Project Gutenberg
2009-09-02
Public domain in the USA.
73
McConnell, James V.
1925
1990
McConnell, James Vernon
Francis, Dick
Francis, Richard D.
Life Sentence
Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
"Life Sentence" by James V. McConnell is a science fiction novella written in the early 1950s. The story explores themes of aging, death, and the struggle for autonomy within a society that has transformed individuals into perpetual wards of the state. The narrative follows Oliver Symmes, an elderly man confined to a hospital for the aged, where he grapples with his own memories and the limitations of his body, as well as the profound feelings of loss and betrayal stemming from a pivotal crime in his youth. The story centers around Oliver Symmes and his tormented past that resurfaces as he exists in a future society where the concept of death has almost become obsolete. After committing murder in a fit of passion during his youth, Oliver is subjected to a life sentence that leads to his ongoing existence within a hospital setting, designed to prolong life regardless of quality. As he reflects on fleeting memories of love and the vitality of youth contrasted with the shadows of his present confinement, Oliver's struggle encapsulates a poignant exploration of the human condition—the desire to live and the instinct to seek an end to one’s suffering. The narrative crescendos with his futile attempts to escape the clutches of enforced life through self-destruction, ultimately highlighting the irony of a life unfulfilled and the fight against an imposed existence devoid of freedom. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
en
Science fiction
Short stories
PS
Text
Science Fiction
Browsing: Literature
Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy
Browsing: Fiction
56306
56316
2024-09-12T16:25:08.018097
2023-09-13T08:16:56.069139
text/html
text/html
52642
2021-01-05T12:44:13
text/html; charset=iso-8859-1
57626
2021-01-05T12:44:14
text/html; charset=iso-8859-1
application/zip
99776
2024-09-12T16:25:11.584083
application/epub+zip
98804
2024-09-12T16:25:09.437112
application/epub+zip
98738
2024-09-12T16:25:08.568124
application/epub+zip
233205
2024-09-12T16:25:13.141066
application/x-mobipocket-ebook
127425
2024-09-12T16:25:10.991090
application/x-mobipocket-ebook
127459
2022-09-13T18:18:43.090369
application/x-mobipocket-ebook
49241
49140
2024-09-12T16:25:07.787111
2023-09-13T08:16:55.863133
text/plain; charset=us-ascii
text/plain
49112
2021-01-05T12:44:14
text/plain; charset=us-ascii
18926
2021-01-05T12:44:14
text/plain; charset=us-ascii
application/zip
19067
2024-09-12T16:25:13.271052
application/rdf+xml
12018
2024-09-12T16:25:08.908111
image/jpeg
3375
2024-09-12T16:25:08.737111
image/jpeg
101694
2024-09-12T16:25:08.027108
application/octet-stream
application/zip
Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at
https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog
en.wikipedia