Non-stop by Brian Aldiss 10 out of 10

 Non-stop by Brian Aldiss

10 out of 10

This is transformational Science Fiction novel for this reader in that he has not been a fan of the genre, avoiding it actually, but given the complexity, creativeness, intense action, brilliant plot, connection with what is happening right now, Non-stop opens a whole new chapter and the plan is to follow up with other classics of the genre…the other important revelation coming from this exceptional work is that if you are worried about the pandemic, then you have the chance to see what could happen in 201 years, when the Ague as a sort of Plague hits the community, as a sort of post-apocalyptic virus, in an époque when the optimistic author – see, he still thinks there would be a humanity that far into the future – projects that some people would have a tremendously hard time dealing with disease and the fallout, while others would survive, perhaps and inhabit a world that is not so terrible as…say Trump’s cultish America, that section that is crazy about a substandard creature…

One magical feature of this spectacular book, included on The Guardian’s 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jan/23/bestbooks-fiction - is that the plot takes one to unexpected places, literally and figuratively, as we follow Roy Complain, The Priest Maraupper, the one who would surprise everyone, Bob Fermour, Ern Roffery and Wantage on their Quest for the Holy Grail – well, not quite The Holy Grail – we are very puzzled by this apparently medieval society, if not primitive, which might be there as a result of an apocalypse, like the one in Planet of The Apes, and as we move on, we get to find new details, but the story is still quite hermetic, up to the end, which, without revealing anything about it, is still mysterious in that if you figure it out, please let me know, for the undersigned is still in a quandary…will they be alright, or is it what we learn conducive to the alternative scenario

The hero himself is ravishing in that he starts so low in IQ and EQ that he has problems comprehending the relationship between the low price of the meat he brings as a Hunter in Quarters (which is the name of the location for his, Greene Tribe) and the abundance of domesticated animals that they possess at this time, at the beginning if the story, only to rise fantastically, experiencing a spectacular transcendence, brought about by the ultimate transforming emotion, Love, but also by the Quest and the Adventures he has to go through and in part it would be his special genes, which we would learn belong to a great ancestor, one that this rebel, intrepid, courageous, smart after being somewhat lame for a while man would emulate…

His life in Quarters, as a Hunter in this primitive tribe is unhappy, though he does entertain some hopes to become a guard, a position that is elevated from the lot of menial workers, but once his quarrelsome wife, Gwenny, is kidnapped during a hunt on which she insists on coming along, his position in the hierarchy is altered beyond repair, for those without a spouse are thrown to the lowest ranks, punished for the loss with physical abuse, because they only have 130 women out of a total of about 900 souls and thus the main character becomes open to the suggestion made by the priest, Marapper, that he joins him when he escapes outside the community, together with some other valiant comrades…though when he sees them, Complain would become infuriated and sarcastic, because they seem unworthy to him…

As they escape into the ‘wild, the unknown’, after killing the right hand of lieutenant Greene, the leader of the tribe and then another guard, the five men would encounter extreme danger, the most peculiar adversaries – though on the issue of enemies, they would be proved wrong, for The Giants they fear so much are more complex creatures that the tribesmen suspect, and this should have been clear to them, once they are caught by a couple of them and they are not killed, but furthermore, the dialogue seems to indicate that they do not have that intention, which appears an impossibility – indeed, being raised in a Faith in Psychoanalysis – though not named or known as such – not in a religion, men and women of the Greene Tribe and as we will see other inhabitants of this Ship, have what they call The Teaching, with rage indicated as a sort of treatment, a method to cope with adversity and trauma, a set of rules that did not approve of softness, made children deny their parents at tender ages, with silly greetings as ‘Expansion to your ego’ and replies such as ‘at your expense’

Ern Roffery and Roy Complain meet with the Giants in what used to be a swimming pool, but the ignorant tribesmen do not understand – and readers with them, for we still do not understand , I did not, maybe you will when you read it  - what is going on here – as various new elements come into the picture, the ideas that have been circulating get some shape…they think that they are on a big Ship, the priest, the other four men, with the exception of the hero, who is not sure what to think about the place he used to live in and the new landscapes, figures are still overwhelming and outlandish…as he is caught by the Giants, a pack of rats attack and they have some features that make them very advanced animals, at least for the standards that the ones we know respect…

It is almost an epiphany, a transformation when they reach Forwards, where a much more advanced community lives, and most important among them Laur Vynn, the beautiful, nay resplendent woman that falls in love, eventually, with the hero and that Roy worships and appreciates so much as to make one think of the famous line in As Good As It Gets – ‘you make me want to be a better man’ – since the former primitive and somewhat dim hunter becomes the Glorious Prince, transformed from the frog he used to be, takes the initiative, becomes instrumental for the survival of all those involved, would fight the enemy, outsmart devious traitors and let us stop here and not divulge – which appears impossible to do, even if intended, given the number of revelations that keep popping up towards the end when we find one secret after another about what had happened to the Ship – for it is a Ship – what are the chances, the effects of The Ague, a sort of Plague for the future centuries, if we live that long…not us, but the descendants…

There are some elements that are very disturbing, and some encouraging, quite optimistic views on what is going to happen with mankind, for it looks like it will not destroy itself – perhaps this Covid will and if not this time, the next one that will show in those awful Chinese markets, reopened right now, after they have seen the devastation originated from the Wuhan terrible torturing places for exotic foods for the cruel Chinese (not all, but a good share it appears) they still do not see that they need to stop this, before some other deadly Plague will be born there and wipe out the human race…if they feel nothing for the pour creatures that are so much abused in those abject, despicable, inhuman zones…