Glasshouse
by Charles Stross
Reviewed by Ted Gioia
The basic premise of Glasshouse reminds me of the old
joke about the fellow who joined the French Foreign
Legion to forget. "Forget what?" he was asked. "I
don't know," comes the reply, "I forgot." In Charles
Stross’s novel, human civilization is living with a similar
memory lapse in the aftermath of lengthy censorship
wars—during which a mysterious power tampered with
people’s recollection the way a computer virus might
delete files on your hard disk.
This malevolent adversary was
eventually defeated, but did so
much damage first, that no one
is quite sure what caused the
initial outbreak, or how much
knowledge has been erased
from history.
In Glasshouse, a large-scale
scientific experiment is set up
to recreate the circumstances
that led to the censorship wars
—perhaps thereby uncovering
the now forgotten reasons for
the conflict. Participants will
live in an isolated, enclosed community and adopt the
customs, technologies and laws of the late 20th and
early 21st century—i.e., the everyday world familiar to
the readers of Stross’s novel. But once volunteers sign
on, they won’t be able to quit the project until it
terminates in 1-3 years time…or perhaps longer.
The set-up is rife with opportunities for ironic
commentary, and Stross takes full advantage of the
potential for confusion and dismay when members of a
future society confront the world we all know and love.
"There’s something deeply disturbing about wearing
clothes made from dead animals," narrator Reeve
relates. "There’s stuff called 'silk' that’s basically bug
vomit, and the idea of it makes my skin crawl." Stross
also pokes fun at food, television, shopping, organized
religion, and almost every other aspect of society that
falls under his purview.
The subjects in this experiment adapt quickly to the
demands of their new settings, some with perhaps
excessive enthusiasm. A point system scores each
individual's compliance with the social rules of the
mini-polity, and points are tied to a financial incentive
—to be paid to participants at the termination of the
study. Readers familiar with the Milgram debacle at
Yale and the Zimbardo prison experiment at Stanford—
the latter slyly referenced within the novel, and
apparently an inspiration for author Stross—will
recognize a similarly malign dynamic at work in
Glasshouse. Even when the rules of a society are based
on dubious, if not dangerous, values, most individuals
ask few questions and do as they are told—and
apparently that aspect of human nature has not
changed in the future envisioned by our author.
But, unlike say 1984 or Fahrenheit 451, Glasshouse is
not primarily a vehicle for social commentary nor,
despite the many humorous touches, an exercise in
comedic speculative fiction in the manner of Douglas
Adams or Terry Pratchett. The protagonist in Stross's
novel is challenged to a duel-to-the-death in the
opening pages, setting the tone for a futuristic
adventure story in which the occasional philosophical
or sociological trappings do not slow down the pacing
or detract from the action-oriented plot. The narrator
Reeve not only tries to stir rebellion among the
"glasshouse" participants, but is also plagued by a
series of flashbacks from the censorship wars,
repressed memories of bloody encounters rising to the
surface—and ensuring that every few pages some
example of deadly combat appears in these pages.
The experimental glasshouse turns out to be less a way
of exploring the past than a means for controlling the
future. The key scientists running the experiment
have a long history of working with tyrannical regimes,
and their model community can potentially serve as a
blueprint for a new wave of oppression and social
control. A small number of participants in the
experiment can sense this sinister plan and are
determined to resist, but how can they hope to succeed
when they are constantly observed, badgered and
bullied, and left totally unarmed?
The plot occasionally drags and runs into dead-ends—
long passages describe incidents (the laborious
construction of a crossbow in the garage, an escape
attempt via a ladder several kilometers long, etc.) that
aren't well integrated into the rest of the novel. But for
the most part, Glasshouse works both as an adventure
story as well as a musing on social norms and their
misuse. Knowledgeable readers will also enjoy
deciphering the frequent allusions that Stross sprinkles
into his text—including a whole host of hints relating to
sci-fi writer Cordwainer Smith. These are so varied
and frequent as to amount to a behind-the-scenes
textual game played by the author of this novel.
