Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Penguin Books Ltd (1973), Paperback, 208 pages
Description
"Francis Saxover and Diana Brackley, two biochemists investigating a rare lichen, separately discover that it has a remarkable property: It slows the aging process almost to a halt. Francis, realizing the horrifying implications of an ever-youthful wealthy elite, decides to keep his findings a secret. But the younger and more daring Diana sees an opportunity to overturn the male status quo and free women from the career-versus-children binary--in short, a chance to remake the world"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member sanddancer
Sci-fi is just not my sort of thing, but I love John Wyndham and am gradually working my way through his books. In this one, Diana, a bright, beautiful but unconventional bio-chemist accidently discovers that a lichen possess the powers to slow the aging process. Her boss and mentor has also
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discovered this secret, but while he doesn't quite know what to do with it, Diana puts into place a masterplan that she hopes will change society forever. The book was published in 1960, so some of the dialogue and the attitudes expressed by some characters about a woman's role seem a bit dated, but, as with his other books, the big ideas about the implications of science of still relevant today. The book poses the question of what would happen if people lived longer - although we aren't reaching 200 years old, recent medical advances mean that an aging population in a very real issue in our society today and the other issue of women's limited years of fertility has also become more of an issue in recent years as woman have careers and delay becoming parents. Many other reviewers have said that it isn't his best work, and whilst it isn't a classic like Day of the Triffids or The Chrysalids, I still thought it was thought-provoking and a good story too. Show Less
LibraryThing member comixminx
A perennial favourite re-read. On this time round, particularly liked how Wyndham sneaks a lot of feminism into it.
The questions that Wyndham raises about how this discovery would change the world are very of its time, of course. Questions that I would expect a contemporary version of this to raise
The questions that Wyndham raises about how this discovery would change the world are very of its time, of course. Questions that I would expect a contemporary version of this to raise
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would include: more about the international dimension (not just what would Russia and China do to ensure their share of the wonderdrug, but also what impact would it have on developing nations), more about the possible impact on the wider environment (what if the anti-g effect also leaked into the lifecycle of pests or other animals generally?), to name only two. Show Less
LibraryThing member penwing
I whizzed through this book in a day.
Other reviewers have mentioned that it is irrelevant to today but I disagree. Management of desire to commercial or political ends is still very much in fashion - look at the annual Christmas must-have toy. Management of scarce natural resources in terms of
So, relevant and thoroughly enjoyable!
Other reviewers have mentioned that it is irrelevant to today but I disagree. Management of desire to commercial or political ends is still very much in fashion - look at the annual Christmas must-have toy. Management of scarce natural resources in terms of
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both fulfilling short term desires and longer term as a result of our aging and growing population is still a somewhat important topic - look at pensions, look at the work needing to be done to improve crop yeilds. And the correct way of dealing with medical and scientific advances - look at badscience.net and tell me that's not still an important issue.So, relevant and thoroughly enjoyable!
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LibraryThing member bragan
In this short novel from 1960, two scientists discover a species of lichen with the ability to drastically slow human aging.
There follows a lot of debate and speculation about what longer lifespans might or might not do to human society, which is kind of interesting even if I'm dubious about most
But despite those positive points, the main thing I have to say about this novel is that it really, really hasn't aged well. (Uh, no pun intended.) The main character, you see, is a female scientist, and both she and the author take as a central theme the question of what longer lifespans might do to improve the lot of women. But, hoo boy, what may have seemed progressive in 1960 just feels painfully sexist now, in a way that makes it kind of hard to read. I mean, I really, really, really didn't need to read a solid thirty pages of opening material in which every I get to hear every single sexist thing ever said about women in STEM fields, up to and including a serious discussion of the merits of only hiring plain-looking women so they don't disrupt the menfolk with their temping sexy ways.
Yes, the main character gets to push back against these attitudes with a few mildly snarky lines, but that seems like pretty anemic stuff to me, and she turns out to have some rather sexist attitudes herself, and doesn't, in the end, remotely escape being something of a stereotype in her own right. Worse still, this supposed cause of improving the lot of women is pursued by performing life-changing medical procedures on women without their knowledge, understanding, or consent, and that's considered just hunky-dorky, in exactly the way that the then-common practice of not telling terminally ill women their diagnoses was. Which is, as it happens, something that's explicitly endorsed here.
All of which is very unpleasant in ways that, for me, really overshadowed the light, humorous stuff. Indeed, it's perhaps made more unpleasant by the light and humorous tone of the light and humorous stuff.
