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The Unincorporated Man (Sci Fi Essential Books) by Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin Edition: Hardcover Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published) Published: 2009-03-31 ISBN: 0765318997 Number of pages: 496 Publisher: Tor Books
Book Reviews of The Unincorporated Man (Sci Fi Essential Books)Book Review: On of the best looks at alternative as well as current society make-up. Summary: 5 Stars
First I did not buy the dead-tree version I bought the Audible audiobook version, unabridged of course so the book I listened to is verbatim the novel others have read or you will read.
I have to begin that is you liked the works of Robert Heinlein, especially Stranger in a Strange Land, you will find this take on societal evolution quite fascinating. If you enjoyed the basic make-up of Heinlein's Friday or the novel Starship Troopers this will be a fun read for you. Last I feel if you found Jennifer Government a fun read/listen, this is a book for you. In fact it is very similar in overall philosophy yet from a much different perspective so it comes across as a fresh take on the Corporate-State sort of society. I am not going to delve into the realm of spoilers but will comment in general.
Oh, I also suspect fans of Edward Abbey will enjoy this title as well...Abbey (along with Heinlein) is one of my top five favorite writers of the modern era and possibably of all time. For me this is a group I could not possibly rank in order because I enjoy them all for differing reasons.
The book takes a quite novel peek at how we value our individuality and how easily may will trade this for some sense of "security". It does not matter if the security is real or not, we all simply want to feel our lives are indeed secure and under out control, even if through self-delusion or indoctrination by the society in which we are raised.
From beginning to end this book held my attention, and very few audiobooks will keep me focused on the book throughout the entire book. This is a completely character driven work with some obvious liberties taken but done in a fashion that it's not a "jump the shark" sort of liberty for any given character.
The protagonist is well written and developed, a few liberties are taken of course, as any novel of this sort must take. But the character is consistent, intelligent but far from flawless in the personality created. Most importantly the character evolves as the novel develops and he faces numerous ethical dilemmas the other characters in the novel would never think twice about. Accordingly, each decision to act/not-act results in consequences, most could be anticipated and others one raised on our current societal belief system might never anticipate. It is within these unanticipated results where the real meat of the work reside.
For the uninitiated, my comparison to Heinlein was due to Heinlein being a staunch believer in accountability of the individual for their/our own actions as well as accepting that often doing the required thing means great sacrifice as well as accepting when we make a decision we need to make the best decision we can and usually based on incomplete information, but we are still accountable for our own decisions to act or not act, as in capitulate to the needs of the moment even if it's the morally wrong thing to do. But at the same time each of us as individuals must navigate the complexities of the society we live in. The Unincorporated Man espouses this philosophy to an even higher degree by taking us on a wonderful journey through a society based on purely corporate laws & regulations. It is not Orwellian but not completely apart for the main premise of 1984 either.
I won't go into more detail other than to say, I liked this enough that I will buy the Kindle edition as well, but anyone w/o a Kindle and a fan of the authors I mentioned in this review, this is a must read. For others who simply enjoy like a well written character driven story which stimulates you to constantly put yourself into the protagonist's shoes and re-evaluate our own belief system, this is also a must read book. But you must have an open mind and read the whole work before developing any conclusions as every portion of the book is significant to the appreciation of the entire work.
Summary of The Unincorporated Man (Sci Fi Essential Books)The Unincorporated Man is a provocative social/political/economic novel that takes place in the future, after civilization has fallen into complete economic collapse. This reborn civilization is one in which every individual is incorporated at birth, and spends many years trying to attain control over his or her own life by getting a majority of his or her own shares. Life extension has made life very long indeed.
Now the incredible has happened: a billionaire businessman from our time, frozen in secret in the early twenty-first century, is discovered and resurrected, given health and a vigorous younger body. Justin Cord is the only unincorporated man in the world, a true stranger in this strange land. Justin survived because he is tough and smart. He cannot accept only part ownership of himself, even if that places him in conflict with a civilization that extends outside the solar system to the Oort Cloud. People will be arguing about this novel and this world for decades.
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