Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

This is our monthly SF Novella discussion for


Enemy Mine by Barry B. Longyear

Wiinner, 1980 Hugo Award for Best Novella
Winner, 1979 Nebula Award for Best Novella

First thoughts?
For me I was a tad ignorant to this book, I loved the movie when I was younger but had no idea that it came from a award winning novella until much later in life. I've had it on my "to-read" list for a long time, so I'm very excited to see where the novella takes me.
With that being said, I know there are 2 versions of this book out there. I will be reading the longer movie adaption mainly because I already own it, but as we go through this discussion this month I'd like to discuss the difference good and bad between them.
Looking forward to it.

Well the novelization is a novelization with two authors. There are actually quite a few different versions kicking about of the book although the differences to some might seem quite minor (very small amounts of editing differences in each).

There were two sequels which I am planning on reading this month but have not read as well as a range of other stories collected with Enemy Mine in Manifest Destiny which complement the themes of the novella.

I have probably read this 6-7 times and love it. Not read it in 10 years though so although it is all pretty fresh in my memory I may well reread it for this group.

Yummy! Drac Bar anyone? Anyone? Come on now, who can resist a root food ration bar with the consistency of a jellyfish that tastes like an infection. Now that is satisfying. Mmmmm. So I'll ask again Drac Bar anyone? Lol!

I was a bit unsure which version to read here. Now I've ordered Manifest Destiny which contains the novella. Let's see how it works out :)

Hate.
We have an innate tendency, called the binary instinct, to divide the world or galaxy in this case into us and them.
It's one of the things early on in this book that fascinates me and how quickly that hate can change once you stop looking at just the differences and start looking at commonalities.
Quote from book, "Is no bad. Is no good. Bad/Good is only life-opinion. Honor come when life look beyond itself. Beyond - survival."
Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Mike wrote: "Hate. We have an innate tendency, called the binary instinct, to divide the world or galaxy in this case into us and them...."

In war, the binary alignment is pretty clear: those trying to kill you, and your allies trying to kill them. A soldier looking down his rifle sight (or bombsight or whatever) isn't thinking, "this guy may have a wife and kids back home." A soldier's view of the enemy is necessarily,... I don't have a good sci-fi replacement for "dehumanized". De-sapientized? This manifests in derogatory names for the enemy used by the troops. In sci-fi we have Bugs, Buggers, Chigs, Peeps, Syndics, Tin Cans, Lizards, and Draggers. (After the peace treaty is signed, these will become slurs that may no longer be uttered.)

In a firefight, your worldview is greatly simplified.

G33z3r wrote: "Mike wrote: "Hate. We have an innate tendency, called the binary instinct, to divide the world or galaxy in this case into us and them...."

In war, the binary alignment is pretty clear: those tryi..."
Agreed and nicely put. I like the fact that even with the war still raging they signed their own "peace treaty" first out of need for survival, then later their "peace treaty" continues for much different reasons.

I read the short story today during lunch. It's been a long time since I read the book, but don't feel any need although I believe there are some major differences, especially the way the end was handled. Great story about breaking prejudices, though.

I skimmed the novelization tonight. I spent a couple of hours doing it, so a pretty thorough skim, & was very impressed by it. Much of the short story is there. The differences are pretty minor, IMO. The same main points are made well in both. I'm really glad I read both versions & got turned on to this story again after all these years. Whoever nominated it, thank you!

I had a sub to Asimov's SF mag when this story first appeared in it...I remember pulling it out of the mailbox, running across the yard into the house and reading it...a good story, then years later a good movie. I do admit, I wasn't a big fan of Berry's other stuff, but this one really hit the spot as a good yarn....

David Gerrold has done some good stuff, too.

What I like most about the book is how engaging it is and how much it draws you in. It is ultimately a book about war, predjudice, what it is to be a parent, what it is to learn fresh about different cultures, how adversity can bring us together and to a point linguistics but it is such a fun, pacy read that it is absorbed so easily.

Barry Longyear has done other great work, and I would argue some of the other stories in Manifest Destiny are at least the equal of this but this remains the work against which he will be judged and in which he has most clearly and publicly shown.

The basic plot point - enemies brought together by adversity - is used a lot, and was probably used even more after this won all its awards but it is handled so adroitly here that this remains to me one of the most memorable examples of this happening.

