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Harry Max Harrison, an American writer, has contributed significantly by his amazing and highly popular work in the genre of science fiction. “Make Room! Make Room!” is one of his award-winning novels. This book is not a typical sci-fi themed novel, but it is about a major global issue which is becoming more intense day by day. The film “Soylent Green” is based on the theme of this novel.
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Author: Harry Harrison
Genre: Science fiction
Pages: 288
Good reads rating: 3.72 of 5
My Ratings: 7.12 of 10
Published: 1966 (Original publication)
Publisher: Orb Trade; 1st edition (April 1, 2008)
Language: English
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***Warning Spoilers Below This Point***
The author set the story thirty-five years later in the future (after the time of writing) displaying a dystopic image of the world where the population is increasing terribly and devastatingly with every passing second. In this highly populated earth, the world is running out of its resources and not only humanity but every single specie is suffering. The climate is turning hot day by day with intensifying global warming and temperature change. The earth is running short of water and food. People are fighting over necessities. Street crimes, riots, poverty, and misery are the common constant matters of everyday life.
The novel includes many characters but we can not say which one of them is the hero or the villain as everyone is struggling to survive in their way. Andy Rusch a 35-year-old police detective who lives in a shared apartment with a man who is a retired engineer, Sol Kahn. The story is about many events occurring together with Andy appointed on the investigation of a murder case of a mafia leader, Big Mike O’Brien. He became murdered by a boy named Billy Chung, a Chinese-American boy earning his living by small thefts. He murdered Mike after being caught for stealing and breaking into his house. In these turns of events, they see Andy dating and falling in love with Mike’s mistress Shirl Greene, who later cheats on Andy for money and luxurious life with a wealthy man.
They see Sol fighting and struggling with a union. The motive is to fight for passing a bill regarding population planning and its control, but unfortunately, he dies of pneumonia. Billy after a lot of chases finally came in the hands of Andy. But they killed him in his attempt to escape. The story ends with an announcement made in The Times Square at the celebrations of the end of the Century, which says that the US population has made a record with 344 million citizens.
This novel receives a rating of 7.12 out of 10 because the author has done brilliantly well in conveying his main message regarding his concerns about the overgrowing population but he somehow cannot sketch his characters ending their roles abruptly inadequate. Would I re-read the novel? No. Am I glad I read it? Yes.
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