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The Disappearance
“The female of the species vanished on the afternoon of the second Tuesday of February at four minutes and fifty-two seconds past four o'clock, Eastern Standard Time. The event occurred universally at the same instant, without regard to time belts, and was followed by such phenomena as might be expected after happenings of that nature.”
On a lazy, quiet afternoon, in the blink of an eye, our world shatters into two parallel universes as men vanish from women and women from men. After families and loved ones separate from one another, life continues in very different ways for men and women, boys and girls. An explosion of violence sweeps one world that still operates technologically; social stability and peace in the other are offset by famine and a widespread breakdown in machinery and science. And as we learn from the fascinating parallel stories of a brilliant couple, Bill and Paula Gaunt, the foundations of relationships, love, and sex are scrutinized, tested, and sometimes redefined in both worlds. The radically divergent trajectories of the gendered histories reveal stark truths about the rigidly defined expectations placed on men and women and their sexual relationships and make clear how much society depends on interconnection between the sexes.
Written over a half century ago yet brimming with insight and unsettling in its relevance today, The Disappearance is a masterpiece of modern speculative fiction.
On a lazy, quiet afternoon, in the blink of an eye, our world shatters into two parallel universes as men vanish from women and women from men. After families and loved ones separate from one another, life continues in very different ways for men and women, boys and girls. An explosion of violence sweeps one world that still operates technologically; social stability and peace in the other are offset by famine and a widespread breakdown in machinery and science. And as we learn from the fascinating parallel stories of a brilliant couple, Bill and Paula Gaunt, the foundations of relationships, love, and sex are scrutinized, tested, and sometimes redefined in both worlds. The radically divergent trajectories of the gendered histories reveal stark truths about the rigidly defined expectations placed on men and women and their sexual relationships and make clear how much society depends on interconnection between the sexes.
Written over a half century ago yet brimming with insight and unsettling in its relevance today, The Disappearance is a masterpiece of modern speculative fiction.
407 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1951
59 people are currently reading
901 people want to read
About the author
Philip Wylie
119 books54 followersBorn in Beverly, Massachusetts, Philip Gordon Wylie was the son of Presbyterian minister Edmund Melville Wylie and the former Edna Edwards, a novelist, who died when Philip was five years old. His family moved to Montclair, New Jersey and he later attended Princeton University from 1920–1923. He married Sally Ondek, and had one child, Karen, an author who became the inventor of animal "clicker" training. After a divorcing his first wife, Philip Wylie married Frederica Ballard who was born and raised in Rushford, New York; they are both buried in Rushford.
A writer of fiction and nonfiction, his output included hundreds of short stories, articles, serials, syndicated newspaper columns, novels, and works of social criticism. He also wrote screenplays while in Hollywood, was an editor for Farrar & Rinehart, served on the Dade County, Florida Defense Council, was a director of the Lerner Marine Laboratory, and at one time was an adviser to the chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee for Atomic Energy which led to the creation of the Atomic Energy Commission. Most of his major writings contain critical, though often philosophical, views on man and society as a result of his studies and interest in psychology, biology, ethnology, and physics. Over nine movies were made from novels or stories by Wylie. He sold the rights for two others that were never produced.
A writer of fiction and nonfiction, his output included hundreds of short stories, articles, serials, syndicated newspaper columns, novels, and works of social criticism. He also wrote screenplays while in Hollywood, was an editor for Farrar & Rinehart, served on the Dade County, Florida Defense Council, was a director of the Lerner Marine Laboratory, and at one time was an adviser to the chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee for Atomic Energy which led to the creation of the Atomic Energy Commission. Most of his major writings contain critical, though often philosophical, views on man and society as a result of his studies and interest in psychology, biology, ethnology, and physics. Over nine movies were made from novels or stories by Wylie. He sold the rights for two others that were never produced.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
July 12, 2010
This novel represents speculative fiction at its best. What if, one day, all the women on Earth disappeared, leaving men alone -- and, on a parallel Earth, all men disappeared, leaving women alone? This novel traces the fate of both worlds, and in so doing questions the foundations of contemporary governments, religions, sexual politics, and even family structures. Wylie asks the big questions about the ways in which we've ordered society and the unexamined assumptions that undergird these arrangements, all the while drawing three-dimensional characters and compelling plotlines. Fifty-nine years after its original publication, it remains an utterly fascinating and thought-provoking read.
September 14, 2017
I love this book! Ever since reading as many of Torey L. Hayden's books as I could get my hands on just after finishing my psychology degree, I've had a great interest in elective mutism so I had to read The Disappearance. While elective mutism was one aspect, as it unfolded there was a twist that turned this story into so much more. I guess it doesn't hurt that I have a soft spot for kids who have been through foster care and are stuck in a system that doesn't always work the way it's intended to.
Mike McCallum, otherwise known as Mutt, arrives at a group home called Medlar House after a series of unsuccessful foster care placements. Mutt is physically and emotionally scarred from the murder of his little brother, Jon. He uses his physical size and his disfigured face to play the role of thug, pushing away anyone who tries to get too close to him. He's a smart kid who adored and looked out for his little brother, and blames himself for not being able to prevent Jon's murder.
Mutt has a heart of gold buried underneath his bravado but don't tell him that or he may beat you up. The fact that Mutt is manipulative when he wants or feels he needs to be and that he takes pleasure in messing with people scored him points with me as these characteristics gave depth to him that would've been lacking if he'd been all good or all bad.
Among the kids who live at Medlar House are Adam the shadow, Paddy the bully, Matt who acts like Paddy's minion and silent Jacob Mueller. While there are many social workers at Medlar House the house parents, if you will, are Chaz and Lucy (Luce). Luce spends more time with the younger kids and Chaz cares for the older ones. I adored Chaz. He was gullible and eternally optimistic, doing whatever he could to reach out to the seemingly unreachable.
As Mutt settles in to the group home, he throws his weight around enough to ensure the other kids know he's not a pushover. Silent Jacob, who ends up being his roommate, intrigues Mutt. There's more to him than meets the eye. In the middle of the night Mutt hears Jacob say something about Mutt's life before Medlar that he couldn't possibly have known. Mutt is determined to find out what's really behind Jacob's strange behaviour and hopefully find some answers for himself at the same time.
This book grabbed me during the prologue, which tells us the end of the story before we go back to the beginning to find out how we got there. I enjoyed the paranormal aspects and felt they added an interesting layer to the story. While I did find the way it all panned out predictable and I worked things out before Mutt did, he was at a disadvantage because he was trying not to look too smart and fly as much as possible under the radar whereas I didn't have those setbacks as the reader. The lack of surprises didn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the book.
The underlying mystery throughout the book and the gradual revelation of the histories of Mutt, Jacob and Adam were rewarding and I found the writing style to flow well. It was a quick and easy read with a few words scattered here and there that had me consulting my dictionary. I would have liked to have been given more information from Jacob about the lost ones.
Main issue with this book: The blurb. I feel that it gives too much away that would be better off being uncovered by the reader as they make their way through the book.
Tissues used: 1, but they weren't sad tears.
What I craved while reading: Chocolate donuts and hot chocolate. Yummy!
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley (thank you so much to NetGalley and Annick Press Ltd. for the opportunity) in exchange for honest feedback. While this book is marketed to young adults, I'd recommend it to adults as well.
Mike McCallum, otherwise known as Mutt, arrives at a group home called Medlar House after a series of unsuccessful foster care placements. Mutt is physically and emotionally scarred from the murder of his little brother, Jon. He uses his physical size and his disfigured face to play the role of thug, pushing away anyone who tries to get too close to him. He's a smart kid who adored and looked out for his little brother, and blames himself for not being able to prevent Jon's murder.
Mutt has a heart of gold buried underneath his bravado but don't tell him that or he may beat you up. The fact that Mutt is manipulative when he wants or feels he needs to be and that he takes pleasure in messing with people scored him points with me as these characteristics gave depth to him that would've been lacking if he'd been all good or all bad.
Among the kids who live at Medlar House are Adam the shadow, Paddy the bully, Matt who acts like Paddy's minion and silent Jacob Mueller. While there are many social workers at Medlar House the house parents, if you will, are Chaz and Lucy (Luce). Luce spends more time with the younger kids and Chaz cares for the older ones. I adored Chaz. He was gullible and eternally optimistic, doing whatever he could to reach out to the seemingly unreachable.
As Mutt settles in to the group home, he throws his weight around enough to ensure the other kids know he's not a pushover. Silent Jacob, who ends up being his roommate, intrigues Mutt. There's more to him than meets the eye. In the middle of the night Mutt hears Jacob say something about Mutt's life before Medlar that he couldn't possibly have known. Mutt is determined to find out what's really behind Jacob's strange behaviour and hopefully find some answers for himself at the same time.
This book grabbed me during the prologue, which tells us the end of the story before we go back to the beginning to find out how we got there. I enjoyed the paranormal aspects and felt they added an interesting layer to the story. While I did find the way it all panned out predictable and I worked things out before Mutt did, he was at a disadvantage because he was trying not to look too smart and fly as much as possible under the radar whereas I didn't have those setbacks as the reader. The lack of surprises didn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the book.
The underlying mystery throughout the book and the gradual revelation of the histories of Mutt, Jacob and Adam were rewarding and I found the writing style to flow well. It was a quick and easy read with a few words scattered here and there that had me consulting my dictionary. I would have liked to have been given more information from Jacob about the lost ones.
Main issue with this book: The blurb. I feel that it gives too much away that would be better off being uncovered by the reader as they make their way through the book.
Tissues used: 1, but they weren't sad tears.
What I craved while reading: Chocolate donuts and hot chocolate. Yummy!
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley (thank you so much to NetGalley and Annick Press Ltd. for the opportunity) in exchange for honest feedback. While this book is marketed to young adults, I'd recommend it to adults as well.
September 13, 2017
This is a story that begins at the ending. We are introduced to Mike being interrogated by police about something that has happened, but Mike is not telling us, nor the police what it was that happened, just that it did happen, to us, and that he is glad.
The rest of the book is taken up trying to find out what it was that happened, and why.
It seems like an ordinary story of a foster-care kid, in a group home, in Hamilton, Ontario, with a bunch of other foster-care kids, and one autistic type kid named Jacob, who become Mike's roommate.
Starting at the ending helped, because you knew how it was going to all work out, but you had no idea of how, or what it was that did work out. As I said, it appears to be a typical YA foster care kid story, except there is something very weird about Jacob, which you sort of start to figure out, as Mike delves more and more into what he thinks is the mystery that is Jacob.
I enjoyed this, stayed up late to read it. It did not make me cry, it was not that sort of story. It is probably a three and half stars, but it was well written, and I would rather err on the side of going up, than going down.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
The rest of the book is taken up trying to find out what it was that happened, and why.
It seems like an ordinary story of a foster-care kid, in a group home, in Hamilton, Ontario, with a bunch of other foster-care kids, and one autistic type kid named Jacob, who become Mike's roommate.
Starting at the ending helped, because you knew how it was going to all work out, but you had no idea of how, or what it was that did work out. As I said, it appears to be a typical YA foster care kid story, except there is something very weird about Jacob, which you sort of start to figure out, as Mike delves more and more into what he thinks is the mystery that is Jacob.
I enjoyed this, stayed up late to read it. It did not make me cry, it was not that sort of story. It is probably a three and half stars, but it was well written, and I would rather err on the side of going up, than going down.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
October 11, 2017
RELEASE DATE: September 12, 2017
RATING: 5 stars, this was a FABULOUS book!!!
GENRE: Young Adult/Paranormal
AUDIENCE: Fans of Lyndsay Faye (similar writing style) and/or readers of YA paranormal/science fiction will enjoy this book.
