⋙ [PDF] I Have No Mouth I Must Scream Harlan Ellison 9780441363957 Books

I Have No Mouth I Must Scream Harlan Ellison 9780441363957 Books

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I Have No Mouth I Must Scream Harlan Ellison 9780441363957 Books

This collection of short fiction by Harlan Ellison consists of only seven stories. It was originally published in the late 1960’s and a second edition was released in 1983—the latter being the edition I read. Despite a bit of Cold War zeitgeist--most notably in the title story—this collection holds up well to time.

I’ll proceed by discussing each of the seven stories.

1.) “I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream”: It’s after World War III, the Soviets, Americans, and Chinese had built artificial intelligences (AIs) to help prosecute the war. The AIs ganged up against humanity and exterminated all humans—excepting five individuals (4 men and 1 woman.) The AI finds a way to indefinitely extend the lives of the five so that it can keep its playthings around. The AI is kind of like a sadistic child with an ant farm. The story is told from the perspective of one of the five remaining humans.

2.) “Big Sam Was My Friend”: A folksy narrator tells the tale of how a fellow interstellar circus performer met his ends. The deceased, Big Sam, was capable of teleportation, like the character Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) in the <i>X-men</i>. Ellison does an excellent job of creating a unique character and tone in this story.

3.) “Eyes of Dust”: On a planet of beautiful people, there remains a family of uggos--and the child is the ugliest of all. However, ugliness isn’t the boy’s only unique trait. This is one of the weaker stories of the collection in my opinion, but it’s not bad.

4.) “World of The Myth”: The three-person crew of a spaceship crashes on an unfamiliar planet. The planet is inhabited by ant-like creatures that can form complex shapes, and through such displays the creatures can reflect the essence of who a person is back at them. This proves more than the despicable captain of the small crew can bear.

5.) “Lonelyache”: This story is more realism than speculative fiction—or at least I interpreted it that way. It’s about a guy who’s gone through a divorce recently, and is living alone. The story intersperses recurringly-themed dreams in which men are trying to kill the lead character, with waking sequences which revolve around the man’s troubled relationships with women.

6.) “Delusion For a Dragon Slayer”: In the Introduction, we are told by Theodore Sturgeon that the description in this story is very much how people on hallucinogens experience the world. I can see what Sturgeon is saying. The story begins with a series of vignettes about people who died for no logical reason and at the least likely times. The story then tells an extended tale of one such death, that of the lead character, in a way that mixes dream and reality in a way that’s hard to differentiate.

7.) “Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes”: A man in Las Vegas hits the jackpot on a slot machine. He feels compelled to engage in the very sucker-like behavior of playing the same machine again, but he wins again and then keeps winning. The casino obviously suspects foul play with the second jackpot, but they can’t find anything wrong with the machine or any way in which the man might be cheating. All their investigation reveals is that a woman had died playing that machine some time before.

I’d recommend this book for those who like short speculative fiction. The best of the stories are outstanding, and the worst of them are still intriguing and readable. I will say that it’s not a collection for readers with delicate sensibilities--including young readers. (e.g. Rape is a theme that repeats in a couple of stories.)


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I Have No Mouth I Must Scream Harlan Ellison 9780441363957 Books Reviews

My first reading of Ellison, and I was blown away. He’s a pretty big deal in the Science Fiction world, and I’ll read much more of his books. His style is brutal, jarring, fast-moving and chaotic.

My two favorites from this collection are “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” and “Lonelyache.” These weren’t easy reads, but oh so good.

Recommended.
Harlan Ellison has never failed to excite and disgust and scare the crap out of me. Sometimes all in one story. He is always a fantastic read and never disappoints. This was certainly no exception
Then you read these stories and it all comes back. Here is a brilliant mind and a consummate story master that actually has something marvellous to say.

I love this guy with his 60's sensibilities just poured out on the page. The stories are dated, technology moving at the furious pace it does, but the characters are so humanly constructed and the emotion so cutting the occasional jarring reference can be forgotten.

