Profundis eBook Richard Cowper
Download As PDF : Profundis eBook Richard Cowper 
Tom Jones is naïve, impressionable and very, very willing. His chief talent is conversing with dolphins in the Aquatic Mammals Division of HMS Profundis, a gargantuan submarine destined to roam the ocean depths for a century following the nuclear holocaust.
Years pass and mad captain succeeds mad captain. Eventually the ship falls under the command of one Admiral Prood, a kind, understanding man who finally comes to a startling conclusion. He is God the Father. The Almighty Himself. And all he needs now is a son to sit at his right hand.
Enter the innocent Tom Jones.
Profundis eBook Richard Cowper
Profundis proved to be a highly involving science fiction parable set in a post-apocalyptical world where all humanity lives in a massive submarine ruled with an iron fist by crazies who rely on a mad computer to actually run the show. The submarine's human staff is assisted by sentient dolphins who take readings from the surrounding waters and legions of (often violent) helper androids.The tone is comedic despite the serious nature of the satire which pokes fun at religion and British class society. It feels like the science fiction equivalent to the British film The Ruling Class (1972) with Peter O'Toole (who thinks he's Christ reincarnated). I wouldn't doubt that Cowper was inspired by the classic black comedy.
Brief Plot Summary/Analysis
Around 40,000 humans and an unnumbered amount of androids reside on Profundis, a massive submarine constructed as England's ultimate weapon. However, while at sea during when the Nuclear Exchange breaks out, Proteus -- the sentient computer on board -- ignored the order of the commander to launch its weapons and instead dove into the ocean's depths. Those on board Profundis believe that they are the only ones alive in the world. And of course, due to the fact that there are few women on a military vessel, humanity is propagated in vitro and raised without mother and father figures (it's never exactly discussed how they are born/raised)...
Profundis was decked out with the most sophisticated technology of the day (especially waste recycling systems and the computer Proteus). The vessel also has bays where sentient dolphins can enter the vessel and give data on the surrounding waters. The novels naive/child-like hero, Tom Jones cares for the dolphins in the very bowels of the submarine -- he himself has never been to the upper levels. Most of those who work with him are androids due to his lowly status in the echelons of society. Due to the fact that he rarely has human interaction his is profoundly (pardon the pun -- but it is the perfect word) ignorant of the world around him.
Besides the dolphins who are his primary friends, there's a rather more mysterious (and never seen) figure by the name Taper who tries to make him do things which go against his moral code.
Proteus, the ships computer, occupies itself with conjuring interesting activities. Admiral Lord Horatio Prood, a bungling pastiche of the British noble who sings in his bathtub while playing with toy dolphins, is more than happy to go along with Proteus' plans. Prood considers himself God and Proteus the Holy Spirit -- all they need is the Son of God. And Tom Jones, in his endless naivete, seems like the perfect candidate to complete the Trinity needed for passion play! But, is it really a play?
It also helps that Tom Jones is easily manipulated by subliminal advertisements -- which he is first exposed to when he journeys to the upper decks. Soon he too believes he's the Son of God with a message of social equality. Of course the powers that be aren't thrilled....
Final Thoughts
Tom Jones is highly likable despite his utter ignorance. And Proteus, who works rather more behind the scenes, is an intriguing sentient computer who loves to fool with the generally idle and easily manipulated human crewmen.
My main complaint concerns Cowper's occasional reliance on juvenile humor which can be cringeworthy -- for example, "The breakthrough came with the Fusion (Atomic) Reactor Turbine. F (A) RT, the dream child of Professor Thomas Tibworth's brilliant team..." (46). Yes, a fart joke...
That aside, Cowper's vision and prose is both affective and effective if a little too silly.
Recommended for fans of satirical and comedic social science fiction. And the plot is rather fun as well...
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Profundis eBook Richard Cowper Reviews
Having never read a Richard Cowper novel, I wasn't sure what to expect but the rear-cover synopsis sounded zany enough to win me over to purchase it
`KN4/2-034-17/Jones T. (M(AQ)C GRADE 3) is naïve, impressionable and very, very willing. His chief talent is conversing with dolphins in the Aquatic Mammals Division of HMS Profundis, a gargantuan submarine destined to roam the ocean depths for a century following a nuclear holocaust.
Years pass and mad captain succeeds mad captain. Eventually the ship falls under the command of one Admiral Horatio Prood, a kind, understanding man who finally comes to a startling conclusion. He is God the Father. The Almighty Himself. And all he needs now is a Son to sit at his right hand.
