Literary Birthday – 24 September – John Brunner

John Brunner was born on 24 September 1934 and died on 25 August 1995.

John Brunner Quotes

1. If there is such a phenomenon as absolute evil, it consists in treating another human being as a thing. (The Shockwave Rider)
2. As its best, SF is the medium in which our miserable certainty that tomorrow will be different from today in ways we cant predict, can be transmuted to a sense of excitement and anticipation, occasionally evolving into awe. Poised between intransigent scepticism and uncritical credulity, it is par excellence the literature of the open mind.
3. To go faster you must slow down.
4. What people want, mainly, is to be told by some plausible authority that what they are already doing is right. I don’t know know of a quicker way to become unpopular than to disagree. (Jagged Orbit)
5. What sets the genius apart from the plodder is the ability to see what happens and not what he expects to happen. (Quicksand)
6. First you use machines, then you wear machines, and then …? Then you serve machines. (Stand on Zanzibar)
7. For all the claims one hears about the liberating impact of the data-net, the truth is that it’s wished on most of us a brand-new reason for paranoia. (The Shockwave Rider)

John Brunner was one of the most prominent British science fiction writers of the 20th century. He became particularly known for his dystopian novels, which explored the social and environmental problems that could shape the future. His best-known work, Stand on Zanzibar, was published in 1968 and won the Hugo Award for Best Novel. He followed it with The Jagged Orbit, The Sheep Look Up, and The Shockwave Rider. The Jagged Orbit won the BSFA Award in 1970. Although Brunner’s stories often offered bleak visions of the future, they also suggested that different choices could lead to better outcomes. The Shockwave Rider helped popularise the idea of a computer ‘worm’ and depicted a form of computer virus. Beyond writing, he helped establish the Science Fiction Foundation in 1970 and became chairman of the British Science Fiction Association in 1972. He was also actively involved in the British nuclear disarmament movement.

Source for photograph: JISC

by Amanda Patterson
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