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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Chilling, Oct 10 2003
In Logan's Run, Nolan paints a picture of a world in which population pressures have resulted in a world where every individual is euthanized on his or her 21st birthday. People live shallow lives in which physical pleasure is the main guiding principle. The scenario is, as might be imagined, frightening. The book opens just before the 21st birthday of Logan, the protagonist, whose job up to this point has been to hunt down those who resist euthanasia. It follows his experience as the imminence of his death sets in and he decides to try to evade the system.
The premise of this book is a fascinating one, but where I think it falls short is in how convincing it manages to make the situation. Nolan's depiction of the start of the euthanasia system smacks of the ridiculous: a young man, a prophet figure of sorts, suggests the practice and then becomes the first volunteer, after which the rest of the world throws their lot in with him. It's never satisfactorily explained how humans came to live in a world where emotion and kinship have been replaced by cold pragmatism. At the same time, the story makes one think about social norms and the people we choose to follow, as well as wonder about the nature of a world in which people have no future to live for. This book is a quick read--I highly recommend it to anyone who finds the topic of interest.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
What it does, it does very well., Mar 13 1999
By A Customer
Logan's Run is one of my favorite novels from a standpoint of plotting, back story and general premise.For those unfamiliar with it, Logan's Run is about a society in the future where no one is allowed to live past the age of 21. A person's age is determined by the color of the small crystal flower in the palm of his/her right hand. When the crystal starts to blink from red to black, it means you have 24 hours to report to a Sleepshop for mandatory euthanasia. At the end of this grace period, your flower turns black, and you become quarry for the DS men, an elite squad of police whose sole purpose is to eliminate the fugitives, or "Runners" as they are called.As I mentioned before, the book is a crackerjack example of plotting, and can be read in an afternoon. What makes it special is how each of its plot points is included for thematic or symbolic reasons. In other words, each episode in the novel is included because it reflects on the society in which its characters live, which in turn is a comment on its general premise.The premise in question is that a society cannot sustain a culture without wisdom, experience, and tradition. Those things, it argues, come with age. When the novel was published back in 1967, it was seen by some as a finger in the eye of the emerging youth culture.Like all good speculative fiction, it takes current issues and extrapolates them to their extremes. I'm pleased to say that this aspect of Logan's run hasn't lost any of its bite. We continue to live in a society where youth is equated with beauty, where the old are locked away and forgotten, and by a media-driven feeding frenzy over all things materialistic and fashionable. "Be young, have fun, drink Pepsi", indeed... Logan's Run picked these as important thematic concerns. Sadly, they are still with us.Important to the novel is the concept of a gigantic computer web that regulates every aspect of people's lives. In the novel, it is slowly dying. Since nobody lives long enough to learn anything complex, nobody knows how to repair it, or even knows that anything is wrong with it at all. The overall implication, is that runners or no runners, whether Logan fails or succeeds in his quest, the society depicted in the novel is eventually going to fall, and fall hard, due to its built-in inability to sustain itself. Where the novel falls short is in its characterizations and in its dialogue, which feels like it could have used a rewrite or two. In my opinion, a second or third draft for dialogue could have played the characters more subtly and believably. Instead, characters say things in very flat, unconvincing ways (especially Logan and Jessica, in their first real conversation together)that do help move the action forward, but don't make them very believable people.Still, all quibbles aside, a ripping read, full of action, suspense, and intriguing ideas.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A bit sensationalist, but a classic Sci-Fi book with futures, April 12 2004
The Nolan-Johnson collaboration of the 70's produced a remarkably popular tale about life in the fast-lane, with drugs, sex and rock and roll. The future youth-crazed culture goes to the ultimate extreme and people voluntarily (more or less) go to their sweet rest at the age of thirty. A liquid crystal time-out device in the palm of the hand (presciently anticipating RFID implants) shows the world where you are on the short time line of life.Logan is a Sandman, a government agent charged with the task of retrieving Runners, people who neglected to volunteer their fair share of suicide. But Logan is also getting on in years. When he is faced with LastDay, an orgiastic ritual ending in the culturally-acceptable demise, he balks. Thus, Logan's Run. What follows is a romp through the post-Apocalyptic, Hippy-fest of drugs, crime, sex and dangers, ending with a surprise. This novel is not exquisitely written, but it gets the job done, with plenty of excitement. A classic and worth reading, though not great literature by any means.
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by Blake Morrison
