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3.17 AVERAGE
3.17 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
One of my goals for reading this year is to read books from the friends of Richard Brautigan. Starting with William Hjortsberg’s Gray Matters sure was an interesting choice. As a fan of the absurd and experimental works of 1970s New Wave Science Fiction I was prepared for the territory I was venturing into with this work but that isn’t to say that I wasn’t surprised with what was presented to me.
Gray Matters takes place centuries in the future where war has decimated humanity, leaving only the consciousness of a select, privileged few to exist in the confines of a computer hard drive. This is a really interesting concept and one that Hjortsberg sets up with a lot of promise but soon this book starts to devolve as bizarre asides and further questions are poised, leaving initial inquiries left undeveloped.
The narrative follows a few characters in this consciousness database. They are summoned to play out roles in enacting human emotion and exploring the deeper themes of consciousness and being truly are. Unfortunately the deeper themes and questions poised by this concept are often sidelined to explore sexual fantasies through these characters, often in strange and unusual ways. Having just read Lolita and having a familiarity with 70s SF this wasn’t anything too off base or extreme but unlike Lolita this felt less intentional on making commentary and more so an exploration of indulgences and showcasing shock value.
As the narrative progressed I found that much of the narrative abruptly shifts from one character and scene to the next, often after only a temporary step into this character’s plot. By switching around often I found it hard to devote focus and attention to what was going on and ultimately just in the mix with the chaos and surreal nature of this book.
Ultimately I would be more forgiving of these issues if this book wasn’t so short. Hjortsberg looks to explore a lot of different ideas with very few pages. Many interesting questions on what consciousness is are asked but very little time is given to exploring them, mostly leaving only the memory of the most shocking elements.
I will say, for someone who isn’t a Science Fiction author this book was pretty impressive. The concept really is intriguing and is absolutely in my line of interests when it comes to my favorite SF work. While the latter half falls apart in maintaining a concise and engaging narrative, I did find the set up really strong. While nowhere near as good as the best of Science Fiction I will say that this is still better than some of the lesser works I’ve read from established and acclaimed contemporaries of the Science Fiction genre.
A stunning, exciting and dark look into the future. Quality writing and an intriguing plot make this quick read an essential read. Blows my mind on one level that it’s from 1972, but then, without the sci-fi component, it’s spot on 70s literature. Once more: loved it.
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Serviceable.
Gave it a three, really a three and a half.
Picked this up in a second hand bookshop looking for a bit of old sci-fi I’d never heard of. Figured I couldn’t go wrong with a brain in a vat story and wasn’t disappointed.
Found the story easy to read, and quite funny. Some really interesting ideas in here, expressed in a very accessible way. The story (or more stories really) moves along nicely as it goes between short passages following the different narratives, and the writing is very solid with good humour and clearly defined characters.
The differing perspectives of the characters are very effective as a means of exploring different ideas of identity, reality, society and “enlightenment” - even if the characters aren’t always likeable, their viewpoints are compelling. The author paints a vivid picture of both the imagined future, revealed gradually throughout the book, and how we got there, and does it in a very organic way through the characters’ points of view. The “ideas” side is really solid, but also doesn’t take away from the fun stuff, and there’s a good amount of action (especially considering it’s a story about brains in jars).
Understandably for 70’s sci-fi I found some elements of the storyline outdated (more an issue when it comes to the social aspects than the technology).
Overall a really enjoyable read exploring interesting ideas, but not necessarily anything groundbreaking to read now.
Picked this up in a second hand bookshop looking for a bit of old sci-fi I’d never heard of. Figured I couldn’t go wrong with a brain in a vat story and wasn’t disappointed.
Found the story easy to read, and quite funny. Some really interesting ideas in here, expressed in a very accessible way. The story (or more stories really) moves along nicely as it goes between short passages following the different narratives, and the writing is very solid with good humour and clearly defined characters.
The differing perspectives of the characters are very effective as a means of exploring different ideas of identity, reality, society and “enlightenment” - even if the characters aren’t always likeable, their viewpoints are compelling. The author paints a vivid picture of both the imagined future, revealed gradually throughout the book, and how we got there, and does it in a very organic way through the characters’ points of view. The “ideas” side is really solid, but also doesn’t take away from the fun stuff, and there’s a good amount of action (especially considering it’s a story about brains in jars).
Understandably for 70’s sci-fi I found some elements of the storyline outdated (more an issue when it comes to the social aspects than the technology).
Overall a really enjoyable read exploring interesting ideas, but not necessarily anything groundbreaking to read now.
I only knew Hjortsberg from his hard-boiled occult thriller Falling Angel, later filmed as the cult classic Angel Heart. This book is certainly a departure from that: it's a futuristic tale of brains in jars, struggling to reach enlightenment and then - finally - physical freedom.
It would spoil the narrative to give too much away but the story is an excellent meditation on the sanctity of memory. Surprisingly enjoyable.
It would spoil the narrative to give too much away but the story is an excellent meditation on the sanctity of memory. Surprisingly enjoyable.
Imagine you're at an open mic night at a comedy club. The schedule is full of comedians, like yourself, who are putting in their dues, running through prepared acts, testing out what works and what doesn't. They're working on their craft, it's an industry they're all immersed in. Suddenly, from a table of drunks nobody has seen before, one guy swaggers up to the microphone and starts belching words about anal beads. His friends laugh louder than they have at anything else in the night, and he finishes his impromptu set and stumbles back to his group, proud of himself. You grit your teeth and go up next and do your act, it goes down well, and you find a table. Later, the drunk finds you and asks you how his set went and wasn't that shit so easy.
William Hjortsberg opens up his book with an introduction he wrote, that talks about his background in literary theory, and how reviews for Gray Matters say "oh no, he's committed science fiction." He's the drunk in the comedy bar; he's the nerd pretending to throw a football at a team practice. He wrote science fiction because he thought it would be funny, but never actually tells a joke. This is a book of half-baked ideas just sort of slurrying around a disjointed narrative, with vaguely scifi words thrown in to really lay it in that he's writing science fiction.
This book would not get published today.
I don't even know how to take this review seriously. A bunch of fairly shitty brains in jars, and then not brains in jars just because, do things for a bit. There's robots, because. It's a hundred and sixty pages that took me four days to read. I'm done with giving Hjortsberg any more of my time.
William Hjortsberg opens up his book with an introduction he wrote, that talks about his background in literary theory, and how reviews for Gray Matters say "oh no, he's committed science fiction." He's the drunk in the comedy bar; he's the nerd pretending to throw a football at a team practice. He wrote science fiction because he thought it would be funny, but never actually tells a joke. This is a book of half-baked ideas just sort of slurrying around a disjointed narrative, with vaguely scifi words thrown in to really lay it in that he's writing science fiction.
This book would not get published today.
I don't even know how to take this review seriously. A bunch of fairly shitty brains in jars, and then not brains in jars just because, do things for a bit. There's robots, because. It's a hundred and sixty pages that took me four days to read. I'm done with giving Hjortsberg any more of my time.