The first story is my favorite followed close by Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes. Enjoy.
The genius of Harlan Ellison is rather accurately encapsulated in this book. I will say, though, that it's awfully slow as rather than just a collection of short stories, they have rather unnecessary segments in-between that can best be described as written masturbation. Praising himself for his achievements and going through his life story several times, it really kills the pacing of the short stories. As good as he is at making sure the stories he writes are both developed and entertaining, it's surprising how long-winded and honestly boring his story descriptions are. Although there's enlightenment to be had in his words, I feel the majority of it is fluff to make an otherwise short collection of stories meet page demands.
I first found Harlan Ellison in my teens. I don't know that I understood all he wrote but I liked it! I've moved many times but his books have always made the trip. Entire book shelf has nothing but Ellison. Now that my hands don't work as well I am gradually filling up my with his stories.

This book is full of brilliant stories. If you haven't read them before buy this book now. If you've read them before a return trip always reveals more.
Many things grow over time, and in the process earlier iterations seem...well...old.

This collection of short stories suffers from this in spades. The technology is awkward, almost laughable in how clunky the predicted future is. Worse, the 1950s superior male and hyper sexual, idiotic female is painful to read.

The stories are prefaced by smug, self-satisfied 'explanations' that add nothing to the experience.

Give this a pass unless you are interested in having a reference point for how far sci-fi has come.
This collection of short fiction by Harlan Ellison consists of only seven stories. It was originally published in the late 1960’s and a second edition was released in 1983—the latter being the edition I read. Despite a bit of Cold War zeitgeist--most notably in the title story—this collection holds up well to time.

I’ll proceed by discussing each of the seven stories.

1.) “I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream” It’s after World War III, the Soviets, Americans, and Chinese had built artificial intelligences (AIs) to help prosecute the war. The AIs ganged up against humanity and exterminated all humans—excepting five individuals (4 men and 1 woman.) The AI finds a way to indefinitely extend the lives of the five so that it can keep its playthings around. The AI is kind of like a sadistic child with an ant farm. The story is told from the perspective of one of the five remaining humans.

2.) “Big Sam Was My Friend” A folksy narrator tells the tale of how a fellow interstellar circus performer met his ends. The deceased, Big Sam, was capable of teleportation, like the character Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) in the <i>X-men</i>. Ellison does an excellent job of creating a unique character and tone in this story.

3.) “Eyes of Dust” On a planet of beautiful people, there remains a family of uggos--and the child is the ugliest of all. However, ugliness isn’t the boy’s only unique trait. This is one of the weaker stories of the collection in my opinion, but it’s not bad.

4.) “World of The Myth” The three-person crew of a spaceship crashes on an unfamiliar planet. The planet is inhabited by ant-like creatures that can form complex shapes, and through such displays the creatures can reflect the essence of who a person is back at them. This proves more than the despicable captain of the small crew can bear.

5.) “Lonelyache” This story is more realism than speculative fiction—or at least I interpreted it that way. It’s about a guy who’s gone through a divorce recently, and is living alone. The story intersperses recurringly-themed dreams in which men are trying to kill the lead character, with waking sequences which revolve around the man’s troubled relationships with women.

6.) “Delusion For a Dragon Slayer” In the Introduction, we are told by Theodore Sturgeon that the description in this story is very much how people on hallucinogens experience the world. I can see what Sturgeon is saying. The story begins with a series of vignettes about people who died for no logical reason and at the least likely times. The story then tells an extended tale of one such death, that of the lead character, in a way that mixes dream and reality in a way that’s hard to differentiate.

7.) “Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes” A man in Las Vegas hits the jackpot on a slot machine. He feels compelled to engage in the very sucker-like behavior of playing the same machine again, but he wins again and then keeps winning. The casino obviously suspects foul play with the second jackpot, but they can’t find anything wrong with the machine or any way in which the man might be cheating. All their investigation reveals is that a woman had died playing that machine some time before.

I’d recommend this book for those who like short speculative fiction. The best of the stories are outstanding, and the worst of them are still intriguing and readable. I will say that it’s not a collection for readers with delicate sensibilities--including young readers. (e.g. Rape is a theme that repeats in a couple of stories.)