Worlds (novel)

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Worlds is a science fiction novel by the Scottish writer Iain Banks , which was first published in 2009 under the English title Transition by Orbit in London. Iain Banks was the author of the British and German editions , while in the USA the name Iain M. Banks was used, whom Banks preferred for his science fiction oeuvre . Welten was translated into German by Friedrich Mader .

subjects

Different thematic complexes intertwine in worlds . It's about power , the exercise of power and imperialism , as it were , illustrating the well-known phrase “ power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely ”. There is also intense thought about torture , which is an exercise of power on a highly individual level. It is about poverty and the cynical ruthlessness it takes to get really rich. The question of how much loyalty a questionable system can demand from an individual is raised. Finally, it is essential to identity to what one I mind. Modifying the well-known book title a little, it boils down to the question: Who am I and if so, how many have I been?

Formal structure

The novel has 558 pages and is divided into 15 chapters as well as a prologue and an epilogue . A table of contents is missing. Several characters speak in each chapter. The respective events are described from their perspective. The names or designations of these people are also the headings of the individual sections. The narrative fragments of the individual protagonists only vaguely follow a chronological order. The reader is constantly challenged to re-locate what is being told.

Different beginnings are presented in the prologue. The storylines and people that follow later are presented in clearly separated sections, but still without nominal identification. In one case, the prologue even anticipates the end of the novel or the end of this narrator. He is suffocated by a stranger in a hospital bed with his spare pillow. Another narrator introduces the reader to the most important plot of the novel, the changing between worlds, by witnessing how a young man - sitting at a bistro table and drinking espresso - throws a tablet into this very drink, sneezes, and a little later reappears in a completely different place.

The epilogue, at the end of the book, links all the remaining storylines and clarifies the ultimate fate of the various protagonists . The suffocation of the narrator mentioned above from the prologue is taken up again and modified somewhat.

action

In time radius of three world-shaking events, the fall of the Wall on 9 November 1989, the fall of the towers on September 11, 2001 and the fall of Wall Street on September 15, 2008, the narrative framework of worlds settled. The background matrix of worlds is formed by a shadow organization called The Group (also known to insiders under the code name Expédience ). Its influence on the lives of the many narrators creates the complex tension of the novel.

Banks uses the " many worlds theory " of quantum mechanics to assert an infinity of parallel realities between which the corporate agents or the world changers can switch back and forth. They are intended to influence events in such a way that they correspond to the profit expectations of the company for the corresponding world. They do not shy away from criminal methods, from extortion to torture and murder .

Change can only people who have a certain, innate talent have to do so. Without a mysterious drug called Septus , usually in tablet form (so-called ormolu tablet of) administered, no is transit possible. Moving into another world is not something physical. The changer instead takes control over the mind and body of an already existing in this world people including its language skills, but also his personal neuroses and sexual preferences .

A total of eight narrators form the framework of the novel. They describe their experiences, all of which are related to the change of world and the activities of the group . In the following, these protagonists are presented individually and at the same time the context of the book's events is described.

Narrator and Perspectives

1st patient 8262

A former changer , which from the pursuit of the group hides in a clinic. The patient is certain that they are one of the company's own contract killers . The patient takes particular pride in the artistry he develops in his work. For example, he killed a famous rock star with a precisely frequency-modulated laser beam , which was in fact an MP3 copy of his first, big hit, Woke Up Down .

While he is initially completely sure of his identity as a changer , this security is lost the longer his stay. He develops paranoid ideas, but is actually abused. Eventually the company discovers him and sends an assassin , but the patient can render him harmless. Finally, in the epilogue, the identity between the patient and Temudjin Oh is suggested.

2. The world changer

Temudjin Oh lets the reader participate most intensely in the process of switching . Starting with philosophical considerations about the fate of the people he occupies to the physical side effects of the change - for example, he always has to sneeze. On behalf of the corporation, the world changer permanently influences the fate of other worlds and finally identifies himself as a serial killer , but prefers to see himself as a political assassin.

When he's not on a mission for the corporation, Temudjin Oh , like most changer activists , lives on a version of earth called calbefraques . This planet is a so-called “open” world, on which the secret of the many worlds is known and accepted. Temudjin is one of the most qualified and best-paid agents in the group, even if he is being watched suspiciously by the top management, especially in the form of Madame d'Ortolan , because one of his former lovers, Mrs. Mulverhill , has now become a menacing renegade . Incidentally, this mistrust proves to be justified. The world changer actually changes sides.