I really like the way that parts of Drak culture, religion etc are brought into the story and presented in such an interesting way. That said I had little interest in wading through the Talmut (sp) in full that is included with my The Enemy Papers seperate from the context of the story. but then I had little interest in reading all the "extra" LoTR tales collected in a multiplicity of volumes.

Never been able to decide though whether or not I like the protagonist calling the drak "Jerry" - so clearly a reference to the name given to Germans in the second world war. If I eventually decide I do not like this though I can certainly forgive it.

As cultural relations develop over time the reference early on to "Stuffing a moslem with pork" is a little jarring / crude as this type of comparitor would probably never be used so bluntly now adays but in the context of when this was written it is not too bad. Also this is the narrator (pre learning that you know (Spoilers) draks are kind of humans (although obviously still a totally different species of sentient beings) too and probably is fairly true to his character the way it is originally expressed.

Ben wrote: "The basic plot point - enemies brought together by adversity - is used a lot, and was probably used even more after this won all its awards but it is handled so adroitly here that this remains to me one of the most memorable examples of this happening."

Yes. It's a plot I'm never tired of -- can't think of one I like better -- and this has the stuff that makes it a classic rendition.

I read it last night, the Author's Cut version, I'm in fact interested to read David Gerrold's novelisation now. Why? I didn't get enough Davidge-Jeriba Shigan interaction. I thought it strengthened when they return to their cultures, both as prejudiced as each other -- I found that hard-hitting. Impressed by the back end, and the front end. Dropped off for me when I lost the original Drak I and Davidge had grown attached to, I didn't transfer easily to its kid (neither did Davidge).

I'd forgotten about German Jerry, I see that might be a hurdle. What irked me was use of 'it', which seemed increasingly de-creaturising as it went on. Not blaming him for this, our incurious humans obviously aren't going to have any language to cope with the one-sex species, and I don't know how much sci fi had dabbled in alternative pronouns at the time (? look up dates...) But 'it' got inadequate and mismatched Davidge's thoughts.

Interesting that he made his human a bit of a social flop to begin with, and have him learn friendship for the first time from the Drac.

I found 'it' a little disturbing, too. The more I thought about it, the better I liked the use, though. It's interesting that the doctor thought he might have had a sexual relationship & equated it to being gay.

Was this written before the movie with Lee Marvin about an American and Japanese soldier alone on an island in the Pacific? Can't remember the title right now..., but I wonder if there was some influence either way.

E.D. wrote: "Was this written before the movie with Lee Marvin about an American and Japanese soldier alone on an island in the Pacific?"

Found: Hell in the Pacific, 1968
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell_in_...

Bryn wrote: "E.D. wrote: "Was this written before the movie with Lee Marvin about an American and Japanese soldier alone on an island in the Pacific?"

Found: Hell in the Pacific, 1968
http://en.wikipedia.org/w..."

Thanks, Bryn! I was thinking the Marvin film was earlier...but the cerebral storage facility suffers more and more glitches as time rolls by....rolls by...rolls by......:}

E.D. wrote: "Thanks, Bryn! I was thinking the Marvin film was earlier...but the cerebral storage facility suffers more and more glitches as time rolls by....rolls by...rolls by......:} "

Hey, mine too. I'm vaguely sure I saw this film...

I thought I'd look at some of the science-fiction aspects of Enemy Mine:

As with many Space Opera featuring Aliens, the aliens aren't very alien.

Even though the Drac are alien, they're basically bipedal, two eyes (yellow), nose, mouth. And apparently their skin changes color. They communicate through soundwaves produced through the same mouth they use to breathe compatible oxygen atmosphere and eat compatible food. They prefer the same temperature.

Plug that into your Drake Equation.

No doubt this helps the central metaphor of the story, which is interspecies brotherhood. (It would be harder to pull off with one of Starship Troopers's Bugs, though Card takes a whack at it with his "Xenocide".

The amazing compatibility also helps to explain why Human and Drac are fighting over the same planets, since they have such similar definitions of habitable. (In a couple of authors sci-fi universes teeming with alien species, the humans and aliens don't interact much because they have such different interests.)

(Of course this is a familiar trope of television and movie science fiction, since until recently it was hard to depict aliens as anything other than actors in rubber suits & makeup. It's less of a necessity in print — unless you're writing for a movie adaptation.)

Ok so I'm almost done with this book (both actually as I'm skimming the original as well) and I probably will be in the minority on this but I enjoyed the movie adaptation more. I don't think it took away from original story so far anyways, I'll let you know when I finish it tomorrow! Anyone have thoughts on the differences? Pros, Cons?

