A review by kris_mccracken
More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon

3.0

Long considered a classic in the genre, I found this one both enlightening and frustrating. It's constructed as three separate novelettes (the central one, "Baby is Three," was originally published in Galaxy) which together link up to tell a larger tale. This structure echoes the novel's theme: the creation and evolution of a Gestalt, a single being composed of disparate parts that are incomplete alone but together form a whole.

This is an idea that has its roots in psychiatry, and this is where my tension with the book emerged. The entire middle portion of the book is framed as a long psychiatric session, in which the Gestalt slowly, for the first time, achieves self-awareness. As such, the psycho-babble seems dated and jarred we me as a reader. The premise is sound enough, but I found the execution a little tedious.

This is something of a shame, as the central thesis is both worthy and profound. There is a real warmth and deep humanity not seen in many novels. For that alone, it is certainly worth reading. Ultimately, I read it as an observation of loneliness and social connection that is partially let down by a pedestrian style that tends to drag through with little indication of where everything is leading. In this sense, it’s more to be endured than enjoyed.