Inspiring Older Readers

posted on 22 Oct 2020

Double, Double by John Brunner

John Brunner (1934 – 1995) is something of a lost figure of British science fiction – his relatively low profile can almost certainly be partially attributed to the fact that he was a pretty thorny character who developed a belief that there was something of a vendetta against him in the publishing world. Many of his books went out of print as other science fiction novelists of the new wave of experimental science fiction in the late 1960s and early 1970s became more popular and sought-after.

Double, Double is perhaps a good example of Brunner’s slightly old-fashioned story-telling style. To get a flavour of the atmosphere of the book, try and imagine yourself skipping through some television channels on a vacant Sunday afternoon and coming across a 1960s British science fiction movie – possibly starring the likes of Peter Cushing on furlough from his Hammer Horror duties. Or maybe an early television episode of the John Steed/Emma Peel Avengers series written by Brian Clemens.

Brunner’s novel, not thought to be one of his very best, tells a diverting, if slightly ponderous, story that does enough to keep you turning the pages. I’m not going to unravel the plot here because it all about the plot and spoilers will take away any reason to read it. Suffice it to say that there’s a mysterious entity abroad in a small coastal town that is causing the local police force to see double and this is not something you’re going to want to meet when it’s peckish.

When I mentioned that the book is very like a British sci-fi B movie I didn’t just mean in terms of the rather hackneyed plot but in terms of things like characterisation – or the lack of it. There’s a van which is the travelling headquarters of a late 1960s pop band that plays an important part in the development and denouement of the story but a more cardboard set of individuals you’ll struggle to come across. For anyone who remembers the promotional video that went along with The Archies one-hit-wonder, Sugar Sugar, they will know it showcases a cartoon pop group of such a squeaky cleanness that they looked as if they were in fact advertising washing powder. Well those cartoon Archies were positively three-dimensional in comparison with this bunch operating under the terrible name of Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition.

The police don’t fare much better – bumbling, amateur and giving you the distinct feeling they were probably rejected from Dixon of Dock Green for being too nice.

But then I don’t suppose that fans of this kind of science fiction novel read them for their literary merit. Brunner came from a tradition of writing for magazines and periodicals and this story really does feel as if that’s the environment in which it belongs. Although it was never conceived of in this way, I would imagine that if this book was ever to be published today it would be as a book for the young adult audience rather than for adults.

None of this stopped me finishing the book in a couple of slow afternoons and I suspect that this is the best way to approach it – a casual light read for a quiet moment or a journey that needs a diversion.

I think the book in any format is currently out of print but you will find copies on the second hand market for not very much at all.

 

Terry Potter

October 2020