Call number
Genres
Publication
Ace (1976), Paperback
Pages
252
Description
Intelligent canines in a far-future city preserve the legends and lore of their absent human masters Thousands of years have passed since humankind abandoned the city-first for the countryside, then for the stars, and ultimately for oblivion-leaving their most loyal animal companions alone on Earth. Granted the power of speech centuries earlier by the revered Bruce Webster, the intelligent, pacifist dogs are the last keepers of human history, raising their pups with bedtime stories, passed down through generations, of the lost "websters" who gave them so much but will never return. With the aid of Jenkins, an ageless service robot, the dogs live in a world of harmony and peace. But they now face serious threats from their own and other dimensions, perhaps the most dangerous of all being the reawakened remnants of a warlike race called "Man." In the Golden Age of Asimov and Heinlein, Clifford D. Simak's writing blazed as brightly as anyone's in the science fiction firmament. Winner of the International Fantasy Award, City is a magnificent literary metropolis filled with an astonishing array of interlinked stories and structures-at once dystopian, transcendent, compassionate, and visionary.… (more)
Awards
Chesley Award (Nominee — 2004)
Locus All-Time Best (Science Fiction Novel — 30 — 1987)
501 Must-Read Books (Emma Beare, 2006) (Science Fiction)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1952-05
Physical description
252 p.; 7.1 inches
ISBN
044110624
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User reviews
LibraryThing member TheAmpersand
I'm giving this book three and a half stars mostly because I'm more of a literary type than a science fiction fan, and there are stretches in "City" where it feels like the author is more interested in making an argument than relating a story: telling instead of showing, in other words. But "City"
"City was written in the shadow of the Second World War, and it shows: Simak's view of human nature is exceedingly bleak. He sees humanity as fundamentally self-destructive, the bearer of an ineradicable tragic flaw. The book spends much of its time wondering what sort of civilization might have better chances of survival in the long term. A race of mutant humans? Dogs? Robots, perhaps? The idea that humans might be replaced by some other civilization seems not to trouble the author at all, which suggests a commendably clear-eyed view of things, considering the fact that the book was written in the late nineteen forties, and shows an excellent understanding of what often calls deep time. What's a thousand years to a robot, after all? The author's literary executor notes in the introduction, "City" was perhaps one of the first works of science fiction to shift its focus from humanity to a more inclusive view of life in all of its forms. Simak deserves credit for putting real effort into imagining into a society run by these other beings might be like and what its values might be. In other words, he writes these non-human races from the inside out, which takes real imagination.
The author's not afraid to blur his categories, either, which sometimes makes the book truly fascinating. Throughout the book, and even as millennia pass, some traces of values and practices that their human creators imparted to the races they created -- super-intelligent dogs and robots -- remain. Like Brian Aldiss's "Galaxies Like Grains of Sand," "City" imposes a eons-long plot structure on what was originally a collection of stories, and it's a much better book for it, and not just because a text written hyper-intelligent canines arguing about whether the human race ever existed is slyly humorous in its own right. In "City," dogs and robots pass down myths and stories whose origins are unknown to them. They keep traditions and protect places and things whose original purpose has been forgotten. Simak seems to be asking how history turns into myth and how the values that myth creates can help hold a society together. Robots take on human attributes, while dogs, try as they might, struggle to eradicate their past roles as pets and helpmates to humans. Simak shows how cultural tendencies might echo down the centuries. The prose may be workmanlike, but there's a lot of food for thought in these stories. Recommended to readers who, like myself, are trying to escape the carefully delineated preserve of literary fiction to see what's out there in other genres.
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is still full of interesting ideas, and once in a while, especially in the book's latter stories, the author manages to communicate them in a way that might leave the reader feeling spooked and perhaps saddened. "City" is a good example of how science fiction can help answer both literature's most important question -- what does it mean to be human? -- and one of science's central imponderables -- will the human race survive? "City was written in the shadow of the Second World War, and it shows: Simak's view of human nature is exceedingly bleak. He sees humanity as fundamentally self-destructive, the bearer of an ineradicable tragic flaw. The book spends much of its time wondering what sort of civilization might have better chances of survival in the long term. A race of mutant humans? Dogs? Robots, perhaps? The idea that humans might be replaced by some other civilization seems not to trouble the author at all, which suggests a commendably clear-eyed view of things, considering the fact that the book was written in the late nineteen forties, and shows an excellent understanding of what often calls deep time. What's a thousand years to a robot, after all? The author's literary executor notes in the introduction, "City" was perhaps one of the first works of science fiction to shift its focus from humanity to a more inclusive view of life in all of its forms. Simak deserves credit for putting real effort into imagining into a society run by these other beings might be like and what its values might be. In other words, he writes these non-human races from the inside out, which takes real imagination.
