Make Room! Make Room!

By: Harry Harrison

Make Room! Make Room! is a 1966 science fiction novel written by Harry Harrison exploring the consequences of unchecked population growth on society. It was originally serialized in Impulse magazine. Set in then-future August 1999, the novel explores trends in the proportion of world resources used by the United States and other countries compared to population growth, depicting a world where the global population is seven billion, subject to overcrowding, resource shortages, and a crumbling infrastructure. The plot jumps from character to character, recounting the lives of people in various walks of life in New York City (population around 35 million). The novel was the basis of the 1973 science fiction movie Soylent Green, although the movie changed much of the plot and theme and introduced cannibalism as a solution to feeding people.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• ISBN: B000GRDVZ8
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Berkley Publishing Co.

Customer Reviews

If you expect to find "Soylent Green" on these pages, you will be disappointed.

I came to this book originally because it was described as the basis of the movie "Soylent Green" (1973). It took some time to realize that the movie was not a synopsis of the book but a different story. This book, as is with most sci-fi (this is not sci-fi but a future story), has a decent story but is a thin mask for a rant about overpopulation. And the evils that are about to fall on us as a result. The basic story is of people's interaction as they survive a government that cannot cope with overpopulation. Reading about day-to-day living conditions is very depressing. The book could have been cut by seventy-five percent and still made the point and the story. We follow characters as they diverge and converge in a standard who-done-it-and-why detective story. If you have not seen the movie, the story is quite decent. Just do not skim the pages looking for Soylent Green. The story is very explicit about what Soylent and meat flakes are. It is detailed enough that you can use this for a cookbook.