The Demolished Man

The Demolished Man (Alfred Bester) was both interesting and enjoyable.

First, it’s a sci-fi novel that was written in 1953. So, the future it imagines has both telepathy and pneumatic tubes. Second, it’s a detective novel, and like many detective novels, it’s about solving a murder. Third, it’s a detective novel, but it’s in a world that has telepathy, so they can read everyone’s mind. Right? Exactly.

Bester does a good job of living up to the challenge of this premise. The story ends up being really structurally interesting, for a detective novel. The chapters are really cinematic. I didn’t so much read the book, as watch what Bester was writing about. Some of the visual sequences he conjures are stunning.

For critiques: the female characters are weak, and some of the final justifications for what happened seemed a little hurried. All things considered, the book was a really fun read. 3.4 out of 5.

P.S. If you do read it like you’re watching a movie, call me and tell me who you cast as the main hero and main villain. I know who I’d pick, but I don’t want to influence anyone’s reading of the story.