Call number
Genres
Publication
Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1976.
Pages
184
Description
Painter is a leo - part man, part lion - the result of one of man's genetic experiments, a powerful, beautiful, enigmatic creature deemed a 'failure' to be be hunted down. But Painter has two advantages in this world of small bickering nation states and political accommodation and compromise: his own strength and integrity, and the guile of Reynard, another of man's experiments, a subtle and potent intriguer, a king-maker...
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1976
Physical description
184 p.; 8.66 inches
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User reviews
LibraryThing member InigoMontoya
Through a number of different eyes, Beasts tells of the beginning of a myth, of how the hybrid man-lion or "leo" Painter, with the Machiavellian assistance of the wily hybrid man-fox Reynard, sets on the road to become the king of all beasts, human and otherwise. Charismatic in the extreme, Painter
For all that Painter is at the centre of the story, he is somewhat aloof within it, perhaps appropriately for a mythic figure. Painter is a future king but his journey here is a physical one. He goes from place to place and things happen, but what's in the mind of Painter is consistent from beginning to end and there's a sense that it will always be so. Painter would see power as a mere extension of the will to survive, if he thought about it at all, which is unlikely. It's the kingmaker, Reynard, who sets this in motion, having recognized Painter as a figure from which legends can be made. Unlike Painter, Reynard is one of a kind, a sterile creature of immense intelligence and political astuteness. He works to an end for his own motives, revealed at the end of the tale.
It is the other characters, human and animal, who are seen more clearly as they cross paths with Painter, whether via Reynard's manipulations or naturally. Each is affected fundamentally, supporting the messianic appeal of the lion-man: Loren Casaubon, a cynical and solitary ethologist who is drawn into the circle by love for a boy he tutored; Sten Gregorius, the son of the president of the Northern Autonomy and a celebrity child, already designated a prince of men by the general populous; Meric Landseer, a maker of films for environmentally "perfect" Candy's Mountain who grasps for understanding of his unspoken doubts about his sterile home; Sweets, the dog made nearly sentient by another of man's experiments; Hawk, a once-tamed, now wild peregrine falcon.
The book is beautifully written. I loved the concept of Candy's Mountain, the antithesis of the Fed's ambitions: "The mountain was designed not to intrude in any way upon the earth, to do no damage, none, to her body and the membrane of life stretched across it... Utterly self-contained, it replaced what it used of Earth's body exactly, borrowing and returning water and food by a nice reckoning." I felt deeply for Loren as he watched the geese he had been studying fly south for winter: "All the wild things fly away from me, he thought now, in the crook of the tree by the empty river. Every wild thing that I love. If they don't know how to fly, I teach them."
Experts, such as the editors who selected Crowley's early novel for the Gollancz Classic SF Series in the late 1980s, will tell you that this ticks all the boxes for classification as a piece of science fiction but "Beasts" is one of those liquid tales that could slide into many subsets. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys lyrical writing and thought-inducing prose. One word of warning: some of the scenes are a little graphic for those who avoid natural history programmes.
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is no Aslan; his nature is far closer to his animal origins and his motivation throughout is merely to survive. Leos, a result of successful genetic experimentation, are being hunted down to extinction. In a post-apocalyptic America, where the United States has fractured into separate autonomies, the stub of a still powerful federal government works to put what was broken back together through politics and science with a view to managing the country's resources for the benefit of man, reversing an earlier time's sentimental view of the environment. Erasing the mistakes of the past, such as ones that blurred the line between man and beast, is one of the means adopted to further their aims though their Union for Social Engineering. For all that Painter is at the centre of the story, he is somewhat aloof within it, perhaps appropriately for a mythic figure. Painter is a future king but his journey here is a physical one. He goes from place to place and things happen, but what's in the mind of Painter is consistent from beginning to end and there's a sense that it will always be so. Painter would see power as a mere extension of the will to survive, if he thought about it at all, which is unlikely. It's the kingmaker, Reynard, who sets this in motion, having recognized Painter as a figure from which legends can be made. Unlike Painter, Reynard is one of a kind, a sterile creature of immense intelligence and political astuteness. He works to an end for his own motives, revealed at the end of the tale.
