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Thomas M. Disch Message Board


garymarklbe@aol.com posts on 6/23/2005 8:58:07 AM Contrary to the posted review, the novel The Prisoner by Thomas Disch, the most briliant novelization or spin off of a TV series of all times, was written at the time of the original showing of the series circa 1966 or 1967 (check the books original copyright.) The reviewer is entirly mistaken in believing sensory deprivation tanks and lazers did not exist at that time. (see the early sixties films The MInd Benders and Goldfinger for confirmation of pop cultural awareness of these things. The novel has a subtle depth on almost infinite permutations of alternate interpretations of what is real and what is illusion; this plot question resonates with philosphical inquiry, as do many other subtle levels of the novel which none the less reads very quickly as an unbroken tempo of entertainment. There is an implication possible to read in that this novel is not just a very different retelling of the TV series, but may be sequel, coming after altered memories have removed the recollection of the Prisoner's first stay. By a similar implicaton, it is possible to think the novel is a prequel to the TV series. The novel, with unique multidimensional implications of meaning is one of the most profound and overlooked works of the 20th Century. The ending of the novel, unrelated to anything in the TV series, makes a powerful sociological statement in the form of a fable.


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