Calling Peter Ustinov’s appearance in Logan’s Run a “memorable performance” might be pushing it a little bit. When Logan and Jessica encounter him in the ruins of Washington D.C. the crazy old man rambles about cats for nearly five hours. My favorite part of this rant is when he claims all cats have three names; a regular name, a fancy name, and name only the cat itself knows. While totally bonkers, this little philosophy sort of sums up how the world thinks about Logan’s Run. Everyone knows about the movie (the cat’s regular name). Some people know about the TV show and comics (the cat’s fancy name). But few seem to have read the book!
And even though talking about Logan’s Run elicits mostly snickers and spoofs, the source material is actually worth a serious look because it presents one of the more colorful and interesting dystopias in SF literature.
Written by George Clayton Johnson and William F. Nolan, Logan’s Run is primarily concerned about the baby boom and youth culture of the 1960s. It presents a fairly preposterous “what if” premise about the growing number of 21-year-olds rapidly out numbering everyone else. In the film, the ageist government makes sure everyone’s “last day” is their 30th birthday, but in the book it’s 21. If you saw the movie before you read the book (which is the case for a lot of us) the narrative is suddenly colored in a totally different way. It’s almost like Lord of the Flies meets the classic Trek episode “Miri.” But if you’re willing to go with this premise, the notion of everyone willfully dying so young is pretty terrifying.
Everything about the novel Logan’s Run is far richer than the film. Logan and Jessica do not escape from secluded dome cities out into a post-apocalyptic wilderness. Instead, the entirety of the world is intact and interconnected by a series of complex underground tunnels that can be traversed at high speeds. The robot Box that taunts Logan and Jessica in the film about “fish, plankton and protein from sea” isn’t a silly silver guy intent on freezing them, but rather a sadistic cyborg that is into kinky torture. Logan’s sidearm is also full of surprises, a kind of revolver that has numerous functions beyond just “stun” and “kill.”
The concepts of youthful energy as an oppressive science fiction concept is doubled through the exploration of a drug called “muscle.” Like its name implies, “muscle” makes you temporarily a whole lot stronger, but naturally, it also makes you totally crazy. As in the film, Logan has to fight off some “cubs”(delinquents) that are pumped up on muscle and as a result super dangerous. In fact, all the action sequences, whether they come in the form of chases or fights, have a page-turning quality that I think would give a lot of modern thriller writers a run for their money. During a summer about ten years ago, I passed around my copy of Logan’s Run amongst three of my closest friends. Everyone finished the book in less than four days. Lazy blurbs call certain books “a romp” or a “wild ride,” but Logan’s Run is just a really, really great read.
The sexual promiscuity explored in the film, is present in the novel in slightly more creative ways. Being a voyeur is viewed as kind of a sport in this world, which serves to hint at even kinkier activities likely lurking just beneath the surface. Not that it distracts from the plot in any kind of weird or creepy way. As in the film, the reader somehow buys that Logan and Jessica like each other a lot and having them on the run together is still fairly romantic.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Logan’s Run the novel is its ending. From here on out I will seriously spoil the book for you, so if want to read it and really enjoy it, stop reading right here. RETRO SPOILERS BEGIN!
Okay. So throughout the novel, there is a competing narrative that chronicles someone who is following Logan and Jessica throughout their adventures. You’re led to believe that this is Francis for most of the book. But at the very end, it turns out Francis is secretly the legendary Old Man known as Ballard. It’s a bit of a Scooby-Doo moment, but it is sort of great when someone the reader is considering to be an antagonist, turns out to be a good guy. This is a far cry from an old man rambling about cats. What Ballard reveals however is probably the biggest difference between the original Logan’s Run novel and the film. Remember all that stuff in the movie about Sanctuary and how “THERE IS NO SANCTUARY?” Well, in the book, there is a sanctuary. And it’s in space. This moment presents the ultimate fake-out because the authors go out of their way to tell you right at the beginning that humanity isn’t interested in space travel! And then Logan and Jessica end the book by getting on a spacehip! Logan’s Run has all sorts of twists! RETRO SPOILERS END.
Perhaps the most insightful aspect of Logan’s Run is it’s extremely lenghty dedication page in which the authors reference everyone from Doc Savage to Ernest Hemingway. If there was ever a doubt that Logan’s Run wasn’t serious literature, you’ll think twice after reading this list. George Clayton Johnson and William F. Nolan wrote an awesome page-turner which is mostly remembered a kitschy 70s film. Here’s hoping a remake finally happens.
