THE SHEEP LOOK UP

Reviewed 1/10/2013

The Sheep Look Up, by John Brunner
Cover art by ?
THE SHEEP LOOK UP
John Brunner
NY: Ballantine Books, October 1973 (© 1972)

Rating:

4.5

High

ISBN-13 978-0-345-23612-8
ISBN-10 0-345-23612-2 457pp. SC $1.65

Errata

Page 14: Sharp on nine, the Trainites had scattered caltraps in the roadway and created a monumental snarl-up...
  This is a variant spelling, but is not incorrect. The most common spelling (at least in the U.S.) is "caltrops." Other accepted variants include "galtraps" (which opportunity for a bad pun I shall resist) and "galtrops."
Page 20: Like an endless series of ovens, except that they weren't to cool, but to chill.
  Spelling: S/B "cook" since it refers to ovens, contrasting those to the main feature of this morgue.
Page 51: According to the instructions on every carton it was best to boil it [...] or triturate it in water to make a dough, then fry it in small cakes or bake it on an iron griddle.
  Vocabulary: The primary definition of this word is "to crush or grind into a fine powder"; that is, to pulverize. There is no mention of water or other liquids. However, while the word is obscure I think Brunner's usage is acceptable.
Page 95: He lay in the hospital for two months, shivering without cease, spat at people who came to wish him well, tore up cables from strangers saying they hoped he'd get better quickly, threw food on the floor because it was poisoned, caught nurses around the neck and lectured them, helplessly pinioned, on egg-bundle fetus, sulphur dioxide, lead alkyls, DDE. Not that they heard much of what he told them. They were screaming too loudly.
  This is a birth defect associated with toxic chemicals like Agent Orange, used in massive quantities in Viet Nam during the American war there.
Page 20: Like an endless series of ovens, except that they weren't to cool, but to chill.
  Spelling: S/B "cook" since it refers to ovens, contrasting those to the main feature of this morgue.
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