpts such as the following force me to think that the book has been written for pubescent boys:

"His bedsheets were tangled and soaked with his perspiration. With a lurch in the pit of his stomach, Grant realized he had made a nocturnal emission." Reading this I thought, maybe Bova's trying to make this appeal to young boys? But then it continues, "It's all right, he told himself, while that stubborn buzzing noise kept ringing in his ears. Wet dreams are natural, beyond your conscious control. There's nothing sinful about them as long as you don't take pleasure from the memory." This statement, while consistent with Grant's character, is not a really reassuring statement for the boy readers I thought Bova might be aiming for. Since Grant is going to be apart from his wife for four years, the message seems to be that he will take refuge in prayer and Bible reading for the duration.

Though this is an interesting book, especially when focusing on the space adventure aspects, the emotional maturity of the main character makes for some truly painful reading. Additionally, though it was published in 2001, it feels like it was written in the 1970's. Perhaps that is just a sign that Bova's writing is frozen, in terms of human interaction.