And because I know that a response like this to a book almost inevitably provokes someone, somewhere, into an irresistible impulse to mansplain about how novels are products of their times, I'll add that, yeah, I understand perfectly well that novels are products of their times. But sometimes that's exactly the problem. In a lot of highly relevant ways, this particular time sucked. I didn't have a fun time visiting it -- seriously, you sit through thirty pages of characters telling you people like you don't belong in your job, even if the author does make some vague gestures towards disagreeing with them, and see how you feel about it -- and it no longer works as social commentary because, thank goodness, society is very different now.
Honestly, it's interesting now mainly as a look at how oppressively women were treated in 1960, even by people who were trying to be on their side. But a lesson in the history of sexism isn't exactly what I was hoping for when I opened the front cover.
There follows a lot of debate and speculation about what longer lifespans might or might not do to human society, which is kind of interesting even if I'm dubious about most
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of it, and even if it's ground that's been covered a lot in science fiction since. There's also some amusingly satirical humor in the reactions that various people and institutions have to the concept, as well as some apt skewering of the beauty industry.But despite those positive points, the main thing I have to say about this novel is that it really, really hasn't aged well. (Uh, no pun intended.) The main character, you see, is a female scientist, and both she and the author take as a central theme the question of what longer lifespans might do to improve the lot of women. But, hoo boy, what may have seemed progressive in 1960 just feels painfully sexist now, in a way that makes it kind of hard to read. I mean, I really, really, really didn't need to read a solid thirty pages of opening material in which every I get to hear every single sexist thing ever said about women in STEM fields, up to and including a serious discussion of the merits of only hiring plain-looking women so they don't disrupt the menfolk with their temping sexy ways.
Yes, the main character gets to push back against these attitudes with a few mildly snarky lines, but that seems like pretty anemic stuff to me, and she turns out to have some rather sexist attitudes herself, and doesn't, in the end, remotely escape being something of a stereotype in her own right. Worse still, this supposed cause of improving the lot of women is pursued by performing life-changing medical procedures on women without their knowledge, understanding, or consent, and that's considered just hunky-dorky, in exactly the way that the then-common practice of not telling terminally ill women their diagnoses was. Which is, as it happens, something that's explicitly endorsed here.
All of which is very unpleasant in ways that, for me, really overshadowed the light, humorous stuff. Indeed, it's perhaps made more unpleasant by the light and humorous tone of the light and humorous stuff.
And because I know that a response like this to a book almost inevitably provokes someone, somewhere, into an irresistible impulse to mansplain about how novels are products of their times, I'll add that, yeah, I understand perfectly well that novels are products of their times. But sometimes that's exactly the problem. In a lot of highly relevant ways, this particular time sucked. I didn't have a fun time visiting it -- seriously, you sit through thirty pages of characters telling you people like you don't belong in your job, even if the author does make some vague gestures towards disagreeing with them, and see how you feel about it -- and it no longer works as social commentary because, thank goodness, society is very different now.
Honestly, it's interesting now mainly as a look at how oppressively women were treated in 1960, even by people who were trying to be on their side. But a lesson in the history of sexism isn't exactly what I was hoping for when I opened the front cover.
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LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
I've read a lot of Wyndham now, and his books seem to be of a sort - semi-serious examinations of difficult philosophical or societal problems with a tongue set firmly in cheek. I prefer his 'The Day of The Triffids' which I felt was just serious enough; this is more like 'The Chrysalids' which is
You could say that 'Trouble With Lichen' is also one of Wyndham's more experimental pieces, as he starts the book with something of a retrospective of the main character, looking back almost from the end. Such a stylised form is unlike his other writing, and doesn't entirely work. However, once the story of a scientist's discovery of an anti-aging lichen gets underway, it is pretty interesting and offers a lot to think about.
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sad, dramatic and also occasionally 'funny' (the humour doesn't always age well).You could say that 'Trouble With Lichen' is also one of Wyndham's more experimental pieces, as he starts the book with something of a retrospective of the main character, looking back almost from the end. Such a stylised form is unlike his other writing, and doesn't entirely work. However, once the story of a scientist's discovery of an anti-aging lichen gets underway, it is pretty interesting and offers a lot to think about.
