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Author: Gene Wolfe
Based on the Theme: Astronomy
Published by: Orion Books
Date published: 1999 [first published 1972]
Format: paperback
ISBN: 1857988175
Length: 252pages
Genres: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Adult Fiction, Adventure, American Literature, Classic books, Expedition, Mythology
The Synopsis:
On the twin colony planets Sainte Anne and Sainte Croix, civilization is a colourful mix of the archaic and the futuristic, with slavery and advance science coexisting. The shapeshifting alien inhabitants of Sainte Anne were exterminated by the colonists - but some believe that instead they killed the humans and adopted their identity. In three interlocking tales, the secrets of their strange society are revealed.
The Review:
Background Context:
Before I begin, lets set some background to plot so you'll know what the hell I'm talking about. OK so there are two colony planets that orbit earth in this novel; Sainte Anne and Sainte Croix. During a time of human exploration and war, the planets were founded and settled by the French [hence the French names]. Sainte Croix has slaves where Sainte Anne does not. Sainte Anne is where the Annes or shortened Abos come from, the aboriginals before the French if you like, and are the supposed extinct race and as such have an almost mythological status.
Plot & Pace -
Part 1 'The Fifth Head of Cerberus'
We meet Number Five and David, children of a mad 'genius', called the father, on Sainte Croix. We follow Number 5 as he makes his way through, what can only be described as weird and disturbing so called 'childhood'. Number 5 is the narrator and we see his world of experiments and genetic modifications as the somewhat norm. More and more layers of complexity are added and soon the story shifts as Number 5 reaslises he is a clone of his 'father'. The reason given for the cloning are to understand oneself, to know what makes us different, how we make mistakes and so on. It is altogether detached from emotions as unwanted clones are sold to slavery. Eventually Number Five becomes free from his father though I won't spoil how his freedom and redemption come about as it's the only good bit of part 1.
To be honest I found part 1 fascinating but also incredibly confusing. The demented world and the societal norms and values were really interesting to read but it took so long to work out what the hell was going on it distracted my attention and I didn't enjoy it as much as I potentially could have. Many paragraphs I had to read over twice and sometimes three times to fully understand what the hell was going on. The plot also wasn't very captivating or wanting of attention until the closing pages when Number 5 finally gets his freedom. But I really didn't care for him.
To be honest I found part 1 fascinating but also incredibly confusing. The demented world and the societal norms and values were really interesting to read but it took so long to work out what the hell was going on it distracted my attention and I didn't enjoy it as much as I potentially could have. Many paragraphs I had to read over twice and sometimes three times to fully understand what the hell was going on. The plot also wasn't very captivating or wanting of attention until the closing pages when Number 5 finally gets his freedom. But I really didn't care for him.
Part 2 'A Story' by John V. Marsch
In pre-contact Sainte Anne, we meet Sandwalker, whom sets out in an almost hallucinatory, dream like trip to find this lone priest in a cave to communicate with him. When at the cave he does not find a priest but his twin brother Eastwind, with whom he communicates with via dreams. He also meets the Shadow Children, a community unlike any I have read about. The Shadow Children are a race, almost caveman like, whom connection is via food. They are hunted by the marshmen and when Sandwalker, after forging a relationship with one of the Shadow Children decides to try and save them, they are all captured. The marshmen sacrifice the Shadow Children, almost like a sacrifice to the Gods so as to communicate their souls to the heavens. The Shadow Children protect their planet from foreigners [alien races] and are protected by neighbouring planets but such is their predicament they call for help and thus begin the war.
If I thought part 1 was hard to understand, nothing prepared me for part 2. This was much more mythological than factual and was very disjointed. I had to research online to find out what was going on in this part of the novel. There is no back-story or context to which to guide you as it's completely detached from part 1. As a result it felt like the blind was leading the blind; the moment I started to grasp the plot, it lead onto somewhere completely different and I was lost yet again. Utterly crap.
Part 3 V.R.T.
Finally something to write about; the author saved the best till last. We meet anthropologist John Marsch from part 1 and 'author' of part 2, in a cell at a jail on Sainte Croix. His crime; mainly being a suspected spy and assassin of his guide, a young aboriginal boy. Continually interrogated by unnamed security personnel on his visit to Sainte Anne, his personal journal and published works on the anthology of Sainte Anne are dissected to bring forward a case against him and continue to the next stages of his trial.