The overall theme here, namely that reality isn't as real
as we think, may be the most over-worked sci-fi device
of recent years—with everything from The Matrix to
The Truman Show, as well as a host of Philip K. Dick-
inspired stories working endless variants on this
meme. But Stross offers up a fresh, provocative angle
on the subject, one that inspires comparisons not to sci-
fi so much as to the old sociological debate on the
"social construction of reality"—promoted most
aggressively by Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann
in their 1966 book of that name. Perhaps we all live in
a Glasshouse of our own making, Stross constantly
hints, while offering up an account of those who,
contrary to the old adage, respond by throwing as
many stones as possible.
by Charles Stross
Reviewed by Ted Gioia
The basic premise of Glasshouse reminds me of the old
joke about the fellow who joined the French Foreign
Legion to forget. "Forget what?" he was asked. "I
don't know," comes the reply, "I forgot." In Charles
Stross’s novel, human civilization is living with a similar
memory lapse in the aftermath of lengthy censorship
wars—during which a mysterious power tampered with
people’s recollection the way a computer virus might
delete files on your hard disk.
This malevolent adversary was
eventually defeated, but did so
much damage first, that no one
is quite sure what caused the
initial outbreak, or how much
knowledge has been erased
from history.
In Glasshouse, a large-scale
scientific experiment is set up
to recreate the circumstances
that led to the censorship wars
—perhaps thereby uncovering
the now forgotten reasons for
the conflict. Participants will
live in an isolated, enclosed community and adopt the
customs, technologies and laws of the late 20th and
early 21st century—i.e., the everyday world familiar to
the readers of Stross’s novel. But once volunteers sign
on, they won’t be able to quit the project until it
terminates in 1-3 years time…or perhaps longer.
The set-up is rife with opportunities for ironic
commentary, and Stross takes full advantage of the
potential for confusion and dismay when members of a
future society confront the world we all know and love.
"There’s something deeply disturbing about wearing
clothes made from dead animals," narrator Reeve
relates. "There’s stuff called 'silk' that’s basically bug
vomit, and the idea of it makes my skin crawl." Stross
also pokes fun at food, television, shopping, organized
religion, and almost every other aspect of society that
falls under his purview.
The subjects in this experiment adapt quickly to the
demands of their new settings, some with perhaps
excessive enthusiasm. A point system scores each
individual's compliance with the social rules of the
mini-polity, and points are tied to a financial incentive
—to be paid to participants at the termination of the
study. Readers familiar with the Milgram debacle at
Yale and the Zimbardo prison experiment at Stanford—
the latter slyly referenced within the novel, and
apparently an inspiration for author Stross—will
recognize a similarly malign dynamic at work in
Glasshouse. Even when the rules of a society are based
on dubious, if not dangerous, values, most individuals
ask few questions and do as they are told—and
apparently that aspect of human nature has not
changed in the future envisioned by our author.
But, unlike say 1984 or Fahrenheit 451, Glasshouse is
not primarily a vehicle for social commentary nor,
despite the many humorous touches, an exercise in
comedic speculative fiction in the manner of Douglas
Adams or Terry Pratchett. The protagonist in Stross's
novel is challenged to a duel-to-the-death in the
opening pages, setting the tone for a futuristic
adventure story in which the occasional philosophical
or sociological trappings do not slow down the pacing
or detract from the action-oriented plot. The narrator
Reeve not only tries to stir rebellion among the
"glasshouse" participants, but is also plagued by a
series of flashbacks from the censorship wars,
repressed memories of bloody encounters rising to the
surface—and ensuring that every few pages some
example of deadly combat appears in these pages.
The experimental glasshouse turns out to be less a way
of exploring the past than a means for controlling the
future. The key scientists running the experiment
have a long history of working with tyrannical regimes,
and their model community can potentially serve as a
blueprint for a new wave of oppression and social
control. A small number of participants in the
experiment can sense this sinister plan and are
determined to resist, but how can they hope to succeed
when they are constantly observed, badgered and
bullied, and left totally unarmed?
