Subjectivity by Norman Spinrad
"Subjectivity" by Norman Spinrad is a science fiction novella written in the early 1960s. The story explores the psychological consequences of a long-duration spaceflight and the desperate measures taken by a unified Solar Government to ensure humanity's venture to the stars. The narrative revolves around a group of ten uniquely flawed individuals who are tasked with crew duties aboard a spaceship designed for interstellar travel, specifically experimenting with a powerful hallucinogenic drug
to cope with the psychological strains of the journey. As the crew of starship Number Thirteen embarks on their sixteen-year mission to Centaurus, they ingest the hallucinogenic substance called Omnidrene, which becomes a crutch that fuels both their creativity and descent into madness. The crew's shared hallucinations begin to evolve, leading to a breakdown of control as their imagined creatures manifest in increasingly alarming forms. While they initially enjoy a beautiful garden within the spaceship's confines, the line between reality and fantasy blurs as their creations spiral out of control, culminating in a chaotic confrontation with their own minds. Ultimately, the crew miraculously returns to Earth not in traditional form but accompanied by the monstrous manifestations of their collective consciousness, leaving behind a profound commentary on the nature of reality and human psyche in the face of isolation. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Spinrad, Norman, 1940- |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Summers, Leo, 1925-1985 |
| Title | Subjectivity |
| Series Title | Produced from Analog Science Fact & Fiction January 1964. |
| Note | Reading ease score: 77.5 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. |
| Credits |
Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 30722 |
| Release Date | Dec 21, 2009 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 182 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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