It is the other characters, human and animal, who are seen more clearly as they cross paths with Painter, whether via Reynard's manipulations or naturally. Each is affected fundamentally, supporting the messianic appeal of the lion-man: Loren Casaubon, a cynical and solitary ethologist who is drawn into the circle by love for a boy he tutored; Sten Gregorius, the son of the president of the Northern Autonomy and a celebrity child, already designated a prince of men by the general populous; Meric Landseer, a maker of films for environmentally "perfect" Candy's Mountain who grasps for understanding of his unspoken doubts about his sterile home; Sweets, the dog made nearly sentient by another of man's experiments; Hawk, a once-tamed, now wild peregrine falcon.
The book is beautifully written. I loved the concept of Candy's Mountain, the antithesis of the Fed's ambitions: "The mountain was designed not to intrude in any way upon the earth, to do no damage, none, to her body and the membrane of life stretched across it... Utterly self-contained, it replaced what it used of Earth's body exactly, borrowing and returning water and food by a nice reckoning." I felt deeply for Loren as he watched the geese he had been studying fly south for winter: "All the wild things fly away from me, he thought now, in the crook of the tree by the empty river. Every wild thing that I love. If they don't know how to fly, I teach them."
Experts, such as the editors who selected Crowley's early novel for the Gollancz Classic SF Series in the late 1980s, will tell you that this ticks all the boxes for classification as a piece of science fiction but "Beasts" is one of those liquid tales that could slide into many subsets. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys lyrical writing and thought-inducing prose. One word of warning: some of the scenes are a little graphic for those who avoid natural history programmes.
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LibraryThing member Gwendydd
This was a rather odd and somewhat disappointing book. I enjoyed reading it - Crowley's characters are compelling, and he is, as always, amazingly good at capturing complex emotions in simple prose. I found the Leos - half-man, half-lion creatures that are the result of genetic engineering
However, it feels like Crowley wrote for a while, got tired of writing the book, and then suddenly on the last few pages turned the whole thing into a Biblical allegory and called it quits right before the actual events the book has been leading towards all along. The Biblical parallels don't work very well (if Meric is John the Baptist, Reynard is Judas, and Painter is Christ, where is the sacrifice?), nor do they, as far as I could tell, add any meaning to the story because they are underdeveloped. Maybe I missed something or just didn't think about the book as hard as I should have, but the allegory really felt like a cop-out.
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experiments - to be really fascinating, and very vivid. Crowley explores the intersection of human and animal on several levels: the story portrays at interactions between humans and animals from both points of view, and also examines the mindset of human-animal hybrids whose minds have both human and animal characteristics. This exploration is quite interesting.However, it feels like Crowley wrote for a while, got tired of writing the book, and then suddenly on the last few pages turned the whole thing into a Biblical allegory and called it quits right before the actual events the book has been leading towards all along. The Biblical parallels don't work very well (if Meric is John the Baptist, Reynard is Judas, and Painter is Christ, where is the sacrifice?), nor do they, as far as I could tell, add any meaning to the story because they are underdeveloped. Maybe I missed something or just didn't think about the book as hard as I should have, but the allegory really felt like a cop-out.
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LibraryThing member EmScape
The plot of this sci-fi novel is rather difficult to describe. At first, I thought it was short stories because none of the chapters had the same characters or even seemed to have much to do with each other, except possibly being set in the same world, although that was even difficult to discern.
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Reaching the end, when everything starts to link up, I sort of feel like I understand what's going on, but to say so might be considered a spoiler. My conundrum is that I really don't know how to review this book except to say that I found it confusing and with not much of a message or a payoff. Show Less
LibraryThing member dbsovereign
A compassionate exploration of alienation and the rational/instinctive dichotomy. The story centers on a leo (mix of man/lion) named Painter and his struggle to survive. When we reject the beast, we also reject our humanity.
LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
Would have worked better as a trilogy. Too much political intrigue and too many ideas left not enough room for thorough world-building or hardly any character-building. Too quiet - was intended to be penetrating but I just didn't feel it.
LibraryThing member tgraue
Loved the chapter on Sweetie, the dog. Loved the pace of the story and actually was surprised at the ending.