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City (1952)

de Clifford D. Simak

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2,543795,764 (3.97)134
This award-winning science fiction classic explores a far-future world inhabited by intelligent canines who pass down the tales of their human forefathers. Thousands of years have passed since humankind abandoned the city--first for the countryside, then for the stars, and ultimately for oblivion--leaving their most loyal animal companions alone on Earth. Granted the power of speech centuries earlier by the revered Bruce Webster, the intelligent, pacifist dogs are the last keepers of human history, raising their pups with bedtime stories, passed down through generations, of the lost "websters" who gave them so much but will never return. With the aid of Jenkins, an ageless service robot, the dogs live in a world of harmony and peace. But they now face serious threats from their own and other dimensions, perhaps the most dangerous of all being the reawakened remnants of a warlike race called "Man."   In the Golden Age of Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein, Clifford D. Simak's writing blazed as brightly as anyone's in the science fiction firmament. Winner of the International Fantasy Award, City is a magnificent literary metropolis filled with an astonishing array of interlinked stories and structures--at once dystopian, transcendent, compassionate, and visionary.… (mais)
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Mostrando 1-5 de 79 (seguinte | mostrar todas)
Truly a remarkable book. The real gem is the historical mystery that the first pages set up. Rivals Dune and Star Maker in distance into the future the story travels. Between the serial structure and robot relations, the book most closely resembles one of Asimov's. However, these robots serve not only man... ( )
  MXMLLN | Jan 12, 2024 |
Given that I'd read the sequel, I was intrigued as to which of the characters would show up. As it was, I saw a flawed but fascinating prediction on the changes in agriculture and society, which had some fascinating ideas (I disagree that city people will move en masse to the country just because land is cheap, because we don't see that now). Also, there are hidden details of a socialist utopia, which was a bit of a surprise. Overall, this was a much more satisfying story than the sequel, but mostly because it had a happy ending for all (except the career politician) ( )
  fred_mouse | Jan 2, 2024 |
I liked certain aspects of this book, principally the connecting parts where it is clear that the book is a collection of tales published by the dog civilisation which have been handed down and which fuel an ongoing debate as to whether the legendary creature called man ever existed. The tales themselves illustrate particular stages in which humans at first abandon the cities - the original short stories were published in science fiction magazines mostly between 1944 and 1947 with a later one in the early 50s - and then eventually die out through a process that involves abandoning the planet for a idyllic existence as Jovian lifeforms or languishing in a stagnant and decaying enclave at Geneva in Switzerland. Before doing so however they had abandoned war and other forms of aggresssion, produced sentient robots, and engineered dogs to have enhanced intelligence and the power of speech. And a mutant form of humanity with no sense of community had thrown various spanners into the works which eventually affect even the dogs' residence on the Earth they know.

The author certainly did not forsee the process by which urbanisation has become more a fact of life since the 1940s but the stories still have some interest and involve philosophical questions such as what is the nature of humanity and why aggression and the necessity to struggle might be necessary for humans to have the urge to progress. One thing is the title is a bit of a misnomer since none of it is set in a city, and the cover of the edition I read was really misleading - there are no spaceship or other flying vehicle chases whatsoever. A 3 star read overall. ( )
  kitsune_reader | Nov 23, 2023 |
The book has an interesting format: it is composed as a collection of "legends about humans" told by some "talking dogs" in the very far future (thousands of years). Maybe due to the year it was written in (~1950), maybe intentionally it occasionally has a very naive and simplistic views on multiple topics. Even like that, it has a certain charm and by forcing ideas "very outside of the box" can make you ponder on some points of view. Still, for my taste it has a bit too much human excellence and human aspirations (no cities, shallow hobbies). In the book robots are made by humans and last thousands of years, but they look (and somehow act) mostly like humans. The organisms influenced by humans (dogs, ants) do some things, but they do not seem to evolve or be superior unless compared to "what is bad in humans" (crimes, wars) while at the same time negating their nature (dogs are predators) and not giving them much evolution besides "what humans influenced". ( )
  vladmihaisima | Sep 15, 2023 |
3rd read (30/7/23):

Third time is the charm it seems, because City finally clicked with me. Not to say some of my old criticisms don't still niggle (the Juwain philosophy is problematic and other aspects are dated enough to throw my investment in the story), but I can comfortably say that I like the whole span of City quite a lot. I think it helped to go in knowing what I was getting, and I think on my second read I was let down quite a bit by a very grating audiobook narrator. Good ol' paper steered me well this time though and I was in love with the more contemplative, almost fable-like direction the second half of the book took. Aspects were also interesting in light of me dipping back into Wells' The Island of Dr Moreau recently, with City having a much more idealistic and quaint take on vivisection. "Aesop", I think, has a nearly all-animal cast, with the dogs having made other animals in their own image, much as a certain Webster once operated on dogs in the hopes of provoking a genetic trend that would put the two species "hand in paw". "No spill blood" echoed in my mind as the bear and the wolf contemplate the origin of a dead body, each quick to ensure the other that they would never dare break the "no kill" rule ("Are we not dogs?").

