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The Heap: A Novel por Sean Adams
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The Heap: A Novel (edición 2021)

por Sean Adams (Autor)

MiembrosReseñasPopularidadValoración promediaMenciones
15021180,890 (3.42)9
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Featured on recommended reading lists by the New York Times * New York Post * Library Journal * Thrillist * Locus * USA TODAY "The first great science fiction novel of 2020. " --NPR  "As intellectually playful as the best of Thomas Pynchon and as sardonically warm as the best of Kurt Vonnegut. . . A masterful and humane gem of a novel." --Shaun Hamill, author of A Cosmology of Monsters Blending the piercing humor of Alexandra Kleeman and the jagged satire of Black Mirror, an audacious, eerily prescient debut novel that chronicles the rise and fall of a massive high-rise housing complex, and the lives it affected before - and after - its demise. Standing nearly five hundred stories tall, Los Verticalés once bustled with life and excitement. Now this marvel of modern architecture and nontraditional urban planning has collapsed into a pile of rubble known as the Heap. In exchange for digging gear, a rehabilitated bicycle, and a small living stipend, a vast community of Dig Hands removes debris, trash, and bodies from the building's mountainous remains, which span twenty acres of unincorporated desert land. Orville Anders burrows into the bowels of the Heap to find his brother Bernard, the beloved radio DJ of Los Verticalés, who is alive and miraculously broadcasting somewhere under the massive rubble. For months, Orville has lived in a sea of campers that surrounds the Heap, working tirelessly to free Bernard--the only known survivor of the imploded city--whom he speaks to every evening, calling into his radio show. The brothers' conversations are a ratings bonanza, and the station's parent company, Sundial Media, wants to boost its profits by having Orville slyly drop brand names into his nightly talks with Bernard. When Orville refuses, his access to Bernard is suddenly cut off, but strangely, he continues to hear his own voice over the airwaves, casually shilling products as "he" converses with Bernard. What follows is an imaginative and darkly hilarious story of conspiracy, revenge, and the strange life and death of Los Verticalés that both captures the wonderful weirdness of community and the bonds that tie us together.… (más)
Miembro:CarlyleAddy
Título:The Heap: A Novel
Autores:Sean Adams (Autor)
Información:William Morrow Paperbacks (2021), 320 pages
Colecciones:Tu biblioteca
Valoración:
Etiquetas:Fiction, Sci-fi, Dystopian

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The Heap: A Novel por Sean Adams

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Mostrando 1-5 de 21 (siguiente | mostrar todos)
Esta reseña ha sido escrita por los Primeros Reseñadores de LibraryThing.
So not my book, stopped reading. Could not get access to the story, or the writing. ( )
  andreas.wpv | Mar 15, 2023 |
The Ant Hill

Sean Adams has written a novel that is at once satire and absurdism. It’s also anthropological in that Los Verticalés, a 500-story apartment building in a desert removed from everything, and its heap of ruins after its sudden collapse, both might be viewed as you would the classic educational toy, the Ant Farm, though in this case you observe humans adapt and function in two different but oddly similar environments, the high tower and the underground heap. In the tower, we watch as residents sort themselves out based on economics and different methods of establishing identity. On and in the heap, we see more egalitarianism, in that everybody pretty much lives in like quarters and works with a single purpose, but not without the usual clawing for status, at least among some. Everybody, tower residents and diggers, shares certain characteristics of modern life, in particular delusion and neuroticism. Overarching the whole thing is that everybody has been been manipulated by a creator of sorts, far off and normally unreachable, but who descends on the dig to reveal himself as inscrutable to ordinary people. Adams tosses in some plotting revolving around a bunch of impersonators, known as the Vocalist Cartel, to move things along, but the focus here is on how absurdly people can behave in a basically absurd world driven by neurotic impulses they can’t seem to control, let alone fathom. You might call it a novel written for times like these, when mass insanity seems to be the new normal, and you might be right.

The story itself is simple. Peter Thisbee erected a tower in the desert and people flocked to fill it. Then it suddenly, for reasons unexplained and unknown, collapsed. Those away at the time tell about life in the tower in extracts from their book in progress, “From the Later Years.” These excerpts appear interspersed throughout the novel. After the collapse, Thisbee called for volunteers to dig out bodies and possible survivors, notably Bernard Anders, and again people answered his call. They live in a community named CamperTown and gain as compensation a purpose in their lives.