This part of the story was a cross between Master and Commander style documentation of life on Sainte Anne and 1984 style interrogation of the prisoner. It gave more context and background, connecting other elements of the story such as how the marshmen in part 2 originated. It felt altogether a more bound story, one that had consequence and one which I, as a reader, could follow. Parts 1 and 2 lacked direction in that I couldn't see the significance of where the plot was going. It still, at times, felt like a descriptive historical textbook on these two worlds, full of facts but little else.
Language and dialogue used - The structure and plot made it hard to really review the other elements completely, nonetheless, the language used was not altogether difficult to digest and likewise the dialogue was relatively easy to follow. I would not say any of the descriptions were beautiful, more so lacking. Specifically with the dialogue, sometimes due to the confusion with the identity of the characters [as discussed below] it meant you couldn't always follow who was saying what.
Characters - The characters, though an eclectic mix, do have similar traits. The sense of wanting to understand their identity and find out their ancestry and history all flow throughout. It seems the character had just as many unanswered questions about these worlds as the reader does. In part 1, the characters emotions are typically detached due to their sterilised experimental environment. In part 2 they were suspicious and unsure. In part 3 they were defencive and assertive. Due to the 'shapeshifting' traits and mythological status of some of the characters it meant their narrative and feed was more like going off on a tangent; to top it off it was not clear of the true identity of some characters such as the boy in part 3, was he also Marsch?
Narrative - I didn't really like any of the narrative in this story. It seemed very harsh and fragmented, split into different parts it almost forcibly prevented the book from gaining momentum.
Themes and ideas - I don't think I can really criticise a book with such imagination and revolutionary ideas. This feature alone is simple spellbinding.
The Verdict - The lack of direction and clarity on the story and difficulty in following each part of the novel completely ruined this novel. I really wanted to like the book but I didn't have a clue what the hell was going on half the time. The themes and ideas are utterly mind-blowing but it's not enough to save this novel; it reads like an adventurer's textbook, full of facts and not captivating at all. I really don't think it deserves the status of a classic. 1* Star.
If I thought part 1 was hard to understand, nothing prepared me for part 2. This was much more mythological than factual and was very disjointed. I had to research online to find out what was going on in this part of the novel. There is no back-story or context to which to guide you as it's completely detached from part 1. As a result it felt like the blind was leading the blind; the moment I started to grasp the plot, it lead onto somewhere completely different and I was lost yet again. Utterly crap.
Part 3 V.R.T.
Finally something to write about; the author saved the best till last. We meet anthropologist John Marsch from part 1 and 'author' of part 2, in a cell at a jail on Sainte Croix. His crime; mainly being a suspected spy and assassin of his guide, a young aboriginal boy. Continually interrogated by unnamed security personnel on his visit to Sainte Anne, his personal journal and published works on the anthology of Sainte Anne are dissected to bring forward a case against him and continue to the next stages of his trial.
This part of the story was a cross between Master and Commander style documentation of life on Sainte Anne and 1984 style interrogation of the prisoner. It gave more context and background, connecting other elements of the story such as how the marshmen in part 2 originated. It felt altogether a more bound story, one that had consequence and one which I, as a reader, could follow. Parts 1 and 2 lacked direction in that I couldn't see the significance of where the plot was going. It still, at times, felt like a descriptive historical textbook on these two worlds, full of facts but little else.
Language and dialogue used - The structure and plot made it hard to really review the other elements completely, nonetheless, the language used was not altogether difficult to digest and likewise the dialogue was relatively easy to follow. I would not say any of the descriptions were beautiful, more so lacking. Specifically with the dialogue, sometimes due to the confusion with the identity of the characters [as discussed below] it meant you couldn't always follow who was saying what.
