P. D. James: Todistajan kuolema (Death of an Expert Witness)

A detective story which is written in classic Agatha Christie style. The writing was too descriptive and rambling for my taste, the motive for murder[s] wasn't good enough and some of motivations of the characters weren't very believable. Not really my cup of tea.


Salapoliisitarina, joka tapahtuu lajityypillisesti Brittiläisellä maaseudulla. Pienen kaupungin rikoslaboratorion yksi päätutkijoista on murhattu työnsä äärellä. (tosin murha tapahtuu vasta kymmenien sivujen jaarittelun jälkeen). Kuka on syyllinen ja kuinka hänet saadaan kiinni, kun on otaksuttavaa, että tekijä tuntee hyvin rikostutkimuksen menetelmät. Syyllisen on näet pakko olla joku, joka pääsee lukittuun tutkimuslaboratorioon. Taattuun dekkarityyliin mahdollisia syyllisiä on runsaasti; kaikilla tuntuu olleen jotain syytä murhan tekemiseen, mutta juuri kenelläkään ei oikein riittävän hyvää syytä ja vielä kun kenelläkään ei näytä olleen edes kunnolla mahdollisuutta tekoon, on syyllisen löytäminen vaikeaa. Tosin vielä senkin jälkeen kun syyllinen löytyy, motiivi murhiin jää mielestäni aika heikosti perustelluksi.

Vanhanaikainen Agatha Christien tyyliin kirjoitettu salapoliisikertomus. Ensimmäinen kirja, jonka olen lukenut tältä kirjailijalta. Henkilövalikoima teoksessa on hyvin runsas ja huonolla nimimuistilla minun oli ajoittain vaikea muistaa kuka oli kuka. Kaikkien henkilöiden käyttäytyminen ei aina ollut mielestäni kovin loogista, esimerkiksi muutamat kirjassa olleet lapset ja nuoret tuntuivat käyttäytyvän ainakin noin 5 vuotta ikäänsä lapsellisemmin. Muutekin useamman hahmon toiminta kirjassa ei mielestäni ollut ihan järkevää, mutta toisaalta paradoksaalisesti henkilöhahmot olivat kyllä elävän tuntuisia. Mielestäni kirja oli kuitenkin pahasti ylipitkä ja löysän tuntuisella ylikuvailevalla tyylillä kirjoitettu ja todennäköisesti tulee jäämään viimeiseksi lukemakseni tämän kirjailijan teokseksi.

399s.

Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, May 1976

An average or below average issue for its time. Only four stories + a serial (which I haven't read).

Speculation • novelette by George O. Smith
Letters from a reader column of a Science Fiction magazine, which comment on the plausibility of a colony on Moon or in Mars which are interspaced with the snippets of stories concerning the Mars colony (or bits of the “reality” of the colony) I didn’t get this story and I didn’t see the point of it. **
The Prince in Metropolis • shortstory by Gordon Eklund
A man has become a Chairman (or a dictator) of a future city by use of a computerized polling system. He has always been able to give people what they want. He is on his deathbed when a childhood friend (who developed the computer system, and had also designed the hands of the Chairman. (He had lost all his limbs after an assault against him when young.)) The writing was ok, but the story was too short, and ending was lackluster and depended to the last sentence, which was very obvious. ***+
This, Too, We Reconcile • shortstory by John M. Ford
A monk of a religious order has died of torture. A some kind of mindreader, who is able to experience the experiences of dead is asked to find out if the monk saw the God in the end. There is little background in stories which for a large part consists of a mangled stream of consciousness imaginary. Tries to be a literary story -fails in my opinion. **
Projections • novelette by Stephen Robinett
A PR person is more or less forced to run a political campaign. (If he wouldn’t run it with “ordinary” advertising techniques, the ad agency would use a new invention: a device which causes a powerful compulsion to do something). He doesn’t completely agree with candidate's agenda, but does his best anyway. But there are some personal complications, though. The writing was ok, but the story was badly overlong and the invention was used mainly as a background threat. The beginning of the story was the best part, but there wasn’t a real middle and end there – everything just fizzled out. ***-

Ulla-Lena Lundberg: Jää

The winner of this year’s Finlandia award, the most prestigious literary award in Finland. A priest arrives to a little parish in Ahvenanmaa archipelago with is family son after the Second World War. He looks forward to life as a country pastor and soon the parishioners learn to like him as a friendly and human person. Life is happy and future seems bright – but things won’t continue as such. An extremely well written and enjoyable book.