SERIES: Standalone, but I'm hoping for a follow up novel
REVIEW: This book immediately caught my interest within the first several pages, and the intrigue of learning about all of the characters within didn’t stop until the last page. Frankly, when it ended I was so disappointed that giving it a 4 star rating was a real possibility. Pondering the hope of a follow up novel as well as the enjoyment this book brought changed my mind.
Michael “Mutt” McCollum is in a bad way and in a bad place. His mom lost custody of him after her boyfriend Danny killed Mutt’s younger brother Jon and permanently disfigured Mutt in a fit of blind, unjust rage. Mutt kicked around several foster homes and another group home, but he’s now found himself as a resident of Medlar House.
As he adjusts to his new surroundings, he gets a bead on all of the other boys at the home. Adam is a shadow of a boy always hanging around caregiver Chaz. He's quite a smart one, but has a hard time staying out of Paddy’s way. Paddy is the group home bully and resident little shit. He hangs out with Matt, who would rather go along to get along than do the right thing. Finally, we have Mutt’s mysterious roommate, Jacob. Jacob came to the home as a mystery. Police found him badly beaten and wearing strange clothing in a nearby nature conservancy. Jacob was only willing to share his name and age, and with few clues as to relatives or where he came from, he ended up as a ward at Medlar.
Mutt tries to be the quiet, silent type. He’s willing to do a little pushing and shoving if establishes him high enough on the food chain so he can just be left alone. One night, quiet Jacob talks to Mutt after lights out about people and circumstances he shouldn’t know about. Mutt’s astonishment and desire to learn more about what Jacob knows spins the story into fascinating paranormal territory. As hard as Mutt tries to remain uninvolved with the other kids at the home, he discovers that to put his past to rest means taking risks.
Gillian Chan wrote this with a great deal of thought and attention to detail. Her character development was awesome. Readers should enjoy getting to know the regulars at Medlar House, from the kids to the caregivers – some of whom care more than others. I sincerely hope that she’ll write a follow up story to share with readers what comes next for Mutt and the group home crew.
*Tremendous thanks to Netgalley and Annick Press for an ARC.
FYI: Here is Gillian Chan’s author website for a list of her other books:
http://www.gillianchan.com/
RATING: 5 stars, this was a FABULOUS book!!!
GENRE: Young Adult/Paranormal
AUDIENCE: Fans of Lyndsay Faye (similar writing style) and/or readers of YA paranormal/science fiction will enjoy this book.
SERIES: Standalone, but I'm hoping for a follow up novel
REVIEW: This book immediately caught my interest within the first several pages, and the intrigue of learning about all of the characters within didn’t stop until the last page. Frankly, when it ended I was so disappointed that giving it a 4 star rating was a real possibility. Pondering the hope of a follow up novel as well as the enjoyment this book brought changed my mind.
Michael “Mutt” McCollum is in a bad way and in a bad place. His mom lost custody of him after her boyfriend Danny killed Mutt’s younger brother Jon and permanently disfigured Mutt in a fit of blind, unjust rage. Mutt kicked around several foster homes and another group home, but he’s now found himself as a resident of Medlar House.
As he adjusts to his new surroundings, he gets a bead on all of the other boys at the home. Adam is a shadow of a boy always hanging around caregiver Chaz. He's quite a smart one, but has a hard time staying out of Paddy’s way. Paddy is the group home bully and resident little shit. He hangs out with Matt, who would rather go along to get along than do the right thing. Finally, we have Mutt’s mysterious roommate, Jacob. Jacob came to the home as a mystery. Police found him badly beaten and wearing strange clothing in a nearby nature conservancy. Jacob was only willing to share his name and age, and with few clues as to relatives or where he came from, he ended up as a ward at Medlar.
Mutt tries to be the quiet, silent type. He’s willing to do a little pushing and shoving if establishes him high enough on the food chain so he can just be left alone. One night, quiet Jacob talks to Mutt after lights out about people and circumstances he shouldn’t know about. Mutt’s astonishment and desire to learn more about what Jacob knows spins the story into fascinating paranormal territory. As hard as Mutt tries to remain uninvolved with the other kids at the home, he discovers that to put his past to rest means taking risks.
Gillian Chan wrote this with a great deal of thought and attention to detail. Her character development was awesome. Readers should enjoy getting to know the regulars at Medlar House, from the kids to the caregivers – some of whom care more than others. I sincerely hope that she’ll write a follow up story to share with readers what comes next for Mutt and the group home crew.
*Tremendous thanks to Netgalley and Annick Press for an ARC.
FYI: Here is Gillian Chan’s author website for a list of her other books:
http://www.gillianchan.com/
August 6, 2015
When compared to other SF literary masterworks I read recently, The disappearance is a solid effort. It didn't blow me out of my socks, but it was interesting nonetheless. I can't say that it's a page-turner - after all, the writing style is rather dated and relies quite a bit on heavy descriptions. Also, the phenomenon of the disappearance of one gender was dealt in a "Deus ex machina" kind of way, but I shouldn't nitpick - this is speculative fiction, isn't it? Despite those quibbles, Wylie's novel is a fine exploration of gender relations and their impact on society.
This work starts from a snapshot of middle-class (or perhaps even affluent) white folks' lives in the fifties, but soon evolves into an animal of its own as the author depicts two parallel worlds inhabited by one sex. Although Wylie paints a grim picture of both alternate realities (the men end up in nuclear war, the women regress into a hunter-gatherer type of society), I was personally more interested in the goings-on in the female reality, because the world in the fifties was made by men for men. When I take into account that this work was published in 1951., I'm quite impressed by the criticism towards the societal mores, gender roles and run-of-the-mill marriages Wylie put forth. True, the author uses his characters as mouthpieces, but I really can't hold that against him, especially when I consider what they said and when did they say it. I would like to paste here quite a few quotes, but to illustrate my point, I'll just put one:
“There’s that.” Paula gazed curiously at the girl and returned to her theme. “We couldn’t, actually, most of us, love men completely, because the whole picture of life was too unloving! Follow some of your feelings for one little evening and you were disgraced! Even divorced! Yet they insisted you should have freedom and initiative! Get even a political opinion contrary to your husband’s and, for most wives, hell moved in!
They sent you to school and made you work and told you good marks meant everything. If you were like me, you topped all the boys in your class. You went to college. You studied. You earned degrees. You married. And then— what? You had to learn a lot of new things about running a house and raising babies and taking care of measles and ordering groceries and then about architecture and interior decoration and plumbing and how to run a waxer. Meanwhile, the years of hard, hard work to get an education went down the sewer! You married a brighter man with an even better education and your light went right out, no matter how bright it was! Is it any wonder women feel hostile about men? Aggressive?” Her eyes flashed. (pp. 194-195)
In my opinion, the quote above rings true for many women even today, and let alone in the 50's. What's more huge is that a man who lived in the early 20th century had the insight and the guts to write something like that. Heck, nowadays there are quite a few books on the market (e.g. the YA market) that skipped the last cca. 60 years of women's rights! And for that reason alone, I'm bumping up what would have been a 3 star rating into a 4 star rating.
This work starts from a snapshot of middle-class (or perhaps even affluent) white folks' lives in the fifties, but soon evolves into an animal of its own as the author depicts two parallel worlds inhabited by one sex. Although Wylie paints a grim picture of both alternate realities (the men end up in nuclear war, the women regress into a hunter-gatherer type of society), I was personally more interested in the goings-on in the female reality, because the world in the fifties was made by men for men. When I take into account that this work was published in 1951., I'm quite impressed by the criticism towards the societal mores, gender roles and run-of-the-mill marriages Wylie put forth. True, the author uses his characters as mouthpieces, but I really can't hold that against him, especially when I consider what they said and when did they say it. I would like to paste here quite a few quotes, but to illustrate my point, I'll just put one:
“There’s that.” Paula gazed curiously at the girl and returned to her theme. “We couldn’t, actually, most of us, love men completely, because the whole picture of life was too unloving! Follow some of your feelings for one little evening and you were disgraced! Even divorced! Yet they insisted you should have freedom and initiative! Get even a political opinion contrary to your husband’s and, for most wives, hell moved in!
They sent you to school and made you work and told you good marks meant everything. If you were like me, you topped all the boys in your class. You went to college. You studied. You earned degrees. You married. And then— what? You had to learn a lot of new things about running a house and raising babies and taking care of measles and ordering groceries and then about architecture and interior decoration and plumbing and how to run a waxer. Meanwhile, the years of hard, hard work to get an education went down the sewer! You married a brighter man with an even better education and your light went right out, no matter how bright it was! Is it any wonder women feel hostile about men? Aggressive?” Her eyes flashed. (pp. 194-195)
In my opinion, the quote above rings true for many women even today, and let alone in the 50's. What's more huge is that a man who lived in the early 20th century had the insight and the guts to write something like that. Heck, nowadays there are quite a few books on the market (e.g. the YA market) that skipped the last cca. 60 years of women's rights! And for that reason alone, I'm bumping up what would have been a 3 star rating into a 4 star rating.
June 15, 2012
I read this book way back in the late 60's and had forgotten about it until my mother mentioned rereading it. The premise of the book caught my interest and I have to admit I couldn't remember any of the details so I read it again. What a difference a few decades make!
I was shocked by the racism and sexism. The attitude that women and 'colored' people were so ill prepared to live in a world without men to tell them what to do was really disturbing. Especially since the book was written just after the end of WW II and it was apparent how much women and people of color contributed to many areas of life while the men were off fighting! I don't know why it didn't seem so shocking at my first reading of the book. Maybe because I was very young and just skimmed over those attitudes.
The idea of the two genders living parallel lives is still intriguing, but overall the book was not a fun read.
The book was written in 1951 as the world needed to come to grips with the realization that science through the atomic bomb had created a means to end all life on earth. Men were returning from war and resuming jobs, women had to vacate their war jobs and return to home-making... People may well have been in great turmoil. However, I felt the story was unnecessarily slow as the main male character engaged in endless philosophizing.
The book is a harsh reminder of how quickly our daily lives could fall apart if disrupted in anyway whether through a natural disaster, terrorism, or disease. We are no better prepared to handle a national emergency now than they were in 1951. There is the lesson we all need to consider.
I was shocked by the racism and sexism. The attitude that women and 'colored' people were so ill prepared to live in a world without men to tell them what to do was really disturbing. Especially since the book was written just after the end of WW II and it was apparent how much women and people of color contributed to many areas of life while the men were off fighting! I don't know why it didn't seem so shocking at my first reading of the book. Maybe because I was very young and just skimmed over those attitudes.
The idea of the two genders living parallel lives is still intriguing, but overall the book was not a fun read.
The book was written in 1951 as the world needed to come to grips with the realization that science through the atomic bomb had created a means to end all life on earth. Men were returning from war and resuming jobs, women had to vacate their war jobs and return to home-making... People may well have been in great turmoil. However, I felt the story was unnecessarily slow as the main male character engaged in endless philosophizing.
The book is a harsh reminder of how quickly our daily lives could fall apart if disrupted in anyway whether through a natural disaster, terrorism, or disease. We are no better prepared to handle a national emergency now than they were in 1951. There is the lesson we all need to consider.
June 24, 2008
Philip Wylie's The Disappearance was published in 1951 and absolutely reeks of the 1950s, from the gender roles and attitudes about sexuality (homosexual and heterosexual) to its Cold War era fears and technologies.
The premise of the novel is that "one minute it was the world as we know it. Then suddenly it became two worlds--one male, one female, each as before, but each without the opposite sex!" No scientific explanation is ever provided for this; the point is not, in the end, the science but the sociology and psychology behind and following the event. The novel follows the men's and women's stories in separate (generally alternating) chapters, focusing on one married couple in particular, Bill and Paula Gaunt. In the women's world, chaos quickly ensues as technology grinds to a halt (the men ran those things); in the men's world, however, things are no better. Where the women must struggle to find food and energy and to fight disease, the men find themselves giving in to violence, both on a local and global level. Much of the U.S. is destroyed as a result of the continuation of Cold War threats and tensions and nuclear warfare.
