Planète à gogos

mass market paperback

French language

Published Oct. 30, 1998 by Denoël.

ISBN:
978-2-207-24739-6
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3 stars (1 review)

The Space Merchants is a 1952 science fiction novel by American writers Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth. Originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction magazine as a serial entitled Gravy Planet, the novel was first published as a single volume in 1953, and has sold heavily since. It deals satirically with a hyper-developed consumerism, seen through the eyes of an advertising executive. In 1984, Pohl published a sequel, The Merchants' War. In 2012, it was included in the Library of America omnibus American Science Fiction: Four Classic Novels 1953–1956. Pohl revised the original novel in 2011 with added material and more contemporary references.

3 editions

When advertising rules the world, Venus is next!

3 stars

The Space Merchants was originally published in 1952, that’s 73 years ago, and it always boggles my mind to think about that. In this novel we follow the perspective of Mitchell Courtenay, a “star class copysmith” who is quickly rising to the top of an advertising company, that is pretty much ruling the world at this point.

Most people are consumers, with horrible lives and repetitive work, endlessly paying off debts that will only grow as they keep on existing. It is a sad reality that is not quite fiction in today’s world.

This book is a satire, a style I hadn’t really read before. Most events and characters are bizarre and somewhat foolish. The protagonist will say the most outlandish stuff as a matter of fact, when it comes to how humans can be controlled and suggested, it sounds ironic, and kind of funny, and at the same time, …