Halo
New Member
I was unfamiliar with Ira Levin’s name before searching out this novel on Amazon, though perhaps I shouldn’t have been, as apparently he also wrote Rosemary’s Baby and A Kiss Before Dying.
This Perfect Day is a compelling dystopian novel, in the tradition of 1984 (a novel which I would say had more than a little influence on this one). In This Perfect Day, the whole world has been “Unified”, that is, everything is controlled by a computer, Uni. The world has been founded on the wisdom of four people – Christ, Marx, Wood and Wei. Everyone has one of four first names for the men, and four names for the women – letters and numbers make up the rest of their “namebers”. Monthly “treatments”, i.e. a cocktail of drugs, keep the populace docile and contented, and stop them thinking individually. Chillingly, genetic engineering over the years has made everyone almost identical in appearance; their skin colour, height etc is almost uniform and they are not individuals, but a part of the “Family” that is Earth’s population. Everything is decided for the citizens, including the job they do, where they live, who they marry, and whether they have children or not.
Of course, there are always those who question how things are, and this is where the hero of the novel, Chip, comes in. Influenced at an early age by his unconventional grandfather (who gave him the nickname Chip), he begins to fight against the system. The novel follows Chip through his life, from his first minor rebellions to the life-changing decisions he makes.
Chip’s struggle to be an individual in such a tightly controlled world makes for compelling reading. Levin’s writing style is very straightforward and almost dispassionate, but I think this is deliberate to reflect Chip’s emotionless world. Anyway, it works well and pulls the reader into Chip’s world from the very beginning. 1984 was an obvious major influence on this novel, but towards the end I could also see aspects of “The Prisoner” (the influential ‘60s TV programme) in the plot.
For a “futuristic” novel written in 1970, this has aged very well. The concepts of super-computers, scanners and genetic modification must have seemed far in the future when this was written, but all these are relevant today. Concepts only jar and show the novel’s age occasionally, the worst instance being a reference to someone receiving an artificial heart in 1991, but apart from these few instances, This Perfect Day could have been written this year.
I would recommend this novel unreservedly to fans of dystopian fiction. Unfortunately, this novel seems to be out of print from what I could gather, but it’s well worth seeking out a second-hand copy. Has anyone else read this book?
This Perfect Day is a compelling dystopian novel, in the tradition of 1984 (a novel which I would say had more than a little influence on this one). In This Perfect Day, the whole world has been “Unified”, that is, everything is controlled by a computer, Uni. The world has been founded on the wisdom of four people – Christ, Marx, Wood and Wei. Everyone has one of four first names for the men, and four names for the women – letters and numbers make up the rest of their “namebers”. Monthly “treatments”, i.e. a cocktail of drugs, keep the populace docile and contented, and stop them thinking individually. Chillingly, genetic engineering over the years has made everyone almost identical in appearance; their skin colour, height etc is almost uniform and they are not individuals, but a part of the “Family” that is Earth’s population. Everything is decided for the citizens, including the job they do, where they live, who they marry, and whether they have children or not.
Of course, there are always those who question how things are, and this is where the hero of the novel, Chip, comes in. Influenced at an early age by his unconventional grandfather (who gave him the nickname Chip), he begins to fight against the system. The novel follows Chip through his life, from his first minor rebellions to the life-changing decisions he makes.
Chip’s struggle to be an individual in such a tightly controlled world makes for compelling reading. Levin’s writing style is very straightforward and almost dispassionate, but I think this is deliberate to reflect Chip’s emotionless world. Anyway, it works well and pulls the reader into Chip’s world from the very beginning. 1984 was an obvious major influence on this novel, but towards the end I could also see aspects of “The Prisoner” (the influential ‘60s TV programme) in the plot.
For a “futuristic” novel written in 1970, this has aged very well. The concepts of super-computers, scanners and genetic modification must have seemed far in the future when this was written, but all these are relevant today. Concepts only jar and show the novel’s age occasionally, the worst instance being a reference to someone receiving an artificial heart in 1991, but apart from these few instances, This Perfect Day could have been written this year.
I would recommend this novel unreservedly to fans of dystopian fiction. Unfortunately, this novel seems to be out of print from what I could gather, but it’s well worth seeking out a second-hand copy. Has anyone else read this book?
Exactly! "Fight Uni!"
I've read about seven or eight of that list so far, and it is a genre I enjoy. Maybe I should read something else before my next dystopian novel though, or I might end up as depressed as Morrissey at an all-you-can-eat carvery.