⋙ Libro Camp Concentration A Novel Thomas M Disch 9780375705458 Books

Camp Concentration A Novel Thomas M Disch 9780375705458 Books

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Camp Concentration A Novel Thomas M Disch 9780375705458 Books

This is the epitome of SF. If you haven't read this book, you're not a SF fan. This isn't a book about space travel, or aliens, but is rooted in our egos and our imaginations. Perhaps the most clever book written, with a wonderful twist at the end. Contains a lot of philosophy and religious examination. Simply well done. It's not a long book, but you must pay attention from the very start. I read this book twice in two days, and have read it perhaps 4 times in the 30 years since; I'm not one to reread books, but this gem merits rereading and keeping in a safe place on your bookshelf. You may want to buy extra copies to give to friends, as I've done.


Tags : Camp Concentration: A Novel [Thomas M. Disch] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. In this chillingly plausible work of speculative fiction, Thomas M. Disch imagines an alternate 1970s in which America has declared war on the rest of the world and much of its own citizenry and is willing to use any weapon to assure victory.  Louis Sacchetti,Thomas M. Disch,Camp Concentration: A Novel,Vintage,0375705457,Science Fiction - General,Biology, Experimental - Fiction,Biology, Experimental;Fiction.,Concentration camp inmates,Concentration camp inmates;Fiction.,Human experimentation in medicine - Fiction,Human experimentation in medicine;Fiction.,Pacifists - Fiction,Political fiction,Political prisoners - Fiction,Science fiction,Biology, Experimental,DISCH, THOMAS - PROSE & CRITICISM,FICTION Alternative History,FICTION Political,FICTION Science Fiction General,FICTION Thrillers Political,Fiction,Fiction - Science Fiction,Fiction-Coming of Age,GENERAL,General Adult,Human experimentation in medicine,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),Modern fiction,United States,alternate history;thriller;thrillers;thriller books;suspense books;suspense;historical fiction;politics;fiction;political books;novels;fiction books;mysteries and thrillers;books fiction;political thrillers;suspense thriller books;mystery thriller suspense;election;mystery and thriller;suspense fiction;political;alternate history books;science fiction;time travel;war;science fiction books;fantasy;sci fi;sci-fi;dystopia;military;science fiction and fantasy;cyberpunk;dystopian fiction;future,dystopia; alternate history; sci-fi; science fiction and fantasy; dystopian fiction; cyberpunk; post apocalyptic; time travel; thrillers; thriller books; fiction; fiction books; sci-fi books; thriller; suspense; mystery thriller suspense; historical fiction; political books; politics; suspense thriller books; mysteries and thrillers; political thrillers; political; suspense fiction; mystery and thriller; war; alternative history; military; future; aliens; 20th century; apocalypse; wwii; historical; american literature; revolution,FICTION Alternative History,FICTION Political,FICTION Science Fiction General,FICTION Thrillers Political,Fiction - Science Fiction,Biology, Experimental,Human experimentation in medic,Human experimentation in medicine,Political prisoners,Disch, Thomas - Prose & Criticism,Fiction,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),Modern fiction

Camp Concentration A Novel Thomas M Disch 9780375705458 Books Reviews

So good. Highly recommend.
Best science fiction book I ever read.Subtle/brilliant/insightfull intelligence(rip,btw.sad loss/suicide)
Very unusual concept/original,too.on par W/PHILIP K.DICK/HARLAN ELLISONbuy it-IF you can find it.
Ever see a trailer for a movie ,see the film and wish it were more like the trailer. This is one of those. The blurb on the above paperback really grabbed me, so i bought the book. The book is pretty good but it IS weird .The whole thing is mainly epistolic( told in the form of letters or in this case diary entries )and breaks down the middle section when he is in a state of syphilitic dementia.In fact, it so completely captured his rambling dementia that I basically had skip over that part. On balance though, I liked it ;the ending redeemed the craziness and in fact expalined it.
It's evident that Disch set out with the goal in mind of writing a more "literary" sort of science fiction novel than was or is prevalent in the genre. He gets about 4/5s of the way there, actually.