The Disappearance lasts for four years and during that time both men and women must learn about who they really are, who their men/women really were (as much as that can be known), and the ways in which they are not really that different from each other. Wylie attacks religion, sexual mores, and the social training that has grown up around gender roles, arguing that these things have stunted both men and women and that the only real solution is to see "man-plus-woman" as a whole person, complementary and equal in importance.
In this, Wylie is ahead of his time, prefiguring the free love movements of the 1960s and the feminist movement of the 1970s. However, he cannot escape the prejudices of his time. Left alone to run the nation, women give in to silliness, spending their energy at first on designing official outfits to be worn; homosexuality is seen as ridiculous and regressive; and men prove incapable of fending for themselves around the house while women's homes, despite the other difficulties they face, are nice, homey, and decidedly not tacky (as the men's homes apparently are). These remaining sexist and homophobic moments are disheartening given the otherwise positive momentum of the book, but they are valuable as relics of the 1950s. For a contemporary reader, the book is occasionally painful because of these moments, but it serves as a potent reminder of where relations between men and women stood at the time.
This combination of outdated ideas and prescient critique would make The Disappearance a really interesting book to teach if it weren't for the other element of the book that marks it as thoroughly of its time: the style. To modern tastes, the book is overexplained, overnarrated, and unaccountably formal and thus requires time to get used to. And at nearly 400 pages, I'm not sure undergraduates would be willing and able to spend the time and energy required to accustom themselves to such an old-fashioned style. I'll provide just a couple of examples from early in the book. Here is the first paragraph of the book:
"The female of the species vanished on the afternoon of the second Tuesday of February at four minutes and fifty-two seconds past four o'clock, Eastern Standard Time. The event occurred universally at the same instant, without regard to time belts, and was followed by such phenomena as might be expected after happenings of that nature" (3).
Wordy, with lots of prepositional phrases, strangely formal and distant, this is not writing that reaches out and grabs a modern reader, even if the premise is immediately intriguing. Here is one more example from the beginning of chapter 2, the reader's initial introduction to Paula Gaunt:
"Paula Gaunt was a woman of warmth, of engagingly varied moods, and of many capacities. She was perceptive and sympathetic--as a rule. She had one minor vanity: she dyed her hair the shade of red she'd been born with. As far as she could tell, Bill had not caught on, although she'd begun to dabble with henna fifteen years ago when the first gray strands had appeared. She called the original color 'copper pink'--and henna had not restored it. But other chemicals had been effective. Through frequent visits to expert hair-dressers she had maintained to the age of forty-six the hue and luster of her unusual adornment. The trouble was, not to know whether Bill knew. Since this was a matter of pride, and slightly obsessively, she gave it undue importance" (17).
Again, wordy and not the kind of writing that grabs a reader. It also suffers from the tendency to produce characterization through omniscient description instead of through seeing the character in action.
Perhaps the most obvious flaw of the book, to my view, is the lack of any convincing explanation for the Disappearance, however. Even taking into consideration that Wylie's main concern is not the science of the event, using it primarily as a leaping off point for his reflections and arguments, the resolution is so weak as to be irritating. The men and women disappear from each other's lives suddenly and mysteriously; they reappear in the same way. Edwinna, Bill and Paula's daughter, provides one speculation about what caused the separation and reunification: "I always told myself, this is a penance We asked for it; if we stick through it--keep our hopes quiet--then, some afternoon, they'll put us back the way we were" (370). This is the best we get and this is far from scientific. This is, in fact, downright mystical, making The Disappearance a 400 page morality tale. At the end, lesson learned, everyone can live happily ever after, and we, the readers, can hopefully learn this lesson without having to experience the same thing ourselves.
The premise of the novel is that "one minute it was the world as we know it. Then suddenly it became two worlds--one male, one female, each as before, but each without the opposite sex!" No scientific explanation is ever provided for this; the point is not, in the end, the science but the sociology and psychology behind and following the event. The novel follows the men's and women's stories in separate (generally alternating) chapters, focusing on one married couple in particular, Bill and Paula Gaunt. In the women's world, chaos quickly ensues as technology grinds to a halt (the men ran those things); in the men's world, however, things are no better. Where the women must struggle to find food and energy and to fight disease, the men find themselves giving in to violence, both on a local and global level. Much of the U.S. is destroyed as a result of the continuation of Cold War threats and tensions and nuclear warfare.
The Disappearance lasts for four years and during that time both men and women must learn about who they really are, who their men/women really were (as much as that can be known), and the ways in which they are not really that different from each other. Wylie attacks religion, sexual mores, and the social training that has grown up around gender roles, arguing that these things have stunted both men and women and that the only real solution is to see "man-plus-woman" as a whole person, complementary and equal in importance.
In this, Wylie is ahead of his time, prefiguring the free love movements of the 1960s and the feminist movement of the 1970s. However, he cannot escape the prejudices of his time. Left alone to run the nation, women give in to silliness, spending their energy at first on designing official outfits to be worn; homosexuality is seen as ridiculous and regressive; and men prove incapable of fending for themselves around the house while women's homes, despite the other difficulties they face, are nice, homey, and decidedly not tacky (as the men's homes apparently are). These remaining sexist and homophobic moments are disheartening given the otherwise positive momentum of the book, but they are valuable as relics of the 1950s. For a contemporary reader, the book is occasionally painful because of these moments, but it serves as a potent reminder of where relations between men and women stood at the time.
This combination of outdated ideas and prescient critique would make The Disappearance a really interesting book to teach if it weren't for the other element of the book that marks it as thoroughly of its time: the style. To modern tastes, the book is overexplained, overnarrated, and unaccountably formal and thus requires time to get used to. And at nearly 400 pages, I'm not sure undergraduates would be willing and able to spend the time and energy required to accustom themselves to such an old-fashioned style. I'll provide just a couple of examples from early in the book. Here is the first paragraph of the book:
"The female of the species vanished on the afternoon of the second Tuesday of February at four minutes and fifty-two seconds past four o'clock, Eastern Standard Time. The event occurred universally at the same instant, without regard to time belts, and was followed by such phenomena as might be expected after happenings of that nature" (3).
Wordy, with lots of prepositional phrases, strangely formal and distant, this is not writing that reaches out and grabs a modern reader, even if the premise is immediately intriguing. Here is one more example from the beginning of chapter 2, the reader's initial introduction to Paula Gaunt:
"Paula Gaunt was a woman of warmth, of engagingly varied moods, and of many capacities. She was perceptive and sympathetic--as a rule. She had one minor vanity: she dyed her hair the shade of red she'd been born with. As far as she could tell, Bill had not caught on, although she'd begun to dabble with henna fifteen years ago when the first gray strands had appeared. She called the original color 'copper pink'--and henna had not restored it. But other chemicals had been effective. Through frequent visits to expert hair-dressers she had maintained to the age of forty-six the hue and luster of her unusual adornment. The trouble was, not to know whether Bill knew. Since this was a matter of pride, and slightly obsessively, she gave it undue importance" (17).
Again, wordy and not the kind of writing that grabs a reader. It also suffers from the tendency to produce characterization through omniscient description instead of through seeing the character in action.
Perhaps the most obvious flaw of the book, to my view, is the lack of any convincing explanation for the Disappearance, however. Even taking into consideration that Wylie's main concern is not the science of the event, using it primarily as a leaping off point for his reflections and arguments, the resolution is so weak as to be irritating. The men and women disappear from each other's lives suddenly and mysteriously; they reappear in the same way. Edwinna, Bill and Paula's daughter, provides one speculation about what caused the separation and reunification: "I always told myself, this is a penance We asked for it; if we stick through it--keep our hopes quiet--then, some afternoon, they'll put us back the way we were" (370). This is the best we get and this is far from scientific. This is, in fact, downright mystical, making The Disappearance a 400 page morality tale. At the end, lesson learned, everyone can live happily ever after, and we, the readers, can hopefully learn this lesson without having to experience the same thing ourselves.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 4, 2021
Y: The Last Man, a graphic novel by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, has been adapted for television, and my friendly acquaintance Charlie Jane Anders was in the writers' room for the first season, and has writing credit on one episode. So of course my partner and I have been watching it, and it made us both think of this book, which both of us read many decades ago.
In Y: The Last Man, all mammals with a Y chromosome die, more or less at the same moment, leaving a world of women (and trans men). In The Disappearance, which was published in 1951, all the women (and female primates) disappear at the same moment OR all the men and male primates disappear at the same moment, depending on which group you are in. So everyone is in their homes (or cars, offices, shops) with their remaining same-sex family members. The two stories make an extremely interesting comparison, which I hope to write up, but this is a review of the Wylie book.
Wylie didn't really write a novel, he wrote a thought experiment and rant with some novel trappings around it. The main characters are William Gaunt, a philosopher, and his wife Paula, who live an affluent life in Miami, Florida with a Black maid, an errant adult daughter who lives with them and the daughter's four-year-old daughter. Gaunt is left alone at the moment of the disappearance, and becomes an advisor to the president, and an astute watcher of all that is happening. Paula is a smart and resourceful women (like all fictional women with agency in that time frame, she has red hair) and she becomes a local leader on the "women's side" of the divided world.
The book is ponderous and often boring and in many ways it is very 1950s. However, it's redeemed by Wylie's truly astonishing awareness of and sympathy with the social role of women, going so far in one instance as describing being a woman as "living under fascism." He really thought through how deeply women are an oppressed class, how long that has been true, and the effects on both women and men, including a lot of attention on the needs and rights of women to have their own sexual desires, experiments, and experiences. He also at least acknowledges the situation and suffering of Black people, though I couldn't help but cringe at most of how he did that. And he is completely and repulsively unsympathetic to homosexuality, even in two worlds where there is no alternative.
In his thought-experiment way, with extreme cynicism about most people and all societies, he does an interesting job of comparing the problems of the two separated worlds. The male world is more able to function technologically, but is ravaged by wars and extremely divisive social interactions. The female world is in a state of disaster because of the failures of electricity, food distribution, transportation, and so forth, but seems to be somewhat more resilient and more able to set up local structures to solve problems. The divisions are not binary: both worlds have all the problems, playing out in a different balance. The way the women handle the threatened attack by surviving Soviet military women is an interesting case in point.
Much of the book is rants about how poorly humans are able to deal with anything complicated or catastrophic (which is entirely too resonant in 2021). And the resolution is far too pat.
This isn't a good novel, and I'm not sure it's a good book; but it was interesting to revisit and I'm not sorry I did.
In Y: The Last Man, all mammals with a Y chromosome die, more or less at the same moment, leaving a world of women (and trans men). In The Disappearance, which was published in 1951, all the women (and female primates) disappear at the same moment OR all the men and male primates disappear at the same moment, depending on which group you are in. So everyone is in their homes (or cars, offices, shops) with their remaining same-sex family members. The two stories make an extremely interesting comparison, which I hope to write up, but this is a review of the Wylie book.
Wylie didn't really write a novel, he wrote a thought experiment and rant with some novel trappings around it. The main characters are William Gaunt, a philosopher, and his wife Paula, who live an affluent life in Miami, Florida with a Black maid, an errant adult daughter who lives with them and the daughter's four-year-old daughter. Gaunt is left alone at the moment of the disappearance, and becomes an advisor to the president, and an astute watcher of all that is happening. Paula is a smart and resourceful women (like all fictional women with agency in that time frame, she has red hair) and she becomes a local leader on the "women's side" of the divided world.
The book is ponderous and often boring and in many ways it is very 1950s. However, it's redeemed by Wylie's truly astonishing awareness of and sympathy with the social role of women, going so far in one instance as describing being a woman as "living under fascism." He really thought through how deeply women are an oppressed class, how long that has been true, and the effects on both women and men, including a lot of attention on the needs and rights of women to have their own sexual desires, experiments, and experiences. He also at least acknowledges the situation and suffering of Black people, though I couldn't help but cringe at most of how he did that. And he is completely and repulsively unsympathetic to homosexuality, even in two worlds where there is no alternative.