The author's not afraid to blur his categories, either, which sometimes makes the book truly fascinating. Throughout the book, and even as millennia pass, some traces of values and practices that their human creators imparted to the races they created -- super-intelligent dogs and robots -- remain. Like Brian Aldiss's "Galaxies Like Grains of Sand," "City" imposes a eons-long plot structure on what was originally a collection of stories, and it's a much better book for it, and not just because a text written hyper-intelligent canines arguing about whether the human race ever existed is slyly humorous in its own right. In "City," dogs and robots pass down myths and stories whose origins are unknown to them. They keep traditions and protect places and things whose original purpose has been forgotten. Simak seems to be asking how history turns into myth and how the values that myth creates can help hold a society together. Robots take on human attributes, while dogs, try as they might, struggle to eradicate their past roles as pets and helpmates to humans. Simak shows how cultural tendencies might echo down the centuries. The prose may be workmanlike, but there's a lot of food for thought in these stories. Recommended to readers who, like myself, are trying to escape the carefully delineated preserve of literary fiction to see what's out there in other genres.
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LibraryThing member John_Warner
The initial eight tales in this fix-up science fiction novel is the product of its golden age. All were published within Jack Campbell's Astounding Magazine. The final story, "Epilog" was added as a tribute to Jack Campbell when he died. Although differing stories, several contain reoccurring
A foreword by the anonymous editor introduces the stories as a legendary saga frequently told by the dogs around a campfire. Man has been gone so long from the earth that the stories are considered more myth than history. The literary history and structure has been studied and analyzed by historians such as "Bounce" and "Rover." Each of the stories is introduced with commentaries by future dog historians similar to humans who might provide commentaries about Greek myths.
The initial stories deal with humans coping with modern technology. In the 1990s, families being able to afford nuclear-powered helicopters have extended the distances each can live similar to how the automobile created the suburban migration. Additionally, traditional farms have died with the rise of hydroponics freeing up land in the country for relocation resulting in the end of the cities. (One of the pleasures to reading classic science-fiction is discovering how right and wrong, such as in this case, the author can be about their speculations).
The expansion continues with man leaving Earth in droves for other planets in the Solar System, especially Jupiter. Initially, man occupies Jupiter in domed cities; however, soon the human physiology is adapted for Jovian atmosphere through "converters." One particular poignant stories is "Desertion" when men are converted, exit the domes, but fail to return, causing the scientists to wonder what happened to them.
Clifford Simak is best known for his City short stories, who was awarded the 1952 International Fantasy Award. If you are interested in the writers during the Golden Age of Science Fiction, such as Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and Theodore Sturgeon, you need to include this novel as one of your choices.
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characters including Bruce Webster and his robot servant, Jenkins. Webster, whose name becomes over time synonymous as "humans." The patriarch Webster is a man reminiscent of an earlier times when Earth cities existed. Webster is worshiped by dogs in later stories since he surgically enables the dogs for speech and human-like vision. The stories in their entirety covers a time-span of 10,000+ years.A foreword by the anonymous editor introduces the stories as a legendary saga frequently told by the dogs around a campfire. Man has been gone so long from the earth that the stories are considered more myth than history. The literary history and structure has been studied and analyzed by historians such as "Bounce" and "Rover." Each of the stories is introduced with commentaries by future dog historians similar to humans who might provide commentaries about Greek myths.
The initial stories deal with humans coping with modern technology. In the 1990s, families being able to afford nuclear-powered helicopters have extended the distances each can live similar to how the automobile created the suburban migration. Additionally, traditional farms have died with the rise of hydroponics freeing up land in the country for relocation resulting in the end of the cities. (One of the pleasures to reading classic science-fiction is discovering how right and wrong, such as in this case, the author can be about their speculations).
The expansion continues with man leaving Earth in droves for other planets in the Solar System, especially Jupiter. Initially, man occupies Jupiter in domed cities; however, soon the human physiology is adapted for Jovian atmosphere through "converters." One particular poignant stories is "Desertion" when men are converted, exit the domes, but fail to return, causing the scientists to wonder what happened to them.
Clifford Simak is best known for his City short stories, who was awarded the 1952 International Fantasy Award. If you are interested in the writers during the Golden Age of Science Fiction, such as Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and Theodore Sturgeon, you need to include this novel as one of your choices.
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LibraryThing member MaowangVater
The world goes to the dogs in eight tales covering twelve thousand years.
LibraryThing member kewpie
I couldn't get over the bad pseudoscience in this book. Most people -- even in the 1940's -- knew that Lamarckian evolution isn't plausible. Yet the main premise of these stories is that a race of sentient dogs evolved when a man surgically altered a mother dog and her puppies were all born with
I did like the Ants story. The ants were pleasingly alien and made for the most interesting story in the book.
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the same alteration! I couldn't buy that a race of sentient dogs would force all creatures of the world to become vegetarians and the world would become this peaceful utopia, where preditor and prey could communicate and be friends with each other. Usually, I'm not such a curmudgeon about "real" science in science fiction, but for some reason, this collection of stories rubbed me the wrong way. I did like the Ants story. The ants were pleasingly alien and made for the most interesting story in the book.
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LibraryThing member Stevil2001
City is a fix-up: it was originally published as a series of short stories chronicling a future history, mostly in Astounding, from 1944 to 1951. In 1952, Simak collected them in a book, adding introductions to each story written by some scholar from the far far future, making it into a work that
It's certainly of its era: I feel like a lot of sf writers in this period wrote series of short stories covering vast swathes of human history. In that sense, City reminded me of Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and especially Cordwainer Smith. But what is different than those other future histories is the scope of City: while Asimov, Heinlein, and even Smith chronicle the history of humanity, Simak considers what comes after humanity... and then what comes after that. The only person who really matches Simak for scope is Wells. This is a series of vignettes, linked by some common characters and some related ones, that take us from the abandonment of the cities to the abandonment of the planet Earth itself.
