ctj@msudoc.UUCP (Chris Johnson) (03/04/86)
==============Food for the Line Eater================ Frederik Pohl's "The Merchants' War" Score: Begining: 7, Middle: 5, End: 7, Overall: 7 Blurb: Great advertising agencies still dominate the world and control all governments and every aspect of human behavior. When a handful of renegades on Venus zealously opposes the so-called "benefits" of the hucksters' paradise, it seems inevitable that the all-powerfull account executives of Earth will stop at nothing, not even war, to force the rebels to submit. But the Veenies have a plan... Opinion: Frederik Pohl has written a book which I feel ranks with Golivers Travel's. The satire is very strong but presented in a manor calculated to entertain. The story flows well without ever becoming bogged down. Even though you KNOW, that the author is preaching at you, it never seems to become overbaring. The hero of this little war is quite believable as he makes his way from an "starclass copysmith" to human. The path is not easy but the trials Tarb encounters never quite destroy him. Some of the wonderful things in this world of tommorrow (today?:_) which Tarb must deal with include: Being adicted to Mokie (aka Coke) via a new advertising methods; Joining the army to help "civilize" the aborigine tribes; And dealing with "Veenies" patriats who have a hard time understanding advertisments at all. Everything considered, I would recomend "The Merchants' War" to anyone who has ever had to watch thirty min. of commercials for twenty min. of a good movie on the reruns. -- /eom ctj ..!ihnp4!msudoc!ctj (Chris Johnson) "Computer libraries are filled with electronic impulses. Books are filled with words. I've always preferred words."
wrd@tekigm2.UUCP (Bill Dippert) (03/06/86)
In article <220@msudoc.UUCP>, ctj@msudoc.UUCP (Chris Johnson) writes: > ==============Food for the Line Eater================ > > Frederik Pohl's "The Merchants' War" > > Opinion: Frederik Pohl has written a book which I feel ranks with > Golivers Travel's. The satire is very strong but presented in a manor > calculated to entertain. The story flows well without ever becoming > bogged down. Even though you KNOW, that the author is preaching at you, > it never seems to become overbaring. > > The hero of this little war is quite believable as he makes his way from > an "starclass copysmith" to human. The path is not easy but the trials > Tarb encounters never quite destroy him. Some of the wonderful things > in this world of tommorrow (today?:_) which Tarb must deal with include: > Being adicted to Mokie (aka Coke) via a new advertising methods; > Joining the army to help "civilize" the aborigine tribes; And dealing > with "Veenies" patriats who have a hard time understanding advertisments > at all. > > Everything considered, I would recomend "The Merchants' War" to anyone > who has ever had to watch thirty min. of commercials for twenty min. of > a good movie on the reruns. > Apparently you have never read much Pohl (or more correctly Pohl and Kornbluth) as this is the sequel to "Space Merchants" written over 20 years ago. Why it took so long, I do not know. Since it has been quite a long time since I read Space Merchants, I do not know how much of SM's plot carried over to the new book. Back to writing lists of books..... --Bill--
norman@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU (Norman Ramsey) (03/07/86)
In article <220@msudoc.UUCP> ctj@msudoc.UUCP (Chris Johnson) writes: >Frederik Pohl's "The Merchants' War" > >Blurb: Great advertising agencies still dominate the world and control >all governments and every aspect of human behavior. When a handful of Would someone knowledgable care to comment on the relationship between this work and Pohl and Kornbluth's classic _The_Space_Merchants_? -- Norman Ramsey norman@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu Pianist at Large
chuq@sun.uucp (Chuq Von Rospach) (03/11/86)
> In article <220@msudoc.UUCP> ctj@msudoc.UUCP (Chris Johnson) writes: > >Frederik Pohl's "The Merchants' War" > > > >Blurb: Great advertising agencies still dominate the world and control > >all governments and every aspect of human behavior. When a handful of > > Would someone knowledgable care to comment on the relationship between this > work and Pohl and Kornbluth's classic _The_Space_Merchants_? I recently read both "The Space Merchants" and "The Merchant's War" when the SFBC made them available in a 2-in-1 printing. The original, "The Space Merchants", is very fun, a biting satire of the advertising industry, well written, and at least as valid as social commentary now as it was when it was written <mumble> years ago. "The Merchant's War" is a pale attempt to recreate the magic of the original, and I think Pohl tries too hard to write biting sarcasm -- the result is plodding and strident. In case it isn't obvious, I don't like the new book. Go read the original, my boy, and sequel no more..... chuq -- :From catacombs of Castle Tarot: Chuq Von Rospach chuq@sun.ARPA FidoNet: 125/84 {decwrl,decvax,hplabs,ihnp4,pyramid,seismo,ucbvax}!sun!chuq Somehow, Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...
