''This Perfect Day'' is a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

novel by American writer

Ira Levin Ira Marvin Levin (August 27, 1929 – November 12, 2007) was an American novelist, playwright, and songwriter. His works include the novels '' A Kiss Before Dying'' (1953), '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1967), '' The Stepford Wives'' (1972), '' This Perf ...

, about a

technocratic Technocracy is a form of government in which decision-makers appoint knowledge experts in specific domains to provide them with advice and guidance in various areas of their policy-making responsibilities. Technocracy follows largely in the tra ...

dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

.David Pringle, ''The Ultimate Guide To Science Fiction''. New York: Pharos Books: St. Martins Press, 1990. (p.318). Levin won a

Prometheus Award The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society. American author and activist L. Neil Smith established the Best Novel category for the award in 1979; however, it was not award ...

in 1992 for this novel. ''This Perfect Day'' is one of two Levin novels yet to be adapted to film (the other being '' Son of Rosemary'', the sequel to '' Rosemary's Baby'').

Backstory

The world is managed by a central computer called UniComp (referred as just "Uni" in speech), which has been programmed to keep every single human on the surface of the Earth in check. People living under the "Unification" are continually drugged by means of monthly treatments (delivered via

transdermal spray A metered-dose transdermal spray (MDTS) delivers a drug to the surface of the skin and is absorbed into the circulation on a sustained basis. It works in a similar manner to a transdermal patch A transdermal patch is a medicated adhesive ...

jet injector A jet injector is a type of medical injecting syringe device used for a method of drug delivery known as jet injection. A narrow, high-pressure stream of liquid is made to penetrate the outermost layer of the skin (stratum corneum) to deliver me ...

) so that they will remain satisfied and co-operative "Family members." They are told where to live, when to eat, whom to marry, when to reproduce, and the job for which they will be trained. Everyone is assigned a counselor, who acts somewhat like a mentor, confessor, and parole agent; violations against "brothers" and "sisters" by themselves and others are expected to be reported at a weekly

confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of people – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information that ...

. Everyone wears a permanent identifying bracelet that interfaces with access points, which act as scanners. Uni uses them to tell "Family members" where they are allowed to go and what they are allowed to do. Around the age of 62, every person is humanely euthanized by Uni with an overdose of the treatment liquids; almost anything in them is poisonous if an excess dose is given. The general population believes that the elderly die of natural causes, and since some die at 61 or 63, no one is too suspicious of the regularity. The few who happen to be resistant to the drugs or purposely change their behavior to avoid strong doses of some of the drugs in the monthly treatment are dealt with by the

programmers A programmer, computer programmer or coder is an author of computer source code someone with skill in computer programming. The professional titles ''software developer'' and ''software engineer'' are used for jobs that require a program ...

of UniComp. The long-lived men and women, in their underground hideaway, are the real but invisible

world government World government is the concept of a single political authority governing all of Earth and humanity. It is conceived in a variety of forms, from tyrannical to democratic, which reflects its wide array of proponents and detractors. There has ...

. They live in absolute luxury and choose their own members through a form of

meritocracy Meritocracy (''merit'', from Latin , and ''-cracy'', from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods or political power are vested in individual people based on ability and talent, rather than ...

. In part, people who choose by evasion and modifying their own behavior to leave the main Family are subtly redirected to "nature preserves" of imperfect life on islands. They, however, have been put in place by the programmers as a place to isolate trouble-making Family members. The top minds in the outcasts are further manipulated into trying to overthrow the "Programmers" and the ones who nearly succeeded are forced to join the programmers to "help them maintain the equilibrium" in the "perfect" world of UniComp and "The Family." Despite the name, the "programmers" are not allowed to program Uni since Wei Li Chun, the person who started the Unification, reserves the privilege solely to himself. Instead, they do administrative work. Even the basic facts of nature are subject to the programmers' will: men do not grow facial hair, and it rains only at night. Dampers even control the movement of

tectonic plates Plate tectonics (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...

. Reference is made in the story to permanent settlements on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

, and the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

; outposts on

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

's moon

Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...

and on Mercury; and even to interstellar space exploration. The outposts have their own equivalents of UniComp. The full rhyme is sung by children bouncing a ball (similar to a

clapping game A clapping game (or hand game) is a type of usually cooperative (i.e., non-competitive) game which is generally played by two players and involves clapping as a rhythmic accompaniment to a singing game or reciting of a rhyme, often nursery rhym ...

