The Sheep Look Up
Encyclopedia
The Sheep Look Up is a science fiction
novel by British author John Brunner
, first published in 1972. The novel's setting is decidedly dystopian; the book deals with the deterioration of the environment
in the United States
. It was nominated for the Nebula Award
for Best Novel
in 1972.
The title of the novel is a quotation from the poem Lycidas
by John Milton
:
in big cities has reached extreme levels and most (if not all) people's health has been affected in some way. Continuing the style used in Stand on Zanzibar
, there is a multi-strand narrative and many characters in the book never meet each other; some characters only appear in one or two vignettes. Similarly, instead of chapters, the book is broken up into sections which range from thirty words in length to several pages. The character of Austin Train in The Sheep Look Up serves a similar purpose to Xavier Conroy in The Jagged Orbit
or to Chad Mulligan in Stand on Zanzibar: He is an academic who, despite predicting and interpreting social change, has become disillusioned by the failure of society to listen. This character is used both to drive the plot and to explain back-story
to the reader.
By the end of the book rioting and civil unrest in the United States, due to a combination of poor health, poor sanitation, lack of food, lack of services, ineffectiveness of services (medical, policing), disillusionment with government/companies, oppressive government, civil unrest, high incidence of birth defects (pollution-induced), and other factors results in a country wide state of riot and civil unrest; all services (military, government, private, infrastructure) break down.
A housewife in Ireland smells smoke, and says to a visiting doctor: "We ought to call the fire brigade, is it a hayrick?" to which the doctor replies, "The brigade would have a long way to go. It's from America. The wind is blowing [from] that way."
and an afterword by environmentalist and social change theorist James John Bell
. Brin places the book in the context of Brunner's time and other writings. In the afterword, Bell treats the book almost as prophecy, drawing parallels between events in the book and subsequent real world developments: "His words have a kind of Gnostic power embedded in them that gives his characters passage into our world". He notes that "Brunner's puppet of a president, affectionately called Prexy, is a dead ringer for our Dubya". Sabotage done by the Earth Liberation Front
is pulled directly from the pages of the novel. Writer William Gibson
made a similar remark in a 2007 interview: No one except possibly the late John Brunner, in his brilliant novel "The Sheep Look Up," has ever described anything in science fiction that is remotely like the reality of 2007 as we know it.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel by British author John Brunner
John Brunner (novelist)
John Kilian Houston Brunner was a prolific British author of science fiction novels and stories. His 1968 novel Stand on Zanzibar, about an overpopulated world, won the 1968 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel. It also won the BSFA award the same year...
, first published in 1972. The novel's setting is decidedly dystopian; the book deals with the deterioration of the environment
Environment (biophysical)
The biophysical environment is the combined modeling of the physical environment and the biological life forms within the environment, and includes all variables, parameters as well as conditions and modes inside the Earth's biosphere. The biophysical environment can be divided into two categories:...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was nominated for the Nebula Award
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
for Best Novel
Nebula Award for Best Novel
Winners of the Nebula Award for Best Novel, awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year.- Winners and other nominees :...
in 1972.
The title of the novel is a quotation from the poem Lycidas
Lycidas
"Lycidas" is a poem by John Milton, written in 1637 as a pastoral elegy. It first appeared in a 1638 collection of elegies, entitled Justa Edouardo King Naufrago, dedicated to the memory of Edward King, a collegemate of Milton's at Cambridge who drowned when his ship sank in the Irish Sea off the...
by John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
:
- The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed,
- But swoln with wind and the rank mist they draw,
- Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread ...
Plot introduction
With the rise of a corporation-sponsored government, pollutionPollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
in big cities has reached extreme levels and most (if not all) people's health has been affected in some way. Continuing the style used in Stand on Zanzibar
Stand on Zanzibar
Stand on Zanzibar is a dystopian New Wave science fiction novel written by John Brunner and first published in 1968. The book won a Hugo Award for Best Novel at the 27th World Science Fiction Convention in 1969, as well as the 1969 BSFA Award and the 1973 Prix Tour-Apollo Award.-Description:A...
, there is a multi-strand narrative and many characters in the book never meet each other; some characters only appear in one or two vignettes. Similarly, instead of chapters, the book is broken up into sections which range from thirty words in length to several pages. The character of Austin Train in The Sheep Look Up serves a similar purpose to Xavier Conroy in The Jagged Orbit
The Jagged Orbit
The Jagged Orbit is a science fiction novel written by John Brunner. It was first published in 1969, in the Ace Science Fiction Specials line issued by Ace Books, and is similar to his earlier novel, Stand on Zanzibar in its narrative style and dystopic outlook...
or to Chad Mulligan in Stand on Zanzibar: He is an academic who, despite predicting and interpreting social change, has become disillusioned by the failure of society to listen. This character is used both to drive the plot and to explain back-story
Back-story
A back-story, background story, or backstory is the literary device of a narrative chronologically earlier than, and related to, a narrative of primary interest. Generally, it is the history of characters or other elements that underlie the situation existing at the main narrative's start...
to the reader.
By the end of the book rioting and civil unrest in the United States, due to a combination of poor health, poor sanitation, lack of food, lack of services, ineffectiveness of services (medical, policing), disillusionment with government/companies, oppressive government, civil unrest, high incidence of birth defects (pollution-induced), and other factors results in a country wide state of riot and civil unrest; all services (military, government, private, infrastructure) break down.
A housewife in Ireland smells smoke, and says to a visiting doctor: "We ought to call the fire brigade, is it a hayrick?" to which the doctor replies, "The brigade would have a long way to go. It's from America. The wind is blowing [from] that way."
Publication notes
Despite being nominated for a Nebula Award, the book fell out of print, only later being republished. The new edition contains a foreword by David BrinDavid Brin
Glen David Brin, Ph.D. is an American scientist and award-winning author of science fiction. He has received the Hugo, Locus, Campbell and Nebula Awards.-Biography:...
and an afterword by environmentalist and social change theorist James John Bell
James John Bell
James John Bell co-founded the non-profit advocacy communications organization in 2002. SmartMeme's clients include national nonprofits, like Greenpeace and the Breast Cancer Fund, as well as local grassroots organizations. BenBella Books published Bell's afterword to the environmental science...
. Brin places the book in the context of Brunner's time and other writings. In the afterword, Bell treats the book almost as prophecy, drawing parallels between events in the book and subsequent real world developments: "His words have a kind of Gnostic power embedded in them that gives his characters passage into our world". He notes that "Brunner's puppet of a president, affectionately called Prexy, is a dead ringer for our Dubya". Sabotage done by the Earth Liberation Front
Earth Liberation Front
The Earth Liberation Front , also known as "Elves" or "The Elves", is the collective name for autonomous individuals or covert cells who, according to the ELF Press Office, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of the environment".The ELF was founded...
is pulled directly from the pages of the novel. Writer William Gibson
William Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
made a similar remark in a 2007 interview: No one except possibly the late John Brunner, in his brilliant novel "The Sheep Look Up," has ever described anything in science fiction that is remotely like the reality of 2007 as we know it.
- Republished hardback, 2003: ISBN 1-932100-05-9
- Republished paperback, 2003: ISBN 1-932100-01-6
External links
- Review by Science Fiction Weekly
- Stephen H. Goldman, "John Brunner's Dystopias: Heroic Man in Unheroic Society", Science Fiction StudiesScience Fiction StudiesScience Fiction Studies is an academic journal founded in 1973 by R.D. Mullen. The journal is published three times per year by DePauw University. As the name implies, the journal publishes articles and book reviews on science fiction, but also occasionally on fantasy and horror when the topic...
16, 1978