wrd@tekigm2.UUCP (Bill Dippert) (03/11/86)
In article <381@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU>, norman@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU (Norman Ramsey) writes: > In article <220@msudoc.UUCP> ctj@msudoc.UUCP (Chris Johnson) writes: > >Frederik Pohl's "The Merchants' War" > > > >Blurb: Great advertising agencies still dominate the world and control > >all governments and every aspect of human behavior. When a handful of > > Would someone knowledgable care to comment on the relationship between this > work and Pohl and Kornbluth's classic _The_Space_Merchants_? > > -- > Norman Ramsey norman@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu Pianist at Large Space Merchants tells the story of the Fowler Schocken Associates advertising agency and the early attempts by the Consies to subvert various things. It goes into the start of the colonizing of Venus. It also sets the stage by showing as an example how the agency can command a joint session of congress and the President of the U.S. cannot. It also shows the early influence of corporations by showing that the Representatives/Senators represent industries and not the states or the population. Merchant's War carries this theme into the distant future. Venus is now colonized and the triumphant ad agencies have basically taken over everything. They control totally Congress, the military, the political parties, etc. Fowler Schocken by this time is revered as a god of the ad agencies and it carries on with the Consie vs ad agency theme to a more or less logically conclusion. This is written after I have just re-read SM and read MW. I am sure that I have missed some of the more subtle points, but essentially MW is the logical sequel to SM, although the characters are different, due to the difference in the time frame. --Bill--
geoff@ism780c.UUCP (Geoff Kimbrough) (03/12/86)
In article <381@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU> norman@batcomputer.UUCP (Norman Ramsey) writes: >In article <220@msudoc.UUCP> ctj@msudoc.UUCP (Chris Johnson) writes: >>Frederik Pohl's "The Merchants' War" >>Blurb: Great advertising agencies still dominate the world and control > >Would someone knowledgable care to comment on the relationship between this >work and Pohl and Kornbluth's classic _The_Space_Merchants_? Ok, TMW is two (two! two! books in one!) books in one binding. Part One IS _The Space Merchants_, and part Two is the sequel. I haven't seen the sequel (sorry, the (sub)title escapes me) published separately. Maybe the publisher thought that understanding the sequel depended too much on having read TSM, or maybe TSM was out of print. The sequel didn't seem *to*me* (hint: opinion) to be as good as TSM, but I can still recommend it. (I've been recommending _The_Space_Merchants_ for years as required reading for anyone considering a career in marketing.) Geoffrey Kimbrough -- No one in Particular ihnp4!allegra!ima!geoff sdcrdcf!ism780c!geoff
wrd@tekigm2.UUCP (Bill Dippert) (03/13/86)
In article <946@ism780c.UUCP>, geoff@ism780c.UUCP (Geoff Kimbrough) writes: > In article <381@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU> norman@batcomputer.UUCP (Norman Ramsey) writes: > >In article <220@msudoc.UUCP> ctj@msudoc.UUCP (Chris Johnson) writes: > >>Frederik Pohl's "The Merchants' War" > >>Blurb: Great advertising agencies still dominate the world and control > > > >Would someone knowledgable care to comment on the relationship between this > >work and Pohl and Kornbluth's classic _The_Space_Merchants_? > > Ok, TMW is two (two! two! books in one!) books in one binding. Part One > IS _The Space Merchants_, and part Two is the sequel. I haven't seen > the sequel (sorry, the (sub)title escapes me) published separately. > Maybe the publisher thought that understanding the sequel depended too much > on having read TSM, or maybe TSM was out of print. The sequel didn't seem > *to*me* (hint: opinion) to be as good as TSM, but I can still recommend it. > (I've been recommending _The_Space_Merchants_ for years as required > reading for anyone considering a career in marketing.) > > Geoffrey Kimbrough -- No one in Particular > ihnp4!allegra!ima!geoff > sdcrdcf!ism780c!geoff I just recently purchased "The Merchants' War" and NO, NO, NO, it did not include "The Space Merchants" as "part one". TMW is a separate book!!! Caveat: I purchased both as pocket books, the hard back editions may be different. BUT: the pocket books are two separate books, not both bound together. --Bill--