Rating: 
Summary: Not Bester's Best.
Review: Not Bester's Best. Written in 1951, The Demolished Man is actually a murder, suspense novel set in the distant future. The fairly weak plot has the main character, (an industrialist) murder his corporate opponent, even though no one has gotten away with a murder in 70 years. The reason is simple, the police prefect and a small but important segment of the population have ESP. The police prefect "cheats" and reads our killer's mind, thus confirming he is guilty, but then must spend 75% of the story coming up with non-ESP proof, because apparently ESP is not admissible in court. Anyway, the whole story was rather preposterous with a number of flaws. I daresay Demolished would not even still be in print if not for Bester's other work The Stars My Destination which is nearly perfect.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Buy It!
Review: I HATE it when characters do stupid things and act out-of-character just to advance the plot. And that was both the main character and his ally telepath, over and over through the first part of the book. I wanted to reach in, grab them by the lapels, and scream some sense into them both.Books are good illustrations of the society in which they were written. Verne's and Well's characters were stuffy and victorian, Heinlein's were all navy men (even the women), etc. Reading TDM I was appalled at the portrait of 50's America he painted. I couldn't recognize any common thread to today, or figure out how the country could have gotten to the twisted state he portrayed, or how we got where we are now if America was really like that in the 50's. I hate to say this, but I almost think Ayn Rand had some points if that's really how men treated women in our parents' generation. While his use of non-traditional puntuation and typesetting for the mind games, music et al. were vaguely interesting (maybe only vaguely because it's been done since then and better), the lyrics and games were all annoyingly insipid, nerdy, and not credible. So no, I can't say I much cared for the book.
Rating: 
Summary: An unoriginal plot backet up with original storytelling
Review: "The Demolished Man" can certainly be called one of the most tide-turning sci-fi novels. Written in 1953, it tells the story of a society with two kinds of people: normal humans and telepathic humans, and of the conflicts that kind of society would induce. Surprisingly, the conflicts are unbeliavably minor, and the issue of somebody opening your mind and raping your privacy is ignored almost completely. Furthermore, the plot is as conventional as you can imagine. It feels lake a TV-movie thriller set in the future. But it is eventually made clear to the reader that the plot isn't the point of the book. We have two characters: the hunter and the hunted. The hunter is a stereotypical main character, the hunted is anything but. We get to peek at the landscape of an obnoctious mind, while following the story, and the all-too-familiar crime plot is maybe a necessary contrast to the overwhwlming richness of the more deeper aspects of the book. The writing is exellent, and the book, though relatively old, isn't ruined by faulty science, because it's sosiological and psychological science-fiction, instead of aliens and robots etc. There are a few comical science aspects, though, and the books has the ultimate "And they lived happily ever after..." ending, wich doesn't work even as a contrast to the intriquingly dark atmosphere of the book. And after everything, as it ends, the book leaves the reader with a feeling that the book had had much more to offer than it did. A classic, no doubt, but not as good as it might have been.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Miss This One!
Review: As a school librarian of 22 years I've read thousands of books, and Demolished Man is #1 on my suggested reading list. It is as fresh and pertinent to society as the day it was written, a true classic. Borrow it , buy it , read it, reflect. What kind of world do we want?
Rating:
Summary: THE PROBLEM IS THE 'STARS...'
Review: Yep; that's it. If one hasn't read A. Bester's other novel, the later 'The Stars my Destination', one can easily give 'the Demolished Man' a 5-star rating. I happened to have read the former. So I was, understandably, disappointed with 'The D-Man'. Understandably? Uh-hm; maybe not. The problem arises because both novels share a number of great ideas and themes. Central is Bester's obsession with the power of the human mind and the feats (or defeats) it can lead us to: In 'The D-Man' we have Ben Reich, multi-billionnaire; in 'The Stars' G. Foyle, (interstellar) seaman: both have a mind capable of amazing potential to understand - or DISTORT! - and to achieve - or DESTROY. A secondary but very important theme (though hidden as to its true nature in 'The D-Man' until the last pages) is that of revenge: both Reich and Foyle want to kill for having been rejected. Other common sub-themes abound: Telepathy (foremost in 'The D-Man'), beautiful and sexy women, Corporate business and High-society parties, typographic colour and colourful typography (thank God for the author having worked in the Comix and Advertising industries!). Lastly, the two Bester novels share a 'detective story' format where an all-revealing surprise is sprung at the end. Here the similarities end and the problem manifests itself: whatever 'The D-Man' does, 'The Stars' does better. Far better. 