The plot occasionally drags and runs into dead-ends—
long passages describe incidents (the laborious
construction of a crossbow in the garage, an escape
attempt via a ladder several kilometers long, etc.) that
aren't well integrated into the rest of the novel. But for
the most part, Glasshouse works both as an adventure
story as well as a musing on social norms and their
misuse. Knowledgeable readers will also enjoy
deciphering the frequent allusions that Stross sprinkles
into his text—including a whole host of hints relating to
sci-fi writer Cordwainer Smith. These are so varied
and frequent as to amount to a behind-the-scenes
textual game played by the author of this novel.
The overall theme here, namely that reality isn't as real
as we think, may be the most over-worked sci-fi device
of recent years—with everything from The Matrix to
The Truman Show, as well as a host of Philip K. Dick-
inspired stories working endless variants on this
meme. But Stross offers up a fresh, provocative angle
on the subject, one that inspires comparisons not to sci-
fi so much as to the old sociological debate on the
"social construction of reality"—promoted most
aggressively by Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann
in their 1966 book of that name. Perhaps we all live in
a Glasshouse of our own making, Stross constantly
hints, while offering up an account of those who,
contrary to the old adage, respond by throwing as
many stones as possible.
| conceptual fiction |
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Radical, unconventional and
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The New Canon
Great literary works
published since 1985
Great Books Guide
Reviews of current books
Postmodern Mystery
Experimental works of
mystery & suspense
Fractious Fiction
Radical, unconventional and
experimental fiction
Follow Ted Gioia on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/tedgioia
Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
(with links to reviews)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Allende, Isabel
The House of the Spirits
Amado, Jorge
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Apuleius
The Golden Ass
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
The Atrocity Exhibition
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Borges, Jorge Luis
Ficciones
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Brockmeier, Kevin
The View from the Seventh Layer
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Carpentier, Alejo
The Kingdom of This World
Carroll, Lewis
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Crowley, John
Little, Big
Danielewski, Mark Z.
The Fifty Year Sword
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Davies, Robertson
Fifth Business
Delany, Samuel R.
Babel-17
Delany, Samuel R.
Dhalgren
Delany, Samuel R.
The Einstein Intersection
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Dick, Philip K.
VALIS
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Donoso, José
The Obscene Bird of Night
Esquivel, Laura
Like Water for Chocolate
Fuentes, Carlos
Aura
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Grass, Günter
The Tin Drum
Greene, Graham
The End of the Affair
Grossman, Lev
The Magicians
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Helprin, Mark
Winter's Tale
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Kundera, Milan
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Kunzru, Hari
Gods Without Men
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Mann, Thomas
Doctor Faustus
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
Matheson, Richard
What Dreams May Come
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Millhauser, Steven
Dangerous Laughter
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Murakami, Haruki
1Q84
Murakami, Haruki
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Obreht, Téa
The Tiger's Wife
O'Brien, Flann
At Swim-Two-Birds
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pratchett, Terry
The Color of Magic
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Rabelais, François
Gargantua and Pantagruel
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Rushdie, Salman
Midnight's Children
Saramago, José
Blindness
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Stross, Charles
Glasshouse
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Swift, Jonathan
Gulliver's Travels
Thomas, D.M.
The White Hotel
Tolkien, J.R.R.
The Hobbit
Updike, John
The Witches of Eastwick
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Mixed Men
Van Vogt, A.E.
Slan
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Voyage of the Space Beagle
Van Vogt, A.E.
