World Menders

by Lloyd Biggle Jr.

Book Overview

On the world Branoff IV, in the lovely land of Scorvif, live the rascz, an industrious, artistic, superbly civilized race. Few of them are aware that their prosperous civilization is totally dependent... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879970154
• ISBN13: 9780879970154
• Release Date: July 1972
• Publisher: Daw Books

Customer Reviews

Thoughtful musing on democracy and culture

The World Menders concerns itself with one Cedd Farrari, a Cultural Survey trainee who expects to spend his professional life analyzing the atifacts of various planetary civilizations. Unexpectedly attached to the Interplanetary Relations Bureau, whose mission it is to observe and infiltrate primitive civilizations in hopes of nudging them toward democracy, Farrari is expected to bring his virtually non-existent experience to bear on the gulf that divides the "rascz", the major culture of Branoff IV, and the "olz", the slave laborers upon whose backbreaking efforts rests the rascz civilation. In a relatively few pages, Biggle vividly sketches out a bureaucratic organization whose laudable mission, bringing planets to democracy over the course of years or even centuries without otherwise disrupting their culture, necessarily becomes a moral tangle: how to ethically provide freedom to those who don't understand it or, in some cases, don't wish it. The problem is further magnified in the case of Branoff IV, where the divisions between the castes are wider than ever before encountered and the society is so ritualized that much of the way its members relate to one another is still not understood. Biggle's novel is very much an exercise in analytical thinking, both for Farrari and the reader. Taking up the cause of the lowly olz as his personal project, Farrari is tasked with building a coherent whole out of numerous seemingly-contradictory observations of their culture, or lack thereof. He is forced to constantly revise his appraisal of them as he seeks some explanation of their behavior, and his experiments grow bolder and more direct until he finds himself at the head of a (theoretical) revolution. The conclusions, or series of conclusions, he draws about the olz are only part of the point; the novel also points out several flaws in the way the Bureau observes cultures in the first place, lessons that may very well be applicable in the real world. All of these ethical and moral considerations are tied together to produce a brief novel that is surprisingly satisfying, considering how much is actually left unresolved. I'd like to point out that I'm reading from the 1971 DAW edition, which I purchased used, never imagining that Biggle's novel would actually still be in print. Though much of Biggle's output has indeed been reprinted, a welcome development, I must still take the opportunity to recommend to those who frequent used bookstores that you give special consideration to DAW's output during the 1970s, recognizable by their uniform yellow spines. It seems that at no other point in the history of the SF field has a single publisher taken such a sustained chance on novels that are well-written and, most importantly, original. Some of them are considered legitimate classics, and nearly all of them should be so considered. The World Menders is no exception, and, happily, it remains in print to edify a new generation.

Excellent--fascinating view of culture a classic SF winner

Cedd Farrari is swept up in a draft of Cultural Survey experts and sent off to Branoff IV--a remote planet famous mostly for its aristocratic culture. Since Farrari and his team are supposed to bring about democracy, the legendary mistreatment of the indigenous people seems rife with possibilities. But is it?Lloyd Biggle is one of the classic authors of the 1960s and 1970s who moved beyond the standard hero conquers the world to view different cultures and civilizations with an open mind. While democracy is certainly the ideal, it must be imposed from within the context of the culture. By using a protagonist trained in Culture, Biggle is able to bring this sensitivity to the novel.Of course there is plenty of adventure and Farrari gets into a lot of trouble as he is separated from the more experienced members of his team. Finally, his cultural training pays off--in a surprising way.This is a companion piece to the also great SMALL THIN VOICE OF TRUMPETS.I could not recommend this book more. It may be Biggle's greatest.