Simak's futurism isn't always right, but the futurism isn't the point, so it doesn't matter. There's a lot to like here, but my favorite was "Hobbies," which I wrote about on its own here. The story focuses on the dogs and robots left on Earth by humanity. Both were created to serve humanity; even though dogs have been raised to sapience, that's still what a dog is. There are also a last few humans. But all of these beings have no work to do—there is nothing left but the "hobbies" of the title. Simak is often praised for his pastoral style, and this thoughtful story is it at its moving best. The last couple stories point toward the fact that things never stop developing. Watch out for the ants!
I also really enjoyed the introductions to each story, written by the dog scholars of the far future attempting to put each story into its original context... but they are from so far in the future that they are not convinced any such creature as man actually existed. Surely he is just part of a creation myth? I'm often a sucker for this kind of faux apparatus, and this is a good example of it, extending the distance between the world of the text and ours.
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exists in the future history. Simak wrote one extra City story in 1973, which was incorporated into editions of the book published in 1981 onward, including my 2011 Gollancz edition.It's certainly of its era: I feel like a lot of sf writers in this period wrote series of short stories covering vast swathes of human history. In that sense, City reminded me of Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and especially Cordwainer Smith. But what is different than those other future histories is the scope of City: while Asimov, Heinlein, and even Smith chronicle the history of humanity, Simak considers what comes after humanity... and then what comes after that. The only person who really matches Simak for scope is Wells. This is a series of vignettes, linked by some common characters and some related ones, that take us from the abandonment of the cities to the abandonment of the planet Earth itself.
Simak's futurism isn't always right, but the futurism isn't the point, so it doesn't matter. There's a lot to like here, but my favorite was "Hobbies," which I wrote about on its own here. The story focuses on the dogs and robots left on Earth by humanity. Both were created to serve humanity; even though dogs have been raised to sapience, that's still what a dog is. There are also a last few humans. But all of these beings have no work to do—there is nothing left but the "hobbies" of the title. Simak is often praised for his pastoral style, and this thoughtful story is it at its moving best. The last couple stories point toward the fact that things never stop developing. Watch out for the ants!
I also really enjoyed the introductions to each story, written by the dog scholars of the far future attempting to put each story into its original context... but they are from so far in the future that they are not convinced any such creature as man actually existed. Surely he is just part of a creation myth? I'm often a sucker for this kind of faux apparatus, and this is a good example of it, extending the distance between the world of the text and ours.
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LibraryThing member bibleblaster
I've read about this book many times, as it finds its way onto many science fiction "best of" lists, so I was glad to find myself with the opportunity to read it in the space of a leisurely day. Though I knew the basic premise (dogs sitting around telling ancient tales of when humans are said to
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have ruled the Earth), I was impressed with the sweep and the insights Simak could draw from that premise. Not perfect by a long shot, and Simak--known for his heartland, rural approach to sf--can get carried away with the "dadburn" style of writing, but there were some fascinating (if erroneous) speculations about what would happen "if this goes on" and some important reflections on the condition the human condition is in...Think of some of the best Twilight Zones and you may catch a little of the flavor of this one. Show Less
LibraryThing member unclebob53703
Very well written, I love his style, but definitely a downer of a book, with each story detailing some human failure. He really makes you feel the loneliness and desolation of the centuries, even when his characters are machines or animals. The "notes on the tales" add a certain playfulness, as he
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explains what the dogs think of the tales. My copy doesn't contain the ninth tale, added years later, and I'm a little peeved since it's an Easton Press special edition published after that tale came out. Feel like somebody didn't do their homework, as this added tale is even mentioned in Robert Silverburg's introduction--note to Easton Press: You probably shouldn't mention something in the intro to the book that you haven't put in the book. Show Less
LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
City by Clifford D. Simak is a collection of science fiction stories that were originally published separately between 1944 and 1951, along with brief notes on each of the stories. These notes were written in order to link the stories into one novel. In 1973, a further story called “Epilog” was
These stories are progressive and tell of a world where humans have developed technology to a point where society becomes more and more isolated until eventually mankind simply dies out because of loneliness and isolation. A different life-form then rises to become the dominant species and in this story that species is a pacifist society of dogs. Thousand of years pass by and the dogs are now dealing with another rising species, ants. While humans would have been quick to eliminate this threat, dogs do not believe in killing for any reason and so they must come up with a different solution.
I took two meanings from these stories, first, I felt Simak was showing his concern over mankind’s every increasing need for technological progress, fearing it would carry mankind to a point where we no longer needed to interact with one another. Secondly, these stories show his feeling that humans are unable to live at peace, not only among themselves but with any other species as well. City is a serious social commentary that was quite visionary for it’s time, but I never quite swallowed his premise and found the book quite dated.