Kuten tavallista viime vuoden Finlandia palkinnon voittaja oli taas joululoman lukemisena.
Kirja kuvaa pieneen saaristokuntaan muuttavan papin perheen elämästä muutaman vuoden ajalta. Perhe muuttaa saaristoon innokkaana ja tulevaisuuteen katsoen ja pian myös saarien asukkaat hyväksyvät heidät. Elämä on kiireistä ja työtäytteistä, mutta onnellista. Pappi-isä rakastaa puolisoaan ja kahta pientä tytärtään ja he rakastavat häntä. Kotielämää on kuvattu luonnollisella ja tunteellisella lämmöllä ja elämä tuntuu soljuvan eteenpäin suunnitelmien mukaan. Itse asiassa elämä oli niin onnellisen tuntuista, että kirjaa luki ahdistus kurkussa, koska lukijana tiesi, että jotain tasapainon järkyttävää tulee jossain vaiheessa tapahtumaan. Ja suurena järkytyksenä tuo tasapainon horjautus sitten aikanaan tuli, sillä en juonesta etukäteen tiennyt mitään.
Kirja oli kirjoitettu hienolla kielellä, jonka tyylissä oli vaihtelua sen mukaan kuka henkilöistä milloinkin oli näkökulmahenkilönä. Näkökulma saattoi vaihtua, jos nyt ei ihan kesken kappaletta, niin ainakin useampia kertoja luvun aikana tasaisena liukumana ilman että asiasta tehtiin mitään suurta ”numeroa”. Tämä oli ehkä suurin kirjoitusteknillinen ”temppuilu” mitä kirjasta löytyi, joka oli piristävää vaihtelua verrattuna useaan viimekertaiseen Finlandia-palkinnon voittajaan - pahin esimerkki lienee Nenäpäivä, jossa ei kielellisen temppuilun lisäksi muuta mainittavaa edes ollut vastenmielisine päähenkilöineen. Kokonaisuutena kirja oli hyvin nautittava ja liikuttava lukukokemus. Kirjan hahmoja jäi ikävä ja heidän pärjäämisestään jäi huoli.

365 s.

Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1951

Perhaps a below average issue. Some of the stories were adequate, but none was really good.

The C-Chute • novelette by Isaac Asimov
The chlorine breathing aliens have captured a human space ship. The surviving humans are being held as prisoners in the only room of the ship still filled with oxygen. Is there a way to escape to recapture the ship? After seemingly endless discussion by stereotypical and stupid characters a way is found, of course. The writing seemed better than in the Foundation I just read, but plotting was pretty bad, and there was one huge error in the orbital mechanics of the space ship. It is hard to believe that Asimov would make such an error. It is apparently enough just to change the orientation of the space ship to change the direction where it is going.***
Pleasant Dreams • shortstory by Ralph Robin
A former school friend comes to visit one of the most important men of the state: the Chief Watcher. He is important official who is in charge of the ever present surveillance of the authoritarian state’s citizens. Even the dreams can be eavesdropped and the former friends spend the night watching the dreams of the leader of underground. Until they see some pretty embarrassing imagery…and the evening doesn’t end well for either of them. Too short, not very well written, too stupid. **
Ambition • novelette by William L. Bade
A man is snatched to the future. A psychologist evaluates him to find out why the people of the past wanted to do so strange things – like travel to other planets. An average story, the writing wasn’t the worst of its’ time. The plot was fairly simplistic, though. **½
Spacemen Die at Home • shortstory by Edward W. Ludwig
The course of space cadets is graduating. A young man gets an offer f a teaching job, but he dreams of adventure. What is a mature choice? Will he follow the way of his idol, a veteran space man who has managed to get 24 hour leave for the graduation? A pretty good story. Unusual as it felt too short - the most stories of the era are too prolonged. ***
The Celestial Hammerlock • shortstory by Donald Colvin
A series of letters a wrestling manger send to his boss as they are sent by accident to a planet where there have been only intellectual amusements for generations. Naturally all women fell for muscular wrestlers and the wrestling becomes extremely popular. This story is beyond stupid in all possible ways. *½

Isaac Asimov: Säätiö (Foundation)

It has been decades since I read this book last time. Writing was worse than I remembered and the constant smoking and the pretty ridiculous technology were amusing. The plot was ok, though, and I probably will read the next two parts during this year. The later parts? Hell no, I am not so masochistic.