): :''Christ, Marx, Wood and Wei,'' :''Led us to this perfect day.'' :''Marx, Wood, Wei and Christ,'' :''All but Wei were sacrificed.'' :''Wood, Wei, Christ and Marx,'' :''Gave us lovely schools and parks.'' :''Wei, Christ, Marx and Wood,'' :''Made us humble, made us good.'' Only the programmers and their attendants know that Wei Li Chun remains alive as the leader of the programmers, extending his lifespan by having his head transplanted onto successive youthful bodies. Bob Wood is mentioned throughout the novel but never discussed in detail. A painting is mentioned depicting Wood presenting the Unification Treaty. In one conversation in which the protagonist discusses his discovery that people once had varying lifespans, one character comments that controlling people's lifespans is the ultimate realization of Wei and Wood's thinking. The poem also mentions

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, the central figure of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, and presents the historical

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

, an ideologue of

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

, with the text describing paintings of Jesus attacking the moneychangers in the temple and Marx writing at his desk, both possibly implying an anti-capitalist ideology. These two pillars of the official state ideology are depicted on its

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

, with a cross and sickle. ''Sacrificed'' is a poetic synonym for ''dead''. Uniformity is the defining feature. There is only one

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

, and all ethnic groups have been eugenically merged into one race, "The Family." It is so genetically uniform that no transplants are rejected. There are only four personal names for men (''Bob'', ''Jesus'', ''Karl'', and ''Li'') and four for women (''Anna'', ''Mary'', ''Peace'', and ''Yin''). Instead of

surnames In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several giv ...

, individuals are distinguished by a nine-character

alphanumeric code Alphanumericals or alphanumeric characters are any collection of number characters and letters in a certain language. Sometimes such characters may be mistaken one for the other. Merriam-Webster suggests that the term "alphanumeric" may often ...

, their ''"nameber"'' (a

neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

from "name" and "number"), such as ''WL35S7497''. Everyone eats "totalcakes," drinks " cokes," wears exactly the same thing, and is satisfied every day. It is assumed that Uni and the restriction on names were created not very long ago, since Papa Jan was one of the employees who constructed it, and he claims to have remembered when there were many names. However, to make the members genetically uniform, many generations are needed. Levin's dystopia enjoys some commendable features as well. The Earth and its extra-planetary colonies are free of war, hunger, most diseases, crime, envy, and inter-personal violence. Thanks to rigid population control and a more rational management of the environment, the threat of human extinction has been considerably reduced.

Plot summary

Li RM35M4419, nicknamed "Chip" (as in "chip off the old block") by his nonconformist grandfather Jan, is a typical child Member, but through a mistake in genetic programming, he has one green eye. Through his grandfather's encouragement, he learns how to play a game of "wanting things," including imagining what career he might pick if he had the choice. Chip is told by his adviser that "deciding" and "picking" are manifestations of selfishness, and he tries to forget his dreams. As Chip grows up and begins his career, he is mostly a good citizen but commits minor subversive acts, such as procuring art materials for another "nonconformist" member who was denied them. His occasional oddities attract the attention of a secret group of Members of nonconformists, like Chip. There, he meets King, a Medicenter chief who obtains members' records for potential future recruitment to the group; King's beautiful girlfriend, Lilac, a strong-willed and inquisitive woman with unusually dark skin; and Snowflake, a rare

albino Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and reddish pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albinos. Varied use and interpretation of ...

member. They teach Chip how to get his treatments reduced so that he can feel more and stronger emotions. Chip begins an affair with Snowflake but is really attracted to Lilac. Chip and Lilac begin to search through old museum maps and soon discover islands around the world that have disappeared from their modern map. They begin to wonder if perhaps other "incurable" members have escaped to the islands. King tells them that the idea is nonsense, but Chip soon learns that King has already interacted with some "incurables" and that they are indeed real. Before he can tell Lilac, Chip's ruse is discovered by his adviser. He and all the other members of the group are captured and treated back into docility (except King, who takes his own life before he can be captured). Some years later, Chip's regular treatment is delayed by an earthquake. In the meanwhile, he begins to "wake up" again and remembers Lilac and the islands. He is able to shield his arm from the treatment nozzle and becomes fully awake for the first time. He locates Lilac again and kidnaps her. At first, she fights him, but as she too becomes more "awake," she remembers the islands and comes willingly. Finding a convenient abandoned boat on the beach, they head for the nearest island of incurables,

