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Make Room! Make Room! The Classic Novel of an Overpopulated Future Harry Harrison 9780765318855 Books

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Make Room! Make Room! The Classic Novel of an Overpopulated Future Harry Harrison 9780765318855 Books

Recently, for reason on which I cannot quite put my finger, I’ve been reading books from which some of my favorite SF movies have been made, particularly from my younger days. In the past few years I’ve read Logan’s Run, A Clockwork Orange, and, now, this book which is the basis for the Charlton Heston/Edward G. Robinson movie Soylent Green. Typically, I avoid this, since the book is always better and I don’t want the books to ruin my movie experience. However, I’ve come to realize that I’m better able than I thought to separate the book and movie, and these books are excellent.

It’s clear from reading Harrison’s novel where the movie comes from; and yet, there are significant differences, most notably in the nature of soylent green. Still, the basic premise is there: in an overcrowded nation, a cop searches for the murderer of one of New York City’s elite. The detective, Andy Rusch, lives in a small apartment with Sol, an older man who yearns for the days before scarcity.

As I expected, the story of the novel is much more involved and layered than the movie. In the novel, we get to know the story of the murderer and his part in this hard world. Also, Andy develops a long term relationship with Shirl, the girl who was originally in a relationship with the murdered man. Most importantly, perhaps, we see a world where overcrowding and overuse of resources is leading to destruction (written long before these things became a modern political touchstone).

In the end, this is a very good novel. Though I still enjoy the movie immensely, it hits very different notes from its source material. There is value in experiencing both.


Tags : Make Room! Make Room!: The Classic Novel of an Overpopulated Future [Harry Harrison] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The world is crowded. Far too crowded. Its starving billions live on lentils, soya beans, and ―if they're lucky―the odd starving rat. In a New York City groaning under the burden of 35 million inhabitants,Harry Harrison,Make Room! Make Room!: The Classic Novel of an Overpopulated Future,Orb Books,0765318857,FIC028000,Detectives;Fiction.,New York (N.Y.),Overpopulation,Police - New York (State) - New York,Science fiction,Science fiction.,110304 Tor Trade-Tor Trade Paperback,Detectives,Dystopian,FICTION Science Fiction General,Fantasy,Fiction,Fiction - Science Fiction,Science Fiction - General,Science Fiction And Fantasy

Make Room! Make Room! The Classic Novel of an Overpopulated Future Harry Harrison 9780765318855 Books Reviews

Very well written. A page turner and interesting as well as exciting. Downside? Unfortunatly I think that " Soylent Green" may have been better. The relationships as well as discriptions in this book were amazing, however over all plot concept didn't really go anywhere. The focus was on over population and how the world got that way, rather than on an end result or exactly what society's solution was to try to fix the problem (as in the movie). Kinda sad when you think the movie is better than the book. I'd suggest reading the book before watching the movie. The movie ruined the book for me. I liked the political angle more in the book, but again I didn't feel that these relationships really went anywhere. In the end I was asking myself "what was the point?" Almost as if he didn't know how to end it, or he became bored with it, or he got sick and couldn't finish it. I could see how this book was a hit for it's time the classic dystopian society concept, yet in the end I was somewhat disappointed.
Harry Harrison's Make Room! Make Room! is a dystopic, futuristic detective tale in New York City against the backdrop of overpopulation (35 million living in NYC), environmental collapse, and extreme inequality. The main character is a NYC detective who catches a case that the reigning powers that be become interested in for fear of encroachment by a rival regional gang. While the fears are unfounded, the detective pursues the case while juggling his regular caseload, taking care of close acquaintances, and simply trying to secure adequate food and water. All throughout, there is pervasive uncaring attitude that has developed in society simply due to too many people for the available resources.

Harrison is on target with a global population estimate for the turn of the century, but projects a far higher population in NYC due to environmental degradation, placing farmland at a premium. There is little novel technology or science; rather, the world is simply making due and focused on getting thru each day. There is some commentary on birth control as a means to population control that seems to underlie the genesis for the story.

Although this novel was the basis for the film Soylent Green, the film adaptation went in a different direction that almost makes it seem like a sequel to the book.
Knowing that this book was the basis of the movie “Soylent Green,” I expected a very different book. While I haven’t seen the movie “Soylent Green,” I--like everybody not living under a rock--knew that the movie’s big twist was that “Soylent green is people!” Meaning, society has unwittingly been led into cannibalism.

I wouldn’t so much categorize “Make Room! Make Room!” as dystopian science fiction as I would a detective story that happens to take place in a Malthusian dystopia. (For those unfamiliar with the work of Thomas Malthus, he predicted a massive crash resulting from the fact that human population in his day [18-19th century] was growing much faster than food production and resource discovery. Some dismiss Malthus as a doom-and-gloomer who was unable to foresee that great technological breakthroughs would make it possible for humanity to support its growing numbers. Others, like Harry Harrison, have maintained that it’s merely a matter of time before humanity outstrips its resources and Malthus’s prediction is vindicated.)

While the story is about a detective investigating the death of a wealthy businessman/criminal and said officer’s love affair with the deceased man’s girl, Malthus’s idea sets the tone of this novel. Written in 1966, “Make Room! Make Room!” describes the world of 1999 as one in which food and drinking water are in scarce supply. Harrison predicted the population would then be 7 billion. He was off a bit. The population in 1999 was closer to 6 billion. While we have presently reached 7+billion, we aren’t surviving off SOYbeans and LENTils (SOY-LENT, get it) for protein.

It’s probably good that the story is about crime and romance, because when it becomes too focused on the Malthusian dystopia—rather than letting it play in the background and give the story a visceral edge—the book can be a bit preachy. This is best exemplified by the brief diatribes of Sol, the protagonist’s roommate and the character that occasionally drags us out of this fictional story and into a lecture on the dangers of unchecked population growth. Such brief lectures might have been well worthwhile if the author (and Malthus) had been correct, but they read a bit alarmist in the wake of both men’s overreaction (or incorrect timelines?) Readers with strong feelings on the subject of birth control may find that issue positively or negatively impacts one’s perception of the book depending upon one’s stance on the issue, but most will find it to be just an another issue that dates the work.

If this had just been about the 1999 Malthusian dystopia, it might be so dated as to be unreadable today. However, the story is more timeless than that—if with an inescapable retro feel.
Recently, for reason on which I cannot quite put my finger, I’ve been reading books from which some of my favorite SF movies have been made, particularly from my younger days. In the past few years I’ve read Logan’s Run, A Clockwork Orange, and, now, this book which is the basis for the Charlton Heston/Edward G. Robinson movie Soylent Green. Typically, I avoid this, since the book is always better and I don’t want the books to ruin my movie experience. However, I’ve come to realize that I’m better able than I thought to separate the book and movie, and these books are excellent.

It’s clear from reading Harrison’s novel where the movie comes from; and yet, there are significant differences, most notably in the nature of soylent green. Still, the basic premise is there in an overcrowded nation, a cop searches for the murderer of one of New York City’s elite. The detective, Andy Rusch, lives in a small apartment with Sol, an older man who yearns for the days before scarcity.

As I expected, the story of the novel is much more involved and layered than the movie. In the novel, we get to know the story of the murderer and his part in this hard world. Also, Andy develops a long term relationship with Shirl, the girl who was originally in a relationship with the murdered man. Most importantly, perhaps, we see a world where overcrowding and overuse of resources is leading to destruction (written long before these things became a modern political touchstone).

In the end, this is a very good novel. Though I still enjoy the movie immensely, it hits very different notes from its source material. There is value in experiencing both.