Tämän kirjan edellisestä lukukerrasta olikin kulunut yli 25 vuotta. Kirja kertoo galaktisen, tulevaa pimeää kautta lyhentämään perustetun säätiön ensimmäisistä vuosista. Säätiön toiminta perustuu psykohistoriaan, tieteeseen jolla on mahdollista ennustaa suurten ihmisjoukkojen toimintaa. Perusjuoni oli vielä kohtalaisesti muistissa, mutta yksityiskohdista aika paljon oli jo unohtunut ja kielelliset ja tyylilliset yksityiskohdat eivät olleet mielessä ollenkaan, josko niihin aikoinaan kiinnitti edes huomiota. Lapsuuden mieleen painuneita lukuelämyksiä ei ehkä kannattaisi aikuisena lukea, ja tämä viisaus tuntuu tämän kirjan pohjalta pitävän paikkansa ainakin osittain. Sinällään teos oli viihdytettävää ja nopeaa luettavaa. Kielellisesti ja kirjallisesti teksti ei ollut kovin korkeatasoista – en tiedä missä määrin syy oli käännöksessä ja missä määrin alkutekstissä. Epäilen, että syytä löytyy molemmista, todennäköisesti enemmän viimeksi mainitusta. Jokunen asia kiinnitti erityistä huomiota: etenkin alkupuolella tupakoinnin määrä oli suunnattoman suuri. Kirjan hahmot joko tupakoivat tai puhuivat tupakasta koko ajan. Kokonaan tupakkamaininnat eivät häipyneet, mutta alussa mainintoja tuntui olevan useita joka sivulla. Olikohan Asimov tupakkalakossa kirjoittaessaan tuota osaa tarinasta? Toinen huomiota kiinnittänyt asia oli teknologia, joka nykyajan näkökulmasta oli pääosin kovin vanhanaikaista. Myös tekniikan kummallinen kahtiajakautuneisuus oli erikoista: joko oli super-atomivoimatekniikkaa, tai ei ollut mitään käytännössä mitään teknologiaa. Hämmästyttävällä tavalla parissa sukupolvessa tekniikan salaisuudet unohtuivat, ilmeisesti kun Linnunradan imperiumi romahti, niin samalla kaikki teknillinen kirjallisuus, teknilliset korkeakoulut ja muukin sivistys katosi savuna ilmaan saman tein. Ja nähtävästi tämä onnistui tapahtumaan aiheuttamatta suunnattomia nälänhätiä ja muita seurauksia, jotka teknologian täysimittaisesta romahtamisesta seuraisivat – tai ainakaan niitä ei mainittu. Ihan mielenkiintoinen muistojen päivitys kirjan lukeminen oli – pitänee ne pari seuraavaakin osaa lukea, nopeasti luettavaa tekstiä nämä kuitenkin ovat. Näistä uudemmista jatkoista tai olla paras pysyä loitolla, ainakaan muistot eivät ole näiden vanhojen arvoisia.

253 s.

Galaxy Science Fiction, August 1951

An average issue, where most stories are well past their sell-by date.

