The World Inside
Project: The Total Library

A compelling, thought provoking and eloquently written science fiction novel written by Robert Silverberg. It is essentially a dystopian novel, following many of the main themes explored by "We" (by Yevgeny Zamyatin, 1921), "Brave New World" (by the great Aldous Huxley, 1932) and "A Modern Utopia" (by H.G. Wells).

The book shows many unique ideas on overpopulation, free love, social organization and classes ,utopianism, metal illness and transcendent experiences with sex and drugs. Silverberg paints a chilling image of the future, where war, starvation, crime and birth control have been eliminated. People are encouraged to reproduce in masses, and this creates massive over-population where the the earth's population has reached 10,000,000. The world lives in kilometer-high towers holding 800,000 and rely on small agricultural communities for food. They believe this way of life is sustainable and carefree, but as the main characters in the book demonstrate, human determination to experience freedom in nature triumphs over these superficial emotions. This book paints a unique a horrifying image of the future we are creating or leading ourselves into, and provides insights into the psyche and the essence of human nature.

Tue, Jul 15, 2008  Permanent link

Sent to project: The Total Library