Fairy Tale Spotlight: Odd John [Book Review]

[This blog does contain some spoilers.]

"Odd John: A Story Between Jest and Earnest" is a science fiction novel written by Olaf Stapledon. It was published in 1935.

The story relates the tale of a young boy named John who was born a genius. It follows his short life as he explores how he is different than his more unintelligent human companions. The story is written from the perspective of a journalist that had become his friend... or slave. It depends on your point of view really.

This book has some really fascinating stuff. Imagine someone who was born so incredibly smart that it is almost like a completely different species. John felt like we were the animals and he was the real human. The author makes a distinction between homo sapiens and "homo superior." John would probably see you as like a dog. In fact, he often and even lovingly referred to the journalist writing his biography as "Fido."

The problems with such great genius is that it came with a dash of sociopathy. He could murder another human but see it more like putting down an animal for his own benefit. Like if a person got into his way, he did not mind murdering them as a consequence of their interference. He would sleep soundly afterwards as well. This is a thing that happens a few times in the book, and it's always hard to deal with when it happens. You really just want him to feel something about it, but he never will.

It doesn't feel wrong calling John an evil genius. He even created his own lair. This was something that was super interesting, because the book explains how he was able to do it. He basically hid the lair with an old rusty, sharp piece of metal. Anyone who saw it wouldn't want to touch it. John basically used the laziness of people to hide the fact that he was creating his own lair right in the middle of a public area. That was both simple and brilliant. So many movies never explain how these evil lairs are built.

There is a creepiness to seeing a child that is acting like an adult that is smarter than you. Now, imagine an entirely colony of them. The book shows John's efforts to find others like himself and create a new colony that only has people like him in it. It was intensely communistic and surprisingly functional. It was also completely disconnected with the world and its values.

Everyone was naked and had sex as they pleased. There was this sort of open-minded super-spiritualism that they adopted for their society. But everything they did, they did for themselves. As cool as this whole scenario was, I can't help but side with people who care for the lesser people in the world. I was almost always on the side of the journalist. I experienced the horror of John and his people along with him fairly regularly through the book.

I don't want to say anymore. I do recommend "Odd John" as a great science fiction book. It is well written, smart, and endlessly fascinating. I am surprised this one never ended up a movie.

This blog was written on September 7, 2023.

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