City of Truth

by James K. Morrow

Book Overview

In Veritas, people have been conditioned to always tell the truth, no matter how unnerving the truth may be. Jack Sperry must learn to lie in order to save his son in this witty science fiction... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B000OJKWUA
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: St Martin's Press
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.

Customer Reviews

I?m all right, Jack. Who cares about you?

"City of Truth" is really two short stories, three if you count the brief final section. Each section is almost worth its own review, because they are so different.City I is a description of a society where people have perfect honesty literally burned into their brains. It's incredibly funny because it contrasts so completely with our own feel-good consumer society. Politicians candidly admit that they accepted kick-backs; a salesperson tells you where to buy an item more cheaply from a competitor; restaurants sell "murdered cow" sandwiches with "wilted lettuce." The odd thing is that the city is rather a flat, cold place. Parents critique their kids' drawings ("It's pretty ugly.") and romance is replaced by the brutal, hurtful truth. After a while, you long for someone to say "Have a nice day!" with a big smile, instead of truthfully expressing their complete indifference. City II describes a rebel group which teaches people to lie again. The treatment involves exposing disciples to genetically-engineered impossibilities: pigs that fly, dogs that talk. Why this is supposed to help isn't entirely clear, but it enables a father to tell "kind lies" to his terminally sick child. The problem is that the boy can see that his father is lying: This is one case where honesty would be the best policy. City II is a real tear-jerker.City III has the family leaving both the Truth Tellers and the Liars and settling for the kind of messy mix that we have: trying to tell the truth as far as possible, but making space for poetic license and white lies. That's fair enough, but there are no revelations here. Most of us feel this way already. Consider the five stars all for the first section and well worth them.

The Funny Side of Truth

To tell the truth, I loved this book. It's a candidly funny story about a future dystopia in which everyone has been 'conditioned' to always tell the truth. The resulting society has notices in elevators that say "This elevator maintained by people who hate their jobs. Ride at your own risk." and so forth. A truly imaginitive and funny book. Five stars. And that's the truth... [insert raspberry]

City of Truth--a Brilliant Satire

City of Truth is an amazing study of one of the most important issues our society and every member of our society faces, the issue of honesty. James Morrow presents a model of a city, Utopian city where its inhabitants are conditioned to tell the truth. For the author, it is a perfect opportunity to speculate on the origins and bases of our behavior; specifically he adresses the questions of why should we be honest? When is it acceptable or right to tell a lie? Should we decide or even have such an opportunity to determine whether to tell the truth or to lie? For the reader, the novel presents an absolute answer that dishonesty is never justified.The exaggeration and satire skillfully applied to the fantastic City of Truth, carefully reveal the faults and contoroversies of our own society. The society where controversies and disputes are reduced to slogans, the society where we often express the need to be lied to, the society where we tolerate and even promote dishonesty. James Morrow attacks the issue by comparing the two sides of the argument. He presents two worlds-the "proper" world of truth and the underground, the opposing factor-the world of illusion or dishonesty. Both worlds are extreme-the City of Truth wouldn't tolerate art, poetry, imagintion, it is almost brutal and simple. On the other hand, the underground city is not necessarily the city where one lies all the time, but it is a city of illusion where dream and fantasy preveils. It is a city where the borderline between reality and imagination has been shed. But there is also a neutral world, a world where father is conditioned to tell the truth; he does so in reference to every aspect of his life except his son.Thus, all of the sides of the argument are presented to the judgement of the author and he chooses one side for the reader. The father finally reveals the fact of the incurable disease and death approaching to his son. Toby's condition did not improve as a result of his father's confession. The truth removed his anxiety, uncertainty, fear and frustration; his death was "humane," that is he knew what had happen to him, he could take responsibility for his words and his interactions with others. All the "wishful thinkers" and "positive influences" and "support groups" as well as the shower of presents and smiles in this case were just a safety device. This fence of comfort and stability was ment not as much for Toby as it was for his father. At the end, the author offers a solution for the issues presented. Although we should have a choice of whether to lie or to tell the truth, it is never right to lie. Our dishonesty comes from the need of comfort, safety, and acceptance. Lying is often an illusion, facade, and cover with which we separate ourselves from the outside world and its problems; it is often the result of ignorance or pure lazinesss that we choose to lie. Being honest is challenging but it can be done, a

A less cynical Morrow, but only slightly...

This is an excellent short book. Almost too short, in fact. Readers will be intrigued, though not charmed, by the bulk of Morrow's characters, particularly the protagonist, as they wander through what seems, on the surface, a truth-seeker's paradise. Morrow's wry sense of humor is evident throughout (particularly in his product names), but his deep-thinking message comes through -- maybe truth isn't always the best policy. If you enjoyed "Towing Jehovah," but were disturbed by Morrow's darkness, you will find this book delightful. If you're looking for gloom-and-doom Morrow, don't bother... this book actually has positive redemption for some of its characters.

I haven't been this moved by a book in a long time...

Although the subject matter does cut amazingly close to home with me, Morrow's City Of Truth is an amazingly powerful look at truth. In short it is about a man living in a city where everyone has been conditioned to tell the truth, but a freak animal attack has struck his son with a fatal disease. He feels his only hope is to learn to lie and keep his son in good spirits, thus fighting off the disease with mind-over-body.Although there is so much satire in this book that you could fill a dozen sig files with it, Morrow really gives us a hard look at the need for a median between lies and truths and when to use either...I read the book in about 3 or 4 hours, I could not put it down, I was in tears at the end...This is definitely a book I will start recomending to everyone, and I am now very interested in Morrow's other work.