Mockingbird by Walter Tevis (1980)
Deep: Thought provoking
Book cover blurb
In a dying world where humans are drugged and lulled by electronic bliss, where there is no art, no literature, and there are no children, where some would rather burn themselves alive than endure, Spofforth is the most perfect machine ever created. But his only desire is the impossible - to cease to be. Yet there is hope in this bleak, depressing time, hope in the passion and joy that a man and a woman discover in love and in books, hope for the future, hope even for Spofforth.
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My Review
Ok, this is my second read of this book, my first being so far back I could only remember a few key elements of the story. But I can still vividly remember the profound effect Mockingbird had on me at the time. It really did rock my imagination.
Fast forward to present-day-me and I have to admit I wasn't as affected this time around. But, of course, I'm a lot older and mentally mature now, I'm also a lot more experienced and well-read. I'm also more critical in my reading because of those factors. I would actually go so far as to say I kind of miss the naivete of being a young reader.
But, this time around, I still found this book very affecting. From the suicidal nature of a robot suffering depression and him slowly killing off all of humanity, by inaction, in order to facilitate his own longed-for demise, to the fact that exorcising what is considered the bad in humanity would simultaneously extinguish an equal amount of good. The slow development in this story will make you think, a lot. A definite timeless classic.
My copy of this novel
Gollancz paperback edition.
Published in 2007
278 pages