In his thought-experiment way, with extreme cynicism about most people and all societies, he does an interesting job of comparing the problems of the two separated worlds. The male world is more able to function technologically, but is ravaged by wars and extremely divisive social interactions. The female world is in a state of disaster because of the failures of electricity, food distribution, transportation, and so forth, but seems to be somewhat more resilient and more able to set up local structures to solve problems. The divisions are not binary: both worlds have all the problems, playing out in a different balance. The way the women handle the threatened attack by surviving Soviet military women is an interesting case in point.
Much of the book is rants about how poorly humans are able to deal with anything complicated or catastrophic (which is entirely too resonant in 2021). And the resolution is far too pat.
This isn't a good novel, and I'm not sure it's a good book; but it was interesting to revisit and I'm not sorry I did.
January 26, 2014
I was looking for this novel for a long time. The Disappearance was the very first book I bought when I arrived at Seattle in 2013, for Clarion West. I was intrigued by its premise, and I waa very curious to find out if the book was any good.
I'm not disappointed. I liked The Disappearance. For a novel written in 1951, it's a solid science fiction narrative, containing not only a good premise, but also an interesting view of male-female relations which was far from the norm when the book was written.
But one of the strengths of this book is also its weakness - the need Philip Wylie has to explain virtually everything in terms of lectures is so big his protagonist, Bill Gaunt, is a well-respected philosopher and professor, a know-it-all type, capable of developing Theories of Everything (they didn't call them like this then) to explain The Disappearance (that's what they called the strange event that made "the female of the species vanish on the face of the Earth" all of a sudden, without reasonable explanation.
----MINOR SPOILERS FROM HERE---------------
Now, the same thing happened to women - to them, it was as if the male of the species had vanished completely at the same time. For us SF buffs the explanation is rather simple: each gender went to a parallel Earth. This is never addressed by the scientists (Hugh Everett's many-worlds interpretation wasn't formulated until 1957)
The novel, however, is plainly racist. Not Lovecraft-racist, mind you, but racist in the sense that in no moment Wylie seems to think black people are capable of being more than we would call today NPCs in game jargon - they are just there but hardly can think for themselves. This seems inexcusable, since he discuss sex in as upfront a manner as he can, both from the POV of Bill Gaunt and of his wife, Paula.
Speaking of sex, another ticklish subject is homosexuality - Wyle doesn't flinch from it, but he dismisses it a sort of childish behavior. Gaunt doesn't feel sexual desire for anyone his own sex (although, IMO, there are a couple of very closeted scenes that are open to debate), while Paula feels it and accepts it - BUT only intelectually.
In spite of all these things, how the story unfolds is something intriguing to observe along the novel. How each gender can survive without the other? What could be their initial reactions? And their post-traumatic recovery and coping strategies?
More recent stories have tackled the subject much more efficiently, such as Brian K. Vaughn's Y: The Last Man. But it's interesting all the same to see how Wylie did it - even if it was far from ideal.
I'm not disappointed. I liked The Disappearance. For a novel written in 1951, it's a solid science fiction narrative, containing not only a good premise, but also an interesting view of male-female relations which was far from the norm when the book was written.
But one of the strengths of this book is also its weakness - the need Philip Wylie has to explain virtually everything in terms of lectures is so big his protagonist, Bill Gaunt, is a well-respected philosopher and professor, a know-it-all type, capable of developing Theories of Everything (they didn't call them like this then) to explain The Disappearance (that's what they called the strange event that made "the female of the species vanish on the face of the Earth" all of a sudden, without reasonable explanation.
----MINOR SPOILERS FROM HERE---------------
Now, the same thing happened to women - to them, it was as if the male of the species had vanished completely at the same time. For us SF buffs the explanation is rather simple: each gender went to a parallel Earth. This is never addressed by the scientists (Hugh Everett's many-worlds interpretation wasn't formulated until 1957)
The novel, however, is plainly racist. Not Lovecraft-racist, mind you, but racist in the sense that in no moment Wylie seems to think black people are capable of being more than we would call today NPCs in game jargon - they are just there but hardly can think for themselves. This seems inexcusable, since he discuss sex in as upfront a manner as he can, both from the POV of Bill Gaunt and of his wife, Paula.
Speaking of sex, another ticklish subject is homosexuality - Wyle doesn't flinch from it, but he dismisses it a sort of childish behavior. Gaunt doesn't feel sexual desire for anyone his own sex (although, IMO, there are a couple of very closeted scenes that are open to debate), while Paula feels it and accepts it - BUT only intelectually.
In spite of all these things, how the story unfolds is something intriguing to observe along the novel. How each gender can survive without the other? What could be their initial reactions? And their post-traumatic recovery and coping strategies?
More recent stories have tackled the subject much more efficiently, such as Brian K. Vaughn's Y: The Last Man. But it's interesting all the same to see how Wylie did it - even if it was far from ideal.
March 20, 2014
Of all my books, this is in the top 10 of my favorites. No, I lie! This is number one, such that I return to reading it again and again. The first copy I bought decades ago wore out, and I recently had to buy a new copy. If there were a six-star rating, this novel would receive one.
Today I once again am rereading Philip Wylie's The Disappearance, which is a book everyone should read at least once.
Set back in the 1950s, Mr. Wylie thoughtfully writes about how men and women survive when the other sex disappears all over the world. They aren't dead, just no longer there in one split second. Planes crash when male pilots no longer exist. Pregnant females see their clothes suddenly hang on their flattened bodies when the hoped-for male baby is gone.
Some men resort to odd behavior to satisfy their loneliness, while others rise to heroic levels in a time of crisis. Meanwhile in their parallel world, many women discover they have hidden strength that was unusual for that time in history.
The two main characters are a married couple from Florida, but this novel is really about all humanity throughout the world. When reading this novel, I often wonder how I would react in a similar situation. If you do decided to get into he Disappearance", you might find yourself asking the same question.
Today I once again am rereading Philip Wylie's The Disappearance, which is a book everyone should read at least once.
Set back in the 1950s, Mr. Wylie thoughtfully writes about how men and women survive when the other sex disappears all over the world. They aren't dead, just no longer there in one split second. Planes crash when male pilots no longer exist. Pregnant females see their clothes suddenly hang on their flattened bodies when the hoped-for male baby is gone.
Some men resort to odd behavior to satisfy their loneliness, while others rise to heroic levels in a time of crisis. Meanwhile in their parallel world, many women discover they have hidden strength that was unusual for that time in history.
The two main characters are a married couple from Florida, but this novel is really about all humanity throughout the world. When reading this novel, I often wonder how I would react in a similar situation. If you do decided to get into he Disappearance", you might find yourself asking the same question.
April 15, 2013
This is the fifth time I have read the book but the first in almost thirty years. It was almost like reading the book for the first time. Not quite science-fiction, not quite dystopian, The Disappearanceby Philip Wylie is a study of the male and female psyches set amidst a varied array of essays commenting on the ills of American attitudes and philosophies leading into the early Cold war period.
In characteristic Wylie fashion, his protagonists are literate, highly intelligent beings who seem to want to right the ills of society. As a speculative novel, what may have appeared obvious to some sixty years ago when the novel first was published, now seems to have been astoundingly understated. things are worse today than Wylie imagined! If you are looking for a story, cskip this novel. Its tale is relatively straightforward and predictable for the most part and not especially exciting. But for commentary on the once and future America, this is a superb book. Best read now and then twenty or thirty years from now, read it again. Wylie's ideas seem enduring and for this novelist/essayist, that is indeed a compliment. A book in which the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts.
In characteristic Wylie fashion, his protagonists are literate, highly intelligent beings who seem to want to right the ills of society. As a speculative novel, what may have appeared obvious to some sixty years ago when the novel first was published, now seems to have been astoundingly understated. things are worse today than Wylie imagined! If you are looking for a story, cskip this novel. Its tale is relatively straightforward and predictable for the most part and not especially exciting. But for commentary on the once and future America, this is a superb book. Best read now and then twenty or thirty years from now, read it again. Wylie's ideas seem enduring and for this novelist/essayist, that is indeed a compliment. A book in which the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts.
July 24, 2017
**Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of THE DISAPPEARANCE in exchange for my honest review**
In a group home, big, burly Mike, disfigured by his stepfather befriends scrawny Jacob, a selective mute. Mike doesn't want to play protector against the house bully, but when Jacob shares knowledge of Mike's past, the older boy feels he has little choice.
THE DISAPPEARANCE started off strong. Gillian Chan hooked me with the preface, Mike being questioned about Jacob's disappearance. I wanted to know if Mike was hero, villain or somewhere in between. Chan's engaging words flowed easily across the pages and I became quickly invested in Mike and Jacob.
This story of abuse, bullying, mental health and foster care lost its oomph when the plot veered into the paranormal/supernatural realm. I didn't enjoy the last 30% of THE DISAPPEARANCE nearly as much as the first parts. Readers who enjoy paranormal stories will not have this criticism.
THE DISAPPEARANCE is an engaging paranormal mystery.
In a group home, big, burly Mike, disfigured by his stepfather befriends scrawny Jacob, a selective mute. Mike doesn't want to play protector against the house bully, but when Jacob shares knowledge of Mike's past, the older boy feels he has little choice.
THE DISAPPEARANCE started off strong. Gillian Chan hooked me with the preface, Mike being questioned about Jacob's disappearance. I wanted to know if Mike was hero, villain or somewhere in between. Chan's engaging words flowed easily across the pages and I became quickly invested in Mike and Jacob.
This story of abuse, bullying, mental health and foster care lost its oomph when the plot veered into the paranormal/supernatural realm. I didn't enjoy the last 30% of THE DISAPPEARANCE nearly as much as the first parts. Readers who enjoy paranormal stories will not have this criticism.
THE DISAPPEARANCE is an engaging paranormal mystery.
November 11, 2011
I loved aspects of this book, and many other aspects made me cringe. Let's get the negatives out of the way first. There are a lot of racist, classist, sexist, homophobic ideas and scenes in this book. It's a product of its time, and I have a feeling it was quite progressive when it was written back in 1951, but even so, it can be very cringe-inducing at times, and is disappointing overall because of this.
However! It is worth reading, with a critical eye. The story is really fascinating, and the execution is well done. I really enjoyed the male author's speculation as to what women would do without men around - he's surprisingly generous with his predictions, though he sells us short. I also liked the focus on love, and the discussions of esoteric philosophy, mandalas, Jungian psychology, and other fun avenues of exploration that make this book a very prescient one. It's like Philip Wylie could see the future - or maybe he just helped to write it.
However! It is worth reading, with a critical eye. The story is really fascinating, and the execution is well done. I really enjoyed the male author's speculation as to what women would do without men around - he's surprisingly generous with his predictions, though he sells us short. I also liked the focus on love, and the discussions of esoteric philosophy, mandalas, Jungian psychology, and other fun avenues of exploration that make this book a very prescient one. It's like Philip Wylie could see the future - or maybe he just helped to write it.
August 3, 2016
Dated, sexist, reprehensible in its attitude towards gender nonconformism and homosexuality. Interesting ideas in some places.
March 18, 2016
Origineel en intelligent filosofisch-psychologisch boek over vrouwen en mannen, wetenschap en religie, het onderbewustzijn, liefde en sexualiteit, verpakt in een science fiction-verhaal. Uit 1951. Het exemplaar dat ik lees, is een 8e druk pocketuitgave uit 1971, met een reclame voor Kent-sigaretten halverwege. Het boek is dus in ieder geval 20 jaar gelezen, maar wie kent het nu nog? Een doorlezer omdat de ideeën in dit boek steeds rijker worden naarmate je vordert.