Enter the innocent Tom Jones of the Aquatic Mammals Division...'
Yes, it's quite a silly novel which is silly from the start when Jones is ordered by his android manager to the office of Commander Bonze who will determine is he is psychologically fit by request of Admiral Prood, who has recently discovered that he is God by simple definition and his computer Profundis is the Holy Ghost by default. Jones is fingered for being selected as God's son because he exhibits a talent which seems miraculous- he speaks with dolphins. After being brainwashed into preaching the word of the artificial God and acting as His son, Jones is led around the giant ship in a quest to reach as many ears as possible through any means possible.
Cowpers offers little tidbits of one-liners which leaves me shaking my head and giggling at the same time `Her vast bosom shuddered like a harpooned whale.' The dialogue is also filled with nonsensical pinging and ponging between dense and childish characters. It's all very light-hearted and has an honest aim at good humor. The humor side of the plot tends to pour forth radically idiosyncratic characters which take center stage for a few pages and are never heard of again. It's this point which I find irritating while wanting Cowper to wrap it all up in a nice, big comical gift.
Cowper has definitely made me a fan. I'll have to seek out more of his work.
Profundis proved to be a highly involving science fiction parable set in a post-apocalyptical world where all humanity lives in a massive submarine ruled with an iron fist by crazies who rely on a mad computer to actually run the show. The submarine's human staff is assisted by sentient dolphins who take readings from the surrounding waters and legions of (often violent) helper androids.
The tone is comedic despite the serious nature of the satire which pokes fun at religion and British class society. It feels like the science fiction equivalent to the British film The Ruling Class (1972) with Peter O'Toole (who thinks he's Christ reincarnated). I wouldn't doubt that Cowper was inspired by the classic black comedy.
Brief Plot Summary/Analysis
Around 40,000 humans and an unnumbered amount of androids reside on Profundis, a massive submarine constructed as England's ultimate weapon. However, while at sea during when the Nuclear Exchange breaks out, Proteus -- the sentient computer on board -- ignored the order of the commander to launch its weapons and instead dove into the ocean's depths. Those on board Profundis believe that they are the only ones alive in the world. And of course, due to the fact that there are few women on a military vessel, humanity is propagated in vitro and raised without mother and father figures (it's never exactly discussed how they are born/raised)...
Profundis was decked out with the most sophisticated technology of the day (especially waste recycling systems and the computer Proteus). The vessel also has bays where sentient dolphins can enter the vessel and give data on the surrounding waters. The novels naive/child-like hero, Tom Jones cares for the dolphins in the very bowels of the submarine -- he himself has never been to the upper levels. Most of those who work with him are androids due to his lowly status in the echelons of society. Due to the fact that he rarely has human interaction his is profoundly (pardon the pun -- but it is the perfect word) ignorant of the world around him.
Besides the dolphins who are his primary friends, there's a rather more mysterious (and never seen) figure by the name Taper who tries to make him do things which go against his moral code.
Proteus, the ships computer, occupies itself with conjuring interesting activities. Admiral Lord Horatio Prood, a bungling pastiche of the British noble who sings in his bathtub while playing with toy dolphins, is more than happy to go along with Proteus' plans. Prood considers himself God and Proteus the Holy Spirit -- all they need is the Son of God. And Tom Jones, in his endless naivete, seems like the perfect candidate to complete the Trinity needed for passion play! But, is it really a play?
It also helps that Tom Jones is easily manipulated by subliminal advertisements -- which he is first exposed to when he journeys to the upper decks. Soon he too believes he's the Son of God with a message of social equality. Of course the powers that be aren't thrilled....
Final Thoughts
Tom Jones is highly likable despite his utter ignorance. And Proteus, who works rather more behind the scenes, is an intriguing sentient computer who loves to fool with the generally idle and easily manipulated human crewmen.
My main complaint concerns Cowper's occasional reliance on juvenile humor which can be cringeworthy -- for example, "The breakthrough came with the Fusion (Atomic) Reactor Turbine. F (A) RT, the dream child of Professor Thomas Tibworth's brilliant team..." (46). Yes, a fart joke...
That aside, Cowper's vision and prose is both affective and effective if a little too silly.
Recommended for fans of satirical and comedic social science fiction. And the plot is rather fun as well...
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