Pages : 413
Overall Mark : 7/10
In the aftermath of an atomic war, a new international movement of pacifism has arisen. Multitudes of young men have chosen to curb their aggressive instincts through voluntary amputation – disarmament in its most literal sense. Those who have undergone this procedure are highly esteemed in the new society. But they have a problem – their prosthetics require a rare metal to function, and international tensions are rising over which countries get the right to mine it…
BERNARD WOLFE (1915-85)
Bernard Wolfe was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He worked as a military correspondent for a number of science magazines during the Second World War, and began to write fiction in 1946. He became best known for his 1952 SF novel Limbo.
VERDICT
This is an interesting satirical novel focussing on what life would be like if we were to chop off our limbs to prevent us from going to war. Clearly Wolfe thinks it wouldn’t work, but what he presents is an interesting concept. The idea that the actions of one man, albeit misinterpreted actions, could lead to such a movement is both funny and worrying, with a conclusion that really proves that mankind will go to war no matter how much they try not to.
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