19 December, 2001
The Thurb Revolution
Alexei Panshin
1968
159pp (PB)
NB: This review was posted on the Usenet group rec.arts.sf.written. If you want to read the discussion, go here.
This is the second book in the Anthony Villiers series, which is oft-praised, but seldom found in stores. A spontaneous stop at a random used book store during a recent road trip turned up this book, as well as its sequel, Masque World. This fortunate event must be karmic compensation for suffering through Bored of the Rings last month.
Anthony Villiers, Lord Charteris, is a noble in the interstellar Nashuite Empire, who, "by profession, [is] good company." He's the sort of guy who's competent at many things-- woodcraft, weaponry, bowling-- but who mainly gets through life with the help of his impeccable manners and incredible social skills. If he was a D&D character, he'd have a Charisma attribute of 20, minimum. (For the less geeky out there, 20 is the "human maximum" level.)
What he does in this book can be summed up thus: "Villiers goes camping with his friends Fred and Torve. He reads some nice books about animals, they sing songs around the campfire, and at the end, somebody tries to kill him, although not very effectively."
All of that is to say that, although Villiers is the main character, not much happens to him. He's more the type of person who things happen around. What happens around Villiers in this novel is: a yagoot[1] sets out to bring artistic enlightenment to his censored, dull society, Fred (a noble of significantly higher rank than Villiers and a confirmed bachelor) meets a nice girl, intelligent life is discovered and a controversial scientific theory is confirmed, a vacation resort is built, a newly-minted deity finds a follower, and an assassination is foiled. All these plot elements interweave and entangle, with Villiers' innocuous camp-making activities at the center.
But what brings this book above the level of "fairly amusing diversion" is the narrative voice. It's absolutely marvellous, practically a character in its own right. Throughout the book, there are asides and non-sequiturs on a myriad of topics, including the excellence of gawkish young women, the joys of a pleasant lunch break, the nature of art and criticism thereof, what makes a good government official, the relationship between a writer and his works. Here are some choice quotes:
"Night is irregular. What is not done in the daytime becomes possible at night: murder and sex and thought."
On the personality of the Tanner Trust's chief censor: "He had the supressed passions of a bank clerk, of which belligerence was one and conservatism was another."
"'Yes,' said the plonk. 'I'm God. And what is more, I will NOT wink at a single sip of wine or an occasional lustful gaze. I set a higher standard than that. And I'm not altogether sure I approve of homosexuality, so mind your step.'" (What makes this bit especially humorous is that a "plonk" is a small, essentially harmless, pink cloud.)
Assuming the other two books in the series are anywhere near as good as The Thurb Revolution, it is a great shame that they are out of print. With all the reprints of classic SF coming out these days, I find it hard to believe that nobody is interested in reprinting the Villiers books. Maybe Panshin's holding out for more money than anybody's willing to pay, or something.
A final note: it seems to me that this book would be ideal for reading aloud, if you're into that sort of thing.
[1] The Nashuite Empire's version of Bertie Wooster's ilk.