Goed idee
De basis van dit boek is een geweldig idee, zo eenvoudig dat je je afvraagt waarom het niet veel vaker is gedaan. Op een dag, zomaar, verdwijnen alle vrouwen voor de mannen, en andersom. De werkelijkheid splitst als het ware in twee: één met alleen vrouwen, en één met alleen mannen. Beide werelden hebben hetzelfde vertrekpunt, namelijk de wereld op het moment van de Verdwijning, maar ontwikkelen zich vanaf daar verschillend. " 'Maybe it is only a dream.' 'Or maybe life until now was.' (...) 'I feel so utterly helpless.' 'Maybe that's the idea. Maybe we always were. Maybe we just stopped being aware if the fact.' "
Verschillen tussen de sexen
De twee sexen reageren verschillend vanaf het begin. De vrouwen beginnen met het organiseren van praktische basisvoorzieningen zoals stroom en drinkwater, aangezien mannen dat voorheen runden, en het bieden van zorg aan gewonden. De mannen organiseren een conferentie met wetenschappers voor ideeën, hiërarchisch en analytisch: werkgroepen met leiders die weer rapporteren aan hogere leiders etc., abstract, eigenwijs. Daarnaast breekt in no time een kernoorlog uit tussen Rusland en USA bij de mannen (het boek dateert uit de koude oorlog, dus Rusland begint en verliest). Bij de vrouwen breken branden uit, bij gebrek aan mensen die gevaarlijke installaties kunnen bedienen en gaslekken kunnen repareren. Vrouwen plunderen winkels om voorraden te hamsteren. De vrouwen organiseren regionale besturen: Congress of Wives (deze heten al snel COWS hahaha). De regering wordt bemensd door ex-Congress man's wives, die zich eerst uitvoerig bezighouden met de uiterlijkheden van een uniform. De wereld valt terug op landbouw, mobiliteit neemt dramatisch af; Rusland rukt op omdat daar de vrouwen altijd al meededen in het arbeidsproces. Eenmaal aangekomen in New York sluiten de vrouwen al snel vriendschap met elkaar en besluiten samen te gaan werken. De mannen hebben uitbarstingen van onderling geweld, de vrouwen huilbuien. Lust verdwijnt niet, bij beide sexen resulterend in travestie en homosexualiteit. Bij de vrouwen ontstaat een beweging die de mannen de schuld geeft dat de vrouwen niet in staat zijn om zelfstandig de samenleving te runnen. Andere vrouwen realiseren zich dat ze voor de Verdwijning bezitterig, jaloers, afgunstig, agressief, egoïstisch en veeleisend waren naar hun mannen. Zelfs de meest briljante geesten onder de mannen vervallen in alcoholisme, geweld en suïcide; burgeroorlog dreigt. Bij de mannen halveert productie meer-dan omdat voor de Verdwijning de meeste consumptie gebeurde door vrouwen en door mannen ten behoeve van hun vrouwen. De man realiseert zich dat zijn afstandelijk-wetenschappelijke levenshouding zich eenzijdig heeft beperkt tot de wereld van de objecten, en dat de mens het subject (de mens zelf) aan dezelfde eerlijke en nieuwsgierige observatie moet onderwerpen. En passant verzet Wylie zich tegen sociale wetenschappen die het subject uitsluiten, zoals economie en sociologie. Hij verwerpt ook de historische hiërarchische verhouding tussen vrouwen en mannen. Tenslotte verwerpt de schrijver religie / kerk (hij maakt geen duidelijk onderscheid) die sexualiteit belast met schaamte en de vrouw bestempelt als 'onrein' of 'zondig' - dat is volgens hem de echte 'original sin'. Wat ik al zei: een intelligent boek!
Prettig gefilosofeer
Niemand weet natuurlijk hoe en waarom de Verdwijning plaatsvond. Het geeft aanleiding voor prettig gefilosofeer over het huwelijk, sexualiteit en de blijvende behoefte aan vrijheid bij man en vrouw. Zoals in een gesprek tussen een overspelige predikant en een psycholoog-filosoof. Dat eindigt in de vraag van de filosoof of de geestelijke nog steeds gelooft in beschaving en de beschavende invloed van de kerk op een wereldgemeenschap die op een gemeenschappelijke catastrofe reageert met een atoomoorlog... De filosoof tegen de priester:"Nature, not man's ideas, controls man." En hij gaat verder:"Faith's the agreement to abandon detachment, John! To supplant a packaged security for open integrity. To agree not to learn anything more." en: "When you open a book, you do it in the faith and assurance that you are already master of what it contains and that the author has written only so you may prove him wrong." De wetenschapper versus de gelovige. Het is wel duidelijk waar Wylie staat. De geestelijke vindt het wreed maar honestly, I couldn't agree more.
Gelijkwaardigheid van vrouwen en mannen
Maar dan komt ook de filosoof onder druk te staan: hij ontdekt liefdesbrieven van wel 4 minnaars van zijn vrouw gedurende hun huwelijk. En hij dacht al die tijd dat zijn hem trouw was. Blijft hij trouw aan zijn ideeën over gelijkwaardigheid van vrouwen en mannen? In een aparte brief biecht ze haar ontrouw op: "A womans world is fascist, Bill! She lives under a tyrant called Respectability and that's a horrid way of life, of marriage. I rebelled." Hij wikt en weegt, onderzoekt zijn emoties en concludeert twee dingen: (1) zijn vrouw valt niet te verwijten wat hij zelf ook enkele keren in zijn leven heeft gedaan, (2) de overwegende emotie die hij voelt is 'hurt ego'; zijn vrouw heeft hem met haar overspel belachelijk gemaakt, zeker met één man die vooral jong, sportief en aantrekkelijk is (precies de kwalificaties van de vrouwen met wie hij was vreemdgegaan). Een eerlijke en oprechte analyse: als je vindt dat vrouwen en mannen gelijkwaardig zijn, dan ligt het probleem van 'hurt ego' dus ook gelijk bij de vrouw en de man.
Verhouding vrouw - man soms wat cliché
Wylie betoogt dat de meeste mannen vrouwen zien als poppen om hun sexuele lusten te bevredigen. Om die reden zouden vrouwen zoveel moeite doen om er jong en zo 'barbie'-mogelijk uit te blijven zien, ondanks toenemende leeftijd en levenswijsheid. Om die reden zoeken mannen op hogere leeftijd jongere vriendinnen die ze met 'doll' en 'baby' aanspreken en die hen aanspreken met 'daddy'. Ook al zie ik heus zijn punt wel en komt dit type vrouw en man vast en zeker voor, komt het toch op mij over als cliché. Het gaat volledig voorbij aan de vrouwen die zich niet als een pop laten behandelen en zelfstandig, intelligent en autonoom - en ook sensueel, net als de man - in het leven staan. Het gaat voorbij aan de mannen die wel degelijk samen met hun partner in het leven groeien, ook mentaal, intellectueel en spiritueel.
Intelligente scifi-roman van de betere soort
Ik vond dit een origineel en intelligent boek. Misschien leven vrouwen en mannen inderdaad wel in een eigen werkelijkheid, meer naast elkaar dan met elkaar. Op enig moment droomt de mannelijke hoofdpersoon over zijn vrouw en ziet hij in zijn droom haar werkelijkheid. Misschien moeten we inderdaad dieper in onze primaire emotie en ons onderbewuste durven duiken om de werkelijkheid echt te zien zoals die is, vrij van sociale conventies, opvoeding en andere vervuiling. Misschien kunnen we dan, vrij van normatieve meningen over elkaar, meer profiteren en genieten van elkaars verschillen. Misschien is dan mogelijk wat Wylie bepleit: dat pas als twee mensen samen zijn, ze waarlijk één zijn. Misschien moeten we elkaar inderdaad af en toe vrijaf geven, zoals één van de personages in dit boek voorstelt. Alles bij elkaar is het een boeiend gedachtenexperiment dat je aan het denken zet, enkele clichés over de sexen, wereldmachten en kerstmis ten spijt. Dit is een intelligente scifi-roman van de betere soort, het soort boek dat ik mensen aanraad om te lezen als ze me meewarig aankijken wanneer ik zeg dat ik van science fiction houd.
Over de schrijver
Wylie beschrijft zichzelf in zijn boek het best: "A man who thinks ahead of his era and who knows beyond its common knowledge must only write or be written about. His sole opportunity is to advise the future."
Briljante quote
"Objectivity, you said, was our God. Subjectivity - where our God is - we avoided or treated in some banal stereotype. (...) It means that man never developed - he never even seriously considered developing a way of evaluating what he learned before he applied it. When he hit on fire, who knows what he did first with it? (...) Maybe he hit on light and warmth and cookery only after millenniums of misuse! If so - why? Because he didn't work up a technique for self-evaluation. Because he never bothered to consider, to discover, what he really was and really needed. He made that part up, conceitedly! We still do. (...) We never used the time we had to contemplate what we were or what we did. For determining that, we merely took a tradition, a religion, a culture - lock, stock and barrel, and went ahead uncritically. It was convenient. And mad! The brain that learned, the brain that discovered, the brain that invented, was never brain enough to say, 'I must also think about results. About applications. Consequences. About needs and uses beyond my own and those of my tribe.' Never! Never! Never! (...) You, gentlemen! With the knowledge of an atomic chain reaction, what did you make? A power plant? A still to remove salt from the sea and irrigate desert? An engine for travel? No! A bomb."
(italics uit originele tekst)
Goed idee
De basis van dit boek is een geweldig idee, zo eenvoudig dat je je afvraagt waarom het niet veel vaker is gedaan. Op een dag, zomaar, verdwijnen alle vrouwen voor de mannen, en andersom. De werkelijkheid splitst als het ware in twee: één met alleen vrouwen, en één met alleen mannen. Beide werelden hebben hetzelfde vertrekpunt, namelijk de wereld op het moment van de Verdwijning, maar ontwikkelen zich vanaf daar verschillend. " 'Maybe it is only a dream.' 'Or maybe life until now was.' (...) 'I feel so utterly helpless.' 'Maybe that's the idea. Maybe we always were. Maybe we just stopped being aware if the fact.' "
Verschillen tussen de sexen
De twee sexen reageren verschillend vanaf het begin. De vrouwen beginnen met het organiseren van praktische basisvoorzieningen zoals stroom en drinkwater, aangezien mannen dat voorheen runden, en het bieden van zorg aan gewonden. De mannen organiseren een conferentie met wetenschappers voor ideeën, hiërarchisch en analytisch: werkgroepen met leiders die weer rapporteren aan hogere leiders etc., abstract, eigenwijs. Daarnaast breekt in no time een kernoorlog uit tussen Rusland en USA bij de mannen (het boek dateert uit de koude oorlog, dus Rusland begint en verliest). Bij de vrouwen breken branden uit, bij gebrek aan mensen die gevaarlijke installaties kunnen bedienen en gaslekken kunnen repareren. Vrouwen plunderen winkels om voorraden te hamsteren. De vrouwen organiseren regionale besturen: Congress of Wives (deze heten al snel COWS hahaha). De regering wordt bemensd door ex-Congress man's wives, die zich eerst uitvoerig bezighouden met de uiterlijkheden van een uniform. De wereld valt terug op landbouw, mobiliteit neemt dramatisch af; Rusland rukt op omdat daar de vrouwen altijd al meededen in het arbeidsproces. Eenmaal aangekomen in New York sluiten de vrouwen al snel vriendschap met elkaar en besluiten samen te gaan werken. De mannen hebben uitbarstingen van onderling geweld, de vrouwen huilbuien. Lust verdwijnt niet, bij beide sexen resulterend in travestie en homosexualiteit. Bij de vrouwen ontstaat een beweging die de mannen de schuld geeft dat de vrouwen niet in staat zijn om zelfstandig de samenleving te runnen. Andere vrouwen realiseren zich dat ze voor de Verdwijning bezitterig, jaloers, afgunstig, agressief, egoïstisch en veeleisend waren naar hun mannen. Zelfs de meest briljante geesten onder de mannen vervallen in alcoholisme, geweld en suïcide; burgeroorlog dreigt. Bij de mannen halveert productie meer-dan omdat voor de Verdwijning de meeste consumptie gebeurde door vrouwen en door mannen ten behoeve van hun vrouwen. De man realiseert zich dat zijn afstandelijk-wetenschappelijke levenshouding zich eenzijdig heeft beperkt tot de wereld van de objecten, en dat de mens het subject (de mens zelf) aan dezelfde eerlijke en nieuwsgierige observatie moet onderwerpen. En passant verzet Wylie zich tegen sociale wetenschappen die het subject uitsluiten, zoals economie en sociologie. Hij verwerpt ook de historische hiërarchische verhouding tussen vrouwen en mannen. Tenslotte verwerpt de schrijver religie / kerk (hij maakt geen duidelijk onderscheid) die sexualiteit belast met schaamte en de vrouw bestempelt als 'onrein' of 'zondig' - dat is volgens hem de echte 'original sin'. Wat ik al zei: een intelligent boek!
