Cordwainer Smith was an odd anomaly of his time in the world of SF. An expert on East Asia and the author of a pretty well regarded book on psychological warfare, he basically wrote SF in his spare time (along with some other scattered novels under other pen names) and didn't accumulate many of them in his somewhat short life (he died in his early fifties in 1966) . . . all of his short SF works can be found in a single six-hundredish page volume and he only had one slim SF novel to his credit.But what sets his writing apart from his peers who were operating in the genre at the time was his dedication to a very wide-spanning and elaborate future history featuring what he called "The Instrumentality" . . . pretty much all of his stories can be set somewhere on that chronology which he had seemed to work out to a fairly thorough extent. But if all he was capable of doing was coming up with great ideas for a future history that wouldn't have been too notable, bargain basement SF and fantasy authors do that kind of thing all the time. Without having the stories to back up the weight of the history, he probably would have faded into obscurity (well, more than he already has . . . while he's highly regarded among people familiar with the history of the genre, it's not like he's a household name) but those stories do exist and they are strange things, infused with an off-kilter sensibility that can be oddly playful or vicious in equal measure and featuring that seems to be truly alien, as weird to us as this century would be for someone born a hundred years ago and transplanted suddenly into today.The best place to experience him is probably in the short stories but with only this novel to his credit it's fair to say that pretty much everything he did is worth exploring. Reading the short stories first probably will expose you to that history and let you settle in easier but in my case I read the novel first (hey, it was shorter) and while some people seemed to have issues settling into the setting, it didn't throw me too much. Smith tends to write in an elusive, strangely roundabout style that feels ahead of its time but never self-consciously literary or stiflingly academic. He's not experimenting or being overly lyrical for the sake of trying to impress us with his education, it seems that he found this was the best way to tell the story. It feels much less forced than later attempts in the 60s and 70s by other authors to prove that incomprehensible writing was the sign of great intelligence and that being willfully obscure was no longer purely the domain of post-modern writers.Smith presents his tale at the start as almost mythology and one gets the sense that he's immersed his characters in traditions that long pre-date them and are the result of strange societal circumstances. To that end, we encounter the planet of Norstilia, an out of the way world where everyone lives forever thanks to their ill sheep (as goofy as this sounds, the novel plays it straight and succeeds brilliantly at it). The production of this immortality granting substance has made everyone on the planet stupidly rich but thanks to extraordinarily high taxes nobody lives like an endless production of "Wolf of Wall Street" but basically makes their living as ranchers with noble titles. Because of this longevity some decisions have to be made, and there's a test all the young have to go through where if they fail they're poisoned in such a way that they die in hysterics, so at least they go happy. Oh, and everyone's telepathic.This is all background for the novel that Smith manages to convey in about twenty pages, with a lyrical economy that is quite stunning. Other authors would have based entire series around this scenario but he merely uses as the jumping off point to show us Rod McBan, who after passing the test after his third attempt (thanks to wonky telepathy), manages to become the richest person of all time by basically gaming the stock market and appears to buy the entire planet Earth in the process. Being a proud new owner and needing to get briefly out of Dodge, he heads over to Earth to find that being rich is a little more complicated than having a lot of money and gives the Instrumentality some headaches in the process.One thing interesting about the novel is that for a relatively simple plot (it boils down to Rod becomes richer than he expects, has some adventures on Earth and feels bad about screwing someone over who is trying to kill him and seeks to make it right) Smith invests it with a lot of complexities, not only from the differences in the societies of the two planets but even within the planets themselves . . . Earth features "underpeople" basically augmented animals and everything is fairly stratified unless you're somehow affiliated with the Instrumentality in which case it sort of shifts how everyone reacts to each other. The underpeople alone could probably populate their own volume (and probably feature in some of the short stories) but we spend a lot of time here with them while Rod gets turned into one so he can go into disguise (he also gets chopped up for shipping purposes but seems cool with that). Meanwhile we're treated to interludes in various segments of society (or back in Norstrilia) to give a more complete picture of what's going on (along the lines of what John Brunner often did) and what impresses is how completely Smith seems to have worked everything out . . . all the background material seems to extend off the edges of the pages, as in the best fictional worlds and even the moments that seem to be satirical (the intersections of the economies and how Rod may not be as rich as he thinks he is) have