Norman Spinrad

The Men in the Jungle

         I am well aware that my father and I have vastly different tastes in literature, but when my dad throws books in my direction, I will read them.  Every now and then he provides me with a shiny gem, other times I’m left scratching my head and wondering what sort of drug-induced fugue spawned whatever bizarrity (yes, I just made that word up) I just read.  I’ve marinated on this one long enough that I’m not even sure anymore which category this one fits into. 

            This book follows the stumbling exploits of three truly unlikable characters.  Fleeing from a botched revolution, they find themselves on what they hoped was a sparsely populated but habitable planet, they instead find a planet run by what can best be described as religious zealots.  Maybe I should have read this book as a commentary on the evils on religion, instead of this bizarre tale about a cannibalistic society (which is why I let this marinate for so long, I needed to reflect on what, exactly, this book was trying to tell me).  This society is centered around a group of “gods” that have scaffolded everybody else into different factions to help this society function.  One of those factions is a group of people whose sole purpose was to be food…and then there was a group tasked with tending said food.  They’re even spoken about like they’re farmers and livestock.  The members of this society believe it so deeply because it’s been indoctrinated since the dawn of (their) time, and they’ve lost all ability to think critically.  Come to think of it, this is definitely a commentary on religion.  Now that I’ve reflected more, I have decided this book is exceptionally clever and well thought out. 

            Eventually, the bad cannibals are overthrown, and all seems well with the world, but it took a lot of mind-altering substances to get there.  The three main characters all seem to battle each other throughout the entire book, but again, it all turned out ok in the end (if only we could say the same for those currently in the throes of their own indoctrination).  It’s an interesting, yet truly bizarre story, but it becomes something completely different if you view it as a sort of social commentary. 

            So, there you have it, what I had originally decided to be a bizarre mess, after much critical thinking and reflection, is indeed one of those rare shiny gems.  Well done, Dad.

Kristen Claiborn

         I am well aware that my father and I have vastly different tastes in literature, but when my dad throws books in my direction, I will read them.  Every now and then he provides me with a shiny gem, other times I’m left scratching my head and wondering what sort of drug-induced fugue spawned whatever bizarrity (yes, I just made that word up) I just read.  I’ve marinated on this one long enough that I’m not even sure anymore which category this one fits into. 

            This book follows the stumbling exploits of three truly unlikable characters.  Fleeing from a botched revolution, they find themselves on what they hoped was a sparsely populated but habitable planet, they instead find a planet run by what can best be described as religious zealots.  Maybe I should have read this book as a commentary on the evils on religion, instead of this bizarre tale about a cannibalistic society (which is why I let this marinate for so long, I needed to reflect on what, exactly, this book was trying to tell me).  This society is centered around a group of “gods” that have scaffolded everybody else into different factions to help this society function.  One of those factions is a group of people whose sole purpose was to be food…and then there was a group tasked with tending said food.  They’re even spoken about like they’re farmers and livestock.  The members of this society believe it so deeply because it’s been indoctrinated since the dawn of (their) time, and they’ve lost all ability to think critically.  Come to think of it, this is definitely a commentary on religion.  Now that I’ve reflected more, I have decided this book is exceptionally clever and well thought out. 

            Eventually, the bad cannibals are overthrown, and all seems well with the world, but it took a lot of mind-altering substances to get there.  The three main characters all seem to battle each other throughout the entire book, but again, it all turned out ok in the end (if only we could say the same for those currently in the throes of their own indoctrination).  It’s an interesting, yet truly bizarre story, but it becomes something completely different if you view it as a sort of social commentary. 

            So, there you have it, what I had originally decided to be a bizarre mess, after much critical thinking and reflection, is indeed one of those rare shiny gems.  Well done, Dad.

The Men in the Jungle

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