Disch's verbal abilities and his mental dexterity are commendable, and are well displayed here. He is less successful at constructing plot intricacies, character development, and dramatic structure. Though it ties in with the plot, Disch's Pynchonesque linguistic display, which reaches a crescendo in the early part of Book Two, come off as the product of a young writer having fun with a highlighter and an unabridged OED.
It's interesting that this novel was published about half a year after Daniel Keyes came out with a very similar book <Flowers for Algernon,> later adapted into a play and then a movie <Charly>. The idea had been around since Keyes first wrote the novella version in 1959. The idea is basically the same. Scientists come up with a formula that makes brain processes accelerate, the subjects become brilliant for a while and then the unforeseen consequences set in. Charly returns to his mentally retarded state, Sacchetti lapses into the final stages of a degenerative disease (syphilis).
Disch does introduce some interesting ideas along the way, however. The effect of syphilis, in particular,on the artistic mind, has long been a subject of conjecture. Though some arguments are a lot shakier (Beethoven) than others (de Mauppassant, Nietszche), the subject is definitely open to debate. Disch works such speculation into his story quite effectively. There is also the matter of the way in which the agent (The Palladine) is spread through the surface population (by sexual means) by a rebellious researcher. It does rather spookily prefigure the coming aids epidemic, and probably had some influence on later novelists such as Crichton and King.
There is enough talent, brains and imagination on display here to appeal to "general" readers as well as Sci-Fi aficionados. It's at times intentionally obfuscating, but that's confined to a relatively brief section as the narrator undergoes a mental breakdown. The rest is highly readable. I will definitely seek out more works by the author.
There can be little doubt that Disch, like the protagonist in the story, is an intelligent man (or at the very least, a well read one). Camp Concentration is crammed full of obscure literary allusions and quotes in Latin and various other languages. These references may be easily recognizable to Lit and Philosophy majors, but most people will probably not get them.

The plot of Camp Concentration is similar to Flowers for Algernon, but instead of creating a genius from a simpleton, the story begins with the main character, Louis Sacchetti, being a troubled, highly intellectual poet with an IQ of 160. I did not like Sacchetti and found it hard to sympathise with his character. The entire book is written in the form of this man's journal and his intellectual elitism and condescension is apparent in most of what he writes, especially in comments about his fellow prisoners. I felt it odd that he only mentions his friends and family outside a few times with no thought or concern about what has become of them. Maybe the author intended to portray Sacchetti as an unlikeable person, an outcast, but, unfortunately, that also kept me from really caring about what happened to him.

The plot itself holds few surprises, save at the end, but even these were nothing that has not been done many times over in science fiction. Sacchetti seems to grow more physcologically unbalanced as the disease progresses, and the references become even more obscure as his journal becomes mostly strange conversations with fellow prisoners and his own thoughts about intellegence, the existence of God, etc. At times, it seemed more like homework for a modern philosophy class. It did succeed in making me think though, so I have to give the book credit and say that, as a philosophical exercise, it was fairly successful.

To sum it up, the plot was too bland for me to recommend as even "smart" entertaiment, but if you can wade through the obscure references and want to think deep thoughts like Louis Sacchetti, then Camp Concentration is for you.
I get the version of older seminal science fiction works because it allows me to read these works without paying a high price. is also transportable and I am able to highlight and search electronically which I find very convenient.
This is the epitome of SF. If you haven't read this book, you're not a SF fan. This isn't a book about space travel, or aliens, but is rooted in our egos and our imaginations. Perhaps the most clever book written, with a wonderful twist at the end. Contains a lot of philosophy and religious examination. Simply well done. It's not a long book, but you must pay attention from the very start. I read this book twice in two days, and have read it perhaps 4 times in the 30 years since; I'm not one to reread books, but this gem merits rereading and keeping in a safe place on your bookshelf. You may want to buy extra copies to give to friends, as I've done.