Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Panther (1975), Paperback, 205 pages
Description
Set in the distant future when the vast majority of human beings live on planets other than Earth, each new world with its own form of society, this novel examines the people of Borthan, ruled by a Covenant that teaches the self is to be despised. Everyone is forbidden to reveal innermost thoughts or feelings to another. The filthiest obscenities imaginable are the words "I" and "me." And Borthan has been this way for thousands of years. A few men dare to rebel against this repressive religion and pay with their lives for the heinous crime of selfbaring. But no one has ever represented a more dangerous threat to the Covenant than Kinnall Darival, a prince of the country of Salla.
User reviews
LibraryThing member port22
Borthan is a planet populated by people who refer themselves as "one" instead of "I". The self is despised as a weakness and one never reveals his innermost feelings and thoughts. "Self-baring" is a crime.
The book is about the story of Darival, written in first person, it tells how he encounters a
It is an absorbing read, but is the story of only one single person, it would've been an interesting mental project to develop it on a grander scale and work out how that puritanical society might evolve. Regardless, as a thought experiment this is an example of excellent science-fiction writing.
The book is about the story of Darival, written in first person, it tells how he encounters a
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way out of the imposed confines of the mind.It is an absorbing read, but is the story of only one single person, it would've been an interesting mental project to develop it on a grander scale and work out how that puritanical society might evolve. Regardless, as a thought experiment this is an example of excellent science-fiction writing.
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LibraryThing member Bookmarque
My first Silverberg. This isn’t science fiction proper, Silverberg only uses an alien planet to illustrate an extreme societal concept – that of denial of self. Given how we’ve gone through the ‘me decade’ and morphed into a ‘me society’, it’s challenging to grasp why a society
The main character tries to become a force of change in his society. Cast out of his role as 2nd son, he's never quite fit in anywhere, even in the heavily proscribed friendships assigned to him from birth. His whole life is uncomfortable to him and he's on the run a lot. Finally he ends up in a position of some power, but it is an illusion. Mentally and emotionally he is unstable, but has no outlet for his anguish. No wonder he turns to the drug that can psychically link him to another human. The disconected nature of his society has made him a beaten, desperate man. He longs for change, but has not the vision or the fortitude to be the catalyst and it is pretty sad to watch him spiral into failure and ignominy.
One thing that is sort of off-putting to me is the fact that supposedly we’ve got this future society with access to technology not using it at all (there are archaic references to ground machines, air machines and telephones still). It’s funny that a lot of future societies are set up as monarchies with agrarian civilizations and old-world politics and rules. I think it’s a two-fold symptom; the information age hadn’t yet occurred when this was written and Silverberg did not have the vision to see how society would change on a dime. Also, I think the agrarian, monarchical society is innately romantic and lends itself to extreme behavior much better than a republican or democratic society, so that’s why it works better as a vehicle for philosophy and symbology driven stories. It does ruin things for me in a sense though.
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would choose to mandate a dissolution of the individual. This has both benefits and detriments and Silverberg illustrates that pretty well.The main character tries to become a force of change in his society. Cast out of his role as 2nd son, he's never quite fit in anywhere, even in the heavily proscribed friendships assigned to him from birth. His whole life is uncomfortable to him and he's on the run a lot. Finally he ends up in a position of some power, but it is an illusion. Mentally and emotionally he is unstable, but has no outlet for his anguish. No wonder he turns to the drug that can psychically link him to another human. The disconected nature of his society has made him a beaten, desperate man. He longs for change, but has not the vision or the fortitude to be the catalyst and it is pretty sad to watch him spiral into failure and ignominy.
One thing that is sort of off-putting to me is the fact that supposedly we’ve got this future society with access to technology not using it at all (there are archaic references to ground machines, air machines and telephones still). It’s funny that a lot of future societies are set up as monarchies with agrarian civilizations and old-world politics and rules. I think it’s a two-fold symptom; the information age hadn’t yet occurred when this was written and Silverberg did not have the vision to see how society would change on a dime. Also, I think the agrarian, monarchical society is innately romantic and lends itself to extreme behavior much better than a republican or democratic society, so that’s why it works better as a vehicle for philosophy and symbology driven stories. It does ruin things for me in a sense though.
