Odd but good story…

I did not have any expectations going into this book and truly went in blind. It was occasionally confusing but the author tied it all together fairly well. I would definitely recommend this one for anyone interested in human behavior and complex systems, both social and otherwise.

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dark, intelligent story

A good story, but also my least favorite Vance story. But it's still a Vance, so it's good:). Very deep, makes you think.

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Unfortunately

I usually need to listen to the whole book (and sometimes series) just to know I didn't miss anything. Sometimes "it" (whatever my problem are) gets better, but this is rare.
This book was very close to "my trashcan" but I did finish it even if the way people reacted (main characters) become more and more dumb, the book did improve as it finished. So my review in a sentence may be something like ;
A bad attempt to write a story regarding an interesting problem that we "might" face in the future , if we get to that point alive (which I doubt myself).

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More a modern Netflix series than a 1950s novel

I stumbled upon this one as I was looking for some of Jack Vance's Dying Earth books, and I'm glad I did. I was a little slow getting into it (as Vance set up the world and the situation for the reader), but I was immediately drawn in once the main characters were introduced. And while the idea of an unyielding antihero was likely a harder sell when this was first published in 1956, it struck a cord with this reader (close to 60) in 2021. (It really would work well today as a Netflix series.) However, the ultimate solution arrived at the end seems to me like one of the first thing humans should have tried instead of what they did instead in this book. That didn't keep me from exploring their choices and enjoying the journey. Plus, it's rather nice to see a—more or less—ruthless antihero going up against an equally ruthless hero (and world system), people who seemed more destined to be lovers than enemies, each fully believing they're in the right and have been wronged by the other side.

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Not really sure what to think

Overall, the book was okay. The premise is familiar and the questions it asks are relevant to now. The performance could’ve been better - it was hard to distinguish characters since they all sounded the same. The story … weird. It questions what to do with overcrowding, how the rich kill without a thought, and how easy it can all be. I’m not sad it’s over and I feel like I didn’t really ‘get it’.

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Perhaps there is a touch of the Weird in all of us

After accidentally killing a rival newspaper man seven years ago, the Grayven Warlock had to feign his own death, abandon his immortal Amaranth class, and start living under an assumed identity as Gavin Waylock (one wonders why he chose a name so similar to his real one!). Gavin’s ambition is to work his way from the bottom Brood rank back up to his true Amaranth status. Complicating his agenda is the Jaycinth Martin, a newly minted immortal 19-year-old Amaranth beauty discovers Gavin’s secret, conceives an implacable hatred for him as a “Monster,” and

Welcome to “Clarges, the last metropolis of the world,” an ancient, futuristic sf uber-city of skyscrapers “tall enough to intercept passing clouds,” tubes, slide-ways, and air-cabs, and myriad shops and millions of denizens. Its outstanding feature (that makes it the most envied/hated city in the world) is being a sealed culture forbidding immigration while offering citizens the chance to become immortal. The core of Clarges’ hyper democratic-capitalist system is the Fair-Play Act, whereby one’s public and social achievements are reflected in the angle of one’s “slope” as determined by the Actuarian computers. Careers are called “strivings,” and the steeper one’s slope, the farther and faster one may ascend through the five ranks of “phyle” (status), each with more years of healthier life than the last: Brood, Wedge, Arrant, Verge, and Amaranth. Amaranth bequeaths youthful immortality on the successful social climber, as well as the privilege of making five “surrogates” (clones) to serve as backups in case something unfortunate happens to you. The Jaycinth Martin was, in fact, 104 and running out of time when she became a 19-year-old Amaranth.

The flaw in the Fair-Play Act is that, in order to prevent disastrous overpopulation (which 300 years before resulted in the near collapse of the civilization), people have time limits for ascending to each level, the failure to meet which results in visits from the Assassins. And for each new member of the Amaranth, about 2,000 people must be euthanized from the lower ranks in order to maintain the population at an optimum number. About a fifth of the populace opt out of the Fair-Play system, remaining (Dr. Seussian) “glarks” who live a mere 82 years and have low social status.

The stress of striving to ascend through the phyle to Amaranth (“Up the slope, devil take the hindmost”) and of being aware that one’s clock is ticking turns an increasing number of Clarges denizens into unorganized “Weirds” lurking in the shadows to stone citizens punished in the Cage of Shame or into members of cult-like political groups like the Whitherers or to let off steam in Carnevalle, a Las Vegas-like adult theme park where “Compunction no longer existed; virtue and vice had no meaning.” Due to all the mental illnesses afflicting the stressed-out citizenry, Gavin decides to start working at a Palliatory (mental hospital), caring for a ward full of “cattos” (cationic-maniac syndrome patients), reckoning that such work may earn him enough “career points” to move up-slope quickly. Unfortunately for Gavin, the obsessed Jaycinth Martin starts drawing upon the formidable resources of the Amaranths and Assassins to relentlessly persecute the “Monster.”