I think the movie takes ideas of the story and makes it into an entertaining film. It extends the hero-child bonding elements. It has Dennis Quaid in it which is a fairly need fit for the role although we kind of get Dennis Quaid playing Dennis Quaid a little as with much of his output. I prefer the novella but dont find the film objectionable.

Barry Longyear was not a huge fan of the film - I think he likes the money etc and found it an interesting process but it was no longer "his" Enemy Mine.

In the version I just read (the harmlessly extended Enemy Papers version) there is also a short essay on Enemy Mine in all its different versions and on the two sequels. It is well worth reading if you have that version although I have not found it in browsing on the internet to link to you all. It is called "Run Drak Run". Longyears original idea was to tell a sort of survivalist story - crashlanding on a harsh landscape and trying to survive and then brought in the draks and the, what was supposed to be a short story just kindof got overlong and away from his original plan. He sent an early version to Asimovs and they forwarded it on to Asimov himself for feedback as to what to do with it. There was the feeling that this was really two stories and it was going to be (in a somewhat altered version) going to be two noveletes Enemy Mine and Son Mine. Longyear didnt like Son Mine as the Draks were one gender. Anyway we ended up with a survivalist story fused with a war/peace story which I think works very well and holds up surprisingly to time.

Ben wrote: "I think the movie takes ideas of the story and makes it into an entertaining film. It extends the hero-child bonding elements. It has Dennis Quaid in it which is a fairly need fit for the role al..."
I'll definitely try to see if I can find "Run Drak Run", it's a shame Longyear didn't like the movie or the adaption, I thought both we're well done.
Lastly, I couldn't agree with you more because of the subject matter of this book, I think it will "hold up" long after Longyear is gone and as a creator of anything isn't that what you want? Anyhow, I'm glad we got to read it again here.

I thought the movie was a copout. In the novella, Davidge & Zammis each return to their homeland and find themselves ostracized as Drac-lover, or in the case of Zammis being seen as so insane as to require institutionalization.

In contrast, the movie gives us the Scavengers, a human third-party who even seem vile to the human military, using Drac slave labor to extract minerals from the planet. Davidge then gets to be the great emancipator. It substitutes the Scavengers for the villain, instead of the more abstract Prejudice of the original. And it lets them finish with a shootout, slaying evil the old-fashioned way with a bullet instead of the tougher, unfinished slog of the novella.

(I thought maybe they did the substitution to save money from constructing sets of the Drac planet, but the mining operation was a pretty elaborate set, too.)

On the other hand, the movie adds a great scene of the automated burial of the "honored dead", complete with taped music and the wreath released by foot pedal, which is a commentary of an entirely different sort.

Uh. I didn't remember the movie plot, frankly, but G33z3r puts a damper on it. That 'abstract Prejudice' was the strongest part of the novella for me, and a shootout's a copout, right enough.
Still we were fond of the movie. I hadn't read it then, though.

I thought Zammis was institutionalized in the movie for being a human lover, too. Yes, he was abused, but then he was crazy & only a human could bring him back in both. No?

And, in the movie novelization, the Drac side of the prejudice was the disruption of their legal system when Davidge needed to recite Zammis into their society. The elders were ready to commit suicide rather than allow it.

I agree with Bryn, both of them being shut out of their societies, the prejudice of both sides, was the whole point for me. (I thought the novella went a bit over the top with Davidge raising future generations out in the woods, but some hyperbole can be excused.) This is why I liked the aliens not being too alien. The huge difference in sex was offset by the basic similarities. The war & prejudice can't be blamed on male ego, since the Draks don't have it & yet acted the same. It's makes the comparisons & contrasts that much stronger.

Jim wrote: "I thought Zammis was institutionalized in the movie for being a human lover, too. Yes, he was abused, but then he was crazy & only a human could bring him back in both. No?..."

No, in the movie Zammis gets abused & imprisoned by human Scavengers (wildcat miners using Drac slaves to work the mines — not present in the novella.) Zammis runs off from Davidge to get a look at the Scavengers (because dad told him not to, and you know how kids are.) Davidge (Quaid) follows. The head Scavenger (played by Brion James, who was the crazy Replicant in Blade Runner) captures Zammis and shoots Davidge, leaving the latter for dead.