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LibraryThing member unapersson
This is a book set in a society where individuality is so forbidden that the word 'I' is considered a foul obscenity. A prince who has taken himself into exile after the ascension of his brother to the throne, and finds himself in contact with an Earth man who entices him towards the crime of self
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baring. There are rumours of a drug that can open people's minds completely to others and the Prince becomes determined to find it; and then perhaps open the minds of his society to another way of being. Great stuff. Show Less
LibraryThing member dbsovereign
A young prince in exile takes a drug that allows one to join one’s mind with another in a land where even saying “I” or “me” is offensive. Harkening back to the saying that “to walk in another man’s shoes” would open one’s mind to their humanity and preclude passing judgment on
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them, our narrator takes a giant leap of faith. Suffering as an outcast he tells us his tale in the hope that we too can find enlightenment some day in the future. Silverberg has written a story of redemption – a call that would remind us that love is all. Show Less
LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
now 84% done with the Nebulas...
LibraryThing member fredjryder1946
In the far future, Earth is a worn-out backwater and humanity is spread across the galaxy on worlds that began as colonies, but now feel like home, each with its own long history of a thousand years or more, and each with its own unique culture. One of the strangest is on Borthan, where the
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founding settlers established the Covenant, which teaches that the self is to be despised, and forbids anyone to reveal his innermost thoughts or feelings to another. On Borthan, the filthiest obscenities imaginable are the words "I" and "me." For the heinous crime of "self-baring," apostates have always paid with exile or death, but after his eyes are opened by a visitor from Earth, Kinnall Darival, prince of Salla, risks everything to teach his people the real meaning of being human. Show Less
LibraryThing member vladmihaisima
Book focused mostly on an idea and its impact - what if a society would try to avoid human sharing of feelings to each other. Tells the life of one member of such a society that discovers that other possibilities exist. Does not make a very in-depth analysis of the impact of the idea on the world,
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just hints at people being more unhappy and unable to understand each other. Well written and a believable character, with an interesting world description, but lacks some depth into influences and mechanisms of the analysed idea. While the action happens on a different planet, could have been as well a different country with different traditions. Show Less
LibraryThing member Karlstar
This book is more of a cultural and philosophical study than anything else, true 'speculative fiction'. On the planet of Borthan, settled by humans a long time ago, people are extremely self-sufficient. So much so, that 'self-baring' or 'self-sharing' between people is forbidden and verbal
in this setting we meet Darival Kinnall, second son of a ruler of one of the countries. Darival becomes obsessed with this situation and we follow him through the rest of the book. I thought this was quite interesting and well written, but by it's nature it is not full of action and I thought there was a bit too much of Darival's sex life.
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references to self are taboo. 'I' and 'me' are obscenities. Because of the lack of openness, almost all interpersonal transactions are handled with contracts. There is a strange sort of religion that makes use of 'drainers', basically confessors. in this setting we meet Darival Kinnall, second son of a ruler of one of the countries. Darival becomes obsessed with this situation and we follow him through the rest of the book. I thought this was quite interesting and well written, but by it's nature it is not full of action and I thought there was a bit too much of Darival's sex life.
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Subjects
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Novel — 1972)
Nebula Award (Nominee — Novel — 1971)
Ditmar Award (Shortlist — 1972)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1971-06
Physical description
205 p.; 17.7 cm
ISBN
0586039953 / 9780586039953
Local notes
Omslag: Bruce Pennington
Omslaget viser et skelet af en stor fugl. Under dets næb ligger skelettet af et menneske.
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Omslaget viser et skelet af en stor fugl. Under dets næb ligger skelettet af et menneske.
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
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Pages
205
DDC/MDS
| 813.54 |