Prettig gefilosofeer
Niemand weet natuurlijk hoe en waarom de Verdwijning plaatsvond. Het geeft aanleiding voor prettig gefilosofeer over het huwelijk, sexualiteit en de blijvende behoefte aan vrijheid bij man en vrouw. Zoals in een gesprek tussen een overspelige predikant en een psycholoog-filosoof. Dat eindigt in de vraag van de filosoof of de geestelijke nog steeds gelooft in beschaving en de beschavende invloed van de kerk op een wereldgemeenschap die op een gemeenschappelijke catastrofe reageert met een atoomoorlog... De filosoof tegen de priester:"Nature, not man's ideas, controls man." En hij gaat verder:"Faith's the agreement to abandon detachment, John! To supplant a packaged security for open integrity. To agree not to learn anything more." en: "When you open a book, you do it in the faith and assurance that you are already master of what it contains and that the author has written only so you may prove him wrong." De wetenschapper versus de gelovige. Het is wel duidelijk waar Wylie staat. De geestelijke vindt het wreed maar honestly, I couldn't agree more.
Gelijkwaardigheid van vrouwen en mannen
Maar dan komt ook de filosoof onder druk te staan: hij ontdekt liefdesbrieven van wel 4 minnaars van zijn vrouw gedurende hun huwelijk. En hij dacht al die tijd dat zijn hem trouw was. Blijft hij trouw aan zijn ideeën over gelijkwaardigheid van vrouwen en mannen? In een aparte brief biecht ze haar ontrouw op: "A womans world is fascist, Bill! She lives under a tyrant called Respectability and that's a horrid way of life, of marriage. I rebelled." Hij wikt en weegt, onderzoekt zijn emoties en concludeert twee dingen: (1) zijn vrouw valt niet te verwijten wat hij zelf ook enkele keren in zijn leven heeft gedaan, (2) de overwegende emotie die hij voelt is 'hurt ego'; zijn vrouw heeft hem met haar overspel belachelijk gemaakt, zeker met één man die vooral jong, sportief en aantrekkelijk is (precies de kwalificaties van de vrouwen met wie hij was vreemdgegaan). Een eerlijke en oprechte analyse: als je vindt dat vrouwen en mannen gelijkwaardig zijn, dan ligt het probleem van 'hurt ego' dus ook gelijk bij de vrouw en de man.
Verhouding vrouw - man soms wat cliché
Wylie betoogt dat de meeste mannen vrouwen zien als poppen om hun sexuele lusten te bevredigen. Om die reden zouden vrouwen zoveel moeite doen om er jong en zo 'barbie'-mogelijk uit te blijven zien, ondanks toenemende leeftijd en levenswijsheid. Om die reden zoeken mannen op hogere leeftijd jongere vriendinnen die ze met 'doll' en 'baby' aanspreken en die hen aanspreken met 'daddy'. Ook al zie ik heus zijn punt wel en komt dit type vrouw en man vast en zeker voor, komt het toch op mij over als cliché. Het gaat volledig voorbij aan de vrouwen die zich niet als een pop laten behandelen en zelfstandig, intelligent en autonoom - en ook sensueel, net als de man - in het leven staan. Het gaat voorbij aan de mannen die wel degelijk samen met hun partner in het leven groeien, ook mentaal, intellectueel en spiritueel.
Intelligente scifi-roman van de betere soort
Ik vond dit een origineel en intelligent boek. Misschien leven vrouwen en mannen inderdaad wel in een eigen werkelijkheid, meer naast elkaar dan met elkaar. Op enig moment droomt de mannelijke hoofdpersoon over zijn vrouw en ziet hij in zijn droom haar werkelijkheid. Misschien moeten we inderdaad dieper in onze primaire emotie en ons onderbewuste durven duiken om de werkelijkheid echt te zien zoals die is, vrij van sociale conventies, opvoeding en andere vervuiling. Misschien kunnen we dan, vrij van normatieve meningen over elkaar, meer profiteren en genieten van elkaars verschillen. Misschien is dan mogelijk wat Wylie bepleit: dat pas als twee mensen samen zijn, ze waarlijk één zijn. Misschien moeten we elkaar inderdaad af en toe vrijaf geven, zoals één van de personages in dit boek voorstelt. Alles bij elkaar is het een boeiend gedachtenexperiment dat je aan het denken zet, enkele clichés over de sexen, wereldmachten en kerstmis ten spijt. Dit is een intelligente scifi-roman van de betere soort, het soort boek dat ik mensen aanraad om te lezen als ze me meewarig aankijken wanneer ik zeg dat ik van science fiction houd.
Over de schrijver
Wylie beschrijft zichzelf in zijn boek het best: "A man who thinks ahead of his era and who knows beyond its common knowledge must only write or be written about. His sole opportunity is to advise the future."
Briljante quote
"Objectivity, you said, was our God. Subjectivity - where our God is - we avoided or treated in some banal stereotype. (...) It means that man never developed - he never even seriously considered developing a way of evaluating what he learned before he applied it. When he hit on fire, who knows what he did first with it? (...) Maybe he hit on light and warmth and cookery only after millenniums of misuse! If so - why? Because he didn't work up a technique for self-evaluation. Because he never bothered to consider, to discover, what he really was and really needed. He made that part up, conceitedly! We still do. (...) We never used the time we had to contemplate what we were or what we did. For determining that, we merely took a tradition, a religion, a culture - lock, stock and barrel, and went ahead uncritically. It was convenient. And mad! The brain that learned, the brain that discovered, the brain that invented, was never brain enough to say, 'I must also think about results. About applications. Consequences. About needs and uses beyond my own and those of my tribe.' Never! Never! Never! (...) You, gentlemen! With the knowledge of an atomic chain reaction, what did you make? A power plant? A still to remove salt from the sea and irrigate desert? An engine for travel? No! A bomb."
(italics uit originele tekst)
April 29, 2025
This book, published in 1951, speculates about the consequences of a monumental life-changing event.
As the story opens, World War II recently ended, the cold war is causing tension between the U.S. and Russia, and Americans are getting on with their lives.
Dr. William Gaunt, Ph.D. is a highly respected philosopher living in Miami, Florida with his wife, Dr. Paula Gaunt.
Paula has an M.A and a Ph.D. in ancient and modern languages: Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, Russian, and a bit of Chinese. William was pleased and proud, but perhaps slightly patronizing, when Paula continued to study in the early years of their marriage, expecting her to be a homemaker and mother. Nevertheless, William gladly makes use of Paula's talent to critique his lectures and papers.
William exemplifies the patronizing attitude men have towards women in the mid-20th century, no matter how accomplished the females are. The Gaunts' daughter Edwinna tells it as it is when she rails at her mother: Phooie! Twenty years of hard studying to learn a lot of things you've never used. Twenty-seven years of being dad's housekeeper and errand boy. All you do is write grocery lists in plain English and add drugstore bills and count dirty clothes.
That's all about to change. On February 14, 1950, the world splits into (what I'll call) two dimensions. In one dimension all the human females disappear, leaving only men.
In the alternate dimension, all the human males disappear, leaving only women.
This happens instantaneously, so in the women's world, planes are suddenly pilotless, trains are abruptly without engineers, delivery trucks lose their drivers, and so on. And women pregnant with boys suddenly find the mounds of their abdomens relaxed, caved in, all evidence of pregnancy vanished.
In the men's world, wives, mothers, daughters, housekeepers, etc. abruptly vanish. Food is left on the stove to burn; nurses disappear from patients' bedsides; frightened little boys wail for their mommies; etc.
In the first moments after the split, there are crashes and chaos in the women's world;
and bewilderment and fright in the men's world. No one can fathom, much less believe, what happened.
In the men's realm, William Gaunt speculates this might be mass hypnosis or universal schizophrenia.
In the women's realm, Paula Gaunt immediately has to deal with a flaming power pole felled by a car crash. And in both domains, America and Russia point fingers at each other.
Once the confusion subsides, and both genders realize they're now on their own, the men and women start to deal with the bizarre situation. On the men's side, Russia and the U.S embark on a short-lived nuclear war, then make peace.
On the women's side, by contrast, American and Russian women arrange a détente and work together.
In the men's realm, the president of the U.S. summons a 'Committee of Savants' to Washington for discussion and investigation, and Dr. Gaunt heads one of the committees. Since the men's domain is chock full of scientists and researchers, they try to find a scientific explanation for what happened, with hopes of finding a solution.
In his committee reports, Dr. Gaunt philosophizes endlessly about Adam and Eve; men and women; right and wrong; etc. and it's clear author Philip Wylie is using Gaunt as a mouthpiece for his own views. (This frequent cogitating gets old fast.)
In the women's realm, the wives of vanished politicians try to form a government of sorts, but get caught up in discussions of a suitable uniform for members - which should be chic, to keep up morale.
"The secretary of state, twice listed amongst America's ten best-dressed women, had had the forethought to invite to the congress her world-famed couturier, Elsie Bazzmalk." (Talk about a cliché, but the book needs some comic relief. LOL).
Homosexual activity increases in both dimensions, and as might be expected, the men's world (at least in the U.S.) manufactures sex dolls. This gives author Philip Wylie an opening to speculate about men and women and marriage.
When Gaunt sees a store selling sex dolls, he ponders: "To many men, a wife was little more than such an object as these dolls. Men of that sort were allured by the externals....They married not a personality - a mind, a cultural entity, a bundle of genes, ideas, or a soul - but a blue-eyed blonde with a good figure....Their 'love' was confined to using her as an erotic toy.....His [real life] chosen mate would age....child-bearing, child-rearing, domestic duties, and perhaps a job (along with the years) would gradually destroy in his mate every vestige for the reason he had once discovered for marrying her." Of course, these men might ditch their wives for young women.
As for the women, Gaunt thinks, "Often too, such a wife's not unnatural opinion that she was more than mechanical lust-putty led her to resentment." So, "both she and her miserable husband became embodiments of a general resentment - against each other, life, and the wide world."
Unfortunately for the female world, no women have run factories, power plants, homesteads, mines, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and so on, and things are very tough for them. Paula Gaunt becomes the head of various committees, and she's instrumental in organizing small farms, fire departments (such as they are), police departments (such as they are), delivery services, health care, hunting parties, and other necessities.
Nevertheless, the women's world reverts to something between being hunter-gatherers and primitive farmers, as in prehistoric times. There are nurses, but very few doctors, and - once the medicine runs out - disease runs rampant. Moreover, most industries soon revert to rust and ruins.
The men's side does much better with technology, but the men's homes become messy and untended; their clothing gets slovenly and dirty; they lose their appetites; they feel sad and depressed; and so on.