I read a review that deemed the framing canine editorial notes to be redundant, but I wholeheartedly disagree. While they may not explicitly add anything to the narrative (and, indeed, the stories stood alone when originally published) they certainly contribute a ton to the atmosphere and put the whole work into a certain context. In a way, much of the appeal of City for me comes from the idea of truth and history dissolving over time and being reduced to legendary status. Much, in the same way, you might argue over whether there is any historical value in something like, say, the Hebrew bible, here you have the dogs holding "Man" up as a mythical god-like figure that a minority of scholars find value in clinging to and a majority find insulting. Simak's introduction to my edition was also an essential touch for me, reflecting on the context in which the stories were written, some towards the end of WWII and others in the wake of nuclear paranoia.

The apocryphal "Epilog" was included in my edition. In isolation, it's a decent story, if a little thinly spread. As an extended end to the City canon though, it falls a bit flat.

Old review (2nd read), May 2021:

This was a slow, casual re-read in the form of an audiobook. The narrator sounded like an AI and had the most stilted voice, but I tried not to let that mar the experience too much.

I initially read this 6 years ago and still agree with most of my qualms from back then, though I thought the way that I expressed it in my original review was pretty poor, so I've removed it. Here are my original scores for the individual stories though:

City - 3
Huddling Place - 4.5
Census - 3.5
Desertion - 4
Paradise - 3.5
Hobbies - 2.5
Aesop - 1
The Simple Way - 2.5
Epilog - 2


(I think these have changed a bit, but not by much. It's not fresh in my mind, so I'll leave them be.)

City has a great premise, but you do have to suspend your disbelief. It is a collection of stories that can stand alone but essentially function as a novel, having an overarching narrative/themes/characters that occur throughout. It progresses chronologically over a span of many generations, and I would liken it to something like Asimov's Foundation - although this is certainly not hard sci-fi and much more whimsical. The premise is both epic and quaint, Simak often being credited as the father of "pastoral" science fiction. It's small-town, soft and fluffy sci-fi, but taken to a grand scale. It's the fall of man, with the rise of dogs, ants and remnants of robots left behind to aid the former.

Each story connects in some way to the former and all are divided by "notes on the text", where we have canine philosophers speculating on the story's origins and whether or not "man" as a species is more than a myth.

There are two main narrative problems I have with City: So much hinges on something called "The Juwain Philosophy", this moral plan that is supposed to carry mankind to the next age. I won't go into detail, as I'm keeping this relatively spoiler-free (or at least vague), but the stakes of this fall apart both due to aspects that are dated, as well as by what can only be regarded as either incredible character incompetence or the author's own negligence. There is also a certain character who is practically made out to be the hero of the novel, and yet could easily be traced back as being single-handedly responsible for the destruction of mankind. Again, I put this down to an oversight of the author's.

While the first half of the book is fairly solid, things meander a lot toward the back end, becoming overly pensive and indulgent. Characters wandering around, speculating on life, the universe, everything... it's very tiresome and the execution is verbose and repetitive. It's not often I say these things of a man like Simak, who I believe was a humble and modest man, and generally wrote some very short, tight stories that touched on profundities quite naturally. But there you have it. This, easily his most acclaimed work alongside Way Station, is not his best in my book.

However, I do think City has its moments and is worth reading. At the very least, I would recommend "Huddling Place" as a standalone short story (though I seem to be in the minority for highlighting it). ( )
  TheScribblingMan | Jul 29, 2023 |
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» Adicionar outros autores (32 possíveis)

Nome do autorFunçãoTipo de autorObra?Status
Clifford D. Simakautor principaltodas as ediçõescalculado
Arno, TomTradutorautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado
Bing, JonPosfácioautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado
Bringsværd, Tor ÅgePosfácioautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado
De Turris, GianfrancoIntroduçãoautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado
Gabbert, JasonDesigner da capaautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado
Ganim, PeterNarradorautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado
Giancola, DonatoArtista da capaautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado
Jones, GwynethIntroduçãoautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado
Resnick, MikeIntroduçãoautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado
Rosenthal, JeanAuteurautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado
Rosenthal, JeanTradutorautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado
Schjelderup, DaisyTradutorautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado
Valigursky, EdArtista da capaautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado
Westermayr, TonyTradutorautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado
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This award-winning science fiction classic explores a far-future world inhabited by intelligent canines who pass down the tales of their human forefathers. Thousands of years have passed since humankind abandoned the city--first for the countryside, then for the stars, and ultimately for oblivion--leaving their most loyal animal companions alone on Earth. Granted the power of speech centuries earlier by the revered Bruce Webster, the intelligent, pacifist dogs are the last keepers of human history, raising their pups with bedtime stories, passed down through generations, of the lost "websters" who gave them so much but will never return. With the aid of Jenkins, an ageless service robot, the dogs live in a world of harmony and peace. But they now face serious threats from their own and other dimensions, perhaps the most dangerous of all being the reawakened remnants of a warlike race called "Man."   In the Golden Age of Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein, Clifford D. Simak's writing blazed as brightly as anyone's in the science fiction firmament. Winner of the International Fantasy Award, City is a magnificent literary metropolis filled with an astonishing array of interlinked stories and structures--at once dystopian, transcendent, compassionate, and visionary.

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