The picaresque story is compact and unpredictable. Vance’s vision of capitalist dog-eat-dog competition whose ultimate goal is immortality is interesting. He writes neat set-piece scenes, like a Pan Arts Union exhibition of the water sculptures of a spaceship navigator and the skits of a professional mime and a Zoom-like meeting for the 229th conclave of the Amaranth society to decide if Gavin Waylock is martyr or monster. He sketches concise, vivid, often grotesque descriptions of characters (e.g., "a bushy dark-browed man crouched over his desk like a dog over a bone") and sets them verbally fencing with his anti-hero, as when the Jaycinth explains her fervid persecution of Gavin by saying, “I'm an ordinary person with strong feelings,” and Gavin warningly replies, “So am I.” Dry Vance-isms abound, like “I find your humor superfluous,” and “Who is hated more than the lucky bungler.” Violence breaks out suddenly and unpredictably. While for the majority of Clarges citizens “Death is the vilest word in the language, the ultimate obscenity” (“transition” being the preferred term), some, like a Whitherer woman Gavin gets to know, suspect that “all people have a desire for dissolution.”

Vance’s 1956 novel is an sf satire of 20th-century American culture, with superior health care for the wealthy, almost everyone engaged in a competitive race to the top, and everyone vulnerable to succumbing to a variety of psychological disorders due to the stress of that competition. As a character says, “Perhaps there is a touch of the Weird in all of us.” The novel does suggest a path to sanity and viability: looking outward from one’s hermetically “safe” home, including a spaceship called the Star Enterprise seeking new worlds for humanity (which made me think that the Star Trek creators may have read this 1956 novel).

The ending feels hurried, but fans of Vance or of vintage ahead-of-its-time sf should like the compact novel, which is well read by audiobook reader Kevin Kennerly.

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Classic Vance at his best

Would you listen to To Live Forever again? Why?

Absolutely! Jack Vance is one of the greatest of the science fiction authors, and this is Vance at his best. The story is tight, relevant, intricately crafted, full of intrigue and action, and demonstrates Vance's characteristic linguistic style, which is known for vivid description and an ability to use the English Language in ways that few can match. The story's social commentary is even more relevant today than it was when it was written. Highly recommended! The narrator's voice is excellent for the story and seems to relish the rich Vancian prose. I do so wish that someone will create audiobook versions of The Demon Princes, which is also Vance at his best.

What other book might you compare To Live Forever to and why?

This book is similar to many other Vance books stylistically, so, if you like Vance, you very likely will like To Live Forever. It is from his best period and reflects some of his best work.

What about Kevin Kenerly’s performance did you like?

Clear diction, great recording, fine character voices, good timing, seemed to really get Vance's subtle and sometimes dry and scarcastic humor and delight in the intricacy of the prose.

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8 people found this helpful

Interesting character study in futuristic society

Waylock is a man living in a society where levels of achievement determine the number of years a person lives. Men strive to increase their “sloop” through innovation, great study, artistic talent or remarkable work achievement. When a person reaches the top elite level, they are inducted into the Amaranth where they are granted eternal life. To accomplish this eternal life, they have ‘clones’ or replicas who are matured over seven years. The clones have the DNA coding and memories of their primary so it is as if they continue on for eternity.

The governing authorities do their best to maintain smooth operations with strict and swift enforcement, including humiliation and execution. But problems are beginning to be exposed in the calm society. It is difficult for the lower working levels to gain sloop and rise to Amaranth. Not only that but, to keep balance for the resources, for each Amaranth that is inducted, 1700 lowest levels must be removed from the city rolls. This causes depression or mental illness in some who can’t accept that they can’t get beyond the middle level.

Waylock was an immortal sentenced to death for killing another immortal. He is believed to have been eliminated as his replicates should not have had time to mature. However, he lives quietly in hiding for seven years hoping that his past deed will be forgotten and he will be able to work his way back to Amaranth. Then he meets a beautiful young woman, Jacynth. He is drawn to her until he suspects that somehow she knows his secrets. Waylock will take extreme measures to protect himself.

The second time Waylock meets the Jacynth he is again attracted but wary. He soon learns that she is now an investigator for the enforcers and she is determined to bring “the monster” to justice. They begin a cat and mouse dance trying to best each other. Waylock's ambitions drive him to use methods that may destroy the very foundations of the society in which he seeks to advance.

This story portrays an interesting, if sometimes depressing, future world. The story is built around a somewhat evil protagonist and the author develops the character with cleverness and perseverance. I didn’t like Waylock but he makes for an interesting character study. The story includes a dissertation on mental illness and political commentary woven in between the scheming mystery. I was once again struck by the irony in the ending which is a feature I have found in the vintage sci fi stories I have been reading. It seems to be a theme tied to the imaginative futuristic view of life. I recommend this to readers who like crime novels as well as those who like futuristic society sci fi.

Audio Notes: Kevin Kenerly delivers a solid narration that fits the tone of the story. Kenerly provided good character voices and an appropriately dry presence that added to the mystery. It is not flashy or exuberant but the accent added to the engagement for me.

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13 people found this helpful

My first Vance

I know one probably shouldn’t start their journey in Jack Vance land using this book. But it had the best narration as far as I could tell from the samples, from all the available ones on audible. Great book! Hilarious in lots of places. Wonderful use of language. I already had a few hardcopy books, dying earth, dragon masters. A few more. But while listening to this decided I had to have all Vance! Went to Amazon and bought most of the VIE. As others have said maybe it’s not the best one to start with if you’re new to Vance. But the story and especially the narration are excellent!

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2 people found this helpful

Monotonous

it was very hard to follow. nothing exciting happened. it just seemed to go round and round in circles and get nowhere.

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