The Answer: A Fable for Our Times
Ratings1
Average rating3
15
Ratings1
Average rating3
In this ingenious and unforgettable twentieth-century parable, a world on the brink of war is thrown into chaos when angels fall from heaven Major General Marcus Scott is a seasoned veteran of combat, a loyal American, and a skeptic in a volatile world. But amid the aftermath of a nuclear weapons test in the South Pacific, everything Scott believes—and refuses to believe—will be turned upside down. In a pool of clear water lies a single casualty of the blast, a beautiful winged being certainly not of this earth. And when a second celestial creature is discovered following a Russian H-bomb test, the military establishments of two major powers are thrown into chaos. Sworn enemies, each pledged to the other’s destruction, they must now deal with the unthinkable and the impossible: that the Cold War has transcended the boundaries of the world, reaching into heaven to bring down angels. A provocative tale as beguiling as it is disturbing, Philip Wylie’s The Answer is a captivating fantasy of the nuclear age. Set at the height of the United States–Soviet arms race, it is a page-turning thriller that taps into the anxieties and paranoia of a bygone era, offering a heartfelt plea for peaceful coexistence while decrying the suicidal insanity of war.
Reviews with the most likes.
3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
Summary
In the course of testing a nuclear warhead, a US general finds the test has killed an innocent bystander - an angel.
Review
The Answer is interesting, so far as it goes, but it doesn't go very far – it's a novelette, and a brief one. While it does wrap up nicely with a message for humanity, I frankly wish it had gone substantially further in exploring the premise. Wylie is primarily interested in getting across a concern about nuclear weapons and a wish that we'd all just get along, but I felt there was more complex story in here that he could have explored. As it stands, it's a nice, efficient message story, but not much more.
Wylie takes an effective tack in making his protagonist, a general, a sceptic of both war and religion, allowing him enough distance to function as a commentator without getting in the way of the story. He's an engaging character, and I would have liked to see more of him.
