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More Than Human Theodore Sturgeon Books

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More Than Human Theodore Sturgeon Books

I happened to be searching for my next great book to read when a dear friend recommended Theodore Sturgeon's "More Than Human." I am so grateful for that recommendation. The book is quirky, twisted, and most rewarding. And it does rise to the level of being a great book.

Perhaps when we think about science fiction, in general, we may still get lost. Even today, there are well-regarded writers in that genre, of great literary stature, who are due for a wider audience. In the case of Theodore Sturgeon, I am certain that, once a follower of his work, there is no turning back. What “More Than Human” achieves is nothing less than to inspire the reader. Its very purpose is to do just that.

The case is made, in a dazzling way, in favor of humanity. All of humanity, in one form or another, is brought up for your consideration. The very notion of humanity is stretched and pulled. We find characters who are clearly living subhuman lives. As in a fable, these characters, at first, seem less than real except, as the story builds, they compel you to turn the page.

What exactly is going on is something we won’t know for some time to come. All we know, at first, is that we have some characters in distress. They’re in a compound in a secluded forest and their very humanity is in danger. But light keeps breaking the dark. And a battle ensues between light and dark. Sturgeon makes us hope for the characters and then gives us reasons to hope for them and well beyond the characters themselves.

Further into the story, one locale will give way to another and one character’s journey will blend with another. Or, as is more to the point, we see key characters who not only blend with one another. They will “blesh” with one another. In fact, our key characters will blesh into something greater than the sum of their parts. And, thus, the title of the book.

Sturgeon provides a seemingly spare and direct style that percolates with fanciful word choice and description. It’s a sturdy narrative with consistently elegant turns. In that way, the pathos of a village idiot, or an insensitive man, or a vulnerable young woman, is best evoked.

“More Than Human” is about some most unlikely misfits who together form the next step in human evolution. Like anything worthy of being a classic, it is so much more than just that. It is more in the way the story unfolds and what it has to say about all of us. It’s more in its determination to express such goofy, yet essential, idealism. Published in 1953, it was ahead of its time in its inherently quirky approach. But, in the years to come, Sturgeon wasn’t exactly obscure to the general public. For instance, he wrote two of the most beloved episodes of the original Star Trek television series. "Amok Time" is the episode where Mr. Spock first displays the Vulcan hand salute and first says the Vulcan motto, "Live long and prosper." All thanks to Theodore Sturgeon.

When Kurt Vonnegut caught the limelight, he helped to add to the growing acknowledgement of Sturgeon. Those in the know, always held Sturgeon in the highest regard. Just give Vonnegut a careful read and you’ll see for yourself. There is a recurring character in the Vonnegut universe named after Sturgeon. His is name is Kilgore Trout.


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More Than Human Theodore Sturgeon Books Reviews

Theodore Sturgeon's More Than Human is a literary exploration of the essential qualities of "humanness" revealed through the merging of societal outcasts, each with unique attributes that are distinctly non-human. Unfolding over three parts, a telepath, a telekinecist, twins with telepresence, and an infant that is mostly cerebrum, gradually find each other and work together to form a functioning unit. All they lack is a conscience to complete post-human evolution.

Sturgeon employs the typical implementations of the various "powers" but also highlights the societal separation each experiences, including some rather forward perspectives on societal inclusivity with hints to potential technological leaps from this new form of organism. The possible influence on Marvel's X-men (mutants who work better as a team, rather than individually) seems obvious. Of particular note is the attention to character development which was a bit unusual for most sci-fi offerings of the time.
I had read Sturgeon before but somehow missed "More Than Human". I ran across references to it for years and finally decided to read it. It was not what I expected, but it was (of course) excellent. It is composed of three interlocking novellas, "The Fabulous Idiot", "Baby is Three" and "Morality". Baby is Three was published first, in 1952, and then again bookended by the two other chapters the following year. It is, perhaps surprisingly, a bit of a tough read, in part because each of the segments is narrated by (Baby is Three) or focuses on (the other two) a protagonist with prodigious and supernormal mental abilities. We, the reader, are as confused as they are, particularly in parts 2 and 3 where the protagonist has amnesia.

