User Review - Flag as inappropriateI was set to give this story five stars throughout most of the book, but the ending threw me off. Way off.
The majority of the story is a detective story; we follow a crime from the angle of the perpetrator, and the investigating police officer. The caper is made all that much more exciting by the existence of people with esp, known as peepers, of which our investigator is one, and our perpetrator is not. A thrilling game of mouse and peeper cat made the book a quick read, and fun to follow. The inclusion of the catchy lyrics the perpetrator has purposely stuck in his head to keep himself from leaking his crime to the psychics around him interspersed throughout the dialog and action was a great touch that really increased the tension through certain parts of the story.
The conclusion however, I felt turned suddenly to a different tone altogether. The plot became less understandable, and the ending somewhat preachy. I suddenly got the impression that the author wrote the whole book as a means to state the exposition. Five stars until the last thirty pages or so.
Review: The Demolished Man
User Review - Adam - GoodreadsI had never heard of Alfred Bester before, but I figured I would give him a shot since this was published in the same series as Sirens of Titan and a couple of Philip K. Dick's books. That's some ... Read full review
Review: The Demolished Man
User Review - Jenny J - GoodreadsPart murder mystery, part futuristic thriller, and part social satire... I could hardly believe this was written in 1953. Winner of the very first Hugo Award and inspiration for the Babylon 5 ... Read full review
Review: The Demolished Man
User Review - Julie Davis - GoodreadsRereading this after a very long time for next week's discussion at A Good Story is Hard to Find. I am really amazed at how many pieces of this are coming back to me as I go, considering I last read ... Read full review
Review: The Demolished Man
User Review - Paul - GoodreadsA good good book. One of my first sci-fi reads when I was younger. Read full review
Review: The Demolished Man
User Review - Joshua Allen - GoodreadsA good, old-fashioned science fiction novel from SF's golden age. It's a little disconcerting how reliant it is an Freudianism, and like many stories of that era is obsessed with ESP, but otherwise it ... Read full review
Review: The Demolished Man
User Review - Dark-Draco - GoodreadsTo be perfectly honest, I am not sure I understood all of this. The idea behind the story is good - in the future, there are a high number of people who can read thoughts and emotions - the Esper's ... Read full review
Review: The Demolished Man
User Review - Irene - GoodreadsI've always found the argument that I have to understand and appreciate SF in the time it was written (primarily as an apology for sexism) to be specious. Next time, I will point to this book ... Read full review
Review: The Demolished Man
User Review - Richard Dinter - GoodreadsDepth psychology and science fiction a unique if dated work from 1950 Read full review
Review: The Demolished Man
User Review - Megan - GoodreadsAs sometimes happens when you visit the classics of SF, I came away from this one admiring the idea, but disappointed by the execution. The *idea* is great: a future earth where the presence of people ... Read full review