The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester Book Review

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"The Demolished Man"
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Review Summary

In the year 2301, the latent mind-reading abilities of humans have been developed to the point where there a hundred thousand Level 1 "Espers" (can read conscious thoughts), several thousand Level 2s (can read unconscious thoughts) and several hundred Class 1 Espers (can penetrate to the pre-conscious under the right conditions). In a society where people have such abilities, nobody has successfully committed a triple-A crime in more than 70 years. But with the help of a disgruntled and heavily bribed Class 1 Esper, Ben Reich, owner of Monarch Utilities & Resources Inc., tries to commit the perfect murder of his competitor. It is up to Class 1 detective Lincoln Powell to track him down and bring Reich to justice. A classic of the golden age of sci fi, _The Demolished Man_ won the first best novel Hugo, in 1953, and apart from the occasional outdated reference (e.g., someone takes a rocket out of "Idlewild" -- now JFK in New York), it holds up remarkably well after nearly a half century.
David Loftus, Resident Scholar

Detailed literary breakdown of The Demolished Man

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 20%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%

FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Spying & Investigations Yes
What is main char. doing? - finding a killer (criminal)
Mental/magical powers focus Yes
magical powers: - telepath (scifi)
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - police/lawman
Age: - 20's-30's
Has magical/special powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character: - mind reading
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - business executive
Eccentric: Yes - obsessed - deluded - emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a substantial amount
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
Earth setting: - medium future 22-24th century
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
scientific jargon? (SF only) - a moderate amount of scientific explanation
How much dialogue? - significantly more descript than dialog

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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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