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Limbo (1952)

de Bernard Wolfe

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302786,282 (3.42)29
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 . . .… (mais)
Adicionado recentemente porUMSFS, PedroJaime, SteBiDes, labirinto, Brazgo67, avoidbeing, 1donlore, aeceyton
Bibliotecas HistóricasRalph Ellison
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Mostrando 1-5 de 7 (seguinte | mostrar todas)
An odd story of a pacifistic world where the prestigeous have had their arms literally removed. However, the difficulties of life have led to the develpement of high quality prosthetics which have done little to curb the aggression in mankind. ( )
  DinadansFriend | Sep 21, 2022 |
Got about 65 pages into this. It's deep. A little to deep to be reading to my wife before we go to sleep. It was putting us both to sleep and leaving us wondering what the hell he was talking about then trying to remember what happened the night before.

That said, there's definitely something cool going on here, and Wolfe is witty, if a bit dated with the humor, so I'm marking this as "to finish at a later date" rather than give it a low rating. 4/28/20
  ragwaine | Apr 28, 2020 |
Es una novela algo espesa, pero de apoco va abriéndose paso en la mente del lector. ( )
  maxtrek | Jan 30, 2019 |
David Pringle in his introduction to my SF Masterworks copy said in 1985:

“That it was time that Limbo was recognised for what it is: the most ambitious work of Science fiction and one of the most successful ever to come out of America”

While I might agree with it being an ambitious work I would certainly quibble with it being the most successful: however you define most successful, Limbo ain’t it. Approach with caution any books labelled underground classic or forgotten classic and this has both labels. I can’t think that it sold very many copies when it was published in 1952 as it would not have appealed to many science fiction readers at the time and the truly science fiction nature of the book would have taken it far away from a more literary readership. It was originally published as a novel by Random House with the dust jacket claiming it as “a diabolic tale - mad merry and monstrous of men and women caught in the vortex of history yet to happen.” Its emergence as an underground classic in 1985 is also fraught with problems, although classing it as a science fiction novel certainly rings true. There is no getting away from the novels glorification of its treatment of women, whose only function seems to be the service of men, and more disturbingly aiding their masochistic tendencies. The novel is also badly structured and too long with its post Freudian analysis sometimes descending into mumbo-jumbo. Having said all of that, the novel does not lack ambition, it contains some brilliant ideas with writing that is several steps ahead of much science fiction writing at the time.

The central character of the novel is Doctor Martine whom we first encounter on an unmapped Pacific island in 1990. He is a neuro-surgeon performing lobotomies on the local native population at the request of the elders in efforts to drive the “mad dogs” from peoples brains (before Martine’s arrival they performed their own version of lobotomies with much lower recovery rates.) Dr Martine’s past life is sketched in and we learn that he is a fugitive from the third world war, which went nuclear destroying much of the population. The war effort was run by two opposing super computer type machines and Dr Martine’s escape from the war zone in 1972 was one of the first in history. His peaceful existence on the island is shattered by a visit from a company of survivors from the war, these new men all have prosthetic limbs that allow them to do super feats of running, jumping and all sorts of gymnastics. Martine decides to flee again but this time sets sail for America to learn what has happened in the intervening 18 years. He learns that the prosthetic limbs are an essential part of the Immob movement that now holds sway. Survivors from the war are determined to cure all aggressive tendencies and voluntary amputation of one, two, three or all four limbs is the ultimate goal of the new pacifists. The new computerised prosthetics however give these new men even more power, but they can easily be removed if aggression becomes an issue. Dr Martine finds to his horror that notes he made about aggressive tendencies back before the nuclear war are now seen as a sort of bible for the Immob movement. The element used in making the new super prosthetics is in very short supply and once again there are two rival factions based on the old East - West divide in competition for the scarce resource - another war looms.

