D.G. Compton’s science fiction novel The Electric Crocodile (1970) depicts a near-future Britain that’s
subsumed within the Federal European government, the centre being Switzerland,
with the flags of the member nations fluttering (p37). The currency is in
marks. We don’t know when this future is, though there’s a hint: ‘Pavlov found
out how to interfere with its (the brain’s) function over seventy years ago.’(p153)
As Pavlov received his Nobel Prize in 1904 (he died in 1936), the story
probably takes place in a ‘future 1970s/1980s.’
As with any near-future novel, some inventions are not going
to happen in the real world and of course some inventions won’t have been
thought of by the author. This doesn’t matter; it’s fiction, an alternate
reality.
Matthew Oliver is married to Abigail. It’s significant that
they both have Biblical names. Abigail is a devoted Catholic, Matthew pays lip
service. Churches are virtually social clubs. Yet there’s an underlying current
of God vs machine in the subtext.
At one point, Matthew drives past ‘a shopping complex and a
self-service battery station. A hundred or so batteries were on charge in
open-fronted racks’. (p37) Matthew’s car had been on charge all night and had a
good thirty hours of life in it. So predictions of electric cars were viable
then, anyway; they’ve just taken longer to evolve into practical use. Other
things in this ‘future’ include laser pistols (Matthew has a license for one)
and access passes that are checked in a scanner. Smoking is not frowned upon,
since ‘the health risk has been beaten.’ (p51) And cancer was controlled (p93).
Now, London is a Limited Traffic Zone… The big Italian manufacturers’ lobby had
forced through safety legislation in Geneva that made 80% of not-new cars
illegal. (p52) The television is shortened to ‘the tell’. And, perhaps surprisingly,
people still write and sign cheques. And they use landline telephones, which
are capable of producing ‘phonoprints’. Now, the Nevershave hormone treatment
was available, which promised that – you’d never need to shave again!
Matthew has been recruited to join the Colindale Institute,
which is guarded by a force field fence, which could withstand the onslaught
from a two-metre laser. All workers there and their families must accept the
presence of microphones in their homes and anyone leaving the grounds is to be accompanied
by a so-called tail, in Abigail’s case, Mrs Foster.
The Colindale project, non-political, belonging to the
European Federation, financed by central government, collects scientific information,
catalogues and freely disseminates it, aimed solely at improving the welfare of
humanity… (p47) That’s the official version, anyway. There have been two
suspicious unsolved deaths; Matthew is replacing one of the deceased.
The computer Matthew and the team work on is called the
Bohn. It still uses tapes and its output is via teleprinters. Their work is
secret, involving intelligent imaginative extrapolation. As the Director of the
project, Professor Billon states, ‘People in a democracy dislike being told
what is good for them.’
Apparently,’ the social balance is precarious, sustained by
oblique oppression. Democracy is eroded almost beyond recognition… We’re
leaderless…’ Billon believes that the Bohn can supply that leadership, and can
meet the need of the people. (p151)
Middle-aged alienees were demanding the vote back, with
placards ALIENATION NO CRIME, and PENSIONERS NOT OUTCASTS. ‘People in general had little sympathy with
alienees and their conditional pensions – being alienated was no more than an
excuse for being bone idle. The idea that work was a good thing in itself
lingered tenaciously, no matter how much the experts told people it was out of
date… Usually alienees demonstrated against compulsory education for their
children or in favour of better housing.’ (p92)
The title is gleaned from this: ‘In 1933 a laboratory was
built for the physicist Pyotr Kapitza. For its façade he ordered the head of a
crocodile in steel. “The crocodile of science cannot turn its head. Like
science it must always go forward with all-devouring jaws…’ (p96) A more prosaic
explanation can be found
here
And perhaps the Bohn can manipulate scientific discovery, change
the future even?
So, an interesting socio-political science fiction novel that deals with commitment, love, betrayal, hubris, paranoia and the soul-crushing homogenous federal state.
***
Compton’s most successful novel is probably The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe, a
highly affecting piece (which was made into the film Death Watch); it was one of my favourite science fiction novels
(though I have many favourites!)
D.G. Compton was born in 1930 and his last published work
was in 1996.
Style: Straight-forward. Certain sections switch viewpoint
and we snatch the occasional comment twice, but perceived from a different
listener; like echoes; it’s a neat little touch and isn’t overdone.
Cover (1976): I’m not a great fan of psychedelic covers. The
title perhaps suggests something like this, but I don’t find it appealing.
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