Later Davidge is apparently found by human SAR, but believed dead (hence the satirical assembly line funeral scene I enjoyed). But Davidge wakes up before his "body" gets spaced (awakened by the funeral tech trying to steal the Talman from around his neck), and after some medical treatment (and a haircut & shave) he steals a space fighter and zips back down to the planet, Fyrine IV, to rescue Zammis (and incidentally the other Drac slaves) from the Scavengers. Davidge rescues the unconscious Zammis, who seems to have been dumped in some sort of solitary confinement hole by the Scavengers, we presume for disobedience or some other infraction. (A lot of fisticuffs & gunplay, eventually a slave revolt, and the cliché of the unconscious body on the conveyor belt of doom.) Davidge's old (human) squad mates show up in time for the happy reunion (mostly wondering why Davidge stole a space fighter.) Fade to black.

The movie ends with an extremely long distance shot of a ceremony on the Drac homeworld, the voiceover informing us Zammis takes his vows. It's the only scene on the Drac homeworld, and it's a matte painting without dialog or distinguishable characters. If any discussions were required among the Drac concerning Zammis's unconventional Uncle, they aren't in the movie.

(I just re-watched the movie last night.)

Wow! Seems I should watch the movie again. I thought the novelization was based on the movie, but none of that was in it. Thanks.

Jim wrote: "Seems I should watch the movie again. I thought the novelization was based on the movie, but none of that was in it."

After re-reading the novella, I hadn't remembered how the movie concluded either. But after a couple of weeks at the top of my queue, Netflix finally dug up a copy for me. I did remember the movie traded a meteor shower for a big wave, I assume because lots of water is hard and expensive to film. But I had pretty much spaced on everything after Louis Gossett died.

Jim wrote: "I thought the novella went a bit over the top with Davidge raising future generations out in the woods, but some hyperbole can be excused."

Yeah, secluding yourself in a commune out in the woods? They should grab some tambourines and hand out leaflets in a spaceport. (Sorry, I flashed on the 60s. :)


Since you've read several versions, maybe you can help with a comparison. I thought the ending of the novella was a little rushed. Davidge gets rescued, searches for info on Zammis, talks to grandpa drac, together they find Zammis. It all flies by pretty quickly in the original. I thought maybe given a larger word count it might be fleshed out.

The novella worked best for me, but I tend to like less rather than more words - at least if I'm reading them.
;)

In the Enemy Papers version there is more of the post savage planet stuff and it is fleshed out more. On the whole the extra stuff works well but it probably highlights even more the fairly weak/ unbelievable ending of future generations of the drak line going to spend time with Davidge in the wild. In some ways it was a nice touch but part of the problem is there is no good ending that is neat for that type of story in real life. How could Davidge make a life for himself in the old world with his new realisations and after being just with one other in such an inhospitable place.

I half remembered not liking the movie handling of the post savage planet stuff but now I have the plot summary I remember why. Much weaker than the various novella/novel versions although more hollywood

In the Author's Cut (Enemy Papers) I found Jerry's death rushed -- This pregnancy is going wrong. I'm going to die. Dies -- but the post-planet, Davidge bumming about among humans realising his estrangement, not rushed or fast. Is this where he added?

About the end, I did like that they didn't expect an answer on either of their planets so gave up on them, in a way, and dropped out. The thought flashed through, more real than if they'd converted everybody, or anybody beyond Zammis's family.

Checks:
- kind of first contact
- alien with great cultural and philosophical background (unlike those in Starship Troopers, The Forever War, or Ender's Game)
- background narrated within the story
- mixture of action and musing

The movie touched all those checks and the novella doesn't stand back at all.
On the bad side, narration feels rushed very often - from enemies to romantic cuddling in just a few sentences, the dying of alien Jeriba "Jerry" Shigan, and Davidge's investigation on Dracs' planet to search for Jeriba's child.

The alien Dracs are not that alien. The two races seem to resemble WWII conflict and the western view on East Asia. The plot is not new and will never grow old: two people from strange cultures have to work together to survive - similarly found in Cherryh's Foreigner series or LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness but also in mainstream novels.

The novella won Hugo in 1980 and Nebula in 1979 - to some extent because of Isaac Asimov's marketing strategy (cf. "Asimov's award-grabbing technique"): He wanted to win awards for his Science Fiction magazine and sent out large amounts of copies to voters praysing the story.

I found both the movie version and the novella equally strong and can't say which one I'd prefer.
4 stars!