Both men's and women's worlds attempt parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction) to produce babies, but aren't successful. And both worlds experience violence, looting, murder, and havoc of all kinds.
The separation goes on year after year......and that's all I'll say.
I'd like to think an experience like this would teach both genders a lesson: men to respect and value women as more than wives, mothers, and helpmates; and women to assert themselves and insist on self-fulfillment on their own terms. I'm not sure if this happens in 'The Disappearance', but kudos to author Philip Wylie for (at least) understanding the issues.
Author Philip Wylie
I've seen reviews criticizing the book's homophobic and racist overtones, and though this is grating, I don't think it's unusual for the 1950s. It would be interesting to see the 'disappearance' premise addressed in current times, when women (at least in the Western world) have diverse careers; same-sex marriage hardly turns heads; and cloning babies is a real possibility.
The book is worth reading just for the speculative (though not completely unheard of) premise. Recommended to fans of dystopian novels.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com
September 24, 2015
This features a concept that was a lot more successfully employed in the comic book series Y the Last Man. One day at 4:05pm all the women disappear in the world. Though actually to the women all the men disappear. Then for four years the two sexes have to try to survive.
Since this was written in 1951, there's a lot of misogyny involved. Basically while the men's world goes on somewhat normally (except for the brief nuclear war) the women end up on the brink of starvation with disease running rampant. This after much of the world burned down because there aren't women firefighters.
Honestly, in a cataclysm most of us--men or women--would be pretty useless. I mean I have an accounting degree, so what good is that in the apocalypse? The same for lawyers, ad execs, etc etc. I was really disappointed too that at first Paula, the main character's wife, seems poised to lead the women but then decides she'd rather stay home and mend dresses. Because running the world is hard. [eye roll]
In the middle of the book is a really boring philosophical essay that I had to eventually skip over for the sake of my sanity. Much of this is as dry as an essay. Overall it was pretty disappointing.
That is all.
Since this was written in 1951, there's a lot of misogyny involved. Basically while the men's world goes on somewhat normally (except for the brief nuclear war) the women end up on the brink of starvation with disease running rampant. This after much of the world burned down because there aren't women firefighters.
Honestly, in a cataclysm most of us--men or women--would be pretty useless. I mean I have an accounting degree, so what good is that in the apocalypse? The same for lawyers, ad execs, etc etc. I was really disappointed too that at first Paula, the main character's wife, seems poised to lead the women but then decides she'd rather stay home and mend dresses. Because running the world is hard. [eye roll]
In the middle of the book is a really boring philosophical essay that I had to eventually skip over for the sake of my sanity. Much of this is as dry as an essay. Overall it was pretty disappointing.
That is all.
Read
August 11, 2011A stunning example of speculative fiction. What if all the men disappeared from the world,leaving just the women ? What if the same thing happened to the men,with all the women disappearing from their world.The world seems to split into two alternate realities,one with just men remaining,and the other with just the women.In this novel from 1951,Philip Wylie explores the consequences of an event like that and uses this clever idea to examine the role of gender in society.His characters are well defined and come across as fully developed,not just mouthpieces for him to express his own opinions. He isn't afraid to look at issues that would have been highly controversial in the early fifties,such as homosexuality and gender discrimination.Highly recommended. If you enjoyed this look out for the short stories of James Tiptree Jr,Theodore Sturgeon's Venus Plus X and Brian K Vaughn's ,Y:The Last Man series of graphic novels.All of these explore similar gender related issues.
June 18, 2019
I discovered Wylie while researching Charles Jackson -- at one point Wylie was his editor at F&R. Wylie was a polyhedric man, a bit arrogant, from what I gather, but accomplished and very interesting. That description more or less also applies to this book, which is both a sci-fi page-turner and a philosophical novel, which hasn't aged too badly at all. It makes for fascinating reading, with its distinctively early 50s' preoccupations (the cold war, the atomic bomb, etc) but also more enduring concerns (gender relations, consumerism, depletion of natural resources, etc). Wylie had a patronisingly tolerant attitude towards homosexuality, which he did not condemn, but viewed as immature -- that view is more or less conveyed in this book. As the book also makes clear, he had some wacky notions about eugenics. But the novel, I think, should be taken seriously, for grappling with profound problems in fictional form, and doing so quite successfully.
October 22, 2009
A strange little book. On the whole, I didn't much care for it. The premise started out fine: one fine day, all the women in the world just vanish. And then you find out that on that same fine day, all the men in the world just vanished. Very interesting what happens in the world of just men contrasted with the world of just women.
But oh! the preaching, the pontificating, the tedious thrashing out of theories of how we've gone wrong, etc. Pages and pages of it. Ugh!
And in the end, the ending is wimpy. And unsatisfying. No stars for this one!
But oh! the preaching, the pontificating, the tedious thrashing out of theories of how we've gone wrong, etc. Pages and pages of it. Ugh!
And in the end, the ending is wimpy. And unsatisfying. No stars for this one!
November 1, 2015
There were some pretty blatant issues with this in its racism and prejudice against homosexuality. These things should not be glossed over despite its good points. What was good about the book was the conversation about gender and social training. Sure, the book is a soapbox. Makes for dry reading. But some very interesting and fairly un-condescending ideas I never expected from a book of its time. Definitely worth a read if you're interested in conversations on gender equality (and also a gauge of feelings of other issues like prejudice.)
July 11, 2017
A bit long-winded in places, certainly, and the story would be different if written today; keeping in mind that it was written in the 1950s, it's an accurate depiction of the premise.
One of the best speculative/dystopian gender fictions I've read. Wylie cuts to the root of the issue in a matter-of-fact way without denigrating either sex and addresses key points of women's rights issues that are still relevant today. Again - he wrote this over 60 years ago. The book started off a bit slow but I'm glad I stuck with it because this was a real treat.
One of the best speculative/dystopian gender fictions I've read. Wylie cuts to the root of the issue in a matter-of-fact way without denigrating either sex and addresses key points of women's rights issues that are still relevant today. Again - he wrote this over 60 years ago. The book started off a bit slow but I'm glad I stuck with it because this was a real treat.
to-read-own
June 19, 2015Kindle Daily Deal 6/19/15 $1.99.
July 24, 2024
I found this book very well written. I very rarely mark the skill of an author or their ability to craft sentences or sentiments. But in this book I found myself rereading passages many times admiring the craftsmanship of them. They were expertly devised and convened real movements or complex ideas/moments with great deft. I think this book which is rooted in characters of two philosophers, it philosophizes very well in its themes. There was a particular profound passage started on oh 246 that I found surprisingly insightful and thoughtful, as if really written by a studied philosopher. also kinda really liked the often long chapter titles, I thought they added an interesting dimension
I worried even from the jump about the sexism that might appear in a book that so clearly decided the sexes. And one of many will be that is appears the man's world got much for pages dedicated to it. There was one instance of nearly 50 pages dedicated to the male world before getting back to women, whoms next section was under 30 pages before men were made central. This may be a small difference but annoyed me. Additionally there was just the casual sexism about men and women's work, women's promenticty to not be logical (the first action of a new government was fashion's related), but also men's immorals of sex were prominent and made excuses for. It's truly wild how causal and central a role cheating on a partner was discussed. It was one of the most prominent theme in a book that followed the collapses of two societies, yes I know because of the division of sex'es, but still not everything needs to be about sex. The book made me consider the sexism within the plot to be an actual intended purpose. Not the mark of an make author who was a product of their time or with genuine sexism in their mentality, burn instead a commentary on sex relations at the time. Deliberate in their blatant sexist themese and storyline for characters. But idk if that is giving the author too much credit. Yet it also did a fair bit of self societal critism (elaborated below); yet it still fell victim to its own critism
I was very surprised despite the main male characters being a philosopher that so much of the book was philosophical. It felt like the great tragedy of the separation of sexes and all the consequences were a secondary purpose of the book. The primary was a harsh critic of all aspects of human nature and society of the time , of materialism, production, advancement, family, morals, religion, child rearing , masculinity/femininity, etc. I don't know how I felt about that. The passage starting on pg. 246 goes into great depth criticism and revealing in great detail the great failings of male arrogance and ignorance. And even though this book is nearly 75 old, and major gender revolutions have and see still ongoing: I felt I learned something.) It was all interesting but often so academic and tedious, I got lost in it many times. I went into this book wanting to know the consequences of how the world would crumble and society would breakdown/survive in the face of strategy. And not only did I get that I also got a philosophy lesson. Although I'm not sure I really wanted that.
Additionally the book was very clearly a product of it's time. In the 50's women weren't highly regard but the lives of people of color were simply noted as servants or other'd. This is not a critism more a note for future readers this isn't an uplifting tale of races and sex's empowered, more highlights their divisions even greater. Where are critisms comes in is even in the face of great tradegy people of color were still looked down on and made up the servants class and kept separate other'd
I also felt betrayed by the ending a bit, no spoilers but it felt like it was trying to give the philosophical ponders a chance at execution. But for me it stripped the soul from the story and stakes. Also, it was exactly what I expected would happen from the begining and yet even though the body was the story was surprising, it ruined it that the ending didn't do the same.
I'm torn how to rate this, objectively it's probably 4 stars with all my comments and complaints, it was well written and an interesting and engaging story. But I can't help but give it 3 stars, this may not follow logic I was just left unsure about the quality of the story
I worried even from the jump about the sexism that might appear in a book that so clearly decided the sexes. And one of many will be that is appears the man's world got much for pages dedicated to it. There was one instance of nearly 50 pages dedicated to the male world before getting back to women, whoms next section was under 30 pages before men were made central. This may be a small difference but annoyed me. Additionally there was just the casual sexism about men and women's work, women's promenticty to not be logical (the first action of a new government was fashion's related), but also men's immorals of sex were prominent and made excuses for. It's truly wild how causal and central a role cheating on a partner was discussed. It was one of the most prominent theme in a book that followed the collapses of two societies, yes I know because of the division of sex'es, but still not everything needs to be about sex. The book made me consider the sexism within the plot to be an actual intended purpose. Not the mark of an make author who was a product of their time or with genuine sexism in their mentality, burn instead a commentary on sex relations at the time. Deliberate in their blatant sexist themese and storyline for characters. But idk if that is giving the author too much credit. Yet it also did a fair bit of self societal critism (elaborated below); yet it still fell victim to its own critism
I was very surprised despite the main male characters being a philosopher that so much of the book was philosophical. It felt like the great tragedy of the separation of sexes and all the consequences were a secondary purpose of the book. The primary was a harsh critic of all aspects of human nature and society of the time , of materialism, production, advancement, family, morals, religion, child rearing , masculinity/femininity, etc. I don't know how I felt about that. The passage starting on pg. 246 goes into great depth criticism and revealing in great detail the great failings of male arrogance and ignorance. And even though this book is nearly 75 old, and major gender revolutions have and see still ongoing: I felt I learned something.) It was all interesting but often so academic and tedious, I got lost in it many times. I went into this book wanting to know the consequences of how the world would crumble and society would breakdown/survive in the face of strategy. And not only did I get that I also got a philosophy lesson. Although I'm not sure I really wanted that.
Additionally the book was very clearly a product of it's time. In the 50's women weren't highly regard but the lives of people of color were simply noted as servants or other'd. This is not a critism more a note for future readers this isn't an uplifting tale of races and sex's empowered, more highlights their divisions even greater. Where are critisms comes in is even in the face of great tradegy people of color were still looked down on and made up the servants class and kept separate other'd
I also felt betrayed by the ending a bit, no spoilers but it felt like it was trying to give the philosophical ponders a chance at execution. But for me it stripped the soul from the story and stakes. Also, it was exactly what I expected would happen from the begining and yet even though the body was the story was surprising, it ruined it that the ending didn't do the same.
