First Contact Science Fiction Masterwork SILVERBERG's 'THE MAN IN THE MAZE'
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
- #robertsilverberg
The Outlaw Bookseller sings the praises of one of the key SF novels by Robert Silveberg, written in 1968 as the Grand Master was initiating the most creative, dazzling and groundbreaking phase of his monumental SF career. Encompassing two First Contact threads in a narrative that comprises everything you would expect of great Hollywood SF without skimping on literary merit, you must read this book...
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Surgically perceptive of you, how you point out Silverberg doesn't try to make every character instantly likable, but rather skillfully makes the reader identify with the character's growth/journey. It's exactly what draws me to him; and yet I didn't realize this till you brought it to the surface. He does this over and over again. Such a powerhouse of a writer: tremendous output, tremendous craft, and enjoyable prose. He never takes the easy way out. Thanks, Outlaw. Hope you're well.
You inspire me to read......
Thanks so much for this great tip. I adore Silverberg. I was a big PKD guy, and wondered why there weren't more that explored the line of cerebral exoticism that I found in books such as "Flow my tears the policeman said", or "Doctor blood money", etcetera. Thank God, there was another such creature-the Exotic and often erotic genius that is Robert Silverberg.
Thank you for your wonderful channel.
You're very kind. I love PKD and have done since 1977, but since his mainstream canonisation, this has allowed critics to ignore his wonderful contemporaries like Silvberg, Disch and Malzberg, Glad you're enjoying Outlaw Bookseller.
That's it, Silverberg is moving to the very top of my TBR.
Another recommendation you’ve got me hooked to find! Thank you!
Hmm, I'm getting 'hearts of darkness' vibes here..will definitely look out for this one. Thnx
An excellent breakdown of Silverberg and The Man in the Maze. I like the comparison with PKD. There are interesting similarities and differences, and even though I love PKD, there is something about Silverberg that attracts me more to his oeuvre. Whenever I open a Silverberg book I know I'm in the hands of a master, and that I will encounter the challenge of a deep wisdom about the human condition. You mention that all of the characters in The Man in the Maze are in their own labyrinths. I would add that the reader is also in a maze as he/she reads it. It is a wonderful reading journey and experience.
This was the first Silverberg I read. Most enjoyable and more complex than I expected.
It seems at first the story will revolve around the alien maze: who built it and why? How does it work? etc. But the real mazes are the psychological ones traversed by the three main characters as they pursue their disparite and shifting goals. I particularly liked Boardman, who has some of the characteristics of a villain but then also prefers reason over violence (if possible) and is actually the one who's trying to save humanity.
Thanks for recommending!
Yes, Boardman is beautifully drawn-classic example of Silverberg's facility with wealthy and powerful characters which is far more nuanced than in most fiction.
I really loved this book. Over the past year I’ve been reading and collecting as many of his works as I can. There hasn’t been one work that I haven’t liked, but this one was definitely one of my favorites. As a side note. His short story collections are a good place to get the feel for his writing. Finished Needle in a Timestack recently and was really impressed
Yes, he has equal facility with shorts. Brilliant writer, especially in the 67-76 period and there is some great stuff beforehand too.
Sounds like one I'd really enjoy, great video as always!
I've been a Silverberg fan for as long as I've been a science fiction reader. I knew of him for years before I read him as my grandparents owned a used bookstore with a very extensive science fiction section and his name came up a lot. At any time they had most of his books in stock. He was a big seller. I think the first of his books I read was Nightwings. I've read too many of his books to list here. I found him to be a very reliable writer with tremendous creative muscle. He experimented with prose styles but never let style get in the way of the story. Son of Man, Book of Skulls, Tower of Glass, and Shadrach in the Furnace all used unconventional styles and they worked very well. He never rested on his laurels. He was not a lazy writer. I'm not just referring to his tremendous work ethic, but his ability to follow through and write a satisfying and unexpected ending. The man has a tremendous intellect and storytelling skill. A wonderful combination.
Yes, he is so reliably great, wise and measured.
