Downward to the Earth, Robert Silverberg (Signet Books, 1971 {Blackstone Audio, 2011 Narrator: Bronson Pinchot})

(Science Fiction, Cultural Contact)

 Grade: Ε — (Epsilon) Readable in genre, but you could probably do better.  

In brief:

Downward to the Earth by Robert Silverberg is a blatant rip-off (no, not homage to or inspired by, rip-off) of Joseph Conrad‘s Heart of Darkness, peppered with an over developed sense of post-colonial malaise, which is then further undermined by an ending inspired by Timothy Leary.  The twist in this book, intended to differentiate it from Conrad’s wonderful tale, is blatantly obvious from very early on in the novel.  The subsequent thematic twist undermines the message of Conrad’s work and leaves nothing of value in its place.  Even so, having damned it, I will note that Silverberg’s descriptions and wordsmithing was brilliant.  He created a flow of language and vivid imagery that almost made up for the other failings, but not quite.  I would suggest skipping this book, as that there are many others out there that do a better job of delivering the same message, without being so heavy handed or predictable.

Setting:

Far future with interstellar travel.  The action takes place entirely on the planet of Belzagor, a misty, jungle world with two intelligent species upon it: the elephant like Nildoror and the large, fanged and clawed apelike Sulidoror.

In Depth:

Downward to the Earth by Robert Silverberg may have been innovative in 1971,[1] but comes across as dated and dull forty years later.  It is a self-described homage to Heart of Darkness, yet is contains little that is new or innovative.  Instead of Africans, Silverberg uses a combination of aliens that resemble elephants, and aliens that resemble a cross between elephants, apes and smiledons.[2]  Beyond that, there is little in the structure of the book that differentiates it from Heart of Darkness other than the twist at the end.  Yet, that twist is so blatantly obvious from very early on in the book, that it ran the rest of the tale on rails.

I won’t describe the twist, because I really try to avoid spoilers, but it is so obvious from the moment the story really gets going, that discussing it really wouldn’t spoil anything.  In short, however, I can say that the twist comes across as a LSD inspired change of narrative and results in a thematic message for the book that differentiates it from Heart of Darkness.  The problem is, that end message undermines the value of the tale in the first place.

Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a brilliant tale that critiques Colonialism during the height of the Colonial period.  It is wonderfully told and delivered a message at a time that such messages were not readily engaged in.  It was an innovative and daring story that made one question Imperialism, while creating a more timeless message of self-reflection.

Silverberg’s Downward to the Earth mimics that book, but adds nothing new to it.  Indeed, the strength of Conrad’s tale is destroyed by Silverberg’s altered ending.  What is more, the message of “wise-indigenous people who know more than we do” may have seemed innovative in 1971, but is clichéd in 2012.  Indeed, I’m not certain it was even innovative forty years ago… but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.[3]

Yet, having complained so bitterly, I will note that Silverberg’s technical ability with words is wonderful.  He describes the planet beautifully, with long flowing narrative that pulled me through the book despite the obviousness of the plot.  Indeed, I was so enthralled by his writing that until the ending, I refused to believe that the book would be so obvious as it was.  Sadly, I was wrong, but I did step away in admiration of his talent in wordsmithing.

So, while Silverberg’s writing is almost good enough to get a Delta, the blatant nature of the tale and the simpering theme it delivers takes that away.  Perhaps this is all tainted by the fact I recently read Ursula K. LeGuin‘s Hainish Cycle, which does a masterful job of discussing, describing and critiquing cultural contact. I can’t say for certain, but I do know I was left disappointed by Downward to the Earth and really feel there are many other books out there that tell the same tale better.  Indeed, you might want to start with Heart of Darkness.

Notes about the Audio Edition:

Blackstone Audio did a marvelous job of producing this audiobook, and Bronson Pinchot was a brilliant narrator.  There was, in fact, only one element I questioned about his reading, and that was the soft-tone he used when reading those parts of the book that were in Nildororu, the dominant language of the planet.  It’s not that he did a bad job, and indeed the language is described in the text as having a lack of inflection.  Even so, there were so many segments that were spoken in this tone, it was occasionally distracting to hear it used so much.  Then again, I couldn’t say how I would read it differently so….

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[1] Though honestly, I doubt it.

[2] Prehistoric cats that include the Sabertooth Tiger.

[3] Added to this, one cannot help but feel that any commentary that this book might have been making on American Imperialism of the period was better examined in the 1979 movie Apocalypse Now.  While that film certainly post-dates this novel, its form of retelling Heart of Darkness, that altered the Congo for Vietnam, had much more innovation and poignancy than Downward to the Earth‘s transformation of the Congo into another planet.  Besides, changing Africans into Elephants is, well, you know.

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