- The Truth Machine by James L. Halperin
How honest can a human society really be and still be able to function? Could human society adapt to a world in which Everyone must tell the absolute truth because technology has been created that can tell within 99.9% accuracy if an individual is indeed telling the truth. How honest do we really want people to be? Well that is exactly the heart of this novel and surprisingly the world this book creates does not seem implausible, it actually seems realistically possible in many ways. This is a Meal for the Mind book that is well worth the read.
This intriguing novel was penned in 1997 and covers a time period from the early 1990's to the year 2049. What is fascinating to a reader today is what has occurred in the world between 1997 and when the reader sits down to read this book. Each chapter of the book starts with the "headlines" of news from the time period that is to be covered in that chapter. So when written in 1997 the majority of the book was based on speculation and logical conclusions of what might occur. Indeed, Halperin writes in the prologue that he consulted many people in a variety of fields of study to help create these events. So reading the book in 2013 there are now 16 years of events that have occurred and to see what has come to pass as was written in the novel... well Mr. Halperin evidently consulted some very connected and intelligent people.
The story follows the lives of friends who change the world as we know it by the various ways they are connected to and influence the development of "the truth machine". The main inventor, Pete Armstrong, is driven by something more powerful than greed which gives the book its moral compass for how it approaches the whole question. Had the main character in fact been motivated by the all to realistic capitalistic ambition the novel most certainly would have taken a much darker and more fearsome tone. However, this novel ends up as a hopeful and inspiring look at how the world might be, could be, but likely never will be. Thus, there are readers who will find it a bit on the "cheesy" side of fiction.
This is also not an action story, it is a thinking novel. It is a read that should make you think, ponder, identify with one of the characters and then that should cause you to pause and think about why you identify with them. It is a story of choices, positions that ask for compromise of ideals and ethics, challenges priorities and motivations. I will admit that the author could have pushed these human questions so much farther, he does accomplish the mere task of taking the reader to the point of at least thinking about them.
This book is definitely a love it or hate it kind of book. I found the premise fascinating and intriguing. The close to the mark headlines that Halperin penned for the last 16 years caused a few goosebumps. It is quaint and a bit on the cheesy side; but, even cheesy novels have their merits. Honesty; is it the best policy? Take a trip trough the pages of this book and decide for yourself.
- Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Del Rey; Reprint edition (June 29, 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0345412885
- ISBN-13: 978-0345412881
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