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written and later added. These stories are progressive and tell of a world where humans have developed technology to a point where society becomes more and more isolated until eventually mankind simply dies out because of loneliness and isolation. A different life-form then rises to become the dominant species and in this story that species is a pacifist society of dogs. Thousand of years pass by and the dogs are now dealing with another rising species, ants. While humans would have been quick to eliminate this threat, dogs do not believe in killing for any reason and so they must come up with a different solution.
I took two meanings from these stories, first, I felt Simak was showing his concern over mankind’s every increasing need for technological progress, fearing it would carry mankind to a point where we no longer needed to interact with one another. Secondly, these stories show his feeling that humans are unable to live at peace, not only among themselves but with any other species as well. City is a serious social commentary that was quite visionary for it’s time, but I never quite swallowed his premise and found the book quite dated.
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LibraryThing member alexezell
This collection of stories stands out to me more for its structural elements than for its plot. There's a lot to consider here based on the context (post-WWII America) and the structure. Each story is prefaced with a short essay written by a critic/historian who seems to be trying to place the
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stories in a framework of what is true/real and what is merely myth. It seems to be intentionally mirroring a lot of writing that happens about the Bible or other religious texts. Given that these essays are written by the far-future descendants of the dogs whose origin story (myth?) is contained within the stories, there are quite a few layers to unpack. So, then, there's the plot itself which is interesting but is in full service of the social and cultural points being made. This is writing that rewards close reading as the symbolism and metaphor are combined with a wry humor that slides by unnoticed on occasion. Show Less
LibraryThing member LisCarey
This is a collection of connected short stories and novellas, recounting the decline of the civilization of Man and the rise of the civilization of Dogs. Obsolete usage intentional; these stories were written in the 1940s, with a couple of exceptions, and the underlying viewpoint is that of a
These stories chronicle thousands of years of history in relatively brief glimpses of a total of nine short stories and novellas, and the "notes" that tie them together and provide added context, to make them a novel. We follow the men of the Webster family; the Webster family's robot and household retainer, Jenkins; and the dogs. Or, as they start to become beginning in the third story, the Dogs, the uplifted species that will succeed Man.
The first two stories show the start of the unraveling of human civilization, due to, in fact, its success. Nuclear power as an energy source, creating wealth and independence from the need to gather in cities, combined with the existence of nuclear weapons, making cities fatal places to be if there's ever another war, leads to people dispersing into the countryside. Land is cheap outside the cities, and every man can buy acreage and build a luxury estate for his family. (And yes, the use of gender and possessive in that sentence is deliberate. As noted above, Simak's a good man, but not a man of even the late 20th century.) As technology develops (largely undescribed, but we see what are videophones more advanced than we have but entirely recognizable, as well as robots with AI that's still just a happy daydream for us), no one needs to leave home for any of the essentials or luxuries of life, and many don't. Agoraphobia becomes a significant and common problem, which has crucial plot implications in one of the stories, with consequences that reverberate down the centuries.
Seeing the flaws in human beings, one of the Websters, Bruce Webster, starts to work on the dogs, giving them the ability to speak, and the ability to read--including the physical modifications necessary to make these things physically possible for them, not just intellectually possible. We learn of, and encounter, the mutants, humans with far greater intelligence, and lacking the human instinct to gather and connect with each other. In each story we see the dogs on the road to becoming Dogs, advancing in intelligence and understanding. A crucial turning point is the story, "Desertion," where humans on Jupiter are sending out exploratory missions of humans transformed into lifeforms able to live on Jupiter outside the human domes--for the purpose of reporting back, with the awkward complication that none of them do. Finally the head of that project goes out himself, with just his dog, Towser, leading to the complete upending of the progress of humans toward dominating the solar system and expanding to the stars.
The notes frame these stories as the myths and fables of Doggish civilization, in a time when Dogs are pretty sure that Man is only a myth, a tribal legend from the early days of their race, before civilization developed. The one continuing character who ties all the stories together is Jenkins, the robot who served the Websters, and then inherited their responsibility to help the Dogs along their own path. There's an underlying sadness in these stories, a certain pessimism about humankind, intertwined with a love for both humans and dogs.
What's missing, almost entirely, is women. Women are mentioned from time to time, but there's only two women who become in any way real characters with their own personalities and views, and only one of them is outside of the roles of wife, girlfriend, daughter, secretary. I love these stories; I don't love that aspect of these stories. These are still fine and much-loved stories, but they are also period pieces, and should be approached with that in mind.
Still very much recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
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midwestern American man of that era, born in 1904. In the case of Simak, that's a compassionate, kindly, humane, even in many ways progressive viewpoint, but it's not the viewpoint of someone whose formative years were the 1960s or later.These stories chronicle thousands of years of history in relatively brief glimpses of a total of nine short stories and novellas, and the "notes" that tie them together and provide added context, to make them a novel. We follow the men of the Webster family; the Webster family's robot and household retainer, Jenkins; and the dogs. Or, as they start to become beginning in the third story, the Dogs, the uplifted species that will succeed Man.