Bernard was a popular radio commentator in the tower. He also appears to be alive and continuing to transmit from deep in the bowels of debris. People listen in worldwide to hear what he says of his predicament and to hear him talk to his brother Orville, who calls in daily, after he has finished his stint digging on and in the heap. This becomes so popular that a media company approaches Orville about monetizing his conversations by slipping in ads for various products. When Orville rejects the offer, the media company removes all means for him to communicate with Bernard and substitutes an impersonator from the Vocal Cartel to fill in for him (though all is not as it seems in this regard and comes to speak to self-identity issues). Orville, at the site because of his brother, whom he hasn’t had much to do with for years, and trying to work through his feelings about his brother and family, goes on a quest to discover who is behind the ersatz Bernard, bringing him into conflict with the Vocal Cartel, while also unearthing secrets kept from the diggers. His quest not only adds purpose to his life, but also to those on the dig closest to him, the other main characters, highly neurotic Lydia, easy-going Hans, and acceptance-seeking Terrance.

Adams does a good job of creating two worlds, that of the life the tower and life in CamperTown, including each’s social organization. This serves to magnify ills in our own society in a way that makes them seem absurd and silly, causing you to wonder why we can’t see the dystopian nature of our situation. All very interesting stuff but only for the right readers. Too, while the novel reads well due to Adams’ skillful writing, true appreciation comes in finishing and the afterglow of putting it all together in your own mind so speaks to you in a sensible way. ( )
  write-review | Nov 4, 2021 |
The Ant Hill

Sean Adams has written a novel that is at once satire and absurdism. It’s also anthropological in that Los Verticalés, a 500-story apartment building in a desert removed from everything, and its heap of ruins after its sudden collapse, both might be viewed as you would the classic educational toy, the Ant Farm, though in this case you observe humans adapt and function in two different but oddly similar environments, the high tower and the underground heap. In the tower, we watch as residents sort themselves out based on economics and different methods of establishing identity. On and in the heap, we see more egalitarianism, in that everybody pretty much lives in like quarters and works with a single purpose, but not without the usual clawing for status, at least among some. Everybody, tower residents and diggers, shares certain characteristics of modern life, in particular delusion and neuroticism. Overarching the whole thing is that everybody has been been manipulated by a creator of sorts, far off and normally unreachable, but who descends on the dig to reveal himself as inscrutable to ordinary people. Adams tosses in some plotting revolving around a bunch of impersonators, known as the Vocalist Cartel, to move things along, but the focus here is on how absurdly people can behave in a basically absurd world driven by neurotic impulses they can’t seem to control, let alone fathom. You might call it a novel written for times like these, when mass insanity seems to be the new normal, and you might be right.

The story itself is simple. Peter Thisbee erected a tower in the desert and people flocked to fill it. Then it suddenly, for reasons unexplained and unknown, collapsed. Those away at the time tell about life in the tower in extracts from their book in progress, “From the Later Years.” These excerpts appear interspersed throughout the novel. After the collapse, Thisbee called for volunteers to dig out bodies and possible survivors, notably Bernard Anders, and again people answered his call. They live in a community named CamperTown and gain as compensation a purpose in their lives.

Bernard was a popular radio commentator in the tower. He also appears to be alive and continuing to transmit from deep in the bowels of debris. People listen in worldwide to hear what he says of his predicament and to hear him talk to his brother Orville, who calls in daily, after he has finished his stint digging on and in the heap. This becomes so popular that a media company approaches Orville about monetizing his conversations by slipping in ads for various products. When Orville rejects the offer, the media company removes all means for him to communicate with Bernard and substitutes an impersonator from the Vocal Cartel to fill in for him (though all is not as it seems in this regard and comes to speak to self-identity issues). Orville, at the site because of his brother, whom he hasn’t had much to do with for years, and trying to work through his feelings about his brother and family, goes on a quest to discover who is behind the ersatz Bernard, bringing him into conflict with the Vocal Cartel, while also unearthing secrets kept from the diggers. His quest not only adds purpose to his life, but also to those on the dig closest to him, the other main characters, highly neurotic Lydia, easy-going Hans, and acceptance-seeking Terrance.

Adams does a good job of creating two worlds, that of the life the tower and life in CamperTown, including each’s social organization. This serves to magnify ills in our own society in a way that makes them seem absurd and silly, causing you to wonder why we can’t see the dystopian nature of our situation. All very interesting stuff but only for the right readers. Too, while the novel reads well due to Adams’ skillful writing, true appreciation comes in finishing and the afterglow of putting it all together in your own mind so speaks to you in a sensible way. ( )
  write-review | Nov 4, 2021 |
In the wake of the collapse of a huge condominium in the desert, a massive dig operation is begun to remove the debris, to salvage what can be recovered, and just possibly to find a survivor buried deep in the wreckage, beaming out a live radio program to the world.

