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There's a bit of a set-too over Bester in this thread.
The Demolished Man is his other 'big' novel and, imo, the better of the two by far. I've changed my mind a little since the previous thread, in that I think the characters are handled in such a way that their emotions and motivation feel far more real than those of The Stars...' cast. It's in the way that Foyle's remorse over his previous acts doesn't have any real impact, you don't feel that he regrets his actions. Sure, he expresses remorse, but never in a way that makes you believe it.
Gaiman's introduction, if it's the same one as in my copy, says,
"A word of warning: the vintage of the book demands more work from the reader than he or she may be used to. Were it written now, its author would have shown us the rape, not implied it..."
Leaving aside the facts that Gaiman obviously has trouble accepting that implied violence in a narrative can be just as devastating as any graphic description and believes modern audiences are thick as freshly-laid pig eggs, he fails to address the consequences of the rape, seemingly being more disappointed that we don't get a second-by-second description. Maybe I'm being too harsh on Bester, maybe my 1950s filter isn't working and, as Gaiman (sort of) suggests, I'm expecting too much from a book that's 46 years old. I don't think so, though. |
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