Astonishing. Eyeopening. Among the most prescient novels ever written.
Published in 1968 but set in 2010, Stand on Zanzibar by British author John Brunner accurately predicts an entire host of profound changes that have taken place in our early 21st century. To note a baker's dozen:
1. The population of Earth will exceed seven billion around 2010, enough people the island of Zanzibar's 600 square miles would be needed for the world's population to stand shoulder to shoulder.
2. A small computer in every home with access to information contained in all the great libraries (our current-day internet);
3. Europe forms a collective union (the EU);
4. China rises to become a competitive world power and major producer of goods;
5. A world leader will have the name of President Obomi;
6. Europe creates the Euro;
7. People smoke less cigarettes and take many more drugs;
8. Desolation and destruction blight the city of Detroit;
9. The invention of visual phone calls (Skype);
10. Widespread imbibing of what has come to be known as Viagra;
11. The legalization of same-sex marriage;
12. Omnipresence of electronic surveillance;
13. Images and information via mass media, especially television, become foundational in the way men and women experience and evaluate both their own lives and the outside world.
Stand on Zanzibar toggles back and forth between telling the story of several characters, two Americans most notably, and worldbuilding via reams of information in various forms reeled off rapid-fire. "The greatest art is the most neglected. When did you last experience ecstasy in bed?" --- "We can re-programme your life to make an artistically rounded whole." --- "When they say Botticelli, do you think it's a cheese? Well, as of today, it is. And gastronomes acknowledge our achievement."
I agree with many other readers and reviewers - one of the greatest SF novels ever written. Published in the swingin' sixties and usually described as dystopian New Wave SF, Zanzibar gives fans familiar with the author's previous novels the sense John Brunner clicked into a new phase of imagining and writing after tripping on LSD.
Zanzibar contains: 1) a multifaceted structure (chapters headings such as Continuity and Context), 2) multiple plot lines (usually set in the US), 3) insertions of quotes from a 21st century sociologist, 4) allusions to various points of history. So much material packed into this novel. For an in-depth outline of this extraordinary work, here's a link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_o...
Since I'm writing a book review not a book, I'll jump to a batch of zinger highlights:
JUMPING JOHN B's LANGUAGE AND VOICE
In an interview, John Brunner praised Anthony Burgess' Clockwork Orange for being literary fiction of the highest order while addressing themes usually found in science fiction. The influence of Burgess on Brunner is clear, including invented slang: codder (certain type of man), shiggy (certain type of woman), mucker (criminal), prowlie (police car), offyourass (having a strong opinion).
With its dark humor, its gush of a world gone mad as it drowns in its own technology, gadgetry and overurbanization, Brunner's voice will bring to mind Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, JR by William Gaddis and, well, all the books of Philip K. Dick. A splattering smattering: "Dogs fouling sidewalk will be destroyed" --- "Stomp that roach! Beware of fire." --- "What shall we do with our fair city? Dirty and dangerous, smelly and shitty! If you're a friend of New York town, you'll find you a hammer and smash it down."
FUTURE SHOCK, OVERPOPULATION
World population (particularly all the stupid people) has run out of control. Innovative biological sciences attempt to address this most pressing issue in a variety of ways - to list three: forced sterilizations, eugenics, species modifications (you'll have to read for yourself). And there are reports Russia is lagging behind a comparatively backward country like Yatakang in the critical field of tectogenetics. Students in Moscow stage a sit-in when offered a choice: sterilization or removal to Siberia. What is to save us? Would you believe a small African country having a population with unique human qualities? Quick - time to hop on a jet before it's too late!
MR. & MRS. EVERYWHERE
A husband and wife, via innovative futuristic technology, can scan their own faces to merge with the faces of Mr. & Mrs. Everywhere, a couple who travel to beautiful worldwide destinations. In this way, couples trapped in their tiny, cramped home in their vastly overcrowded city can see themselves enjoying tropical paradise or a perfect ski resort right on their TV screen. The ultimate in psychological projection! I hope you agree: the bleakest and blackest in black humor.
SHAMINIZER
With eerie echoes of Arthur C. Clarke's 2001, A Space Odyssey where computer HAL calls many of the shots in outer space, so Zanzibar features Shalmaneser, the ultimate supercomputer making many critical decisions right here on Earth. Some of the lowly humans complain how those in power don't trust anybody except a computer.
However, there is that time when we read about Norman (one of the key main characters) voicing dissatisfaction. "The omniscient Shalmaneser had let his faithful disciples down, and with half their minds they were afraid it might not be his fault, but theirs." Ha! Even when the mighty computer might not be all that mighty, invariably the blame lies with humans. Blaming the omniscient computer? Blasphemy! You might as well blame an omniscient God.
CORPORATE AND GOVERNMENT MANIPULATION
Key overarching John Brunner theme: All the ways individuals are stripped of their individuality and humanity by large, all-powerful organizations. So many ways, both blatant and subtle, to manufacture consent, that is, make sure everyone adheres to regimentation and conformity. The British author gives ear to thinkers like Marshall McLuhan (the first "Context" chapter is a MM quote) and Alvin Toffler (Brunner's novel Shockwave Rider is a nod to AT's Future Shock).
CHAD C. MULLIGAN
Black humor overflowing in Zanzibar is never more apparent than all things relating to sociologist Chad C. Mulligan. We have Chad C. Mulligan quotes via his collection of pseudo-definitions from his satirical dictionary and several of his books urging people to use their head for more than a hatrack.
Chad even makes his personal appearances throughout. Here's Chad sharing a slice of his vitriol: "But I'm giving up. I'm quitting. The sheer God-blasted inertia of this asinine species (human) has defeated me. I can't make people pay me attention whether I argue, or bellow, or daub myself with shit."
Stand on Zanzibar - the ideas and insights runneth over. Read it.
“You know Chad’s definition of the New Poor? People who are too far behind with time-payments on next year’s model to make the down-payment on the one for the year after?”
British author John Brunner, 1934-1995
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