The Continuous DG Compton
The first book by David Guy Compton I read was Justice City back in 1996. I picked it as one of my ten best books that year, and described it then as "excellently written, believable characters, and a crime plot that depends on its political dimension as much as it does on the psychology of its cast". It wasn't until six years later that I read another Compton, Chronicules. While not a comforting book to read, I did review it (see here), and noted that the prose was "a joy to read". Last year I read Scudder's Game, and only last month The Electric Crocodile. The more of Compton's novels I read, the more I appreciate his writing. Yes, they are grim and misanthropic, and most have a very 1970s atmosphere - but that, I suppose, is part of their appeal.
The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe - also known as Death Watch and The Unsleeping Eye - is perhaps Compton's best-known sf novel. It was originally published in 1974, and adapted into a film titled Death Watch
by Bertrand Tavernier in 1980. I've not seen the film, although I certainly plan to find a copy. In the novel, the title character is diagnosed with "Gordon's Syndrome" and told she has four weeks left to live. A successful television programme, Human Destiny, has found success broadcasting the final weeks of terminal patients, and they want Katherine to be a subject - for a large sum, of course. But she refuses. The producers of Human Destiny had been planning to try out some new technology on her: one of their reporters, Rod, has had his eyes replaced with television cameras. (His eyes still look the same, so Katherine would never know she was being filmed every moment.)
(Rest of post on It Doesn't Have To Be Right...)
The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe - also known as Death Watch and The Unsleeping Eye - is perhaps Compton's best-known sf novel. It was originally published in 1974, and adapted into a film titled Death Watch
by Bertrand Tavernier in 1980. I've not seen the film, although I certainly plan to find a copy. In the novel, the title character is diagnosed with "Gordon's Syndrome" and told she has four weeks left to live. A successful television programme, Human Destiny, has found success broadcasting the final weeks of terminal patients, and they want Katherine to be a subject - for a large sum, of course. But she refuses. The producers of Human Destiny had been planning to try out some new technology on her: one of their reporters, Rod, has had his eyes replaced with television cameras. (His eyes still look the same, so Katherine would never know she was being filmed every moment.)
(Rest of post on It Doesn't Have To Be Right...)