The World of Null A
Verne, Jules
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Vonnegut, Kurt
Cat's Cradle
Vonnegut, Kurt
The Sirens of Titan
Vonnegut, Kurt
Slaughterhouse-Five
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Walpole, Horace
Hieroglyphic Tales
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Winton, Tim
Cloudstreet
Woolf, Virginia
Orlando
Zabor, Rafi
The Bear Comes Home
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
Ray Bradbury: A Tribute
The Year of Magical Reading
Remembering Fritz Leiber
Samuel Delany's 70th birthday
The Sci-Fi of Kurt Vonnegut
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Robert Heinlein at 100
A.E, van Vogt Tribute
Links to related sites
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
Postmodern Mystery
Fractious Fiction
Ted Gioia's web site
Ted Gioia on Twitter
SF Site
io9
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Los Angeles Review of Books
The Millions
Big Dumb Object
Jospeh Peschel
The Misread City
Reviews and Responses
SF Signal
True Science Fiction
Disclosure: Conceptual Fiction and
its sister sites may receive review
copies and promotional materials
from publishers, authors, publicists
or other parties.
www.twitter.com/tedgioia
Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
(with links to reviews)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Allende, Isabel
The House of the Spirits
Amado, Jorge
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Apuleius
The Golden Ass
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
The Atrocity Exhibition
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Borges, Jorge Luis
Ficciones
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Brockmeier, Kevin
The View from the Seventh Layer
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Carpentier, Alejo
The Kingdom of This World
Carroll, Lewis
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Crowley, John
Little, Big
Danielewski, Mark Z.
The Fifty Year Sword
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Davies, Robertson
Fifth Business
Delany, Samuel R.
Babel-17
Delany, Samuel R.
Dhalgren
Delany, Samuel R.
The Einstein Intersection
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Dick, Philip K.
VALIS
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Donoso, José
The Obscene Bird of Night
Esquivel, Laura
Like Water for Chocolate
Fuentes, Carlos
Aura
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Grass, Günter
The Tin Drum
Greene, Graham
The End of the Affair
Grossman, Lev
The Magicians
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Helprin, Mark
Winter's Tale
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Kundera, Milan
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Kunzru, Hari
Gods Without Men
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Mann, Thomas
Doctor Faustus
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
Matheson, Richard
What Dreams May Come
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Millhauser, Steven
Dangerous Laughter
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Murakami, Haruki
1Q84
Murakami, Haruki
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Obreht, Téa
The Tiger's Wife
O'Brien, Flann
At Swim-Two-Birds
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pratchett, Terry
The Color of Magic
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Rabelais, François
Gargantua and Pantagruel
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Rushdie, Salman
Midnight's Children
Saramago, José
Blindness
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Stross, Charles
Glasshouse
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Swift, Jonathan
Gulliver's Travels
Thomas, D.M.
The White Hotel
Tolkien, J.R.R.
The Hobbit
Updike, John
The Witches of Eastwick
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Mixed Men
Van Vogt, A.E.
Slan
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Voyage of the Space Beagle
Van Vogt, A.E.
The World of Null A
Verne, Jules
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Vonnegut, Kurt
Cat's Cradle
Vonnegut, Kurt
The Sirens of Titan
Vonnegut, Kurt
Slaughterhouse-Five
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Walpole, Horace
Hieroglyphic Tales
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Winton, Tim
Cloudstreet
Woolf, Virginia
Orlando
Zabor, Rafi
The Bear Comes Home
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
Ray Bradbury: A Tribute
The Year of Magical Reading
Remembering Fritz Leiber
Samuel Delany's 70th birthday
The Sci-Fi of Kurt Vonnegut
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Robert Heinlein at 100
A.E, van Vogt Tribute
Links to related sites
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
Postmodern Mystery
Fractious Fiction
Ted Gioia's web site
Ted Gioia on Twitter
SF Site
io9
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Los Angeles Review of Books
The Millions
Big Dumb Object
Jospeh Peschel
The Misread City
Reviews and Responses
SF Signal
True Science Fiction
Disclosure: Conceptual Fiction and
its sister sites may receive review
copies and promotional materials
from publishers, authors, publicists
or other parties.