Finished Mo 8/7/17- an Ebook from the library (Hoopla)
I was surprised to see that this book was still in print. I watched the movie, SOYLENT GREEN, last weekend and learned that it was taken from this novel. I couldn't believe that a paper copy was not available, but it was on Hoopla.
The film's Bonus Features included commentary by the director and he said that the 'cannibalism' was not in the book. I thought that this would be like making a movie of MOBY DICK without the whale.
The book (1966) and the film are radically different and they only share the setting and the two main characters, Andy and Sol.
The book is really an extrapolation of Malthusian Theory and a speech made by Dwight Eisenhower.
"A Malthusian growth model, sometimes called a simple exponential growth model, is essentially exponential growth based on a constant rate. The model is named after Thomas Robert Malthus, who wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798), one of the earliest and most influential books on population."
From a presidential news conference by Dwight D. Eisenhower- December 2, 1959
"This thing has for very great denominations a religious meaning, definite religious tenet in their own doctrine. I have no quarrel with them; as a matter of fact this being largely the Catholic Church, they are one of the groups that I admire and respect. But this has nothing to do with governmental contact with other governments. We do not intend to interfere with the internal affairs of any other government, and if they want to do something about what is admittedly a very difficult question, almost an explosive question, that is their business. If they want to go to someone for help, they will go unquestionably to professional groups, not to governments. This Government has no, and will not as long as I am here have a positive political doctrine in its program that has to do with this problem of birth control. That's not our business."
In the book Sol blames the government for not doing anything about the extreme overpopulation. He attends a violent demonstration in Manhattan and breaks his hip. This leads to his death.
From the book's page at amazon-
"The world is crowded. Far too crowded. Its starving billions live on lentils, soya beans, and —if they’re lucky—the odd starving rat.
In a New York City groaning under the burden of 35 million inhabitants, detective Andy Rusch is engaged in a desperate and lonely hunt for a killer everyone has forgotten. For even in a world such as this, a policeman can find himself utterly alone….
Acclaimed on its original publication in 1966, Make Room! Make Room! was adapted into the 1973 movie Soylent Green."
The book is a straight forward 'A to B' presentation- no twists and no surprises. However, for some reason the Ebook is divided into two sections with thirteen chapters each. When I was in section #1, chapter 3, I mistakenly skipped to section #2, chapter 4. After many more chapters read out of order, I went back and reread. The timeline is actually late spring to winter, and since there's not really any extreme character deviations or unusual plot twists, it was pretty easy to follow.
Another idea from the film that's not in the book is 'furniture'. In the rich people's apartments women were assigned to the rooms and could be used as concubines or prostitutes. The women didn't mind- this was part of the job description. And, the movie hinges on the discovery that 'Soylent Green is people'. The film has to be one of the biggest departures from a written work to the silver screen, although I felt that both the novel and the movie were worth a look.
Edward G. Robinson's last film. He was almost completely deaf while shooting the film.
Charlton Heston and Chuck Connors, two prominent Republicans, together in the same film!
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