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LibraryThing member clong
This short novel was the last of a batch of Wyndham books I had picked up at one of the local used book stores. It felt like a book about an Idea, with a bit of satire, and fairly superficial characters. The ending left me feeling that, while Wyndham aspires to tell an enlighted tale that elevates
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women, he does so from such dated, sexist worldview that he falls well short of the mark. Show Less
LibraryThing member edwinbcn
It seemed a bit far-fetched to me to suggest that a saucer of milk could have "turned" during a thundery night, but that event is the starting point of the story, as both Francis Saxover and Diana Brackley, the two main characters in Trouble with lichen spot the part of the milk which hasn't
The story itself is not very interesting, but forms a nice vehicle to explore the unrelenting selfishness of people which could plunge society into chaos. The novel only explores the possibility and onset of that situation, without developing that theme. First published in 1960, the language seems a bit more outdated, while still characteristic of John Wyndham's other work. Altogether an interesting read.
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spoilt, and independently, make the link and discovery of the properties of a sample of lichen which caused the preservation of the milk. This leads to each of them developing a serum with anti-aging properties, which Francis applies to himself and his children, while Diana opens a spa and treats women with it. Both Francis and Diana, knowing that the lichen is in short supply, try to keep their find a secret. However, it becomes known after one of Diana's clients developed an allergy. The chaos that Francis and Diana had predicted really starts taking shape as evil and envy work their way into securing the recipe.The story itself is not very interesting, but forms a nice vehicle to explore the unrelenting selfishness of people which could plunge society into chaos. The novel only explores the possibility and onset of that situation, without developing that theme. First published in 1960, the language seems a bit more outdated, while still characteristic of John Wyndham's other work. Altogether an interesting read.
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LibraryThing member isabelx
To be anthropological about it: the present primary social role of western woman is as wife; her secondary status is as mother; in upper and middle classes her tertiary status is sometimes that of companion – in other classes companionship can come a long way down the list, and in most nonwestern
Written in 1960, this book aboutthe discovery of a method to extend life by 3 or 5 times is full of interesting ideas, for example that living for two or three hundred years would allow many more women to have fulfilling careers instead of being housewives, but would be extremely unpopular with the trade unions whose members would have to work for decades longer . Unfortunately, the plot is not as strong as the ideas and the main characters are both two-dimensional and not very likeable, so this is my least favourite of John Wyndham's novels.
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nations it scarcely rates at all.Written in 1960, this book about
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LibraryThing member RBeffa
Something of a feminist story (from 1960) wrapped around the effects of the discovery of an anti-aging compound (from a very rare lichen which gives us the title). There is some food for thought here, although much of the story is overly melodramatic and told in a very English style. So overall
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this gets a low OK rating. I wouldn't really recommend this. Show Less
LibraryThing member auntmarge64
I was lucky to find a copy of this available via ILL. It's a shorty, just 160 pages, vintage Wyndham, very light (not even really) SF set in his contemporary England of mid-20th c. (first published in 1960). As always Wyndham is enjoyable, with plots concerning the Brits trying to make sense of and
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coping with some new unexpected event. Usually it's an alien invasion of some kind, but in this case it's the social implications of a scientific discovery guaranteed to change human history forever. Show Less
LibraryThing member anamuk
It's a short book, that these days would probably be filed in the Authors A-Z section of the bookshop rather than SF. There is science, of the mundane kind which mirrors the discovery of penicillin, only instead of an anti-biotic an antigerone is found.
The plot concerns the 2 scientists dealing
Lichen is also a look at the women's movement, from suffragettes to the modern day (when it was written, some of the concerns it raises have been addressed, some haven't).If you like classic british SF then this is worth a look, if you like the class comedies of Woodehouse et al then its worth a look too.
The plot concerns the 2 scientists dealing
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with what they forsee will happen when news gets out & how they handle the revalation. It's also a class based comedy,with a fair sprinkling of laughs, though some parts are now fairly outdated, others aren't.Lichen is also a look at the women's movement, from suffragettes to the modern day (when it was written, some of the concerns it raises have been addressed, some haven't).If you like classic british SF then this is worth a look, if you like the class comedies of Woodehouse et al then its worth a look too.
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LibraryThing member ChrisRiesbeck
What would you do if you discovered a drug that could triple the average human lifetime -- but because of the scarcity of the source, only enough for a few thousand people? If you're the English male and female scientists in this short novel by Wyndham, you mostly talk about what to do, and,
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eventually, figure something out. Wyndham is too intelligent and too good a writer not to make this a readable play but that's really all it is, with some gentle ribbing of the English, but nothing particularly ground-breaking. I love the cover by Richard Powers for the Ballantine paperback, which is not in his more typical abstract shapes in the mist style. Show Less
LibraryThing member ropie
The trouble with Trouble with Lichen is that it is, like lichen, pretty flat. Carefully written but incredibly stuffy in its prose ("Oh daddy, darling, do go and make yourself a pot of tea..") and lacking in conviction. The plot involved journalists, terrorists, scientists, beauticians and
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housewives but never really got moving beyond what was reported in the press of the day. An interesting (if now clichéd) idea and credible postulation on how this kind of thing might begin but really just a short story stretched out over 200 pages. Show Less
LibraryThing member soraxtm
passed the time.
not sure what this really meant. I wonder if there is some political statement i don't get.