I read Man in the Maze recently and enjoyed it very much.
Whenever I finish reading a frustrating book by a lesser author, I come back to Silverberg for clarity of vision.
Totally agree, same here- the clarity of vision, the sophistication.
Good God, OB, why you aren't a well-known critic across the spectrum of fiction literature is beyond me. You're a natural, and your expertise and knowledge of the subject genre (including SF and Science Fiction Fantasy) qualifies you as one of the most eminent reviewers of the present day. I lament the mainstream is unaware of what you bring to the discussion. It's a bloody travesty. Shameless patronage aside, I'm beginning to suspect you have a greater affinity for Silverberg than you do PKD! Not sure if that's possible? I really enjoyed this episode, I was made aware of aspects of Silverberg I had not known about until now. It really puts the author into perspective above and beyond the norm. Can't thank you enough. Great content, quality, production and especially presentation as always! Cheers.
You're very, very kind Rick. Well, I did have my brief moment of infamy when on BBC Radio 4 Open Book once back in 2008, but the mainstream really isn't interested in SF until someone from their side of the fence reworks an ancient trope at which point is somehow becomes 'literary'. 'Twas ever thus. I think I do more Silverberg here because as I said, I came to a lot of his work later than I did many other modern classic SF writers with the exception of a few books read early on- like 'Maze', 'A Time of Changes', 'Tower of Glass'.....I love PKD and had read everything by the mid 80s and was then in the process of hoovering up the mainstream novels as they were issued. I will be doing more on DIck, but I'm not so interested in the mystical side, more in the elements of his work more concerned with subjectivity and objectivity -plus loads of people cover him anyway. I think he's overexposed in the canon of Modern American SF when compared to Silverberg, Disch and Malzberg (among others) so I put more focus on them instead. Regards as ever!
Hi Steve, I hope you are keeping well. I loved this video. It made me want to read the book again. Even though I had only read it for the first time about a year ago. On GR I wrote
"A strange and beguiling novel exploring the essence of alienness and alienation through the tale of a cynical embittered hero living in self-exile in the middle of a deadly ancient alien maze. Musings on morality and humanity dominate this seemingly straightforward narrative whose plot is a mere vehicle to the author’s contemplation on life, the universe and nearly everything in between. No easy answers or pat endings here. Impressive and insightful."
I need to check whether that was a (sort of) accurate assessment. In any case, thanks for making me want to read it again.
Gonna watch after work with a beer 🖖
The only Silverberg I have read is The Stochastic Man. Really enjoyed it. Will look out for this one as well.
For Audible subscribers in the US it’s available for free. It’s a good production read by Stefan Rudnicki.
There was a thing back then in the 50s where strange stuff was happening with all the really brilliant people of that era. Jack Parsons the father of rocketry would go out into the desert and do rituals with L. Ron Hubbard and many others and Jack Parsons said in these rituals is where he 'downloaded' the mathematical equations needed to be able to leave Earth. The really strange thing is that his opposite, a Russian called Sergei Korolev also 'downloaded' these equations and he said he believed angels where communicating with him, he put it down to angels...
I'm very familiar with Korolev's history and the whole Crowley/Parsons/Hubbrad connections- I strongly recommend Jake Arnott's amazing novel 'The House of Rumour' if you are interested in these people, amazing book.
Love your recs ! ❤modern stuff is just not written the same so i really appreciate someone having this knowledge and shareing it on the platform!
Yeah, and 'second level' Silverberg would wipe the floor of contemporary bloated SF! 😋
Watching your channel is becoming expensive as I keep buying the books on it. I must stop and read some of them 🤣
You should see my TBR, it's absurd!
Great book. Like you said, one finishes it and is left with the feeling, 'I need to read this again and know more' - always a good thing. The great psychotherapist and writer Irvin Yalom wrote an interesting observation about MITM in his book 'Momma and the Meaning of Life', about how people suffused with grief, loss and depression can exude an energy similar to the character in the novel. Unfortunately though he attributes the book to PKD (facepalm). Great book as well though.