Ryan Britt is a staff blogger for Tor.com. He is constantly threatening to dress up as Logan 5 for Halloween, but always ends up going with his usual stand by costume, the crazy Cat Guy.
I had a battered copy of the book for years before it finally fell apart. That copy was actually a media-tie-in version, with some pictures from the movie in the book.
The thing about the cats is from Old Possums Book of Practical Cats
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/t__s__eliot/poems/15121
Actually, all the cat stuff Peter Ustinov spouts is lifted wholesale from T.S. Eliot. It’s the first part of Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. I think it’s supposed to be a clue to the audience that he’s still connected with the past.
I had all three way back in the 70’s. “Logan’s Run”, “Logan’s World”, and “Logan’s Search”. The scenes inside the Crazy Horse Monument and at the Robotic reenactment of the Civil War battle would have been awesome on screen.
Also ‘Renewel’ was at 21 not 30. Big difference there !
@Spinks and @DemtriosX
YES! That makes sense. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Someone else in the office was just mentioning how familar all that seemed. Of course. Perfect. We love our readers.
yes, there was also this small musical based on the T.S. Eliot collection of poems. I forget the name…. I think it was… hmmm,
Cats?
:)
It’s been years since I read this. Clearly time to start up again.
I did post this someplace not too long ago, but it is being reported that there is a new Logan’s Run movie. I hope it takes more after the book. I loved the original, thought the sequels were pretty bad and was annoyed with the movie because of it. But truthfully, when you think of it, most every book I ever read was better than the movie. The only one I can think of better as a movie was The Sound of Music..the Von Trapp family bio was pretty boring and dry.
This is the first I’ve heard about them re-doing Logan’s Run but it may delight you to know that Bluewater Comics has put out their adaptation of Logan’s Run. The comic mostly uses elements from the novels with a few dashes from the 1976 film. Check it out if you haven’t already.
I read this when I was about 11 or 12 (quite a few years ago :) ) and loved it – especially the Crazy Horse bit. It’s a great book and I’ll have to see if I can find it again – my copy must have disappeared in the 80s. I was quite disappointed when I eventually saw the movie on tv.
I’m old enough to remember when the movie came out, but was way to young to see it. The pictures looked really cool though. I read somebody’s copy of the book, loved it. Years later, finally saw the movie. Total disappointment.
Remakes get proposed periodically. Always there is fanboy complaining. Have you read the book!?! No. Then you don’t know how good a version of Logan’s Run they could make!
Just to have the age dropped back to 21 would make it an entirely different movie.
Logan’s Run is an inventive, fast-moving book built around a dumb premise. The first thing a good movie version would have to do would be to come up with a better premise that justifies the same scenario.
@@@@@ tnh: You don’t like the premise? what is it about the book then that you like? The characters? The prose? The chase scenes and the love story? Okay, how about instead of dying at 21, all the characters instead have to plan a surprise party for Uncle Greggory? But Logan with his big mouth has spoiled the surprise! And Jessica is out of breath after blowing up SOOO many balloons.
Anyway, I think a remake of this movie is necessary…premise and all.
@tnh and @lopeg
I think what tnh means is that the out of control baby boom premise is a bit silly, which is true. The scenario we like, the premises which it springs from is a bit clunky.
@lopeg Also, a suprise party would be cool in my book.
I remember watching this film when I was at home sick with the flu or cold or something like in 6th grade.
Hell of a SYFY movie. Great story and cool special effects. And Jenny Augutter is very cute. A brilliant story.
Unlike the premise of the essay I am familiar with the book and thought it was pretty terrible. William Saroyan I met at a convention and he was a sort of drugged out nut case talking how everything was about ‘tendrils’ extending out in the universe. And he talked a great deal about Pink Floyds Animals album. I can no longer remember what he said about that but we do remember laughing a lot about the weirdo. My understanding is the book was outlined in about three hours at a diner and was finished in a couple weeks. Which didn’t surprise me. Its a pretty thin book by todays standards. Mostly what I recall from the book is where someone demands an ounce of flesh a la Shylock from merchant of Venice and I think they negotiate to take the ounce from Jessica’s thigh. I was only a teenager then so I found the darkness of the novel unnecessarily creepy. I was charmed by the Ustinov perfomance and as a young man the first hour was sexually exciting to see Jessica in transparant clothing an in various stages of undress throughout the film. It was a great adolescent fantasy. As with most people the premise is great and will always be great. It could have been adapted into a great film seven times over by now. I will say I checked Wikipedia and there was note of only one reviewer who gave the book a 2 out of 5 but still thought it was better than the movie.