Mockingbird Audiobook By Walter Tevis cover art

Mockingbird

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Mockingbird

By: Walter Tevis
Narrated by: Robert Fass, Nicole Poole
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In a world where the human population has suffered devastating losses, a handful of survivors cling to what passes for life in a postapocalyptic, dying landscape. A world where humans wander, drugged and lulled by electronic bliss. A dying world of no children and no art, where reading is forbidden. And a strange love triangle: Spofforth, who runs the world, the most perfect machine ever created, whose only wish is to die; and Paul and Mary Lou, a man and a woman whose passion for each other is the only hope for the future of human beings on Earth.

An elegiac dystopia of mankind coming to terms with its own imminent extinction, Mockingbird was nominated for a Nebula Award for Best Novel.

©2014 Walter Tevis (P)2016 Tantor Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Survival Dystopian

Critic reviews

" Mockingbird will become one of those books that coming generations will periodically rediscover with wonder and delight." ( The Washington Post)
Thought-provoking Dystopia • Compelling Character Development • Unique Storytelling Approach • Relevant Societal Commentary
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I am glad I listened to this work. I was familiar -- and impressed -- with all of Walter Tevis' works, but I didn't know about this one until it was recommended by a mutual friend whose mother knew Tevis personally. He said it was the only novel that hasn't yet been turned into a film (all his others were, like The Hustler, The Color of Money, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Queen's Gambit), and all were quite successful--so I was intrigued with this one. I thought the story was really well done, although perhaps a bit of a cliche at first with robots taking over and creating a dystopia. But the character development and plot was excellent and engaged the reader as we hoped that the protagonists could somehow return to a life that they could only read about. It was so rewarding to know that their struggles resulted in achieving their dreams. This was an ultimately uplifting read!

Hopeful dystopia

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And I just pre ordered tevis’ book of short stories from audible. All of his I’ve listened to have been great

Great

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This is a highly creative, original, and imaginative work. It kept me thoroughly engaged throughout. The only thing that bugged me a little was his use of marijuana as a mind numbing drug used to placate the populous. I don't know if Walter Tevis lived through the late 60s and early 70s, but the drug's use hardly numbed the minds of its users, rather along with LSD, it spurred revolution in the streets and an evolution of art and music. He should have done a little self experimentation if nothing else. However, other than this forgivable mistake, the story and characters will remain with me for a very long time.

Deeply Engaging

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I've been looking for a book like this for a long time. Love it. it started a little slow and I wasn't sure what I was going to be listening to and it just kept getting better and better. It was really great.

Wow!

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A Brave new World and 1984 mix to give you an alternate future of our world with the coming innovations with AI.

Interesting

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Amazing book, particularly when you consider it was written in 1980. Short, but every paragraph is exactly what it should be...no more, no less.

One of a kind

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I read this when it was first published. All these years it is still one of the best books I have ever read. The audible version is superbly done.

Still his best and a masterpiece

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An excellent story by v Walter Tevis. More complex than "The Man Who Fell to Earth ".

well written, well read

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Elevators don’t work. Buildings fall in disrepair and equipment to make clothing and other necessities is degrading. An outdated government software and automated court system is not maintained due to dead batteries and malfunctioning cleaning bots. Only a Make Nine robot like Spofforth seems capable of maintaining a world falling apart. Yet he hates humans. As Dean at a university for “idiots” where people learn to be more inward, and history is studied only through old films or video, he secretly becomes mor powerful than anyone realizes.

In the 25th century, the human mind seems to have been dulled over years of conformity training and the systematic culling of intelligent free-thinkers. The last generation of humans cope by staying “medicated” and some desperate people end their lives by immolation, setting themselves on fire in small groups. No books are allowed- an edict that doesn’t have to be enforced because people are too drugged and brain washed to care.

One of the main characters, Paul Bentley, is the only reader. He observes the drugged people and the public suicides by fire and seems to be the only person who cries after witnessing several of these events, the only one who is curious and troubled by the victim’s lack of reaction. One would have to take a deadly amount of pain killers to be numb to burning alive. Humanity is in a sorry state.

Spofforth hires Paul Bentley to read and interpret a collection of silent movies. It spurs Paul to start writing down his experiences. During this time he meets Mary Lou, who’s living in the zoo. She points out what he’s feared, that the zoo is populated by androids, not just the animals; even the children are robots. She teaches him that the mechanized world doesn’t really have the control over them as he’s always believed. In turn he introduces her to the library and teaches her how to read.

Reading seems to open Paul’s mind and release him from the norm. He can feel love, enjoy sex, share his space with another. Of his journal, he says,“Reading it does something strange and exciting in my mind.”

The novel is a hero’s journey. Through the earnest character of Paul Bentley, we see how reading and writing opens the mind, how people can’t flourish or even continue to live without sharing the human experience.

WILL READING SAVE THE HUMAN RACE?

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What a surprisingly good book. It nearly seems like a sequel to "Brave New World" as to how humanity destroys itself. Highly recommend it.

Wow!

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