Beyond Bedlam • novella by Wyman Guin
A story about a world where everyone is schizophrenic which is written by someone who apparently didn't know anything about schizophrenia. At least I find it hard to believe that schizophrenia would have meant multiple personality disorder in the fifties.
Everyone has a side personality. Everyone is using compulsory drugs to separate and control the personalities. Apparently going to this kind of lifestyle prevents all wars and violence. The two personalities everyone has are called hypoalter and hyperalter and the prevalent personality is switched every five days. Both personalities of the protagonist are married to the same woman (to her separate personalities), which in itself is uncommon and is considered to be slightly perverted. And what is really kinky is that the hyperalter of the personality has an affair with the wife of the hypoalter. That kind of perversion can't end well. The characters of the story spend extraordinary time explaining details of their society to each other’s. There are also some very extraneous parts in the story, for example there is a space ship race which comes from nowhere. The idea itself isn't the worst ever, but the writing is pretty bad and rambling, and the story would have benefited from a drastic shortening. **½
Operation Distress • shortstory by Lester del Rey
The first man who has landed in Mars is returning. In the middle of voyage he gets sick. Is there some pathogen he caught from Mars? A pretty stupid story with a stupid protagonist. There are several stupidities which should have been avoided even in -51. There apparently is "a little gravity" in space ship which travels in free fall. And when the ship is on a trajectory leading to earth and you should get there faster you just turn on your engines. I wonder why they weren't in use in the first place? And calculating the trajectory with all course changes and breaking burns would have been something very complicated. The reason why the astronaut got sick? The ship used cat's fur to gather dust and he was allergic to cats. Writing on par with the plot. **
The Pilot and the Bushman • novelette by Sylvia Jacobs
An alien ambassador slips that the aliens have technology to transfer all kind of matter and reconstitute it at will. It is a kind of cross of Star Trek's transfer beam and food reconstitution tech. That naturally causes a lot of interest - too much as matter of fact. He hires an advertiser to counter the damage. Soon the ad man has managed to make everyone think that the matter transmitter was a hoax. And he also manages to sell earth as a primitive vacation spot for the aliens. An amusing story which should have been somewhat tighter. ***-
Pictures Don't Lie • shortstory by Katherine MacLean
A scientist has captured TV transmissions from an approaching star ship. They are sent as tight, speed up bursts. Then the communication is established, and the ship starts to land. For some reason it doesn't seem to appear to the landing strip, even though the aliens say that have landed and are experiencing some serious trouble. Why? Think about the aliens in a famous Carl Barks Donald Duck / Uncle Scrooge story. These are similar ones, only more so. Another story which could have tighter. And with less stupid aliens. **½
The Fire and the Sword • novelette by Frank M. Robinson
Why there have been so many suicides of earth representatives on a planet which so perfect with so perfect and happy habitants, that it seems almost unreal? Two men are going to spend six months to find out. The reason is less complicated and more stupid than you might imagine. The inhabitants and the planet really are perfect, but the habitants will never really accept outsiders. They are friendly enough, but they will never make friends with humans. And that's apparently tragic enough to be a reason to kill yourself. The writing was tolerable. ***-
A Little Journey • shortstory by Ray Bradbury
An old woman comes to Mars because a fraudulent travel agent offers a “trip to heaven”. She and other members of her traveling group find an extremely battered and derelict rocket which was supposed to be used for the last part of the trip. And it is used for that trip, in a pretty literal sense. Nice story which was well written as could be expected. Little plot, a lot of style. ***+

The Uplift War (The Uplift Saga, Book 3) by David Brin

Second Hugo award winner from David Brin’s Uplift universe. Continues the story which begun in Startide Rising. Unfortunately, the exactly same story doesn't continue, rather the story happens at about the same time on another planet and explores the effects Streaker’s find had in human colony worlds. Garth is such new colony planet of humans and uplifted chimpanzee. It is still ecologically recovering of a disastrous reign of a species which uplift had more or less failed and which practically destroyed most of higher life from the planet, before the galactic society was able to stop that. The ecologically frail planet was given to humans as they are considered second class race without “patrons”. A fanatic but technologically powerful galactic race, Gubru, invade Garth and try to use occupations as leverage to get first-hand information Streaker’s find. After they find out that isn’t any new information available, they try to benefit from the occupation in some other way. Most of the humans has been captured, the chips keep up the most functions of the society under close surveillance by the Gubry, but there is at least one group of neo-chimps and one young human who are able offer some sort of resistance.

The book very enjoyable read, even better than Startide Rising. The plot was more coherent, the characters were more interesting and vivid (and often less stupid). The one downside of the book was a shade of old Astounding Science Fiction style of human superiority. The humans, and even the chimps which were uplifted by the humans are much more rational, sensible and intelligent than the Galactics who seem to closer to animals they were before their uplift. On the other that might just be a way to convey the “alieness” of aliens, but it was irritating at places, anyway. The writing was smooth and readable, probably slightly easier to read than in Startide. One of the best books I have read this year.

Hugo reading score 85% read.

672 pp.

Oh Myyy! (There Goes The Internet) by George Takei

A short e-book which describes how George Takei become one of the most followed people in the Facebook. The book contains some of the more popular memes he has introduced, some info about some peculiarities of the Facebook and some details of recent events in his life. The book is extremely recent and some parts of it were apparently written late November this year. It was light, fast reading even though I am very active in Facebook or even very interested of it. n the other hand, I AM in the Facebook, and book was interested enough I started to follow Takei’s updates.

app 100 pages.