To Live Forever

Jack Vance is known for the inventive settings he places his stories in: Dying Earth, the Alastor novels, Planet of Adventure, and of course the Magnus Ridolph stories each contain throwaway societies and cultures that a less imaginitive writer might base an entire career on.

To Live Forever has a unique setting, to be sure, but like Emphyrio it is more of a thought experiment, and the society in which the action takes place is an integral part of the plot. What is more interesting is the many themes Vance covers in this brief novel: overpopulation, elitism, ambition, justifiable homicide, overwork, deviants and dropouts, the court of public opinion ... the list could go on and on.

The moral ambiguity of the protagonist keeps things show more interesting. As events progress, The Monster, as he is called, turns out to be no more amoral or violent than his peers: he is simply more effective, having, as he puts it, a "ruthlessness beyond your understanding". show less

This is the first Vance novel I have read. It is definitely old-school science fiction, almost pulp-ish, with a many-twisted plot that is sometimes hard to follow and some thinly drawn characters (particularly the women). But I appreciated Vance’s big ideas about the lure of immortality and the lengths people will go to achieve it.

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

In Clarges, a city in the far future, humans have conquered death. Unfortunately, there's just not enough room for billions of immortal people to live forever, so they've passed the fair-play act which divides society into 5 phyle which must be maintained at certain population ratios. Those who choose to participate in fair-play must register in Brood, the lowest phyle, and receive 82 years of life, after which an "assassin" visits and takes them away in a black hearse. By significantly contributing to society, citizens may move up through the phyle, adding several years of life with each step. A very select few will reach Amaranth and may have their bodies genetically modified (with 5 copies show more made, in case of accidents), making them youthful forever. This social climbing causes a lot of anxiety for the people of Clarges, so their mental hospital is full of people who've gone "catto" (alternating periods of catatonia and mania).

Gavin Waylock has been in hiding for seven years, but now he's ready to return to the immortal society that shunned him. He's back at the bottom and must use all of his wits to work his way up to the place he knows he deserves. Things would be a lot easier, though, if he hadn't just met The Jacynth Martin, because she's determined to keep him out of Amaranth.

One thing I love about Jack Vance is that he writes about things that fascinate me. As Gavin is trying to figure out how he can contribute something creative and meaningful to society, and thereby push himself ahead of everyone else, he tackles the field of psychology. I found it great fun to read Vance's ideas about the future of my field.

To Live Forever was written in 1956, at a time when "insane asylums" in the United States were full. Vance must have thought this to be a hopeless situation because while his characters are zipping around in aircars and have plenty of other cool future technologies, one of their psychotherapists tells Gavin that their hospital is full, and psychology is the only science that isn't progressing, because it's impossible to see inside the human brain.

I'm not surprised that Vance didn't foresee brain imaging techniques (though he actually uses a similar technology in this novel!), but it's amusing that it was only a few years later that asylums in developed countries were nearly emptied after antipsychotic, antidepressant, and anti-anxiety drugs became common. It's also amusing that, for fun, citizens of Clarges use different types of "stimmo" pills, some of which are basically antidepressant or anti-anxiety drugs. Hmmm… I wonder if they thought to try those on the cattos...

Though Mr. Vance's vision didn't seem to foresee much beyond Freud and Jung, at the same time one of his characters comes up with an idea to treat catatonic-mania that is stunningly brilliant and something very much like what is only now being tested as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder! Wow!

You don’t have to be a psychologist to love To Live Forever. This is a fun, fast-paced, and clever science fiction novel, but it isn't at all "gadgetty," so it will probably appeal even to those who think they don't like scifi. It's also, as is common for Jack Vance, part humorously scathing social commentary.
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Halfway though this book, I wasn't sure what to think. The main character was a nice enough guy, but also a murderous, conniving opportunist. And he's the main POV character, so it was difficult to feel much involvement in the story, because I really thought he deserved to die. It became much more enjoyable once I realized that the story wasn't about him; rather, it's a story about the downfall of a society that rations out immortality to its citizens, with the protagonist as the catalyst, not the hero. (And it's absolutely not a love story, contrary to the blurb on the back; whoever wrote that bit obviously didn't read past the first chapter.) Vance's prose here isn't anything special, and the technology is amusingly out-of-date (being show more a book of the far future written in 1956), and though I was never bored, the story never really engaged me either. 3 out of 5 stars, but juuuust barely. show less

This is a pretty good sci-fi story from a 1940s-1950s master of sci fi. There are some really interesting themes and questions but the characters and plot weren't the best.

Vance describes a meritocratic world, where life extension is available only to those who measure up in contributing to society. There are 5 tiers, and progression extends life -- 10 years for routine "good behavior", all the way to essentially godhood for extreme achievement.

Three interesting consequences are described. First, that overall society works well due to concrete motivation for achievement. The scoring for achievement is explicit and conducted by a powerful computer, and the consequences of failing to measure up are a visit from broadly-socially-accepted show more assassins. Second, that this pressure to achieve leads to some percentage of the population becoming neurotic. Third, the complexity of succession when cloning and other forms of identity-linking are possible, specifically how the artificial scarcity of top-tier immortal status is allocated. show less

From what I've read, this is his third novel out, after two YA novels about space pirates. Starts out great, tries to do too much, runs into a little trouble in the third act, but manages to finish off okay.
Gavin Waylock at times almost seems like a serious version of Cugel: getting himself into a jam, using whatever resources he has on hand to get himself out of it, doing a lot collateral damage in the process, and not caring so much.
The immortal society that is the setting for this novel is interesting, but ultimately, it's a china shop at the destructive disposal of the rogue protagonist. Waylock's ability to move around from career position to career position like J Pierpont Finch, is a little unacceptable considering how show more difficult upward advancement is supposed to be in this society. That gives the proceedings a pulpish, or cartoonish feel. Equally irritating, Vance bothers to create in Jaycynth Martin, a potentially interesting female character, but then finds more use for her as a two dimensional harpy.
Not an essential Vance read. Despite that, it's fun enough, and fans will enjoy it. show less

Wikipedia quotes Floyd C. Gale as saying "frighteningly logical...[t]he sick, inbred society of Vance's imagination comes fully alive, even though his characters remain mere symbols."

I really can't say it better than that. Where most Vance work is focused on atmosphere, attitude, and of course punctilio, Clarges (previously and better titled To Live Forever), is unusual in being a fairly direct exploration of a concept. The Clarges society is tightly restricted in space, and the bulk of the population work toward the goal of eternal life. The book imagines the effect and logical outcome of such a society. While Vancian characters are here, they're fairly low-key, and much less aloof than normal. The book is short, but effective. show more

Overall, recommended as an introduction to the Vance voice, or just as a good social SF thought experiment (that's also a good read).

CVIE vol IV

PS Why was this not retitled The Graven Waylock? show less