The Reproductive System

3.5/5

Sladek is the first writer I've encountered who even remotely resembles Vonnegut in style, form, and subject matter. Sladek is not as refined as Vonnegut, and Mechasm certainly has more graphic sexual content and violence than anything that I've ever read from the later. Though, like a lot of Vonnegut's works, Mechasm follows a broad cast of characters that are all loosely tied together in the most absurd ways. Here, a secret government project has produced a self-replicating system of robots that function like cells, who voraciously consume all the metal they can find in order to both grow in size and produce more of themselves. Honestly though, these robots aren't exactly the focus of the novel. Instead, they suffuse into the show more background of nearly every scene, which gives the characters a common struggle. The book follows several groups in the US who witness the expansion of the self-replicating system, and an absurd government spy operation in Morocco, where France is attempting to launch a mission to claim the moon.

Through the course of Mechasm, Sladek takes satirical shots at an uncountable number of things, including: government overspending, the military industrial complex, scientific academia, consumerism, gender relations, American exceptionalism, formulaic fiction, etc.. Sladek clearly sympathized with left-leaning libertarian ideals, and was a devoted skeptic. All of these more serious satirizations are interspersed with slapstick humor and absurdist plotting. Not all the jokes land, but a surprising amount of them do, and I'm impressed by the ratio that I experienced. Humor is such an ephemeral thing, written humor especially so. Anything that was written more than 60 years ago and can make me laugh in the present day deserves a lot of credit. There are so many absurd and outlandish turn of events that it's hard to remember them all, but the book overall was very memorable on the whole.

When Sladek switches into less farcical writing he shows that he can really do some beautiful prose work. Really the whole book is a cut above in terms of prose quality, especially when compared to his peers of the time period, though it's not the best I've ever read either. There's a section of text that describes a group entering 'the belly of the beast' as it were, as their runaway car takes them into Las Vegas, which has been converted into a nightmarish landscape of machines. This section is particularly noteworthy and hallucinogenic. Unfortunately there are also sections of boredom and monotony, where his prose is touchy at best. This is really where Vonnegut outstrips Sladek, because I can't remember any Vonnegut book where there was as much unevenness as Mechasm.

A very pleasant, funny, and enjoyable read that is significantly different than a lot of the stuff being produced at the time, which is refreshing. The central premise hooked me, and the absurdity and skepticism kept me coming back in spite of the unpolished quality of the novel. Sladek is definitely worth looking into if you enjoy this type of writing. show less

When you read the title The Reproductive System: A science fiction novel what immediately springs to mind? If it's machines that can self-replicate then you're spot on. John Sladek has somehow managed to hit on almost every single sci-fi cliché in this one slim book and create a delicious parody that had me shaking my head at the ridiculousness of it all. The basic premise is that a scientist has discovered how to create machines that can reproduce. However, it's pretty clear that he plans to put them to a nefarious purpose (also the name of my rap group). Characters are introduced almost at random with the most insane backstories and names (Wompler? Sounds like something from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.). In true sci-fi show more fashion, all the individual storylines merge together at the end to create something completely over the top and scientific ++. I thought it was a really fun read and if you're a fan of the more 'classic' science fiction novels then you'll most definitely enjoy this. It's satirical and sarcastic without being preachy. In short, it's hilarious.

Sorry this one's a bit short but the book itself wasn't that lengthy and I can't say much without revealing the ludicrous plot. :-P show less

Well, here's a heap of absurdity that both pre-dates and sends up all the nanobot apocalypses of SF history - as well as everything else it can think of, including but not limited to, the military, espionage, government research projects, international politics, the space race (we are talking 1968, here) and not least, the author himself, who keeps mentioning The Forklift Truck, a boring technical manual he wrote, in an ironic, self-deprecating way...

The more absurd the exaggerated stereotypical caricature, the more memorable the character, including such loons as the paranoid/murderous CIA agent who has to prevent the enemy from committing suicide, the US Army General who is all bombast and bluster but is hiding an embarrassing secret, show more the evil scientist who practices dentistry on himself and the journalist who makes up jokey headlines about his own wife absconding with another man.

Three stars worth of silliness. show less

A typical Sladek tongue-in-cheek title leads us into a satirical tale of a doll factory that has fallen on hard times, and engages a super-scientist from MIT to help them get a lucrative military contract. However, the super-scientist in question graduated from the Miami Institute of Technocracy, and his idea, of a self-replicating machine, gets out of control...

Starts off strong with good characters and a healthy dose of wit. But by the halfway mark the satire descends into ridiculous farce that drags on page after page, like reading a comic book without the benefit of pictures. Might have made a decent film (depending on the director, of course) but as a novel I just couldn't finish it.

Pirotecnico, psichedelico, violentemente antimilitarista, delirante e assolutamente umoristico.
Un capolavoro del tempo e del genere, con molti spunti decisamente attuali.

Very dated SF humor. The bits about the self-replicating machines are still funny, especially the image of the toolbox stealing the train, but the characterization is so dated as to be unreadable. Didn't really finish reading it, just skimmed the second half for the machine story.