The Demolished Man

By: Alfred Bester

Narrated by: Gerard Doyle

Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

In a world policed by telepaths, Ben Reich plans to commit a crime that hasn't been heard of in 70 years: murder. That's the only option left for Reich, whose company is losing a 10-year death struggle with rival D'Courtney Enterprises.

Terrorized in his dreams by The Man with No Face and driven to the edge after D'Courtney refuses a merger offer, Reich murders his rival and bribes a high-ranking telepath to help him cover his tracks. But while police prefect Lincoln Powell knows Reich is guilty, his telepath's knowledge is a far cry from admissible evidence.

©1951 Galaxy Publishing Corporation; copyright 1953 by Alfred Bester; copyright renewed 1979 by Alfred Bester; Introduction copyright 1996 by Harry Harrison (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Bester's two superb books have stood the test of time. For nearly 60 years they've held their place on everybody's list of the 10 greatest SF novels" (Robert Silverberg, author)

It needed the visuals of the paper book.

There is no denying that Bester has written a top notch SF mystery. I read it many years ago in book form. While the audio is excellent, there were visuals that needed to be seen to understand some of the story. The conversational patterns just got lost without that visual. BUT...since I had read it before, I could follow along with those. The overall thrust of the story remained intact; I just missed those little things.

Demolishing the perfect murder

The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester is a far future tale of a perfectly planned murder in the context of a society where a portion of humanity possesses mind reading powers. A rich business tycoon plans the perfect murder of a rival, but things go awry when a witness shows up. The tycoon battles a determined police investigator with the highest esp levels. At the same time, the tycoon is battling a personal demon that haunts his dreams that is partly to blame for his paranoid behaviors.

The main sci-fi element is the development of latent "esper" power of the human mind that only some individuals possess to varying degree ("peeping" the conscious, the unconscious, or the subconscious). This effectively precludes someone from lying or hiding information. Major portions of the solar system have been settled, although life in many respects is pretty typical of mid 20th century (the tale is set at the dawn of the 24th century). The use of logic computer for assessing adequacy of a criminal case for prosecution was an intriguing application for its time. Finally, mental illness and criminal punishment is treated by "demolition" whereby the subject's mental construct is broken down and permitted to re-establish itself through an accelerated childhood that recapitulates normal growth.

The narration is well done with excellent character distinction of both genders. Pacing and tone are well aligned to the story, especially given the multiple scenes of nightmares and other related mental instabilities.

Profoundly dated, yet inventive sf

If like me you arrived here on the strength of Bester’s far superior second novel ‘The Stars My Destination’ here are a few words of warning.

The story of the so-called perfect murder is well told, and moves along at a quick pace. And Gerard Doyle’s read is lively. The future New York setting is largely sketched in lacking much of the detail of the author’s later works, focusing instead on the ESP abilities of the Espers. So far so good.

Unfortunately the story is profoundly dated, the deeply ingrained sexism and misogynistic attitudes marring an otherwise inventively told tale. Doyle’s read compounds the book’s problems by giving all the female characters an obsequious tone that ups the pulp quality of the dialogue beyond the point most could tolerate, even giving some allowance for the era it was written in.

Dated but a piece of history

Expected all the reveals. The unflagging paternalistic quality of the story is cringe-worthy at this point in history and just makes it difficult to feel like the people are real humans and not just caricatures. Sure it was realistic for the times, but times have changed and this inability of misogyny and to stand the test of time is just demonstrative of its drawbacks. Not saying it's not worth reading. It's a piece of history. The telepathic world that's built is somewhat impressive, even if shudderingly patriarchal. Just keep in mind, it's dated and it shows not only with its misogyny but also with its outmoded psychological concepts.

An SF Classic

A traverse police procedural. Set in the far future, the police are mind reading ESPers who haven’t failed to convict a murderer in almost full century. The main character is an individual who sets out to commit the perfect crime. Why he does it and how the police eventually work out the details is story full of twists. An overall excellent listen.

A classic I loved 40 years ago, but hurts now

I love the novel, many of their twists and ideas. But rereading (actually listening) it now it hurt me how poor the woman characters were at that time, even in some of the best authors like Bester.

Very outdated

I started with good intentions. I knew it was written a long time ago but i was curious to hear the first Hugo award winner. I thought i could get past the archaisms. It turns out i could not and o stopped at 90%. The role of women is particularly bad (and a sad reminder of what it used to be) either white, lover or to be protected with very often a mixture of those roles. It also feels like the author wanted to put some tidbits of psychology which must have sounded like science fiction at the time but it just feels idiotic now.
Rather disappointing

Really well preformed

The narrator does a lovely job with each character.
This story is a classic, and was enjoyed.

Listen and read

I recommend listening while reading the book because typography plays an important role in the storytelling. Excellent book and well-narrated.

It’s okay

A lot of the time I really liked it. It was a bit much by the end. I don’t know if it would have seemed more original in the 50s or not.

another masterpiece by Bester

Alfred Bester, the godfather of modern SF.
triller, SF, crime novel, fantasy, you decide.

Deserved to be thought of as a classic.

The core ideas are exquisitely laid out by Bester, this is as much SF as it is a psychological thriller. Rarely are concepts like telepathy and madness explored well in SF, but both are handled with great skill by the Author, the world he creates is interesting and integral to the story. Wonderful writing throughout, both lead characters of Reich and Powell are distinct, motivated and well executed.

My only complaint is that the final chapter is a total mess, a long exposition of what was mostly already expertly revealed in the previous chapter. We get to see a rather rushed description of demolition and a happy ending for some of the other characters before the book ends. Honestly it's a very sour note to end an otherwise brilliant book.

The Stars My Destination is Superior but the demolished man delivers. The Performance of Gerard Doyle being excellent here as well, distinct character voices and a natural flow. Recommended.

Vintage Sci fi classic

Yes, it is old fashioned and of it's time, but all the better for it. Narrator was a good match and handled everything really well. I loved the book so I'm happy to report they got it right.

amazing book

truly gripping and origional. hard to believe it was written in the 1950s. well read by the narrator as well.

Classic fast paced sci-fi adventure

Alfred Bester tells stories with such ease. The plots are brilliant and the uncanny ideas he seemingly come up with at will and discards at equal speed is incredible. His stories have everything you want in such a tale. It is easy to see why he is hailed a master storyteller. A breeze and pleasure to read or listen to. The narrator was adequate. Nothing special added by his narration.