The first two stories show the start of the unraveling of human civilization, due to, in fact, its success. Nuclear power as an energy source, creating wealth and independence from the need to gather in cities, combined with the existence of nuclear weapons, making cities fatal places to be if there's ever another war, leads to people dispersing into the countryside. Land is cheap outside the cities, and every man can buy acreage and build a luxury estate for his family. (And yes, the use of gender and possessive in that sentence is deliberate. As noted above, Simak's a good man, but not a man of even the late 20th century.) As technology develops (largely undescribed, but we see what are videophones more advanced than we have but entirely recognizable, as well as robots with AI that's still just a happy daydream for us), no one needs to leave home for any of the essentials or luxuries of life, and many don't. Agoraphobia becomes a significant and common problem, which has crucial plot implications in one of the stories, with consequences that reverberate down the centuries.
Seeing the flaws in human beings, one of the Websters, Bruce Webster, starts to work on the dogs, giving them the ability to speak, and the ability to read--including the physical modifications necessary to make these things physically possible for them, not just intellectually possible. We learn of, and encounter, the mutants, humans with far greater intelligence, and lacking the human instinct to gather and connect with each other. In each story we see the dogs on the road to becoming Dogs, advancing in intelligence and understanding. A crucial turning point is the story, "Desertion," where humans on Jupiter are sending out exploratory missions of humans transformed into lifeforms able to live on Jupiter outside the human domes--for the purpose of reporting back, with the awkward complication that none of them do. Finally the head of that project goes out himself, with just his dog, Towser, leading to the complete upending of the progress of humans toward dominating the solar system and expanding to the stars.
The notes frame these stories as the myths and fables of Doggish civilization, in a time when Dogs are pretty sure that Man is only a myth, a tribal legend from the early days of their race, before civilization developed. The one continuing character who ties all the stories together is Jenkins, the robot who served the Websters, and then inherited their responsibility to help the Dogs along their own path. There's an underlying sadness in these stories, a certain pessimism about humankind, intertwined with a love for both humans and dogs.
What's missing, almost entirely, is women. Women are mentioned from time to time, but there's only two women who become in any way real characters with their own personalities and views, and only one of them is outside of the roles of wife, girlfriend, daughter, secretary. I love these stories; I don't love that aspect of these stories. These are still fine and much-loved stories, but they are also period pieces, and should be approached with that in mind.
Still very much recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
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LibraryThing member baswood
Published in 1952 this is another novel from the science fiction masterworks series, which according to wiki:
“began in 1999 and comprises selected pieces of science-fiction literature from 1950 onwards (with a few exceptions). The list was compiled by the managing director of Orion Books, Malcolm
City is definitely worth its place in the 170 odd books that now form the masterworks series. It is a collection of eight short stories linked by generations of one family and covers a 12000 year span of the future of the human race and their future is not great. Simak’s theme that man is a self destructive animal is present in nearly all of these stories. Each tale is forwarded by a short essay written by a representative of the dogs at a time in the far distant future when the existence of man no more than the stuff of myth and legend. The stories are tales that the dogs tell their pups when they are close together in the family circle and the inevitable questions arise:
“What is Man?
“What is a city?
“What is a war?”
The Webster family are the anti-heroes of the tales; they hold positions of power and influence and it is to some extant the result of their decision making that leads to man no longer being present on earth. Dogs, ants and robots are the inheritors of a world where killing is almost unknown.
This book is very much of it’s time with Simak’s use of generations of one family giving the whole book a sense of home spun story telling. It does not pretend to be great literature but it is well enough written and the forward progression of the tales with an intelligent linking device provides an expectation of things to come. No hard science fiction, no over the top moralising just a series of intriguing stories with some interesting ideas. A four star read.
“began in 1999 and comprises selected pieces of science-fiction literature from 1950 onwards (with a few exceptions). The list was compiled by the managing director of Orion Books, Malcolm
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Edwards, with the help of "leading SF writers and editors" and the goal of bringing important books back into print. The list was described by science fiction author Iain M. Banks as "amazing" and "genuinely the best novels from sixty years of SF”City is definitely worth its place in the 170 odd books that now form the masterworks series. It is a collection of eight short stories linked by generations of one family and covers a 12000 year span of the future of the human race and their future is not great. Simak’s theme that man is a self destructive animal is present in nearly all of these stories. Each tale is forwarded by a short essay written by a representative of the dogs at a time in the far distant future when the existence of man no more than the stuff of myth and legend. The stories are tales that the dogs tell their pups when they are close together in the family circle and the inevitable questions arise:
“What is Man?
“What is a city?
“What is a war?”
The Webster family are the anti-heroes of the tales; they hold positions of power and influence and it is to some extant the result of their decision making that leads to man no longer being present on earth. Dogs, ants and robots are the inheritors of a world where killing is almost unknown.
This book is very much of it’s time with Simak’s use of generations of one family giving the whole book a sense of home spun story telling. It does not pretend to be great literature but it is well enough written and the forward progression of the tales with an intelligent linking device provides an expectation of things to come. No hard science fiction, no over the top moralising just a series of intriguing stories with some interesting ideas. A four star read.
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LibraryThing member Ailurophile
I was very disappointed in this book. The decline and fall of humanity, and its replacement by dogs as earth's dominant life form, was an interesting premise. But I do not think it was well developed here. The rationale for humanity's downfall was unconvincing. The description of how dogs became
I have read other works by Simak and enjoyed them. I also know that many people like City. So I was surprised to find it - at least, for me - so unsatisfying.
