This is one of my ancient paperbacks that I ordered on the Internet in December of 2006 and finished it the first time We 12/13/06. I reread the novel again and finished We 3/9/16 and I wrote, "The book might be an elaborate fantasy about male impotence". Refinished Fr 5/21/21.
The title is taken from William Blake's poem, Ah! Sun-flower.
From 'Goodreads'"
"It is the sixties, 2063, and things on Earth are looking grim. All energy sources have been depleted or declared unsafe. China's world dominance is growing, and America is sliding into impotence. Firewood is $7 a stick. Macy's is a giant coal storage bin. Energy laws have outlawed elevators, and skyscrapers stand empty. The U.S. is a second-rate power run by the Mafia and the Teamsters. Space travel is illegal. Worst of all, a new Ice Age is on the way.
What the world needs is a hero. A man rich enough to build his own spaceship. Brave enough to fly it. Crazy enough to want to save the world. Lucky enough to succeed. And here he comes...Ben Belson, a 21st century financier is the only man who has any hope of reversing the decline of civilization. Belson, undaunted, searches for an extraterrestrial fuel supply to reverse America's decline."
It was kind of a shock to realize that Tevis really went out on a limb in the early 80's to guess that China would be such a world power, but it turned out to be absolutely true.
I wonder if Elon Musk has read this book? It seems like he would feel that he is the model for the protagonist, Ben Belson.
*** Ben Belson uses a 'red computer' that seems very similar to the early Apple models.
The story reminded me of Robert Heinlein because the hero of the story is a domineering male character who 'has all of the answers', but is seriously flawed.
This is not Tevis's best novel, but anything by this author is worth a look. He died of lung cancer in 1984 at the age of 56.
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