A Time of Changes

Rating:
Summary: It's really about the Covenant
Review: After thinking about it, I think Kinall is in fact the villain that his society makes him out to be. His behaviour is the image of the drug addict--he deludes himself, destroys his family and every single person who loves and tries to help him, engages in increasingly self-destructive acts, and goes out in a blaze of messianic self-glorification. I kept waiting for a dramatic breakthrough, and I was thoroughly taken in. This is not a manifesto in favor of self. It's a satire on the pitiable drug culture that destroys people.

Rating:
Summary: I me mine
Review: Gee, look at this another out of print and utterly awesome Robert Silverberg book, how the author himself can let all these great books of his go out of print is totally beyond me, sometimes I think that the chance that a book will stay in print is inversely proportional to how good it is (check out my comments on the Helliconia books by Aldiss for more of those rants). Needless to say this one was awarded either the Hugo or Nebula or both and it darn well deserved it (and I think there was some stiff competition that year). Unlike the shift at the time toward "hard science fiction" (Ringworld had just come out the year before and changed all the rules about scientific accuracy), Silverberg fills his novel more with ideas and feelings, using the medium to ultimately make comments that can apply to us and showing us the necessity to know yourself so you can know others. In a nutshell, the book details the story of a man named Kinnall who lives on a planet where selfhood is totally abolished, everyone talks in the third person ("one this and one that") and some talk totally in the passive voice and basically people close off to one another completely. Into this world comes an Earthman with a drug that can break down the barriers between people and let you enter into their minds and upon tasting it, Kinnall embarks on a quest to let his world know about love and knowing each other. The book is told in devastatingly searing prose, and Kinnall's observations are always poignant, you can feel his conviction for his cause and get a feel for the emotional barreness of a world where the words "I love you" are a total abomination. While not as intense as Dying Inside, this one further served to cement Silverberg's reputation as one of the best authors of the seventies. Probably one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, if only for its complete examination of a society where self baring is a crime, it deserves to be read even today and its message taken to heart. If you don't know yourself, you can never know anyone else. Who says reading never teaches you anything important?

Rating:
Summary: It's really about the Covenant
Review: I have to concur with a fellow reviewer - there is very little here that is science fiction. However, the science fiction genre releases the novel from some restrictive bounds and allows Silverberg to fully develop his ideas. The story: a planet has been settled by what I call "Catholic Puritans" - religious fundamentalists that believe self-containment and self-effacement are the keys to a stable society. They retain the idea of confessional (called "draining") to allow some relief from the totality of self-reliance. Referring to oneself directly (i.e. use of the pronouns I, we, etc.) is a sin, as well as burdoning someone (other than a Drainer) with any personal problems.

Into this society is born Kinnall, a noble. He meets an Earthman (with no such cultural conditioning) who introduces to him a drug that allows, for a short time, the direct communication between minds. Kinnall comes to the realisation that to know someone is to truly love him, and sets out to spread his newfound knowledge with the fervor of a prophet, even though it is illegal.

The story, while interesting, is not the reason to read the book. It is a superbly crafted tale, told in the first person by Kinnall, so you come to be immersed in the culture and morals of the society. The background is so consistently maintained that you feel it is a real place (or, that it could be a real place) and philosophy.

This is not really so much a science fiction tale as a parallel tale (rebuttal?) to the sexual revolution of the late '60's. The technology is similar (for example, they have automobiles), although the government system is more autocratic. Instead of sex, however, it is friendship and brotherly love that are the revolutionary concepts. One could argue that such a revolution has not yet occurred on Earth, and we could certainly use it! This book is not meant to preach, but is an immersing experience that is both enjoyable and a little thought-provoking.

Rating:
Summary: A rebel against a restrictive society, but is it Sci Fi?
Review: I have to concur with a fellow reviewer - there is very little here that is science fiction. However, the science fiction genre releases the novel from some restrictive bounds and allows Silverberg to fully develop his ideas. The story: a planet has been settled by what I call "Catholic Puritans" - religious fundamentalists that believe self-containment and self-effacement are the keys to a stable society. They retain the idea of confessional (called "draining") to allow some relief from the totality of self-reliance. Referring to oneself directly (i.e. use of the pronouns I, we, etc.) is a sin, as well as burdoning someone (other than a Drainer) with any personal problems.

Into this society is born Kinnall, a noble. He meets an Earthman (with no such cultural conditioning) who introduces to him a drug that allows, for a short time, the direct communication between minds. Kinnall comes to the realisation that to know someone is to truly love him, and sets out to spread his newfound knowledge with the fervor of a prophet, even though it is illegal.

The story, while interesting, is not the reason to read the book. It is a superbly crafted tale, told in the first person by Kinnall, so you come to be immersed in the culture and morals of the society. The background is so consistently maintained that you feel it is a real place (or, that it could be a real place) and philosophy.

This is not really so much a science fiction tale as a parallel tale (rebuttal?) to the sexual revolution of the late '60's. The technology is similar (for example, they have automobiles), although the government system is more autocratic. Instead of sex, however, it is friendship and brotherly love that are the revolutionary concepts. One could argue that such a revolution has not yet occurred on Earth, and we could certainly use it! This book is not meant to preach, but is an immersing experience that is both enjoyable and a little thought-provoking.

Rating:
Summary: Not his best. More fantasy than SF
Review: Not Silverberg's best. Set on an alien world inhabited by humans but their culture and technology is like that of Earth's middle ages. Therefore, the book is more like a fantasy or historical novel than SF. Told from the point of view of a political/sociological/religious rebel, it can get a tad preachy at times and the whole psychedelic drug thing seems a bit dated (the book was written in the late 60's or early 70's) though interesting nonetheless. If you're new to Silverberg check out "The World Inside" or "Downward to the Earth" before this one.