Characters - The characters, though an eclectic mix, do have similar traits. The sense of wanting to understand their identity and find out their ancestry and history all flow throughout. It seems the character had just as many unanswered questions about these worlds as the reader does. In part 1, the characters emotions are typically detached due to their sterilised experimental environment. In part 2 they were suspicious and unsure. In part 3 they were defencive and assertive. Due to the 'shapeshifting' traits and mythological status of some of the characters it meant their narrative and feed was more like going off on a tangent; to top it off it was not clear of the true identity of some characters such as the boy in part 3, was he also Marsch?
Narrative - I didn't really like any of the narrative in this story. It seemed very harsh and fragmented, split into different parts it almost forcibly prevented the book from gaining momentum.
Themes and ideas - I don't think I can really criticise a book with such imagination and revolutionary ideas. This feature alone is simple spellbinding.
The Verdict - The lack of direction and clarity on the story and difficulty in following each part of the novel completely ruined this novel. I really wanted to like the book but I didn't have a clue what the hell was going on half the time. The themes and ideas are utterly mind-blowing but it's not enough to save this novel; it reads like an adventurer's textbook, full of facts and not captivating at all. I really don't think it deserves the status of a classic. 1* Star.
9 comments:
I completely disagree with much of your review. To say that the first story was confusingly written is just not true. It is really a very straight-forward story and Wolfe's writing is clear and concise. I think you should read it again with the idea in mind that Wolfe leaves clues one time only. He does not dumb down the story and never cheats.
The things you found confusing or harsh are the same things that endear Wolfe to so many readers and why he has been honored in his field so much.
I would suggest you try something else of his, too. Perhaps his short fiction would be a good place to start as there are several collections. Happy reading.
Fair point about what I found confusing or harsh are the same things that endear Wolfe to other readers - they obviously don't appeal to me. But I wouldn't say that the first story was as easy to follow as any other novels I've read.
I like your suggestion about reading another of his novels; I think that wouldn't be fair for me to judge him as an author, on just on one book alone [though that wasn't the point of the review, it's on the novel not author]. Any particular collections you would recommend? Thanks for stopping by. :)
Your angle on this book is interesting. It's described as "utterly crap" because the storylineis misunderstood. The characters are implied as crap because they are ciphers. And, the narrative is described as "harsh" because it's broken into pieces. Based on this, I assume you prefer novels with warm, relatable protagonists, a storyline wherein the author holds the reader by the hand so they don't get lost, and a narrative that advances in A-B-C fashion. There seems to be no allowance for ambition, no room for a writer to explore other modes of presentation, and lastly, no understanding of when a writer has deliberately broken the mold to accomplish literary goals.
I do not think "Fifth Head of Cerebrus is the greatest book ever written. However, I do appreciate the fact Wolfe has rejected mainstream storytelling in favor of a form that underpins the themes he's driving at, i.e. uncertain identity supported by an uncertain narrative. The discomfort / disaffection you feel toward Wolfe's narrative is the same you would feel wondering whether the person sitting across from you really is who they say they are.
Suffice to say, it's reviews like this that indirectly support the endless cycle of mainstream fiction and deny writers who take the art to different level a potential chance for others to have a try.
Lastly, you close your review gushing praise for the "spellbinding" nature of the book's "imagination and revolutionary ideas." Given the fact you admit to understanding little and being turned off by the style, I'd be curious how you came to this conclusion?
(Apologies for the edge to my comment. I'm not really an angry guy, just a guy who appreciates standards for books higher than rehashed flavors in ABC format...)
Hi Jesse,
thanks for your interesting thoughts on the review - it's always appreciated to see how others view the book and my take on it.
I do prefer social-psychological books but I wouldn't say that I liked to be held by the hand through a novel; repetition and predictability is my pet hate and though you may think this contradictory to my review, I found the Fifth Head of Cerebrus too extreme in it's style in that I couldn't follow the plot.
One of my aims when starting my blog back late last year, was to open up my reading spectrum as I felt all I reading was mainstream novels. Since then I have opened up considerably to the indie market in particular.
My praise for the themes and ideas of the novel were in fact because I could appreciate that at the time when the book was written, it was completely different to any other published at the time.
Given you obviously read such books more often than I do, what did you rate the book as?
Thanks for your patience with my comment. I was wondering as I came home last night whether I laid it on too thick...