a weight to them.On the surface the tale is a lark, with the drama sometimes seeming episodic (perhaps reflecting how long it took him to write it . . . it was eventually published as two separate volumes, one of them posthumously) but there's an underlying seriousness to the affair that suggests even if the story never seems to be taking itself seriously (for all his travails, Rod never really loses his cool and maintains a steady aura of pluck and confidence) the transpired events are serious indeed (if the story can be "about" anything, it's as much about the underpeople trying to be recognized as more than second-class citizens and the efforts of some of the Instrumentality to take advantage of the chaos Rod causes to further that end), as are all their resolutions. Even Rod's inability to properly use telepathy is treated as nearly crippling in a society where such things have evolved to be nearly commonplace.For all its seeming simplicity, there's a scope to it that demands closer reading. It's rare that SF from this era is this immersive and this strange yet clear enough in how it relates to us. It brings us a future that is alive in every way, one that we glimpse the smallest fragment of its numberless dramas and lets us be content with that, while it continuously spreads out of our view both forwards and backwards. To that end, the ending is perhaps the starkest slap of all, calm yet heartstoppingly sad and not tragic at all in this context. Because as lighthearted as this story can be on the surface, as much fun as everyone seems to be having at times (he's big on songs and poetry, most of which is not bad), the ending seems to take place in a field as wide as forever where the gathering of everyone you know is still very small indeed compared to it, and reminds us of the one fact that we all have to endure, now and in the future, in light or in darkness, on our street or in a world so far away that we can't even see where we once came from: life goes on no matter what and sometimes it isn't very fair. But it's the same for us all, and that's the fairest thing about it.
To our detriment, this is Smith’s only novel, his output otherwise being a large number of quirky short stories mostly set in this universe of The Instrumentality of Mankind. Having said that, ‘Norstrilia’ has a complex origin since it was originally published in two shorter separate parts in 1964 as ‘The Planet Buyer’ (which itself was expanded from a shorter piece ‘The Boy Who Bought Old Earth’) and ‘The Store of Heart’s Desire’Roderick Frederick Ronald Arnold William MacArthur McBan to the Hundred and Fifty-First (known as Rod McBan) is a boy living on the peculiar world of Norstrilia, heir to one of the prosperous mutant sheep ranches.Norstrilia, or Old North Australia, where the people are still subjects of Queen Elizabeth II, (despite the fact she’s been dead for at least fifteen thousand years) was originally an Australian farming world until a virus attacked the sheep. What could have been tragedy changed the fortunes of mankind as a by-product of the sheep’s illness was Stroon, a longevity drug. Thus Norstrilia became the richest planet in the galaxy. The Norstrilians did not want to change their way of life however, and so incredibly high taxes are paid on any imported items to their world. Their children are tested in their teens to see if they are physically and mentally fit to survive, and those that fail get sent to a painless death. Rod McBan is about to be tested, and his family are worried. Rod seems unable to hier or spiek. In other words, unlike the other telepathic natives of Norstrilia, he can neither hear thoughts nor project them. A girl who loves him, Lavinia, knows that this is not strictly true as there are times when Rod can hier everyone’s thoughts for miles around and when he is angry his mind is powerful enough to disable or kill.Having survived the test, with the help of Lord Redlady, a member of the ruling body – The Instrumentality of Mankind – it seems Rod is still in danger from one Houghton Syme, an old schoolmate of Rod’s who is determined to kill or destroy him. Rod has access to an ancient computer, hidden on his land which, when Rod asks it for help, puts a financial scheme in motion. By the next day, Rod McBan is the owner of virtually all of Old Earth and therefore has to travel there to take ownership of his prize and escape the murderous attentions of Houghton Syme.Once on Earth he becomes acquainted with the Underpeople; races of bioengineered animals who have a prophecy of a rich man coming to Earth to set them free. Could this be Rod McBan?Smith certainly had a facility for creating well-defined characters. Norstrilia is set in a marvellously detailed if slightly unrealistic landscape. The narrative is peppered with songs and poetry which adds to a certain undercurrent of joy that suffuses the book. Eccentric and fascinating figures appear and disappear, such as The Catmaster, who is a kind of guru/healer figure and the only Underperson allowed (by special dispensation of The Instrumentality) to take Stroon. Smith throws in ideas right. left and centre, such as the giant alien architects who once visited human worlds and built indestructible buildings on various planets (on a whim) before leaving. It’s a marvellously clever mix of comedy, drama, satire and romanticism, interspersed with poetry and song.At the end of the day, however, it is simply the story of a young man who (much like Dorothy in ‘The Wizard of Oz’) travels to another world, has adventures, makes friends and enemies and ultimately realises that what he wants and needs has been at home in his own back yard all the time.