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

. There, they learn that UniComp, as a last resort, has planted failsafes that eventually lead all incurables to the islands, where they will be trapped forever from the treated population. After living "free" on Majorca, Chip and Lilac eventually marry and have a child together. Chip conceives of a plan to destroy the computer, UniComp, by blowing up its refrigeration system. He recruits other incurables to join him, and they make their way to the mainland. Just as they reach UniComp, one of the incurables, an agent of the programmers, betrays his partners and leads the rest of the group at gunpoint to a secret luxurious underground city beneath UniComp, where they are met by Wei, one of the original planners of the Unification. Wei and the other "programmers" who live in UniComp have arranged the test so that the most daring and resourceful incurables will make their way to UniComp. There, they too will live in luxury as programmers. After joining the programmers and a few tentative attempts to confide in someone, Chip shares his misgivings with no one, lies low, and dedicates himself to the task of gaining Wei's confidence. For example, to deceive Wei, Chip consents to the replacement of his green eye with a brown one even though it involves giving up a cherished part of his identity. However, nine months later, a new group of incurables arrives, and Chip leaves the welcome party with the intention of using the newcomers' explosives to blow up the master computer. A physical struggle with Wei, who has the body of a young athlete, results in Wei being shot. Just before he is killed, Wei reveals his true motive in creating the dystopia: "there's ''joy'' in having it, in controlling, in being the only one." Chip knew all along that it was power hunger, not altruism, that drove Wei to chicanery and murder. Chip succeeds in destroying Uni with the explosives. On his way up from the underground city towards sunlight, Chip tells an angry programmer: "'There’s joy in having it': those were ei'slast words. Everything else was rationalization. And self-deception." The book ends with Chip riding a helicopter toward

, where Lilac, their son, financial sponsors, and friends are hopefully waiting for him. For the first time in his life, he sees raindrops in daytime, nature's affirmation that the era of slavery and total control is finally over.

Reception

Cherry Wilder Cherry Barbara Grimm (née Lockett, 3 September 1930 – 14 March 2002), better known by the pseudonym Cherry Wilder, was a New Zealand science fiction and fantasy writer. Biography Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Lockett attended Nelson Colleg ...

, discussing ''This Perfect Day'', stated, "The ideology of the 'utopia' is weak, but the quality of the writing and the level of invention are high."Cherry Wilder, "Levin, Ira" in ''

Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers ''Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers'' is a book by Curtis C. Smith published in October 1981 on science fiction authors in the 20th century. It is the third in the St. Martin's Press's ''Twentieth-Century Writers of the English Language'' ...

'' by Curtis C. Smith. St. James Press, 1986, (p.443-4).

David Pringle David Pringle (born 1 March 1950) is a Scottish science fiction editor and critic. Pringle served as the editor of '' Foundation'', an academic journal, from 1980 to 1986, during which time he became one of the prime movers of the collective whi ...

gave ''This Perfect Day'' two stars out of four and described the book as "a slickly-written update of

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley ( ; 26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...

's ''

Brave New World ''Brave New World'' is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931, and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hier ...

'', lacking in originality but very professionally put together."

Editions

* Hardcover:

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

(June 1970) * Paperback: Fawcett Books (March 1971) * Paperback: Fawcett Books (November 1976) * Paperback:

Pegasus Books Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood whe ...

(November 2010) ---- * Audio Cassette: Book of the Road Audio (December 1985) ---- * (in Brasil): ''Este mundo perfeito'', Nova fronteira, 1970 * : ''Un bonheur insoutenable'', J'ai lu, N°434, 1972 * : ''Die sanften Ungeheuer'', Hoffmann und Campe 1972, * : ''Questo giorno perfetto'', Garzanti 1970 * : ''De dag der dagen'', Bruna 1979, * : ''En vacker dag'' * : ''Fagre nye elektronverden'', 1989 * : ''O zi perfecta'', Vremea 1995

References

External links