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The Men In The Jungle

Author: Norman Spinrad

On the planet Sangre (Spanish for 'blood') there exists a divided society so brutal that it makes your average Earth-bound slavery society look like a humanitarian enterprise. The sub-class is treated by their masters worse than cage-hens or cattle in Indonesian abattoirs. You're talking torture, killing, cannibalism and Into this setting comes Bart Fraden, a fugitive on the run, with his girlfriend Sophie and his buddy Wilhelm Vanderling, who's a bit of a military genius. Fraden sees a great potential for revolution here and with Wilhelm set about to start one. The consequences are terrifying and might well cost Fraden his soul. Why it's on the list: Spinrad was a master at subversive SF. Men in the Jungle is a disturbing story, mainly because it's hard not to like the rogue Bart Fraden; and so is likely to follow him into the darkness that he has created. Your classic tale of how the unforeseen consequences of any action outnumber the foreseen (or intended) ones by a factor of a gazillion to one. Also questions the notion that the oppressed are necessarily any nobler then their oppressors. This book isn't for the faint-hearted, and those who can't handle graphic descriptions of violence might want to give it a miss. Conscience takes a back-seat for a significant portion of the story. Having said that, it's also thought-provoking, precisely because of all those reasons. Read if you like: Seriously subversive literature.

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