This is the basic setup for Adams' novel, and the reader may be forgiven a certain sense of cynicism on approaching it. Consider it a parable, then. Or an extended metaphor for the manipulated, shaky, manufactured structure that is our world, if you wish.

Adams creates a wide cast of characters here, not all of whom are what they seem, but all of whom are recognizable in one way or another as hustlers, sycophants, romantics, goldbricks, political wannabes, and fugitives in one way or another from lives as crushed and warped as the debris they dig through every day.

Perceptive readers will see the holes in the story long before the characters do, but will hang on for the ride as these diggers ... ah, forgive me; I can't resist ... get to the bottom of it all. ( )
  LyndaInOregon | Sep 19, 2021 |
I was given a free ARC copy in exchange for my honest review. I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler free way. If you feel anything in my review is a spoiler and is not already hidden in spoiler brackets please let me know. Thank you.
Did not finish at 43%. I really tried to get into this one. Really. And maybe it got better, but after almost half of the book, I no longer had any interest in finding out. Honestly the book was just boring. Nothing was really happening. The chapters that flash into the past were kinda interesting, but honestly that was it.
How I choose my rating:
1* Did not finish, or hated it but forced myself to finish.
2** Didn't really like it. Didn't hate it but not sure why I finished it other then for some closure.
3*** I liked it. I had some issues with it, but as a whole it was good. I probably won't reread again ever, but there is a chance I might finish the series. (If part of one) But if not it's not a huge loss.
4**** I really liked this book. Maybe not a work of genius, but highly entertaining. I might reread this again, and I will finish the series. (If part of one) I would recommend to those I know hold interest in this books content.
5***** I loved this book. I found little to no issues with it at all. I will definitely be rereading this and probably more than once. I will finish the series and reread it multiple times. (If part of one) I will recommend this book to EVERYONE!!!!
  starslight86 | Jul 20, 2021 |
Mostrando 1-5 de 21 (siguiente | mostrar todos)
Sean Adams’s debut, The Heap, tells the story of the literal rise and fall of Los Verticalés (“the Vert”), an architecturally unsound high-rise, near­ly five hundred storeys tall, that “grew up rather than out… bustling with life and excitement,” until one day it came crashing down, covering the desert with acres and acres of “mountainous remains.” ...Every two or three chapters, we get excerpts from a book – “From the Later Years” – written by surviving residents, which details life inside the high-rise. The first thing we’re told is that the Vert, like everywhere else, is separated by class. The “haves” live in outer units with windows looking out onto the desert, while the “have-nots” reside in the inner condos, their apartments fitted with “UV screens that streamed a view of the outside world and could ‘recreate 92 percent of the window experience.”‘ Despite the social stratification, there’s a strong sense of community – a central theme of the novel – where each “floor worked like a neighbourhood, the stairwell and the elevator serving respectively as the highway and the high-speed rail, connecting distinct urban districts.” Just like Peter Thisbee built the Vert level by level, Adams adds a layer of worldbuilding with each excerpt – whether it’s an explanation of the Vert’s political structure or the establishment of a bordello in the underground carpark – that deepens our understanding of this strange, fascinating enclosed world....The Heap is a deeply weird but poignant novel about the extended family we discover amongst the rubble and ruin of a rich man’s folly.
añadido por Lemeritus | editarLocus, Ian Mond (Mar 17, 2020)
 
"An unpreserved Vesuvius, an overnight ruin" — that's how Sean Adams describes Los Verticalés, the fictional setting of his engrossing debut novel The Heap. Adams is not speaking figuratively. Los Verticalés, nicknamed The Vert, was once a leviathan 500-story building, erected in the American desert, that housed an entire metropolis' worth of apartments, residents and businesses. But years ago it suddenly collapsed, leaving a gargantuan pile of rubble and bodies called The Heap.... Adams' imaginative scope is staggering. The intricately wrought details of The Vert serve as the substructure of The Heap, contained in interstitial chapters that sketch a blueprint of the fallen building as a monument to modern technology as well as a chilling social experiment... The Heap is dizzying in scale, but at its heart it's an endearing and downright fun story about a man who defies all odds to reestablish a familial link that's been sundered by technology, catastrophe and commerce.... The first great science fiction novel of 2020, The Heap is sharp, acidic and sweet — and as ambitiously constructed as The Vert itself.
añadido por Lemeritus | editarNPR, Jason Heller (Jan 7, 2020)
 
