HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Of Men and Monsters by William Tenn
Loading...

Of Men and Monsters (original 1968; edition 1981)

by William Tenn

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
3921364,227 (3.54)25
Giant, technologically superior aliens have conquered Earth, but humankind survives - even flourishes in a way. Men and women live, like mice, in burrows in the massive walls of the huge homes of the aliens, and scurry about under their feet, stealing from them. A complex social and religious order has evolved, with women preserving knowledge and working as healers, and men serving as warriors and thieves. For the aliens, men and women are just a nuisance, nothing more than vermin. Which, ironically, may just be humankind's strength and point the way forward.… (more)
Member:Jawin
Title:Of Men and Monsters
Authors:William Tenn
Info:Del Rey (1981), Mass Market Paperback
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:Sci-Fi

Work Information

Of Men and Monsters by William Tenn (1968)

Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 25 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 12 (next | show all)
I'm sitting here feeling I've almost (not quite, but very nearly) failed some sort of intelligence test with this book. Having completely missed the huge clue in its title, some distance in I was still thinking, 'Well, I like the oddness of this, but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere much' and it looked to be heading for a disappointing two stars.
   The set-up is this: after an invasion from space by gigantic aliens (called 'Monsters' throughout) what's left of humanity has been reduced to living in a maze of burrows and tunnels - scuttling to and fro behind the wainscotting so to speak - and risking their lives on expeditions out into Monster territory to steal food from the invaders' gigantic larders. The story itself follows raw initiate Eric the Only as he's transformed by his experiences into a resourceful leader; and, although actually published in 1968, it had a pleasantly nostalgic 1950s-or-so feel to it.
   It's a satire of course (the quote from Gulliver's Travels at the start was another Monster-sized clue I nearly missed). For 'men' read 'mice' and for 'monsters' read 'men' - the Monsters are us in disguise, while we are now the mice, annoying 'vermin' to be exterminated. 'See how you like it' is the theme, see how it feels to be a couple of inches tall and at the mercy of something a hundred times your size. And an alien invasion is a good metaphor for that: appearing as if out of nowhere (which, in evolutionary terms at least, H. sapiens certainly has), armed with incomprehensible weapons, suddenly here and taking over the whole world. The book does satirise other things too (religion for instance) but in essence it's about us humans seen from the terrifying perspective of a house mouse.
   So, in the end, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel as it climbed steadily all the way up to a solid four-star rating. I'm giving myself only one star though; I did get the point of Men and Monsters, did solve the maze and reach the cheese, but only (eek, eek!) by a whisker. ( )
  justlurking | Jul 4, 2021 |
These post-WWII "classic sci-fi" stories --I think you just have to have been there. The ascendance of Büchner, Goethe, Gaskell, Austin, Tagore, Joyce, then precipitously down to classic sci-fi. I guess that's democracy. Tenn is, compared to my readings of Pohl and Heinlein, one of a handful of competent writers in that older scene, so it's no surprise that Sturgeon showered him with such praise. I think Probably Sturgeon, Tenn and Dick (decidedly way ahead of his time) are some of the only ones of these still readable without barfing or falling asleep, until the likes of Delaney, Tiptree and Le Guin show up with actual writing skills. Having read Ellison since I was a kid, who to me represents a sort of middle along with Dick, now that I have him in context, a lot of his stuff simply sucks too.
That being said, Men and Monsters, ick! Slow, undeveloped (why do people living in caves following a televised religion and living only to breed and hunt have this vocabulary that Tenn couldn't restrain himself from??? Why X Y and Z internal logic issues???), macho (my favorite), in every way a product of its age. They say this is Tenn's only novel. I hope it's not his best writing. ( )
  EugenioNegro | Mar 17, 2021 |
This is my first book by William Tenn. I will try a few more. He was one of the Pulp SF magazine writers of the 1940s-50s. He had stories in more then a dozen magazines. Like many of his peers he went on to write novels but only a couple. This book is one of his novels.

This is a juvenile SF novel about a boy in a dystopian future where humans have fallen to tribalism and superstition. A race of alien giants took over the Earth hundreds of years ago and humans are no more then rats. It is a coming of age, adventure with plenty of action and naked females. ( )
  ikeman100 | Sep 18, 2020 |
William Tenn's only novel, but a very good book. Eric goes forth to steal some item that the aliens now in possession of earth have left lying around. Then, one thing leads to another as we grow alongside Eric and his later career. ( )
  DinadansFriend | Aug 17, 2019 |
Science fiction satire in which the monsters regard humans not as a threat, but as pests. The storytelling is first rate and the ending, though it comes out of nowhere, is pretty nearly perfect. I met the author when I was in college and interviewed him, and he was a hoot. Just bought a book containing most of his short stories and am very much looking forward to it. ( )
  unclebob53703 | Oct 6, 2016 |
Showing 1-5 of 12 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review

» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Tenn, Williamprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Billon, PierreTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Della Frattina, BeataTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Friedmann, GretlTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gaughan, JackCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gille, ElisabethTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hilling, SimoneTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lehr, PaulCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Miller, StephenCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Vallejo, BorisCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
"It doth not appear from all you have said, how any one virtue is required towards the procurement of any one station among you; much less that men are ennobled on account of their virtue, that priests are advanced for their piety or learning, soldiers for their conduct or valour, judges for their integrity, senators for the love of their country, or counsellors for their wisdom.... I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth."

Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels, "A Voyage to Brobdingnab"
Dedication
To Sheila Solomon Klass.

This, in place of Salvation.
First words
Mankind consisted of 128 people.
Quotations
"listen, Eric. Grow up fast. I mean - I mean really grow up. It's your only chance. A lad like you -in the burrows, a lad either develops fast or he's dead. Don't - " the chest arched upward for a sudden coughing spasm, " - don't take anything for granted. Anything - from anybody. Learn, but be - be your own man. And grow up, Eric. Fast."
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Information from the German Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

Giant, technologically superior aliens have conquered Earth, but humankind survives - even flourishes in a way. Men and women live, like mice, in burrows in the massive walls of the huge homes of the aliens, and scurry about under their feet, stealing from them. A complex social and religious order has evolved, with women preserving knowledge and working as healers, and men serving as warriors and thieves. For the aliens, men and women are just a nuisance, nothing more than vermin. Which, ironically, may just be humankind's strength and point the way forward.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.54)
0.5
1 1
1.5
2 3
2.5 1
3 18
3.5 4
4 23
4.5
5 5

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,228,765 books! | Top bar: Always visible