Sunday, December 27, 2015

FAIL-SAFE






Fail-Safe, Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, McGraw-Hill, 1962, 286 pp
 
 
 
Summary from Goodreads: Something has gone wrong. A group of American bombers armed with nuclear weapons is streaking past the fail-safe point, beyond recall, and no one knows why. Their destination -- Moscow.

In a bomb shelter beneath the White House, the calm young president turns to his Russian translator and says, "I think we are ready to talk to Premier Kruschchev." Not far away, in the War Room at the Pentagon, the secretary of defense and his aides watch with growing anxiety as the luminous blips crawl across a huge screen map. High over the Bering Strait in a large Vindicator bomber, a colonel stares in disbelief at the attack code number on his fail-safe box and wonders if it could possibly be a mistake.

First published in 1962, when America was still reeling from the Cuban missle crisis, Fail-Safe reflects the apocalyptic attitude that pervaded society during the height of the Cold War, when disaster could have struck at any moment. As more countries develop nuclear capabilities and the potential for new enemies lurks on the horizon, Fail-Safe and its powerful issues continue to respond.
 
My Review:
This novel was the #6 bestseller of 1962. It was originally serialized in three weekly issues of the Saturday Evening Post in October, 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was an eerie and discomforting read covering a possible breakdown of technology leading to nuclear war.
 
Of course, that was the fear I lived under in high school. That some mad man would "push the button" and within 24 hours we would all be fried and gone.
 
The book is liberally loaded with technical terms and nuclear gear, systems, etc. Much was made of the psychology behind military commanders. It gives a look into the secret bunkers and procedures for dealing with threats, attacks, and technical hitches. All of that was as fascinating to me as it must have been to the American public at the time.
 
The scenes where the President (obviously Kennedy though his name was never used) and Krushchev are on the top secret phone line working out a deal required a lot of suspension of disbelief on my part. It was pretty far from what I read in the Kennedy biography last year. The King Solomon-like deal that Kennedy made in this book was as melodramatic a climax as I have ever read.
 
I gained a new appreciation for what every President since Truman has had hanging over his head like a Damocles sword. Imagine holding the power to bring about the end of the world! I am still a pacifist, I still believe in nuclear disarmament, but I have got a more realistic idea about the possibilities of my dreams for our planet and mankind coming true.
 
Hands down the most relevant book I have read this year.
 
 
(Fail-Safe is available in paperback by order from Once Upon A Time Bookstore.)
 
 
 

12 comments:

  1. Great review! Fail-Safe sounds like a real page turner. As much as things have changed, they have stayed the same. What is the appeal of blowing up people? I don't understand it on the small scale or the international one. But then, I am the woman who recently told my husband that if I were in charge of gun control, I would throw every last one into a volcano. Problem solved.

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    1. Thank you Joanne! We are of the same mind.

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  2. Sounds like a timely book then as much as now.

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  3. I read that book years ago (and saw the movie, too). It is still timely, alas. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

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    1. Alas indeed. I have the movie in my Netflix queue. Then I am going to watch Dr Strangelove which I think I saw back in the day but don't remember very well. Thanks for coming to the blog and especially thanks for commenting!

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  4. I remember when this book came out and the hype that it received at the time. And now here we are again, facing many of the same problems. Nothing new under the sun, I guess.

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    1. I guess it wasn't just hype. Hard to imagine how long it will take mankind to figure out how to deal with atomic energy.

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  5. It sounds very scary! What a situation. My husband didn't know of this one (and he says he's up on all '60s apocalyptic books -- not!), so now he has it in our movie queue too. It seems like Dr. Strangelove a bit. eh?

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    1. Yes, I am going to watch Dr Strangelove also. I think that movie is more famous than Fail-Safe. But the Fail-Safe book was huge in 1962.

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  6. Another great review....BTW, thank you for becoming a member of my "humble corner"...I hope that my book reviews will please you ; -)) Lots of love from Switzerland

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    1. I look forward to your reviews for sure!

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