Synopsis
The Sheep Look Up is a sf novel by British author John Brunner, 1st published in '72. The novel's setting is decidedly dystopian, the book dealing with the deterioration of the environment in the USA. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in '72. The title of the novel is a quotation from the poem Lycidas by John Milton.
With the rise of a corporation-sponsored government, pollution levels in cities have reached extreme levels & public health has deteriorated. Continuing the style used in Stand on Zanzibar, there's a multi-strand narrative & many characters in never meet each other; some characters appear in one vignette only. Similarly, instead of chapters, the book is broken up into sections which range from 30 words to several pages. The character of Austin Train in The Sheep Look Up serves a similar purpose to Xavier Conroy in The Jagged Orbit or to Chad Mulligan in Stand on Zanzibar: He's an academic who, despite predicting & interpreting social change, has become disillusioned by society's failure to listen. This character is used both to drive the plot & to explain back-story.
Despite being nominated for a Nebula Award, the book fell out of print in the 90s, only later being republished. The new edition contains a foreword by David Brin & an afterword by environmentalist & social change theorist James John Bell. Brin places the book in the context of Brunner's time & other writings. In the afterword, Bell treats the book almost as prophecy, drawing parallels between events in the book & subsequent real world developments: "His words have a kind of Gnostic power embedded in them that gives his characters passage into our world". A couple specific examples are that "Brunner's puppet of a president, affectionately called Prexy, is a dead ringer for our Dubya & that sabotage done by the Earth Liberation Front is pulled directly from the pages of the novel. Writer Wm Gibson made a similar remark in a '07 interview: "No one except possibly the late John Brunner, in his brilliant novel The Sheep Look Up, has ever described anything in science fiction that is remotely like the reality of 2007 as we know it."
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The Sheep Look Up
Published by
ORBIT / Quartet Books, London, Great Britain, 1977
ISBN 10: 0704312921
ISBN 13: 9780704312920
Used
Soft cover
First Edition
Seller: Comic World, Steinbach, MB, Canada
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Soft cover. Condition: FINE+, Near New. Illustrator: EDDIE Painted Cover Art. (illustrator). First Edition By This Publisher. 265 Grams; Painted cover by Eddie; 461 Pages; SCARCE in this ORBIT Quartet paperback edition with the Eddie cover; ** Goodreads; An enduring classic, this book offers a dramatic and prophetic look at the potential consequences of the escalating destruction of Earth. In this nightmare society, air pollution is so bad that gas masks are commonplace. Infant mortality is up, and everyone seems to suffer from some form of ailment. ** A.I.: The Sheep Look Up, presents a dystopian vision of environmental collapse, exploring the dire consequences of industrial pollution and rampant consumerism in the United States. The narrative is set in a near-future where the air is so toxic that gas masks become an everyday necessity, water is frequently undrinkable, and the natural world is on the brink of devastation. Brunner's work was ahead of its time, highlighting issues that have become increasingly relevant in today's society. The novel's stark depiction of ecological disaster serves as a cautionary tale, urging readers to consider the impact of their actions on the planet. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1972 and is part of Brunner's "Club of Rome Quartet," a series of books each addressing a critical social issue of the time. "The Sheep Look Up" remains a significant work in the science fiction genre, offering a dramatic and prophetic look at the potential consequences of the escalating destruction of Earth. >>> Slight Spine Slant, Minor one inch Black Grease Pencil mark on bottom edge of book.; indent to front covers; Size: 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. Book. Seller Inventory # 159940
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The Sheep Look Up
Published by
Quartet Books (1974), London, 1974
ISBN 10: 0704312921
ISBN 13: 9780704312920
Used
Softcover
Seller: Renaissance Books, ANZAAB / ILAB, Dunedin, New Zealand
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Softcover. Condition: Good. Foxing. Spine faded with creasing. Previous owner's name. ; 1974 paperback reprint. 457 [9] pages. Page dimensions: 179 x 110mm. Science fiction nobel. "'The Sheep Look Up' (1972), perhaps the most unrelenting and convincing dystopia of the four, and depressingly well documented, deals scarifyingly with Pollution in a plot whose relative looseness allows for an almost essayist exposition of the horrors in store for us." - John Clute, in SF Encyclopedia (fourth edition, online edition). Seller Inventory # 24022
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The Sheep Look Up
Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
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Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR001893162
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The Sheep Look Up
Seller: Stephen White Books, Bradford, United Kingdom
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paperback. Condition: Acceptable. Ex-library book, usual markings. Well read with some wear but still very useable. Quick dispatch from UK seller. Seller Inventory # mon0000550130
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