'The D-Man' is not as rich and varied in its settings and its characters; not as broad in its scientific scope (Telepathy dominates from beginning to end). It is not very 'tight' in plot development, there are too many 'loose ends' (How could a Solar-System-Wide famous tycoon like D'Courtney have a grown-up daughter that noone has heard of - not even his arch rival? How and why did Barbara, fleeing the murder site half-mad, end up in Chooka's Rainbow house? Why did Quizzard, sent to kill the girl, go there with his wife instead of one of his goons and why did he end up -being blind- choosing to fondle this girl insted of killing her? Why... why...) But the major flaw of 'The D-Man' is not its inconsistencies, its quaint coincidences (Powell, the Police prefect, who can only marry another telepath like him, discovers the girl he has fallen in love with is a latent TP) or its, at times, naivete (Reich, with a Solar-wide Commercial empire to run, having a 'hands-on' approach). It is the implausibility of its central premise: The motive of Reich having gone to all the trouble to plan and execute the impossible crime against all odds - murder in a society that employs mind readers - rings hollow. Equally weak seems the solution Powell resorts to to nail his man after all else has failed. So do I have any nice words to say about this book? You bet I do! The basic concept is absolutely fascinating: murder in a society where cops can read your brain - WOW! - this alone is worth the price of admission. But Bester's creativity does not end here. Throughout the story the reader is treated to a host of other original ideas - ever heard of cyberpunk? ... this was not the very first Hugo winner by accident! At the time it came out there was NOTHING like it on the scene; it created waves whose ripples can be felt to this day. Inventiveness aside there's the story-telling. Could Mr. Bester write! The prose is vibrant throughout, the economy exemplary, more in time with our fast-paced times than the half century ago when this story was penned. In fact, the reasons this book wears its age so well have more to do with its style than with its scientific insights and predictions. All in all, an enjoyable read, not just an essential read for all serious SF fans. Certainly a lot better than a lot of the crap Editorial Marketers feed us these days. But 'The Demolished Man' is not a top novel, at least not after the stardards Bester's own 'The Stars my Destination' set. That, is probably the Best SF work of all time. Only maybe it wouldn't be if Alfred Bester had not experimented with his pet themes in 'The D-Man'. Think of this book as the studies Rembrandt or Michelangelo did leading up to their Master paintings and sculptures. 'Understandably' disappointed? Uh-hm, cross that out.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: This is more of a parallel world story, of course, than a glimpse into the future. The fundamentals haven't changed and the kind of corporate rapacity Bester saw in the 1950s came back with a vengeance in the 1980s, so his message is as good as it ever was. And this is the only book which ever convinced me of telepathy and what it might be like. Moorcock and the New Wave, as well as the Cyberpunks who followed them, sang the praises of Alfred Bester and Philip K. Dick and there's no doubt we are now living more in a Bester/Dick world than an Arthur C. Clarke/Robert Heinlein world. The writers who took the pulse of American society seemed, in the end, to be more accurate in their predictions. This and The Stars My Destination, plus the Bester short stories, should be the first three cornerstones in anyone's modern science fiction collection. Bester was to the Young Turks of the New Wavers a bit what Hawkwind was to the Sex Pistols -- the only bit of the 'old guard' the rebels continued to admire. Bester continues to last through all the fashions he and Dick started! Get this, some Pohl&Kornbluth, some Dick,some Moorcock, Ballard, Aldiss and the best Harlan Ellison, and you have some of the best socially engaged science fiction there is -- doing everything H.G.Wells expected it to do. Adult, sophisticated reading with that delicious, rich escapist atmosphere which for me at any rate is irresistable. An essential novel for any modern library.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to see why this won the first Hugo award
Review: Yeah, you read correctly: This book won the first Hugo award in 1953! If that's not enough already to make you want to read it, try this on for size: This book is about as unique as you can get. Bester talks about telepathy, and everyone's "pattern" mixing. The way Bester uses the page to give visual aid is really neat. He uses some of the same techniques in a few of his other books, like "The Stars My Destination." This was the first Bester book that I read, and since then have gone on to read pretty much everything else he's written. It's all really awesome, and is very original! It's easy to see where everyone else has jacked Bester's ideas. If you're into sci-fi (or not, doesn't matter!), you NEED to read Bester's works! Start with this one!
Rating:
Summary: Read This Book Now!!
Review: The first copy of this book i read had no cover and had a couple of pages loose. It was from the local library in Lagos, Nigeria. I loved every second of it. The sheer inventiveness of the story, and also the suspense you felt as you followed both protagonist and antagonist to the very beautiful finish, justified my buying the book from the library...and yes i did pay the price of an undamaged copy. Read the book and make yourself happy.
Rating:
Summary: If you read one Bester story...
Review: Picked up this book by chance at a book store and was rewarded! If you only read one Alfred Bester book, this would be the one to choose. Though the bood is a bit "dated" that seems only to work in its favor (sort of a "if Dashiell Hammett wrote sci-fi in the 50's" vibe.) Check it out (also recommend "Psychoshop" and "The Stars My Destination.")
Rating:
Summary: Original, creative, and groundbreaking...
Review: ... isn't that what good sci fi is all about?? "The Demolished Man" broke new ground in it's description of telepathic abilities and describes them in some unique ways. Of course, fans of Babylon 5 will recognize the influence this book had on that show's Psi Corps. The book is a quick, fun, and an engaging read. It creates a telepathic universe that the reader never gets bored with exploring. A must read for any fans of the sci fi genre!
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