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sentient and capable of speech, as described in the text, seems to be a primitive kind of Lamarckianism, which had already been discredited at the time the stories were written. One plot element - the transmutation of human beings into "Lopers," organisms capable of living on Jupiter - was presented with so little context that it smacked of a technological Deus ex Machina.I have read other works by Simak and enjoyed them. I also know that many people like City. So I was surprised to find it - at least, for me - so unsatisfying.
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LibraryThing member elenchus
Simak wrote a framing story to prepare eight existing stories for publication as a fix-up novel in 1951, and City has proven to be one of the enduring such efforts. Later he wrote an Epilog, a ninth story missing from my edition; it isn't clear it adds much to the significance of the original story
Simak's descriptions of Jupiter involve domes set on firm ground and with crystalline cliffs nearby, none of which exist according to current science. Evidently Simak imagined the ammonia atmosphere hid a solid planet, rather than the gas giant with (perhaps) an ocean of liquid hydrogen behaving like molten metal. As with most science fiction, though, the bits he got wrong are trivial when assessing the work overall. City is a novel of ideas, more about what it is to be a person and part of humanity, what is unavoidably caught up in the species and what might be changed, than anything in the literal environment or technology.
In the Foreward, Simak claims the fix-up was written as no sort of protest, but as means of escape, given the disillusion that World War II brought (his word). Fitting then, that the novel ends with the sentient dogs escaping from this world into another. Humans may not be able to escape our fate, defined by innate aggression and an attendant loss of purpose once our post-scarcity civilization provides for all our essential needs -- but it seems we may help enable others to escape. In this way, perhaps, human culture outlasts humanity itself. Or that's one scenario that Simak paints for us.
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cycle. The eight were each published in Astounding under editorial direction of John Campbell, curious how much Simak envisioned them of a piece, rather than being unrelated stories forcibly to be retrofitted afterward. For example, the dogs don't appear until the third story -- odd for what seems so central an element in the overall scenario.Simak's descriptions of Jupiter involve domes set on firm ground and with crystalline cliffs nearby, none of which exist according to current science. Evidently Simak imagined the ammonia atmosphere hid a solid planet, rather than the gas giant with (perhaps) an ocean of liquid hydrogen behaving like molten metal. As with most science fiction, though, the bits he got wrong are trivial when assessing the work overall. City is a novel of ideas, more about what it is to be a person and part of humanity, what is unavoidably caught up in the species and what might be changed, than anything in the literal environment or technology.
In the Foreward, Simak claims the fix-up was written as no sort of protest, but as means of escape, given the disillusion that World War II brought (his word). Fitting then, that the novel ends with the sentient dogs escaping from this world into another. Humans may not be able to escape our fate, defined by innate aggression and an attendant loss of purpose once our post-scarcity civilization provides for all our essential needs -- but it seems we may help enable others to escape. In this way, perhaps, human culture outlasts humanity itself. Or that's one scenario that Simak paints for us.
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LibraryThing member ardvisoor
For me there is always a rich taste in classic Sci Fi which I can’t find in recent stories. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy modern sci-fi books as much but there is always a nostalgic feeling in reading classic Sci Fis. City is no exception. Eight different but related stories told in a future time
Dogs has inherited the earth and they have these stories as historical documents and there theories to believe them or not….
"So long ago, thought Jenkins. So many things have happened, Bruce Webster was just starting to experiment with dogs, had no more than dreamed his dream of talking, thinking dogs that would go down the path of destiny paw in hand with Man… not knowing then that Man within a few short centuries would scatter to the four winds of eternity and leave the Earth to robot and to dog. Not knowing then that even the name of Man would be forgotten in the dust of years, that the race would come to be known by the name of a single family."
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which there is no sign of man on earth. As stories proceed we see how earth become what it is then.Dogs has inherited the earth and they have these stories as historical documents and there theories to believe them or not….
"So long ago, thought Jenkins. So many things have happened, Bruce Webster was just starting to experiment with dogs, had no more than dreamed his dream of talking, thinking dogs that would go down the path of destiny paw in hand with Man… not knowing then that Man within a few short centuries would scatter to the four winds of eternity and leave the Earth to robot and to dog. Not knowing then that even the name of Man would be forgotten in the dust of years, that the race would come to be known by the name of a single family."
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LibraryThing member rboyechko
While definitely one of the more fantastic science fiction books, I enjoyed it quite a bit and it's still quite fresh in my memory even after years since I've read it. Perhaps the most unbelievable element were the intelligent dogs with modified vocal cords to permit speech.
LibraryThing member jwhenderson
The novel describes a legend consisting of eight tales the pastoral and pacifist Dogs recite as they pass down an oral legend of a creature known as Man. Each tale is preceded by doggish notes and learned discussion.
As the tales unfold, they recount a world where humans, having developed superior
The tales primarily focus around the Webster family, and their robot servant, Jenkins. The name Webster gradually becomes "webster", a noun meaning a human. Similar themes recur in these stories, notably the pastoral settings and the faithful dogs.