I'm torn how to rate this, objectively it's probably 4 stars with all my comments and complaints, it was well written and an interesting and engaging story. But I can't help but give it 3 stars, this may not follow logic I was just left unsure about the quality of the story
August 18, 2024
Plötzlich teilt sich die Erde in 2 Versionen, auf der einen sind nur noch die Männer auf der anderen die Frauen. Wie es dann weitergeht, erzählt Autor Wylie aus Sicht der Protagonist Gaunt (von Beruf Philosoph) und seiner Frau Paula (Hausfrau). Und es geht auf beiden Seiten rasch abwärts mit der Zivilisation, wenn auch auf unterschiedliche Art.
Ein post-apokalyptisches Szenario, also durchaus trendy. Und ein heikles Thema für die heutige, woke Zeit. Wylie wurde laut SF-Lexikon vorgeworfen, frauenfeindlich und chauvinistisch zu sein. Ob er aus Sicht der 50er Jahre "schlimmer" war als andere, wage ich zu bezweifeln.
Der Roman ist ambitioniert, der Autor nutzt seinen philosophierenden Protagonisten, um dem Leser seine persönliche Sicht auf die Welt zu präsentieren.
Angesichts der Atombombendrohung, die ja in den 50ern ein Riesenthema war, zweifelt er den Wert oder das Verantwortungsbewusstsein der Naturwissenschaften an. Er empfiehlt, die Wissenschaft möge sich mehr mit den unbewussten Antrieben des Menschen beschäftigen, so wie Freud und Jung.
Er kritisiert auch die moderne, konsumorientierte Gesellschaft und preist eine naturnahere Lebensweise. Das ist etwas seltsam, da er sich der unglaublichen Mühseligkeit und Härte des Lebens in früheren Zeiten durchaus bewusst war, er beschreibt sie ja selbst in diesem Roman.
Was den Spaß beim Lesen betrifft, fand ich, dass er recht gut geschrieben ist, ich blieb bei der Stange, obwohl mich einige Themen und Motive nicht so interessierten. Auch dass er eine recht andere Lebensanschauung hat als ich, störte nicht wirklich.
Ein post-apokalyptisches Szenario, also durchaus trendy. Und ein heikles Thema für die heutige, woke Zeit. Wylie wurde laut SF-Lexikon vorgeworfen, frauenfeindlich und chauvinistisch zu sein. Ob er aus Sicht der 50er Jahre "schlimmer" war als andere, wage ich zu bezweifeln.
Der Roman ist ambitioniert, der Autor nutzt seinen philosophierenden Protagonisten, um dem Leser seine persönliche Sicht auf die Welt zu präsentieren.
Angesichts der Atombombendrohung, die ja in den 50ern ein Riesenthema war, zweifelt er den Wert oder das Verantwortungsbewusstsein der Naturwissenschaften an. Er empfiehlt, die Wissenschaft möge sich mehr mit den unbewussten Antrieben des Menschen beschäftigen, so wie Freud und Jung.
Er kritisiert auch die moderne, konsumorientierte Gesellschaft und preist eine naturnahere Lebensweise. Das ist etwas seltsam, da er sich der unglaublichen Mühseligkeit und Härte des Lebens in früheren Zeiten durchaus bewusst war, er beschreibt sie ja selbst in diesem Roman.
Was den Spaß beim Lesen betrifft, fand ich, dass er recht gut geschrieben ist, ich blieb bei der Stange, obwohl mich einige Themen und Motive nicht so interessierten. Auch dass er eine recht andere Lebensanschauung hat als ich, störte nicht wirklich.
August 2, 2024
I hate the ending to this book. I don't believe any of these people learned a thing. And even if the main characters did, what about all the men who were basically marauding killers? Were they reformed?
But disregarding the ending, this does have some interesting ideas and sections. Its very of the cold war age, very freudian and strangely sentimental. But the author - in my estimation - had a certain bias for the men. They're the ones with more chapters, more ideas, more philosophizing. The women are a bit ineffectual. I understand this is supposed to be commentary and all about how they weren't allowed to develop skills that but it's still relatively disdainful to the many women who did work in industry (yes even in the 1950s lots of women weren't pure middle to upper class housewives). I mean this was post WW2, when a ton of women took over "male" jobs temporarily.
The somewhat unclear realization Paula seems to come to at the end - that she has to accept she's a "woman" and not a man/lesbian (and this is also when she wears a dress again lol) - is downright offensive in a book that's otherwise at least somewhat inquisitive regarding sex. And it doesn't even seem consistent with the development of the women throughout the book. And seriously, the negativity this "anti repression of our natural sexual urges" book has towards homosexuality is actually insane. I guess that's one bias the author couldn't shake, along with racism.
I wanted to like this at least a bit more. It's creative in certain ways. But ultimately it fails for me.
But disregarding the ending, this does have some interesting ideas and sections. Its very of the cold war age, very freudian and strangely sentimental. But the author - in my estimation - had a certain bias for the men. They're the ones with more chapters, more ideas, more philosophizing. The women are a bit ineffectual. I understand this is supposed to be commentary and all about how they weren't allowed to develop skills that but it's still relatively disdainful to the many women who did work in industry (yes even in the 1950s lots of women weren't pure middle to upper class housewives). I mean this was post WW2, when a ton of women took over "male" jobs temporarily.
The somewhat unclear realization Paula seems to come to at the end - that she has to accept she's a "woman" and not a man/lesbian (and this is also when she wears a dress again lol) - is downright offensive in a book that's otherwise at least somewhat inquisitive regarding sex. And it doesn't even seem consistent with the development of the women throughout the book. And seriously, the negativity this "anti repression of our natural sexual urges" book has towards homosexuality is actually insane. I guess that's one bias the author couldn't shake, along with racism.
I wanted to like this at least a bit more. It's creative in certain ways. But ultimately it fails for me.
August 8, 2024
I don't feel much inspired to write about this book. It started off well but degenerated into diatribe against, well, the planet earth. Wylie co-authored with Edwin Balmer two science fiction works I generally like, When World's Collide and After World's Collide. Two strong works that do, alas, have their occasional boring bits. At least now I know who was responsible for the boring bits.
So what has Wylie done, here? Like those above mentioned novels, he takes a worldwide calamity and looks into people's reaction to it. While Bill Gaunt is writing philosophy, suddenly all the females on earth disappear, including primates but nothing lower on the evolutionary scale. At the same time, while his wife, Paula, is working in the garden, all the men disappear. What follows is a four year odyssey of each sex trying to live without the other. They continue in their worlds without anything missing. All of which causes me a problem, who got all the other animals? The men or the women. It's never explained.
Ah, well. What Wylie has done is construct a crude Jungian parable, replete with mandalas, archetypes, and all the rest. The two sexes you see are the world writ large depictions of the anima and the animus. Faced with crisis they "descend" into the collective unconscious and emerge psychically restored. The overall process is "individuation." In a nutshell, that's what Wylie does here. Not very sophisticated and hamfisted.
So what has Wylie done, here? Like those above mentioned novels, he takes a worldwide calamity and looks into people's reaction to it. While Bill Gaunt is writing philosophy, suddenly all the females on earth disappear, including primates but nothing lower on the evolutionary scale. At the same time, while his wife, Paula, is working in the garden, all the men disappear. What follows is a four year odyssey of each sex trying to live without the other. They continue in their worlds without anything missing. All of which causes me a problem, who got all the other animals? The men or the women. It's never explained.
Ah, well. What Wylie has done is construct a crude Jungian parable, replete with mandalas, archetypes, and all the rest. The two sexes you see are the world writ large depictions of the anima and the animus. Faced with crisis they "descend" into the collective unconscious and emerge psychically restored. The overall process is "individuation." In a nutshell, that's what Wylie does here. Not very sophisticated and hamfisted.
June 13, 2022
This is a book of its time, and so I take it that way. I enjoyed it despite its out-of-date views. Or maybe because of its out-of-date views because the American and world society it describes seem so utterly foreign to anything in my experience. Today it would probably be better in a cultural history class than in literature because it doesn't have any real literary values like other novels of its time and place (Invisible Man, Catcher in the Rye, Strangers on a Train.)
The book is from 1951, eons ago -- even if not to my grandmother who said she read it in college in the 1960s. Interestingly, I looked up old newspaper reviews of the book from the year of its publication and the reviewers who hated it the most said it was anti-men, that Wylie presented men in a bad light compared to the women, who seemed to cope better with the removal of the opposite sex.
Wylie was a well-known writer and New York personality of the time and liked courting controversy, though today he is probably best known as the uncle of Janice Wylie, who was tragically murdered along with her roommate in the 1963 "Wylie-Hoffert murders" (called the "Career Girls Murders" at the time). It was a horrible killing whose investigation was totally botched (a Black man was arrested after the cops supposedly forced him to confess) that has been the subject of novels, films and TV shows.
The book is from 1951, eons ago -- even if not to my grandmother who said she read it in college in the 1960s. Interestingly, I looked up old newspaper reviews of the book from the year of its publication and the reviewers who hated it the most said it was anti-men, that Wylie presented men in a bad light compared to the women, who seemed to cope better with the removal of the opposite sex.
Wylie was a well-known writer and New York personality of the time and liked courting controversy, though today he is probably best known as the uncle of Janice Wylie, who was tragically murdered along with her roommate in the 1963 "Wylie-Hoffert murders" (called the "Career Girls Murders" at the time). It was a horrible killing whose investigation was totally botched (a Black man was arrested after the cops supposedly forced him to confess) that has been the subject of novels, films and TV shows.
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August 4, 2019Over 60 years have passed since The Disappearance was published. While the novel is difficult to accept the 1950 language, the character roles, and the politis of the time, the book has something to say to us.
Wylie creates a world that we can't imagine because he imagines two worlds. One day, all of the females disappear from the earth. On that same day, all of the men also disappear. No one knows where the other gender can't be found. There is no connection of any kind between men and women. The story line is exclusively about how each gender deals with the problem. While each world has characters who provide leadership, the strength of the novel comes from how the women operate. Wylie touches on the issues that woemn around the world raise in the second half of the 20th century.
But the book is not a feminist statement. The book talks about how life changes when there are only men or only women on the earth. The book makes the powerful news stories of the day: The atom bomb, religious faith and the role of churches in communities, , the Russian--US cold war, and the US presidents. Traditional religion takes a tough attack in the novel.
Wylie creates a world that we can't imagine because he imagines two worlds. One day, all of the females disappear from the earth. On that same day, all of the men also disappear. No one knows where the other gender can't be found. There is no connection of any kind between men and women. The story line is exclusively about how each gender deals with the problem. While each world has characters who provide leadership, the strength of the novel comes from how the women operate. Wylie touches on the issues that woemn around the world raise in the second half of the 20th century.
But the book is not a feminist statement. The book talks about how life changes when there are only men or only women on the earth. The book makes the powerful news stories of the day: The atom bomb, religious faith and the role of churches in communities, , the Russian--US cold war, and the US presidents. Traditional religion takes a tough attack in the novel.
January 29, 2020
An interesting premise, but the casual racism and sexism was cringe-worthy and very difficult to read. Stereotypes of race, gender, sexual orientation and religion are presumed as fact and racial and homophobic slurs are casually and liberally employed. I realize 1951 was a more racist, sexist world, but this author seemed to be just fine with most of that. I think there is a distinction between an author writing for authenticity or character development and an author writing with tacit approval or acceptance of stereotypes and slurs. I think this author has done the latter. I've read other books from the same or even earlier eras which aren't nearly as blatant or which actually have some sense of social enlightenment or a moral awakening as part of the story. Based on the premise I expected this book to go in that direction and, while there is a philosophical sexual evolution of sorts, the attempt fell far short. The author winds up in a place that I found unacceptable, unsatisfying, and only marginally less sexist than where he began.
That said, the book does have its moments and there are some worthwhile points made. It is probably worth reading, but be prepared to be offended.
That said, the book does have its moments and there are some worthwhile points made. It is probably worth reading, but be prepared to be offended.
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