What do You think about Norstrilia (1985)?
What I learned from this book:1. Inflation has its uses.2. Sometimes the best computer for the job is the laminated brain of a mouse . . .3. The economic significance of mutant sheep.4. Go big or go home. A sideways and roundabout look at a strange and twisted future involving everything from telepathic mink to bird-men with hypnotic mandalas to a man who literally bought the planet earth. I don't know why it works, but it most certainly does - this is a must read for anyone who appreciates a unique imagination of the world to come.
—Dan
"Tells the story of a boy from the planet Old North Australia (where rich, simple farmers grow the immortality drug Stroon), how he bought Old Earth, and how his visit to Earth changed both him and Earth itself."A very eccentric novel, a bit frustrating at times, but quite entertaining. It was frustrating in that there were so many potentially interesting issues that could have been pursued--and they were left unexplored. For instance, telepathy is just a given in Norstrilian society and if you are judged to be disabled (i.e. not a telepath), you are executed at age 18. The reason given for this is population control--but surely that is easier to do before the children are born, rather than executing 18 years olds? Once they have passed this test, they have qualified to take the longevity drug, Stroon, and live a long life producing more of the drug for export. Population control and extreme long life seem to be at odds with each other, and no discussion of this conflict happens. Rod McBan has great difficulty passing this test--he is an irregular telepath, although he is a nice enough fellow and his friends and family are distressed that he is likely to be executed instead of becoming the head of the farm and family. Except one man, a childhood frenemy, who really has a hate on for Rod.After passing through the Garden of Death unscathed, Rod must deal with realities--he needs to get off Old North Australia in order to remain safe. With the help of his antique computer, he uses his Stroon wealth to buy the planet Earth (aka Manhome) and sets off on a wild adventure.The most interesting part of the book for me was the "Underpeople" class, developed from animals such as cats, dogs, cows, even rats. They are treated as disposable, used to do the messy or boring work that "real" humans are reluctant to perform, despite their obvious human-ness. Once again, the history & development of these persons is glossed over, but the exploration of discrimination is well developed and the critique of institutionalized discrimination is organic and not preachy. (There were also a number of religious themes that might interest some).Nowadays, this story would be done as a series, exploring all the history and fleshing out all of the characters. This book rattles from beginning to end in less than 300 pages, just hitting the high spots.Things I particularly liked: attention to Australia, a country which rarely gets mentioned in science fiction; Rod's sensual appreciation of the environment of Old Earth.Other observations: this books follows in a tradition of the 1960s science fiction that deals with telepathy as a real thing; it joins books like Kurt Vonnegut's Welcome to the Monkey House in dealing with longevity and population control issues.A fun, fast, and quirky read.
—Wanda
"They don't mess with other people, and they're death, death inside out and turned over twice, if you mess with them." pg 1"He had a fear--a little tiny fear, so small that it maight have seemed to be a midget pet in a miniature cage--running aroundthe inside of his thinking." pg 14"Stupid's the word, mate, stupid. IF they ever think we're clever, we're up for it!... They're stupid not to think about it, but let's not make them think. Right?" pg 92"The honey has powers on the human mind. IT is a
—Stevie