Each successive tale tells of further breakdown of urban society. As mankind abandons the cities, each family becomes increasingly isolated. Bruce Webster surgically provides dogs with a means of speech and better vision. The breakdown of civilization allows wandering mutant geniuses to grow up unrestrained by conventional mores. A mutant called Joe invents a way for ants to stay active year round in Wisconsin, so that they need not start over every spring. Eventually the ants form an industrial society in their hill. The amoral Joe, tiring of the game, kicks over the anthill. The ants ignore this setback and build bigger and more industrialized colonies.
It is notable that over time the past is forgotten by the dogs. In the penultimate tale entitled, ironically, Aesop the narrative says "there wasn't any past. No past, that was, except the figment of remembrance that flitted like a night-winged thing in the shadow of one's mind. No past that one could reach. No pictures painted on the wall of time." (p 188) The memory of the past is beyond the stage where it could be reconstituted by the taste of a madeleine. Not even Proust's creation Marcel would be successful here. (In Search of Lost Time: "And as soon as I had recognised the taste of the piece of madeleine soaked in her decoction of lime-blossom which my aunt used to give me (although I did not yet know and must long postpone the discovery of why this memory made me so happy) immediately the old grey house upon the street, where her room was, rose up like a stage set to attach itself to the little pavilion opening on to the garden which had been built out behind it for my parents (the isolated segment which until that moment had been all that I could see); and with the house the town, from morning to night and in all weathers, the square where I used to be sent before lunch, the streets along which I used to run errands, the country roads we took when it was fine.")
By the end of the last story even the man-made robots begin to wear out. And the word man is reinvented to be defined as "an animal who went on two legs". The story becomes so animal-centric it reminded me of a shorter and different story that shared a similar perspective, Orwell's Animal Farm. Simak's work is another literary masterpiece.
As the tales unfold, they recount a world where humans, having developed superior
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transportation, have abandoned the cities and moved into the countryside. Hydroponic farming and decentralized power allow small communities to become self-sufficient. In the beginning the driving force for dispersion is the fear of nuclear holocaust, but eventually humans discover they simply prefer the pastoral lifestyle.The tales primarily focus around the Webster family, and their robot servant, Jenkins. The name Webster gradually becomes "webster", a noun meaning a human. Similar themes recur in these stories, notably the pastoral settings and the faithful dogs.
Each successive tale tells of further breakdown of urban society. As mankind abandons the cities, each family becomes increasingly isolated. Bruce Webster surgically provides dogs with a means of speech and better vision. The breakdown of civilization allows wandering mutant geniuses to grow up unrestrained by conventional mores. A mutant called Joe invents a way for ants to stay active year round in Wisconsin, so that they need not start over every spring. Eventually the ants form an industrial society in their hill. The amoral Joe, tiring of the game, kicks over the anthill. The ants ignore this setback and build bigger and more industrialized colonies.
It is notable that over time the past is forgotten by the dogs. In the penultimate tale entitled, ironically, Aesop the narrative says "there wasn't any past. No past, that was, except the figment of remembrance that flitted like a night-winged thing in the shadow of one's mind. No past that one could reach. No pictures painted on the wall of time." (p 188) The memory of the past is beyond the stage where it could be reconstituted by the taste of a madeleine. Not even Proust's creation Marcel would be successful here. (In Search of Lost Time: "And as soon as I had recognised the taste of the piece of madeleine soaked in her decoction of lime-blossom which my aunt used to give me (although I did not yet know and must long postpone the discovery of why this memory made me so happy) immediately the old grey house upon the street, where her room was, rose up like a stage set to attach itself to the little pavilion opening on to the garden which had been built out behind it for my parents (the isolated segment which until that moment had been all that I could see); and with the house the town, from morning to night and in all weathers, the square where I used to be sent before lunch, the streets along which I used to run errands, the country roads we took when it was fine.")
By the end of the last story even the man-made robots begin to wear out. And the word man is reinvented to be defined as "an animal who went on two legs". The story becomes so animal-centric it reminded me of a shorter and different story that shared a similar perspective, Orwell's Animal Farm. Simak's work is another literary masterpiece.
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LibraryThing member BenKline
A very interesting way of looking at the end of humans on Earth. Dogs and ants and robots taking over. The short story form written with scholar notes and formed into a full novel was both new, different, and interesting.
LibraryThing member jaddington
I fell in love with this before I completed the first story. How can one not thoroughly enjoy the perspective of dogs regarding humans. Better yet...they doubt that we were ever real. Just a myth. Love it. And and lets not forget the robots. Each story stands on its own, yet they are all linked
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together. I am not a short story reader, but I could not stop reading these. I will search out of of Mr.Simak' works to read. Show Less
LibraryThing member rlangston
Deep, cohesive and ambitious themes, reminiscent of much later writing - incredible to think this was written in 1952.
LibraryThing member BruceCoulson
It's hard not to like a novel which takes a classic phrase that condemns change and the future, and makes a good story about it. (No spoilers; read the book and think about it.) Some of the best commentary on people comes from humor, though, and City has much to say about humans, sentience,
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ecology, and society. Show Less
LibraryThing member Lyndatrue
The back cover of this refers to it being "Back in print by insistent demand, here is your chance to read this International Award winning science-fiction classic." It's indeed a re-issue, though, of the first paperback printing of the collection (which was published in 1952).
