- Unknown Binding: 208 pages
- Publisher: Faber (1959)
- Language English
- ASIN: B000WGV1CI
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have to say I was disappointed with this book.
It is only around 190 pages long and this means that there is very little scope to develop plot or characters. The premise of the story is that a planet inhabited by a Reptillian Race are monitored by a group of four scientists who each have a different fields to ascertain whether a relationship with Earth should ensue. One of the characters is a Jesuit who really does not know whether this Garden of Eden is all it seems -- Is Satans' work at hand??
Certainly the first 80 pages or so are interesting enough and sets the story up but all the religious arguments really become bogged down and I don't think really go anywhere. The final half really becomes silly and abit of a mish mash. It does become jumbled and seems to jump forward without a real explanation of whats happening.
This book is really for the Masterwork Completist and would not recommend to the casual reader.
Decent premise but ultimately a disappointment.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As a confirmed atheist who has always had trouble understanding how some people can be religious but still believe in evolution, I approached this novel with trepidation, and was close to giving up on a couple of occasions. However, the brilliance of Blish's earlier entry in the SF Masterworks series - Cities in Flight, persuaded me to continue, and I have to say that I'm very glad I did. Some people would say that religion has no relevance to science, and it is an opinion that the priest Ruiz Sanchez hears a great deal throughout the novel. By giving the character the chance to defend himself throughout the story, I have started to understand one thing about science and religion - that a person's beliefs do not have to be at odds with their skills as a scientist. Ruiz Sanchez is a biologist who believes in God, and as he points out himself in the book, that belief is a constant whether he is praying on earth or praying on a distant planet. He has reconciled the theory of evolution with the theory of Adam and Eve, and sees his faith and his science as being irrevocably intertwined, to the point where he is prepared to face eternal damnation for his decision about Lithia. As for the ending of the book : I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it, but who can really say what is responsible - the science of man or the hand of God ? A perturbing book but fabulously insightful, both for those with faith and those without.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have long known 'A Case of Conscience' as a rather long "short story", and did not realize that Blish had later added a second part to make it into a novel. I am still reading the latter, and finding it a little difficult to get into, but the first part is reason enough to buy the book. I ordered it for a Catholic priest friend of mine, since the hero is a Catholic priest, and I want to know what my friend thinks of Blish's theology (which, oddly for a science fiction work, is crucial to the plot - without making it a religious work, Blish himself having been agnostic). Now I have to finish the second part before I can give it to him, so that I can either recommend it in full or dismiss the second part!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Enjoyable & thought provoking
Judging by the reviews this book polarises opinion ,i thought it was great,the whole idea if life was discovered on another planet what would the religious view on this be ? . Read more
Published 8 months ago by D. S. Sample
An example of religious nonsense that first shocked me in my teens
In this novel, a group of astronauts which includes a priest come across a perfect primitive society in space which while happy and morally superior to that of Earth has not... Read more
Published 20 months ago by F. Seed
Extrememly dull.
Intellectual meanderings on religion.
I struggled to finish this book.
It focuses on religious doctrine and philosophy and deep intellectual thoughts on both and... Read more
I struggled to finish this book.
It focuses on religious doctrine and philosophy and deep intellectual thoughts on both and... Read more
Published on 9 Sep 2008 by plot hound
Pretty good
An interesting novel.
I'm quite puzzled by the remarks of some of the reviewers here - they seem to assume that if one cannot agree with the religion of the... Read more
I'm quite puzzled by the remarks of some of the reviewers here - they seem to assume that if one cannot agree with the religion of the... Read more
Published on 3 Nov 2007 by C. G. Horner
Why so highly regarded?
I read this book because it seems to be highly regarded, appearing in various lists of 'best' SF novels, etc. Read more
Published on 4 Dec 2002 by R. J. Hole
A staggeringly bad classic.
Perhaps in 1958, the time of the book's original writing, the juxtaposition of religious concerns with the machinery of hard SF was enough to startle the audience out of noticing... Read more
Published on 23 Nov 2000
A Case of Considerable Talent
A Case of Conscience mixes Catholic Doctrine with planetary exploration. A team of 4 scientists are sent to survey a new world inhabited by intelligent dinosaur-like creatures, who... Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2000
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