Another outstanding work of science fiction by Brian Aldiss. This is a darkly amusing and sarcastic look at the darker side of humanity and badly we get it wrong when we come across a benign extraterrestrial culture that developed differently from us. It is better than Non-Stop but not as good as Hothouse (one of my favorite Aldiss novels). ( )

"La civilización es la distancia que el hombre pone entre sí mismo y sus excrementos". Esta definición, que puede tomarse como una descripción del concepto "victoriano" de la actividad civilizadora, resulta controvertible en pleno siglo XX, cuando la actividad civilizadora tiende a ahogarse, por el contrario, en los excrementos que ella misma genera. Pero, ¿estamos preparados para asumir la idea de una cultura donde se defina la civilización, por el contrario, como la proximidad con los excrementos?
Tal es el tema central de la presente fábula moral interplanetaria, donde Brian Aldiss sigue explorando los problemas del choque cultural.
Recordemos que Aldiss es un autor británico, es decir, oriundo de un país que ha resistido las más variadas invasiones, y donde, en otros tiempos, la noción de los pulcro y decente fue llevada a las últimas consecuencias.

Aldiss uses the story of man's first encounter with alien life forms to explore the nature of man to control and to destroy what is different.

This short novel is well written with some subtle black humor. This is the first Aldiss I have read and I am impressed with his writing style, which is tight with no words wasted. ( )

While a mildly interesting read, this book is HEAVILY trapped in the period it was written. I would only recommend it to people who love old things like this. ( )

Satire. Several different humans have several different reactions to these very alien beings, who have their own unexpected reaction to us. One of the things that's funny is the inability of the humans to recognize their own shortcomings, even when said faults are the same faults they believe the utods to have.

I would have liked this to be longer, to have the ideas further developed. For example, it seems unfortunately sexist and homophobic, but a careful reading reveals that Aldiss probably has a personal opinion more enlightened than that of the contemporary audience for whom he was writing. (Iow, he didn't mean what he wrote.)

Worth a reread (maybe someday), because the ideas are thoughtful and plentiful, and so concisely presented, that I'm sure I missed some. ( )