City won the
Great book. Still good, and still with things to say.
City won the
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"International Fantasy Award" for 1953 (very short lived award, ranging from 1951 to 1957). I'm basing the 1971 publication on a guess from an advertisement in the back offering (among other things) "World's Best Science Fiction of 1971" which implies that this must have been published in 1971 or later. It cannot be too much later, because the price was 75 cents.Great book. Still good, and still with things to say.
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LibraryThing member MathMaverick
A very well written and interesting collection of short stories. They tie together well, making a very cohesive book. Recommended for all and well worth the read.
LibraryThing member bunwat
I had read this many years ago, and vaguely remembered liking it quite a bit. On this go round I decided to listen to it as an audio book, because I had a bunch of stuff to do that wasn't compatible with reading. And I had read it before after all. Not sure how successful that was.
I didn't really
One issue for me was that since the stories were originally published individually in magazines, each story had to cover some back story because there was no knowing if the reader had seen the previous one. So I felt like we kept covering the same ground over and over. Apparently when I read I skim through that stuff with less attention, but being read to I couldn't mentally edit as easily.
I do like Simak though. I just think I like him better when he's being funny.
I didn't really
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enjoy the narrator, he kind of overpronounced words which was a little irritating. And put emphasis where I would not have put emphasis, and made people sound more earnest than I would have thought they were being. I'm still trying to unwind whether I didn't like it as well this time because of the format, or because I just didn't like it as well. One issue for me was that since the stories were originally published individually in magazines, each story had to cover some back story because there was no knowing if the reader had seen the previous one. So I felt like we kept covering the same ground over and over. Apparently when I read I skim through that stuff with less attention, but being read to I couldn't mentally edit as easily.
I do like Simak though. I just think I like him better when he's being funny.
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LibraryThing member suzemo
So... I found this book to be merely OK. I don't know if I just didn't read closely enough, if I just missed something, or what, but I didn't get it.
I know it's another 'fix-up' novel, published as a series of short stories in the publication which became Analog. These stories have a theme running
These stories are old, and not just old, but dated. The science is incredibly dated (evolution by surgery?), and a lot of the story feels dated, too. I know many of the stories were written long ago, so the future is now, and while the future is not just not what Simak wrote, it just wasn't feasible or plausible in any way, shape or form so that it leaves sci fi and hit fantasy for me.
I know it's supposed to be one of Simak's best, but I just didn't care for it. I hope discussion over the book will help me appreciate it more and maybe I can/will update my review.
I know it's another 'fix-up' novel, published as a series of short stories in the publication which became Analog. These stories have a theme running
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through them - the decline (or what have you) of the human race and the rise of the canine race. It's told as a series of stories/fables/legends with brief anthropological (or whatever the canine equivalent is) "field notes" between, except for the epilog, which the author explains himself (it was not originally part of the stories).These stories are old, and not just old, but dated. The science is incredibly dated (evolution by surgery?), and a lot of the story feels dated, too. I know many of the stories were written long ago, so the future is now, and while the future is not just not what Simak wrote, it just wasn't feasible or plausible in any way, shape or form so that it leaves sci fi and hit fantasy for me.
I know it's supposed to be one of Simak's best, but I just didn't care for it. I hope discussion over the book will help me appreciate it more and maybe I can/will update my review.
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LibraryThing member CharlesBoyd
While waiting to get CITY from half.com, I read WHY CALL THEM BACK FROM HEAVEN? both by Clifford D. Simak.
I much preferred WHY CALL THEM BACK FROM HEAVEN? (Referred to hereafter (pun not intended) in this review as simply: HEAVEN)
CITY had a lot fewer scenes than HEAVEN and some of the scenes were
In HEAVEN, there are people who are in the novel throughout the story, some leaving and coming back, but part of the story nontheless. In HEAVEN you only get a robot all throughout. He's portraited as somewhat human, but that really didn't do it for this reader.
CITY certainly has interesting ideas and was worth reading, but the same is true of HEAVEN. I can't see myself reading CITY again, I can see myself reading HEAVEN again. Maybe.
I much preferred WHY CALL THEM BACK FROM HEAVEN? (Referred to hereafter (pun not intended) in this review as simply: HEAVEN)
CITY had a lot fewer scenes than HEAVEN and some of the scenes were
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like an early one where the scene was from the pov of a character at a town council-type meeting. People telling each other what happened in the past and telling each other what was going on in the present. Not compelling stuff. HEAVEN had lots of scenes, lots of people interacting, people in conflict, people trying to reach a goal. In CITY the reader gets little of this. The best part of CITY was the chapter (chapters?) set on Jupiter. There you get some of what you get in HEAVEN.In HEAVEN, there are people who are in the novel throughout the story, some leaving and coming back, but part of the story nontheless. In HEAVEN you only get a robot all throughout. He's portraited as somewhat human, but that really didn't do it for this reader.
CITY certainly has interesting ideas and was worth reading, but the same is true of HEAVEN. I can't see myself reading CITY again, I can see myself reading HEAVEN again. Maybe.
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