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A review of Player Piano

by Kurt Vonnegut

A chilling tale of a future run by machines

Reviewed by: Alan McClymont
About Alan McClymont

Player Piano Can you imagine a world where World War Three and the second industrial revolution have already passed? Where almost all manufacturing tasks are done by computer? And where your job is assessed on the basis of whether a human is needed to complete it? A society where those who have no skills are forced into the army or to perform crushingly mundane tasks and the top scientists and technocrats run society?

Some would say that a world like this is almost upon us but if you can't imagine it, Kurt Vonnegut can. As always Vonnegut imagines a future world which is both terrifying and realistic and as usual he is right more often than not. Player Piano was Vonnegut's first novel, written in 1952, and it has proved the test of time both in written style and prophetic ability.

Dr. Paul Proteus is the most influential man in Ilium, New York. He is the manager of the Ilium manufacturing works and he is only 35. It is widely believed that he will rise to the same heights as his father did to become the nations National Industrial, Commercial, Communications, Foodstuffs and Resources director (a position matched only by the presidency). Dr. Paul Proteus is also very, very disillusioned and almost boiling over with rebellion.

There are many within Proteus's society who feel exactly the same as he does. Those without opportunity remember when most of them had meaningful jobs and when they could expect to be promoted if they worked well. Paul and his colleagues work at improving technology and as it improves it slowly replaces each of their jobs with a new computer program. The stage is set for Edward Finnerty, an old colleague but one who is very much not part of the system any more and the explosion is set to happen.

Vonnegut is often described as one of the best sci-fi writers of all time and I agree. I also think though that he is probably one of the scariest writers that I have ever come across. His ideas about the future are not make believe. He often says in his books, as he does here, that he believes that this is one of the paths that the human race could take at the time of writing. Whether you like to hear about the gloom and doom facing the world or not you should read this. It's a fantastically well written story with a well judged sprinkling of humor and a large a mount of prophecy which seems to become truer as every year passes.

Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: Player Piano

Copyright © by Alan McClymont, 2003

Reviewed by Alan McClymont :
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-- The Rape of Nanking - by Iris Chang
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-- Player Piano - by Kurt Vonnegut
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