Kallocain
This is a novel of the future, profoundly sinister in its vision of a drab terror. Ironic and detached, the author shows us the totalitarian World-state through the eyes of a product of that state, scientist Leo Kall. Kall has invented a drug, kallocain, which denies the privacy of thought and is the final step towards the transmutation of the individual human being into a "happy, healthy cell in the state organism." For, says Leo, "from thoughts and feelings, words and actions are born. How then could these thoughts and feelings belong to the individual? Doesn't the whole fellow-soldier belong to the state? To whom should his thoughts and feelings belong then, if not to the state?" As the first-person record of Leo Kall, scientist, fellow-soldier too late disillusioned to undo his previous actions, Kallocain achieves a chilling power and veracity that place it among the finest novels to emerge from the strife-torn Europe of the twentieth century.
Stats for nerds
3recommend
5mentions
5people
2013–2025years
60% recommend40% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Kallocain by Karin Boye.
- Mitch Albom: Tuesdays with Morrie
Karin Boye: Kallocain
Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451
Raymond Chen: The Old New Thing
- Science Fiction:
* Walter Tevis: Mockingbird
* Karin Boye: Kallocain
Non fiction Computing:
* John Markoff: What the Dormouse Said
* Jef Raskin: The Humane Interface
Non fiction society:
* P.M.: Bolo'bolo
- I think the classic styles handle contemporary subjects well and there are many good authors today that write better than the classics, it is worth it being able to recongize a 3000 year old way of story telling. Contemporary styles is a different subject, seeing styles change through the decades is more interesting than how TV-shows have developed. For me that means reading a lot and knowing that even if a style hasn't been my cup of tea, that might easily change.
I have for the last decade nurtured a love for shorter novels because you can read so many of them and get such a large span of styles, through time as well. For reference a classic Kallocain at is a bit too long, but managable at 200 pages.
- Interesting that it doesn't mention Kallocain. It's a dystopian novel based on a truth serum.