It didn't seem like people would act that why but what do i know.
not sure what this really meant. I wonder if there is some political statement i don't get.
It didn't seem like people would act that why but what do i know.
LibraryThing member jimll
I'd not heard of this John Wyndham work until one of my work colleagues lent me a copy of it. The storyline is one covering aging, feminism, scientific responsibility and social upheaval. The two scientists at the core of the story make a chance discovery of a rare Chinese lichen that appears to
The story looks at how these two scientists both decide that they can't simply publish the results, how they hide it for a number of years and then how news of it eventually leaks out. Once in the public realm it becomes a topic of public policy, class war and female empowerment discussions. But there's a twist thanks to the rarity of the source lichen...
Its a good solid John Wyndham story with an easy to follow storyline. The characters appear a little stilted at times, but that's probably a result of seeing a possible future through mid-to-upper class voices from the 1950s & 60s.
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slow down metabolic aging. Initially it just stops milk turning and it is viewed as a possible antibotic, but the two scientists then independently determine its real effects.The story looks at how these two scientists both decide that they can't simply publish the results, how they hide it for a number of years and then how news of it eventually leaks out. Once in the public realm it becomes a topic of public policy, class war and female empowerment discussions. But there's a twist thanks to the rarity of the source lichen...
Its a good solid John Wyndham story with an easy to follow storyline. The characters appear a little stilted at times, but that's probably a result of seeing a possible future through mid-to-upper class voices from the 1950s & 60s.
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LibraryThing member ikeman100
I'm slowly getting a picture of the Wyndham style of writing. He certainly can write but his books come across as very English and very pre-WWII. They were written for the authors time and in the style of the time. This can be quite pleasant. This book is full of early 20 century tradition and
I guess I am not a fan of his novels. I really prefer his many short stories which were published in the American pulps. Many were published under the name of John Beynon and were very good.
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English social values. But this style can also drag down what could be an interesting story. I guess I am not a fan of his novels. I really prefer his many short stories which were published in the American pulps. Many were published under the name of John Beynon and were very good.
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LibraryThing member AHS-Wolfy
Classic science fiction where an accidental discovery may have profound effects on society. When a scientist identifies an antigerone which could extend life well past 200 or even 300 years he decides to not release details to the wider world foreseeing nothing but trouble due to the limited
This is definitely a progressive novel for the time, promoting the role of women in society and this, rather than focus on societal consequences of extended life, is the main focus of the novel. It didn’t quite live up to the previous Wyndham’s I’ve read but it was still an enjoyable and quick-paced read.
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supply. Meanwhile the assistant who was with him at the time sets out on her own path and implements a different strategy when it becomes clear that her previous employer is doing nothing about his discovery.This is definitely a progressive novel for the time, promoting the role of women in society and this, rather than focus on societal consequences of extended life, is the main focus of the novel. It didn’t quite live up to the previous Wyndham’s I’ve read but it was still an enjoyable and quick-paced read.
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LibraryThing member CraigGoodwin
One of the most captivating openings of any book I have ever read. A beautiful story, told in dazzling prose. Diana is a brilliant leading lady. I slowed down towards the end because I didn't want it to finish.
LibraryThing member john257hopper
Not one of Wyndham's better known works, but this is a little gem, with some interesting things to say about scientific discoveries, their popularisation in the media and people's desire for medical "miracles" that turn out to have a darker side. The antagonism between the men and women's positions
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on the "miracle" seems simplistic and unconvincing at least in modern terms, but probably acceptable to an original reader at the end of the 1950s. Well worth reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
You can live to be three hundred years old! all you have to do is administer a treatment of a biological treatment. Now, the men who do this regard it as a way of retaining power. The women, on the other hand, see it as a way of finally breaking the bonds created by a culture which has not yet
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found safe contraception. This is the funniest of Wyndham's books Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1960
Physical description
204 p.; 17.4 cm
ISBN
0140019863 / 9780140019865
Local notes
Omslag: Peter Lord
Omslaget viser en kvinde i kirurgisk grønt tøj og med en sært udseende injektionssprøjte
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Omslaget viser en kvinde i kirurgisk grønt tøj og med en sært udseende injektionssprøjte
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
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Pages
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