“The Heap” is about a pile of trash that used to be a tower. There is easy symbolism to be had in the contrast between these two states — soaring aspiration pitted against the remains of demolished ambition — but the author Sean Adams is thankfully less interested in allegory than in harnessing its strange contrasts to create cutting satire....Weighing it down, however, are Adams’s efforts to fill out the novel’s world. Los Verticalés (known by residents as “the Vert”) would have been an interesting enough setting for its own book, and Adams hints at this by splicing into the narrative details of pre-collapse life in the form of a collective memoir called “The Later Years.” Written by residents fortunate enough to have been away during the tower’s destruction, “The Later Years” offers fascinating glimpses into an increasingly insular and bizarre community.... It’s engaging material, but the decision to interweave it throughout the present narrative slows down the plot without heightening suspense....Yet learning about Vert culture is essential for understanding “The Heap,” because what Adams is after is a kind of exploration of communal life.... The novel’s concern is not the instinct to form groups, but what people do within them. Its characters — Orville and his friends, as well as the villains arrayed against them — suffer because of their idiosyncratic flaws and choices. They manipulate, scheme and consolidate power. But they also care, love and sacrifice. The suggestion is of a lingering quality to human nature. Whether clustered in a vertical utopia or scavenging its collapse, people, for better or for worse — and in “The Heap” it is frequently the latter — will always act like people.
añadido por Lemeritus | editarNew York Times, Will Medearis (Sitio de pago) (Jan 3, 2020)
 
When the largest and most audacious housing project in history crashes to the ground, a new culture is born, for good or bad. Adams’ debut novel is a dystopian nightmare that is metaphorical in nature but has a compelling story, a recognizable villain, and a few key characters whose personality traits make them interesting.... It’s distressing that we have so many bleak visions of the future these days but at least here people are given a chance to dig themselves out of the hole that the upper class made. A vision of the future that gives the working class a chance to get even.
añadido por Lemeritus | editarKirkus Reviews (Dec 8, 2019)
 
Adams’s debut, set on a disaster site in a strange alternate present, is an incandescent, melancholy satire.... Excerpts from an oral history of the prior residents’ surreal life inside the tower provide a whimsically dystopian background to the main madcap plot. Fans of Borges and other inventive but piercing stories will revel in this offbeat novel.
añadido por Lemeritus | editarPublisher's Weekly (Oct 2, 2019)
 

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Join the Dig!

The Fall of Los Verticales!

Los Verticales! A marvel of modern architecture! An achievement in nontraditional urban planning! A car-free, elevator-enabled society! The city that grew up rather than out, defying directional norms until the day it could no longer! It stood nearly 500 stories tall, bustling with life and excitement. Today its mountainous remains over twenty acres of desert land. The relief effort will be colossal.

And YOU can be a part of it!
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A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Featured on recommended reading lists by the New York Times * New York Post * Library Journal * Thrillist * Locus * USA TODAY "The first great science fiction novel of 2020. " --NPR  "As intellectually playful as the best of Thomas Pynchon and as sardonically warm as the best of Kurt Vonnegut. . . A masterful and humane gem of a novel." --Shaun Hamill, author of A Cosmology of Monsters Blending the piercing humor of Alexandra Kleeman and the jagged satire of Black Mirror, an audacious, eerily prescient debut novel that chronicles the rise and fall of a massive high-rise housing complex, and the lives it affected before - and after - its demise. Standing nearly five hundred stories tall, Los Verticalés once bustled with life and excitement. Now this marvel of modern architecture and nontraditional urban planning has collapsed into a pile of rubble known as the Heap. In exchange for digging gear, a rehabilitated bicycle, and a small living stipend, a vast community of Dig Hands removes debris, trash, and bodies from the building's mountainous remains, which span twenty acres of unincorporated desert land. Orville Anders burrows into the bowels of the Heap to find his brother Bernard, the beloved radio DJ of Los Verticalés, who is alive and miraculously broadcasting somewhere under the massive rubble. For months, Orville has lived in a sea of campers that surrounds the Heap, working tirelessly to free Bernard--the only known survivor of the imploded city--whom he speaks to every evening, calling into his radio show. The brothers' conversations are a ratings bonanza, and the station's parent company, Sundial Media, wants to boost its profits by having Orville slyly drop brand names into his nightly talks with Bernard. When Orville refuses, his access to Bernard is suddenly cut off, but strangely, he continues to hear his own voice over the airwaves, casually shilling products as "he" converses with Bernard. What follows is an imaginative and darkly hilarious story of conspiracy, revenge, and the strange life and death of Los Verticalés that both captures the wonderful weirdness of community and the bonds that tie us together.

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