I would give The Fifth Head of Cerebrus four-and-a-half stars. You are correct that Wolfe's prose lacks zip and pizazz, but technically his syntax is near flawless. It is so much nicer to read his books than the newer writers on the scene who were never properly shown the subtleties of sentence structure, etc. As I mentioned above, I like it when writers try to do something different with form, and when they successfully use it to develop ideas, as with Wolfe's book, I am rewarding. But what makes Fifth Head so good, in my opinion, is the exposition of theme. There is the identity issue I mentioned in my previous comment--a subject that has become increasingly examined in sci-fi as technology further blurs the lines of individuality. But more so, there are the colonial issues discussed. Written in 1972 during the Vietnam War, the parallels to imperialism are obvious. The French are the aggressors in Wolfe's novel, just as they colonized Vietnam many years ago. The resulting loss of culture, i.e. disappearance of the native shapeshifters, says a lot. Given that they didn't actually disappear but simply came to look the same as us is a concerning effect of globalization--the fade of local culture, no? That all of this is fully supported by the disaffecting style I wrote of in my previous comment is the cherry on top.
I once read an article by a man who said, a good review is based not on the reviewer's opinion of a book, but of a writer's intentions for their book. In other words, did they accomplish what they set out to accomplish, and if or if not, how? Wolfe didn't set out to write an easy book. He wanted to make people think, especially given the weight of its themes. Did he accomplish this? I'd say 'yes', especially given how many people say the book is "difficult" and "complex". I applaud him for not writing down, but writing up to his audience. If a person doesn't want to think, only relax while reading a book, they should stick to simpler material. Otherwise, criticizing an author because their work is misunderstood seems a touch self-indulgent.
Thanks for leaving further comments on my blog. I'll add another, here.
Given I do not recognize most of the books on your blog as sci-fi or fantasy, I'd be curious what brought you to Wolfe to begin with? He is certainly in the more literary side of the genre, but nevertheless cannot be mistaken for anything but speculative fiction...
I came by Wolfe literally by chance. Many years ago I came across the SF Masterworks series when visiting Hay-On-Wye (you've probably heard of Hay, it hosts a massive literary festival each year and has more second hand books stores that people). Whilst at Hay, I picked up Kate Wilhelm's marvelous novel Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang.
I'd completely forgotten the series until I came across Wolfe in another secondhand book shop many years later and based on the both how much I enjoyed Kate's work and the synopsis of Wolfe's book, I decided to go with it. :)
Hay-on-Wye sounds like my kind of place! Unfortunately I have yet to make it to the Isles, something I naturally hope to remedy, someday...
Anyway, better luck with any further adventures you take into the labyrinth of Wolfe's writing. He is not the greatest writer ever, but he certainly does his share holding up the very small end of science fiction and fantasy that is literary.
You never really read Gene Wolfe, only re-read him. The problem, if there is one, with Wolfe, is that he is a well read, allusive engineer who happens to be both spiritual and brilliant. Thus, religious symbols mean something, scientific puzzles are often at the root of his SF, and he has planned out everything to the smallest detail.
In Fifth Head of Cerberus, you have to pay attention to color, theme, place names, patterns, engineering terms like Variance Reduction Theory (a series of estimations will solve a problem), as well as religious symbols (St. Anne is the mother of Mary, the immaculate conception, St. Croix is the cross, the death of Jesus, but there are other crosses going on, too). The second portion is both allegorical (mysterious trees, chewing seeds that make you like a God, one brother killing another, losing paradise) and also literal: the stone statue invisible to "God", the life cycle of the aborigines, the circle of trees that appears in both the other novellas as a temple or column and mortuary in dreams shows up there too.
In addition, you have to pay attention to life cycles: shadow children are anthropomorphized in "A Story" because they are a "space faring" race ... which in the third novellaa comes up from the springs. Pay attention to wolves, women who wear pink, what a butterfly is (a transformed caterpillar), the street names like maggot, charlatan, corruption ...
Gene Wolfe is THE cleverest author ever and deserves nothing less that a perfect score, especially for this novel. Where else could a maggot vector write from a Kefkaesque jail pretending to be a man replaced by a half-tree aborigine? Only in Gene Wolfe.
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