Sturgeon's novel posits and explores a new evolution in humanity, homo gestalt, where complete meta-human are created from several individuals with unusual mental abilities. Lone is the "idiot" of the first section, a 25 year old feral man with strong telepathic and empathic abilities. He becomes the defacto leader of the group that lives in a cave in the woods that that comes to consist of Lone, Janie, a young telekinetic girl, Baby, a mongoloid savant who cannot communicate except though Janie but who is a human computer, and set of black toddler twins who can teleport.

The storyline introduces a number of elements that were groundbreaking for the time; issues of sexual equality, racial integration, the relative nature of morality and "bleshing" a combination of blending and meshing that enables the individuals to function as a homo gestalt. The concept of bleshing foreshadows in a way (and likely influenced) R.A. Heinlein's "grokking" in "Stranger in a Strange Land", published a decade later. The same goes for the discussions of the relative nature of morality for post-humans interacting in (current) human society. The language and (then topical) cultural references clearly date the story as belonging to some past America, but it remains a classic nonetheless.

Recommended.

J.M. Tepper

p.s. My kindle version did not contain the extras described on the page. Only the complete text of the novel.
I read this as a young man in the early 50s and again now as I approach 80 . . . and tears streamed down my cheeks--I don't know exactly why--at the scene in which Gerry is introduced to the group. They all wonder about him and someone asks "Are you sure?" And Baby's answer (through Janie) is "Sure. He's the one." I wish the notion of his being "the one" were expanded a bit . . . and I wish it was made clearer exactly what he added to the group. He himself wonders what he can do for the group that they can't do for themselves. OK, his job is to hold the group together . . . but why is he "the one"--apparently the only one--who could do that.
I happened to be searching for my next great book to read when a dear friend recommended Theodore Sturgeon's "More Than Human." I am so grateful for that recommendation. The book is quirky, twisted, and most rewarding. And it does rise to the level of being a great book.

Perhaps when we think about science fiction, in general, we may still get lost. Even today, there are well-regarded writers in that genre, of great literary stature, who are due for a wider audience. In the case of Theodore Sturgeon, I am certain that, once a follower of his work, there is no turning back. What “More Than Human” achieves is nothing less than to inspire the reader. Its very purpose is to do just that.

The case is made, in a dazzling way, in favor of humanity. All of humanity, in one form or another, is brought up for your consideration. The very notion of humanity is stretched and pulled. We find characters who are clearly living subhuman lives. As in a fable, these characters, at first, seem less than real except, as the story builds, they compel you to turn the page.

What exactly is going on is something we won’t know for some time to come. All we know, at first, is that we have some characters in distress. They’re in a compound in a secluded forest and their very humanity is in danger. But light keeps breaking the dark. And a battle ensues between light and dark. Sturgeon makes us hope for the characters and then gives us reasons to hope for them and well beyond the characters themselves.

Further into the story, one locale will give way to another and one character’s journey will blend with another. Or, as is more to the point, we see key characters who not only blend with one another. They will “blesh” with one another. In fact, our key characters will blesh into something greater than the sum of their parts. And, thus, the title of the book.

Sturgeon provides a seemingly spare and direct style that percolates with fanciful word choice and description. It’s a sturdy narrative with consistently elegant turns. In that way, the pathos of a village idiot, or an insensitive man, or a vulnerable young woman, is best evoked.

“More Than Human” is about some most unlikely misfits who together form the next step in human evolution. Like anything worthy of being a classic, it is so much more than just that. It is more in the way the story unfolds and what it has to say about all of us. It’s more in its determination to express such goofy, yet essential, idealism. Published in 1953, it was ahead of its time in its inherently quirky approach. But, in the years to come, Sturgeon wasn’t exactly obscure to the general public. For instance, he wrote two of the most beloved episodes of the original Star Trek television series. "Amok Time" is the episode where Mr. Spock first displays the Vulcan hand salute and first says the Vulcan motto, "Live long and prosper." All thanks to Theodore Sturgeon.

When Kurt Vonnegut caught the limelight, he helped to add to the growing acknowledgement of Sturgeon. Those in the know, always held Sturgeon in the highest regard. Just give Vonnegut a careful read and you’ll see for yourself. There is a recurring character in the Vonnegut universe named after Sturgeon. His is name is Kilgore Trout.