The Bridge
by D. Keith Mano
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This is a weird book. Weird, weird,weird. I didn't love it, yet I was disappointed when I reached the last page.
The story is set in New York in 2035, and all killing has been completely outlawed, whether it be man, beast, or microorganism. Much of the country has been taken over by wildlife, with buildings falling down, decaying, crumbling apart. Humans live on a man made liquid diet called E-diet. Acts of aggression have also been outlawed. People can't even argue with each other without being arrested. Raised voices? No. No voices at all. Humans communicate with a type of sign language, using their fingers to tap out messages against another person's arm.
“Tumors had been declared an autonomous life form, no less valid than the life show more form of their hosts. In any case, the doctors could do little. Drugs, x-rays, surgery were illegal: they destroyed unconscionably high numbers of bacteria.” pg 51
Dominick Priest was arrested for playing chess by himself – a competitive game. But he is unexpectedly released, along with all his fellow prisoners, under a government mandate for all humans to eliminate themselves for the good of the planet. Everyone is given a suicide pill, and are expected to use it within a certain period of time. Priest sets out on an odyssey to find and reunite with his wife. In his travels, he meets up with an actual priest, who teaches him a bit about ancient (to him) Christianity.
The prologue and epilogue are both set even farther in the future, where Dominick Priest is the current population's spin on Jesus Christ. When I said earlier I was disappointed to reach the last page, it's because we leave Priest at the end of his travels, with only a brief glimpse into how he attains his later exalted status. An abrupt end to his story that wasn't the end of his story, and I wanted to stay with him for awhile. show less
The story is set in New York in 2035, and all killing has been completely outlawed, whether it be man, beast, or microorganism. Much of the country has been taken over by wildlife, with buildings falling down, decaying, crumbling apart. Humans live on a man made liquid diet called E-diet. Acts of aggression have also been outlawed. People can't even argue with each other without being arrested. Raised voices? No. No voices at all. Humans communicate with a type of sign language, using their fingers to tap out messages against another person's arm.
“Tumors had been declared an autonomous life form, no less valid than the life show more form of their hosts. In any case, the doctors could do little. Drugs, x-rays, surgery were illegal: they destroyed unconscionably high numbers of bacteria.” pg 51
Dominick Priest was arrested for playing chess by himself – a competitive game. But he is unexpectedly released, along with all his fellow prisoners, under a government mandate for all humans to eliminate themselves for the good of the planet. Everyone is given a suicide pill, and are expected to use it within a certain period of time. Priest sets out on an odyssey to find and reunite with his wife. In his travels, he meets up with an actual priest, who teaches him a bit about ancient (to him) Christianity.
The prologue and epilogue are both set even farther in the future, where Dominick Priest is the current population's spin on Jesus Christ. When I said earlier I was disappointed to reach the last page, it's because we leave Priest at the end of his travels, with only a brief glimpse into how he attains his later exalted status. An abrupt end to his story that wasn't the end of his story, and I wanted to stay with him for awhile. show less
I can't believe I wasted time finishing this book. It was incoherent and rambling. Priest's slogging through the countryside is a perfect illustration of what was like reading this book.
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9+ Works 290 Members
David Keith Mano was born in Manhattan, New York on February 13, 1942. He received a bachelor's degree in English from Columbia University in 1963. He received a Kellett Fellowship and attended Clare College, Cambridge. He was an actor with the Marlowe Society. After returning home to help run the family business X-Pando after his father's death, show more he performed with the National Shakespeare Company. He became an author and journalist. His first novel, Bishop's Watch, was published in 1968. His other novels included Bishop's Progress, Horn, War Is Heaven!, The Death and Life of Harry Goth, The Proselytizer, The Bridge, Take Five, and Topless. His articles appeared in Playboy, Esquire, Oui, People, and The New York Times Book Review. In 1984, he wrote the play Resistance, which was produced Off Broadway in 1988. He later wrote episodes for the television series including St. Elsewhere, L.A. Law, and Homicide: Life on the Street. He died from complications of Parkinson's disease on September 14, 2016 at the age of 74. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Die Brücke
- Original title
- The Bridge
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- 71
- Popularity
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- Reviews
- 2
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- (2.20)
- Languages
- English, German
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- Paper
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 4
