Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as The Trailer!
Review: Ever see a trailer for a movie ,see the film and wish it were more like the trailer. This is one of those. The blurb on the above paperback really grabbed me, so i bought the book. The book is pretty good but it IS weird .The whole thing is mainly epistolic( told in the form of letters or in this case diary entries )and breaks down the middle section when he is in a state of syphilitic dementia.In fact, it so completely captured his rambling dementia that I basically had skip over that part. On balance though, I liked it ;the ending redeemed the craziness and in fact expalined it.
Rating: 
Summary: Journal of a genius in a man-made hell
Review: Few novels have portrayed genius convincingly, let alone in the genius's own words, but "Camp Concentration" manages both. The fictional journal of a brilliant and tormented poet, it brims with larger-than-life characters, big ideas, darkly comic incident and wry observation. The result isn't just superb science fiction, it's also great literature. "Camp Concentration" stands with other classics--Daniel Keyes' "Flowers For Algernon", Walter M Miller's "A Canticle For Liebowitz" and Theodore Sturgeon's "More Than Human"--in using science fiction to tell us profound truths about ourselves. So what's the story? It's the 1970s and the US is fighting a land war in Asia.
Rating:
Summary: A decent read from a little known author.
Review: Hard core sci-fi fans will be disappointed with this seldom seen title, but it has some merit. Depsite being billed as science fiction, this book is more of a dramatic mystery with some sci-fi elements thrown in. The story revolves around the thoughts and writings of a political prisoner, during a vaguely described 'alternate timeline' World War III. The subject of experiments in human intelligence boosting, the main character interacts with other prisoners in a similar predicament, with some intriguing results. The author writes in a style which is more intelligent and introspective than most 'pulp' sci-fi novels, and may bring to mind Orwell's _1984_ in it's approach. However, Disch does not offer any real deep themes to carry the plot, so it is ultimately entertaining at best. For a little something different, this novel is a short and enjoyable work, but don't expect too much of it
Rating:
Summary: Disch's Dystopia
Review: I am glad I accidentally found a used copy of this book and bought it. A lifetime sci-fi fan, I believe this novel belongs on the top 100 list of the greatest of all time, if not the top 50. The mind-numbing dystopia that Disch presents to the reader gets more convoluted and intense as the narrative goes on, with two fairly predictable twists and one final twist I'll wager you won't anticipate. But be warned, this is not a book for lightweights. There are tons of literary, cultural and religious references here, and they come at the reader fast and furious. I earnestly look forward to more Disch; Camp Concentration is surely the work of a genius!
Rating:
Summary: Disch's Dystopia
Review: I am glad I accidentally found a used copy of this book and bought it. A lifetime sci-fi fan, I believe this novel belongs on the top 100 list of the greatest of all time, if not the top 50. The mind-numbing dystopia that Disch presents to the reader gets more convoluted and intense as the narrative goes on, with two fairly predictable twists and one final twist I'll wager you won't anticipate. But be warned, this is not a book for lightweights. There are tons of literary, cultural and religious references here, and they come at the reader fast and furious. I earnestly look forward to more Disch; Camp Concentration is surely the work of a genius!
Rating: 
Summary: flawed, inadequate, overrated
Review: I came to this book having read many glorifications of it; it's supposed to be one of the capital-L Literary works that saves science fiction's reputation from the gutter of genre hackwork. Given this endorsement, I was disappointed. The book starts well, with an interesting character in an intriguing situation, written in excellent prose. The prose remains consistent throughout, but the novel is unable to adequately explore let alone live up to its themes. The radical effects of boosted intelligence (this being the basis of the plot) are presented in eliptical form, so that, for instance, a revolutionary play is written but we never get to read a sample of its genius; a mind-transfer machine is built, with no information given about its theory or construction; and encyclopedic knowledge of alchemy is acquired, but we see only one unexplained mystical diagram and a vaguely-described "egg" (alchemical cauldron). The narrator, we later discover, has undergone the same intelligence boost as those he observes, but there is no sign of this in his prose style or his understanding of his situation. We have to take the author's word for this change, which is hardly sufficient given its importance. The greatest disappointment is the ending, in which, without warning or foreshadowing, it is revealed that the plot we have been following is a sham, which our super-intelligent narrator failed to divine. The angst of this camp of dying geniuses, and the constant theme of alchemy, these, which seemed to constitute the story leading to a cathartic synthesis, were a shadow-play. A story about the consequences of boosted intelligence becomes a pat escape thriller, and discards what was left of its promise. This overrated novel is perfectly adequate for an enjoyable, escapist read, provided you expect nothing more.
Rating:
Summary: Make my brains, please
Review: I consider this work to be one of the top 50 SF novels of all time. As good as it is, it's not that well-known. Penned by the under-rated Thomas M. Disch, it portrays the life of a conscientious objector who is given a drug that will boost his intelligence enormously, but also kill him very quickly. Shades of _Flowers for Algernon_! And maybe Nietzsche, too. Our experimental subject, a poet of sorts, isn't the only one subjected to this drug. There are others in the facility with him, all brilliant, all dying. This book, although very stylish, is not a particularly easy read. It is full of literary, cultural and religious allusions. It's very much work reading, though.
Rating:
Summary: Quirky and fascinating
Review: I had first heard of Thomas Disch during a special Amazing Stories magazine did on him several years ago. In it was a new story that he had written, which I read and found actually pretty good considering he was someone I had never heard of. After that, he slipped into the back of my mind for several years, and it was not until recently that I rediscovered him through his classic novel of military experimentation.
Disch idea to tell the story as the journal notes of someone who witnesses and then is given he disease is sheer brilliance. Louis is probably the most brutally honest, funniest character to ever grace the pages of a novel and he tells his story without holding anything back. As the reader, we see his situation get worse and worse. At the point where he realizes that he has the disease, I could feel dread surge through my body, too. The writing is that powerful.
Disch shows off his imaginative skills here, creating an environment where genius equals maddness, a true play on words of the novel's title. For such a small book, the plot is complex and riveting and I found myself unwilling to stop and go to my job just so I could finish.
A surprise is saved for the end, and while it's a tad on the fantastic side, it also makes perfect sense in the context of the book and wraps everything up nicely. David Pringle chose this as one of the hundred best science-fiction books of all time, and not only does it more than deserve to be on that list, it deserves to be as close to the top as possible
Rating:
Summary: Similar to _Flowers for Algernon_ and _Ratner's Star_
Review: I like to describe Disch's novel as a combination of _Flowersfor Algernon_ by Daniel Keyes and _Ratner's Star_ by Don Delillo--infact, it would be interesting to find out if one influenced the others. As others have mentioned, keep a dictionary handy if you're the type that likes to look up unfamiliar words as you read--there are quite a lot of them present throughout. _Camp Concentration_ can also function as a literary game of Trivial Pursuit. While interesting from a stylistic standpoint, I found _Camp Concentration_ too much work. Not that I don't want literature to engage me, mind you, it's just that introspective novels ought to have some sort of payoff which I'm afraid this work lacks. I AM willing to concede that it's quite possible that I simply don't have the intellect necessary to grasp all of it's permutations and perhaps you will, but I was somewhat stunned at what I got out of the book versus some of the stellar reviews posted here. Bottom line: Is this REALLY considered science fiction rather than plain ol' fiction? END
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting introduction
Review: I picked this one up without any previous knowledge of Disch's work. I was quite impressed with it. It has a very "12 Monkeys" feel to it (the insane asylum part of the movie anyway). I can also see a bit of Philip K. Dick in there somewhere as well. The ending throws you for a loop and made me look back through the pages I just read to see things in a new light. Impressive...
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