The Mount: A Novel
人間が異星種族に乗用動物のように支配される未来を描くサイエンス・ファンタジー。少年チャーリーと彼を所有する若い異星人の関係を通じ、隷属、愛着、自由への欲望を問い直す。
作品情報
支配する者とされる者の親密さが、自由の意味を揺さぶる。
Carol Emshwiller による長編。人間と異星支配者の関係を、少年の視点から身体性のある寓話として描く。
レビュー要約
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奇抜な設定を単なる寓話に閉じ込めず、親密さと搾取が同時に存在する関係として描く点が印象に残る。
書籍情報
- 出版社
- Small Beer Press
- 発売日
- 2002-08-01
- ページ数
- 200ページ
- 言語
- 英語
- サイズ
- 13.97 x 1.78 x 20.83 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9781931520034
- ISBN-10
- 1931520038
- 価格
- 3714 JPY
- カテゴリ
- 洋書/Science Fiction & Fantasy/Science Fiction
* Philip K. Dick Award Winner * Best of the Year: Locus, Village Voice, San Francisco Chronicle, Book Magazine * Nominated for the Impac Award Charley is an athlete. He wants to grow up to be the fastest runner in the world, like his father. He wants to be painted crossing the finishing line, in his racing silks, with a medal around his neck. Charley lives in a stable. He isn't a runner, he's a mount. He belongs to a Hoot: The Hoots are alien invaders. Charley hasn't seen his mother for years, and his father is hiding out in the mountains somewhere, with the other Free Humans. The Hoots own the world, but the humans want it back. Charley knows how to be a good mount, but now he's going to have to learn how to be a human being.
Carol Emshwiller is the author of six novels including Carmen Dog, Ledoyt, Mister Boots, The Secret City, and Leaping Man Hill, as well as collections of short fiction: Joy in Our Cause, Verging on the Pertinent, The Start of the End of It All, Report to the Men’s Club, I Live with You, Master of the Road to Nowhere, and two volumes of Collected Stories. She grew up in Michigan and France. She lives in New York City.
レビュー
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Haunting and believable
There are no plot reveals in this review, because I don't want to spoil it for you! I finished this book recently and it really does haunt me with the voices of the main characters and the interesting premise. Young Charley speaks with an authentic voice for his age and situation, someone who has no concept of freedom and who only wants to please and excel in his rôle, and the author's made it possible to relate well to, and even sympathise with, the aliens, and especially the infant who is so important to Charley. You learn only gradually how such puny creatures enslaved humanity, and the casual delivery of the information makes easy to believe. There's a little switching time periods, and certainly no sense that the book is little more than the shallow sequence of events you sometimes get in fiction; the treatment is reflective. There's some poignant insights here into many relationships: father and son, human and animal, slave and master. A great read.
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more people should read this
Seeing the 13 year old protagonist think and act like a pet horse makes me feel sad and guilty about the way we treat pets and animals, especially horses. The story however, is not depressing. The smart, hopeful ending is a pleasant surprise in the end. Excellent research work on the part of the author on pet psychology. Very interesting. It's a unique fantasy fiction that is very well done.
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Engaging read
Y'know, I dithered about whether this book was a four-star or a five-star. The style of writing is a bit lacking and flavourless, and there is a hint of tweeness. But the key thing for me is the masterful way - no other way to describe it - the author describes Charley's participation in his own subjection; how he internalises the values imposed on him by the Hoot masters and sees value in being a 'good slave' when the Hoots themselves generally - but not always, as in the case of his rider - see those values in cynical terms as a method of control. The way Charley then manages to reconcile his slave morality with the values of true freedom is dealt with marvellously. For this alone, brilliant. But also a fascinating sf concept (rare in sf these days, and well-enough executed. A very engaging read.
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I initially read this novel because it was on a ...
I initially read this novel because it was on a list of bizarre sci fi books that are worth a read — and it definitely lives up to that. It excellently explores the interesting premise.
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Very original
This book was reminiscent of john wyndhams midwich cuckoos. I imagined the hoots looked like granny from the squidbillies. & wonder what happened to horses in that world.