3. Adrian

Adrian is the anchor that fixes the novel in the here and now of the all too earthly. First, his career is told from a boy from a northern English miners' shop to a cocaine dealer in London. Later he rises to the cynical, filthy rich stock market broker until he is finally recruited by Mrs. Mulverhill as a supporter for stranded corporate refugees. Mrs. M. hands him a cassette which he has to give to those concerned when he requests help. Of course Adrian tries to open it or at least to examine it, unsuccessfully. This secret cannot be overcome with the current technical aids. For decades, he received $ 10,000 a month without knowing exactly what. Then he receives a call from Temudjin Oh , who is actively involved in the showdown between the various factions of the group .

4. Madame d'Ortolan

The current de facto opinion leader of the Central Council of Expédience . Because council members are allowed in exceptional cases to permanently transfer their consciousness to younger bodies, she is now 200 years old and extremely unscrupulous, determined and egomaniacal. Inspired by the idea of ​​reshaping the council in such a way that it wishes to express its opinion alone, she does not shy away from murder or contract murder. The transformation of all of her wishes into commands is incumbent on her personal assistant, Mr. Kleist , with whom, unlike her chauffeur, she does not have a sexual relationship.

In addition to the Central Council intrigue , the renegade Mrs. Mulverhill plays a major role in Madame d'Ortolan's thinking and acting. Already in the prologue she had a conversation with this lady who wanted to dissuade her from dividing the council. Even then it becomes clear that the two will no longer be real friends.

To Temudjin Oh has Madame d'Ortolan a complicated relationship. On the one hand she is fascinated by his abilities and uses him as a tool in her murderous plans, on the other hand she fears his betrayal and rightly so.

5. The philosopher

The philosopher begins by describing his terrifying childhood and youth. He later introduces himself as the most skilled torturer in the group . Because he thinks a lot about his job, behaves like a gentleman and also has scruples, he is called the philosopher . After being seriously injured by a suicide attack by a Christian terrorist, he is transferred to the reality of the changer, where he initially continues his usual activity. When he applied to work in an administrative area, he became Madame d'Ortolan's personal adjutant under the name of Mr. Kleist.

6. Mrs. Mulverhill

A highly talented changer who makes it up to a lecturer in transition studies at the company's own university. She also trains Temudjin Oh and has a brief but violent affair with him. Over time, she discovers that top management is pursuing secret goals on a hidden agenda .

Mrs. Mulverhill rightly fears that behind the mask of the smart Madame d'Ortolan is an extreme racist hiding. She suspects that one of Madame d'Ortolan's main goals is to bring the top management under her sole control in order to ensure that the many worlds remain shielded from contact with aliens, as before. This reinforces her already considerable doubts about the goals and methods of the group , and ultimately she deserted and joined the revolutionary underground .

Mrs. Mulverhill's relationship with Temudjin leads Madame d'Ortolan to a paranoid obsession of having to get hold of her at all costs.

7. The provider

A young director peddling a very interesting film idea. In his film extraterrestrial visitors or alien tourists of the earth should be discovered and contacted while they watch the universally unique event of a total solar eclipse . He is kidnapped several times by corporate agents in other worlds to prevent the realization of this film. In the epilogue, he is finally hijacked by Mrs. Mulverhill , this time with the stated aim of not making the film, but actually looking for aliens during the solar eclipse.

8. Subject 7 (biscuits)

A so-called randomist, who has exceptional transition skills, but at the same time is not controllable. She is analyzed and tortured by the company and ultimately used by Madame d'Ortolan to fight and catch Temudjin Oh. However, Bisquitine turns against her tormentors and thus helps Mrs. Mulverhill, the only person in the company who was previously nice to her.

background

When asked in an interview with the Guardian in 2009 which of his books he loved most, Banks replied, “ Transition , with which I wanted to check something. I wanted to show that I could do something like The Bridge again, because so far it has been my favorite. ”( The Bridge again because until now, that has been my favorite.).

Although he insists that transition (Eng. Worlds ) is not a comment on American imperialism, ("I don't think it's talking about America per se; it's more about power and the way it's handled." ) he has to admit that the character of the philosopher should definitely be reminiscent of the torture and abuse of prisoners in Abu Graib.

expenditure

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Maxton Walker: Iain Banks: Even at my age, I still have something to prove . In: The Guardian , September 8, 2009.