The plot as good as it is, seems to be a vehicle on which the author can hang various theories and these are explored at length throughout the novel for example: voluntary amputation and how it differs from accidental amputation, the vol-amps are treated as heroes of the people in contradiction to how accidentally disabled people are normally treated. There are many theories about achieving peace through voluntary amputation or lobotomy and what effect this has on the volunteer: how is he restricted, when he loses the will or the ability to fight back, how much does voluntary amputation pander to man’s natural masochistic tendencies; a disturbing theory emerges that man is in his infancy at the mercy of his mother or his nurse and perhaps later his wife, he welcomes this suffering in a masochistic way and so can continue this in adulthood with voluntary amputation. How to make pacifism irreversible in a world where aggression is so necessary a part of mans psyche, that deep desire to hurt other people and to hurt yourself. Theories on all these themes are discussed at some length in the book almost totally from a male perspective. They are rehearsed and then rehashed later in such a way that some original thinking gets mixed up with much that hardly makes any sense at all.

And now we come to sex and particularly the orgasm. Bernard Wolfe seems to think himself something of an expert in this field and sexual couplings are described in some detail with some analysis afterwards. Sex with a voluntary amputee usually takes place with the prosthetics off (there have been far too many accidents with the inability to control them during the sex act). In the case of a quadro-amp this means almost complete passivity with the woman on top and in complete control (Women are not encouraged to join the Immob movement), this represents more masochism for the male as women can prolong the sex act for their own satisfaction. Women are represented largely as either being frigid or whores and it is only on the island in the Pacific where Dr Martin can experience a loving relationship with a native women. This is Doctor Martine committing rape with one of the new women in America after he has been the victim of the established passive sex:

“Youve had your fun” he said “its my turn now”
She Fought him, her body writhing with the effort to break her hold, but he was determined. Equal rights - he was not asking much, just equal rights. It was not going to be exactly the best he had ever had, but it was better than nothing. And didn’t she really want this after all? Rape was a pretty difficult business without a bit of ambivalence in the woman …………”


Wolfe goes on to describe the rape in some detail with Dr Martine thinking of other women in his past life who have denied him pleasure.

During these passages and some of the other theories that are expounded in the book I had to keep reminding myself that this was science fiction - a vision of a not very pleasant future, but they are written with such passion that I began to wonder if Wolfe actually believed that the human psyche is just as he is describing it in this novel. He backs up his theories with quotes from Sigmund Freud and there are plenty of literary references to Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground as well as Mann’s Magic Mountain and even Melville’s Moby-Dick ( Captain Ahab was of course an involuntary amputee and so unable to control his aggression to the white whale). In Wolfe’s defence he gives Dr Martine a sense of humour (he can’t resist a good pun) and in a note afterwards titled “author’s notes and warnings” he refers to the irony and satire in the novel saying:

“This book, then, is a rather bilious rib on 1950 - on what 1950 might have been like if it had been allowed to fulfil itself, if it had gone on being 1950 only more and more so for the next four decades”

This doesn’t say much for 1950 as the humour is of the blackest kind.

It is a novel that is easy to criticise, it faults are there for all to see, but this should not get in the way of appreciating its startling originality, its courage in exploring areas of the human psyche and sexuality where many other authors would fear to tread and there is a great science fiction novel lurking amongst the verbiage. However I would struggle to give it more than a 3.5 rating. ( )
2 vote baswood | Oct 14, 2017 |
The cover quote from the The Saturday Review says it all, "More satisfying than Orwell's 1984 or Mr. Huxley's Brave New World." Though this is probably the most overtly sexist book that I've ever enjoyed, it remains my favorite dystopian novel. The plot line is simple and basically just exists so that the main character can have long extended philosophical discussions with other characters. Not all of the conversations work, but it's a pleasure to watch Wolfe experiment with the concepts of unexpected consequences and unexpected messiahs. Unfortunately, Limbo is presently out-of-print, but I highly recommend paying whatever exorbitant price a used bookseller puts on it. By the way, for all of you (like myself)that enjoy Geek Love by Katherine Dunn, I would not be at all surprised if she had read Limbo at some point because Wolfe's mark is unmistakable in her novel. ( )
  JasonSmith | Nov 19, 2009 |
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» Adicionar outros autores (2 possíveis)

Nome do autorFunçãoTipo de autorObra?Status
Bernard Wolfeautor principaltodas as ediçõescalculado
Garcés, ToniArtista da capaautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado
Gaughan, JackArtista da capaautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado
Santos, DomingoTradutorautor secundárioalgumas ediçõesconfirmado

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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 . . .

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