I always love the Silverberg videos. One of my favorite authors.
At some point I’d love to hear your thoughts on The World Inside. Not much discussion on TH-cam about that one, and it seems like it’s become more popular in recent years.
Thanks for all of your great videos! This is the best kind of content you can find on YT in my opinion.
I have Spoken about 'The World Inside' in one of the videos, at some length, as I re-read it after many years after discussing it with Matt at Bookpilled, though I cannot for the life of me think which video it was- but it may be one in the Silverberg playlist, so I'll try and get back to you on this.
Thank you so much!
I will do my homework and look through some of your older videos.
As always, I appreciate the response. It means a lot!
You make the book sound really interesting! I don't read a huge amount, and rarely any book more than once, but I think I have read The Man in The Maze twice - once when a teenager, the other time about 10-15 years ago - and after watching this video I am tempted to go for a third reading. Memory is hazy but I do remember enjoying it both times.
Strangely, I have also read another book twice that has the word 'Maze' in the title - A Maze of Death by Philip K Dick. Maybe I just like books about mazes. But probably not!
Really want to read more silverburg. As he was so prolific, can you read any of his SF books - i.e. did he ever write 'bad' SF books that should be avoided? Or if i see his name on a book is that just synonymous with quality?
Yes, he wrote a LOT of hackwork in all sorts of genres in his early days- SF, Crime, Softcore- but there are some good early books. There is a Silverberg playlist on the channel and one video where I cover some of the best early ones and there will be another video about more of these worthy early works. Only his very earliest SF is poor and most of that is long out of print.
I really should read more Silverberg but his biblography is a bit daunting. I've only read Nightwings recently but where to go from there ?
Yes, he's produced a massive amount. 'Nightwings' is very highly regarded, but I've never been a massive fan of it, though I'm planning a re-read- it has a very Fantasy feel to it. I'd say go chronologically, trying some of the early stuff like 'Master of Life and Death' and 'Invaders From Earth'. Then move forward to the late 60s/early 70s and the early masterpieces -'Man in the Maze', 'Tower of Glass', then onto my Big Four: 'A Time of Changes', 'Downward to the Earth' and finish up with 'The Book of Skulls' and 'Dying Inside'. After his four year retirement, he was never quite the same- great, but not so emotionally invested, I feel. But there are many, many more good novels and collections.
Finally got around to reading this and remembered you reviewed it. Think you did a great job summarizing the excellent points of it and how its a great example of genre SF. Unfortunately, you didn't touch on how its also a wonderful example of the worst of genre SF in how it treats women as mindless sexbots who seem to serve very little other purpose to humanity. Its pretty much epitome of why people mocked SF for so long, but also why people love it.
People often talk about Silverberg's treatment of women these days- and I think you have a point with this book, the main female character is present really to show how the protagonist is affected by the aliens' treatment of him - her revulsion at his psychic aura when he returns to Earth. However, in his work as a whole, I'd say Silverberg is focusing on the psyches of male characters and I don't think that's a problem myself if an author decides to work that way- his women aren't always unsympathetic, though they are sometimes one dimensional, except in later work. I just think he's very hinest about men and sex, sometimes. By the time the novel was written, LeGuin and Russ were active and Moore, Merrill and others had been showing the female perspective in Genre SF for a long time.
Yes, a fine novel and one so packed with ideas that a lesser writer would have decided they needed a trilogy of 400 page books.
One complaint, please, please stop using the Radiophonic Worksop sound effects, they detract from the wit and wisdom of your words, which is what most come to hear.
Very kind, James.
What a delightful surprise on a Saturday morning ! Bob silverberg ! He may still be my favourite SF writer . For me he ticks all the boxes so readable yet extremely eloquent in his story telling just fantastic. Lovely hardback edition of among strangers , I still have not got to Tom o bedlam it’s been on a pile of must reads for ages ,I will get to it soon . You can never do to much on silverberg or PKD as far as I’m concerned. 👍🏻🫡