Rating:
Summary: Not his best. More fantasy than SF
Review: Not Silverberg's best. Set on an alien world inhabited by humans but their culture and technology is like that of Earth's middle ages. Therefore, the book is more like a fantasy or historical novel than SF. Told from the point of view of a political/sociological/religious rebel, it can get a tad preachy at times and the whole psychedelic drug thing seems a bit dated (the book was written in the late 60's or early 70's) though interesting nonetheless. If you're new to Silverberg check out "The World Inside" or "Downward to the Earth" before this one.

Rating:
Summary: A Time Of Changes
Review: Silverberg didn't manage to affect me much with this slow-moving story about a prince on the planet Borthan, who turns to an illegal drug to free his mind from the "Covenant"--that is, the philosophical doctrine that teaches suppression of the Self.

Kinnal Darival is not supposed to say the word "I"; he is to hide his innermost thoughts and passions from all of society, except for a carefully selected bondbrother and bondsister, or the nearest "drainer" (think father-confessor); he is not to display his own emotions in public, as this is considered vain and selfish. These are the rules of his world, and yet when our story starts with fugitive Kinnal hiding in a shack, alone in the Burnt Lowlands so he can complete his memoirs before the Prime Septarch, his brother, can finally hunt him down, we know something has gone terribly wrong for Kinnal Darival.

The rest of the tale is the memoir of what went wrong. Trapped in a loveless marriage while secretly coveting the off-limits beauty of his bondsister, estranged from his powerful, slightly paranoid brother, and generally unsatisfied no matter where he travels to, Darival's fate takes a sharp turn when a visitor from burnt-out Earth named Schweiz enters his life with a white powder that he hopes will start a revolution.

I thought this was all very simply presented, kind of dry, and at times, not fully developed. The thrust of the Covenant seemed kind of murky to me; does never using the words "me" and "I" really suppress the Self? Does not talking about yourself or revealing inner passion to anyone but a selected few represent a clear philosophy on which to base a world? I come away from the book not quite understanding the full import of what our hero rebelled against. There is no true gestalt, these are not telepaths with some kind of unimind, everyone's a bit blah but they are all individuals with their own social positions and their own personalities. So Kinnal wants the right to have a good cry in front of anyone, and he wants to be able to say "I, I, I, me, me me.". Good for him. But is he fighting for anything else? I was never quite sure what his world was really denying him other than some of the superficial facets of Self. But if he wants the right to say "I am appalled..." rather than "One is appalled...", well, whoop-ti-doo for him.

Obviously, I've gotten quite extreme in playing up a possible fault in the novel...the idea that we don't get to quite understand the philosophy that the hero is rebelling against. Sure, the author gives more than I'm suggesting in trying to world-build. But even if you feel Kinnal and the society he rebels against are described enough to involve you in his struggles, you still may find the book hasn't got enough happening to keep you fully charmed and entertained. In my opinion we have a plot full of necessarily dull people, and not much happens.

There's enough food for thought to keep you busy, but you may find you have bitten off a lot less than you can chew.

Rating:
Summary: A Time Of Changes
Review: Silverberg didn't manage to affect me much with this slow-moving story about a prince on the planet Borthan, who turns to an illegal drug to free his mind from the "Covenant"--that is, the philosophical doctrine that teaches suppression of the Self.

Kinnal Darival is not supposed to say the word "I"; he is to hide his innermost thoughts and passions from all of society, except for a carefully selected bondbrother and bondsister, or the nearest "drainer" (think father-confessor); he is not to display his own emotions in public, as this is considered vain and selfish. These are the rules of his world, and yet when our story starts with fugitive Kinnal hiding in a shack, alone in the Burnt Lowlands so he can complete his memoirs before the Prime Septarch, his brother, can finally hunt him down, we know something has gone terribly wrong for Kinnal Darival.

The rest of the tale is the memoir of what went wrong. Trapped in a loveless marriage while secretly coveting the off-limits beauty of his bondsister, estranged from his powerful, slightly paranoid brother, and generally unsatisfied no matter where he travels to, Darival's fate takes a sharp turn when a visitor from burnt-out Earth named Schweiz enters his life with a white powder that he hopes will start a revolution.

I thought this was all very simply presented, kind of dry, and at times, not fully developed. The thrust of the Covenant seemed kind of murky to me; does never using the words "me" and "I" really suppress the Self? Does not talking about yourself or revealing inner passion to anyone but a selected few represent a clear philosophy on which to base a world? I come away from the book not quite understanding the full import of what our hero rebelled against. There is no true gestalt, these are not telepaths with some kind of unimind, everyone's a bit blah but they are all individuals with their own social positions and their own personalities. So Kinnal wants the right to have a good cry in front of anyone, and he wants to be able to say "I, I, I, me, me me.". Good for him. But is he fighting for anything else? I was never quite sure what his world was really denying him other than some of the superficial facets of Self. But if he wants the right to say "I am appalled..." rather than "One is appalled...", well, whoop-ti-doo for him.

Obviously, I've gotten quite extreme in playing up a possible fault in the novel...the idea that we don't get to quite understand the philosophy that the hero is rebelling against. Sure, the author gives more than I'm suggesting in trying to world-build. But even if you feel Kinnal and the society he rebels against are described enough to involve you in his struggles, you still may find the book hasn't got enough happening to keep you fully charmed and entertained. In my opinion we have a plot full of necessarily dull people, and not much happens.

There's enough food for thought to keep you busy, but you may find you have bitten off a lot less than you can chew.