 | |
| Author | Curt Siodmak |
|---|---|
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | American Mercury |
Publication date | 1942 |
| ISBN | 978-1-584-45078-8 |
Donovan's Brain is a 1942 science fiction novel by American writerCurt Siodmak.[1]
The novel was an instant success and has been adapted to film three times. Since then the book has become something of acult classic, with fans includingStephen King, who discussed the novel in his 1981 bookDanse Macabre and mentions it in hisnovel/miniseriesIt. Siodmak later wrote a sequel in 1968 titledHauser's Memory and wrote a final sequel in 1991 titledGabriel's Body.
The novel is written in the form of diary entries by Dr. Patrick Cory, a middle-aged physician whose experiments at keeping a brain alive are subsidized by Cory's wealthy wife. Under investigation for tax evasion and criminal financial activities, millionaire megalomaniac W.H. Donovan crashes his private plane in the desert near the home of Dr. Cory. The physician is unable to save Donovan's life, but removes his brain on the chance that it might survive, placing the gray matter in an electrically charged, oxygenated saline solution within a glass tank. The brainwaves indicate that thought – and life – continue. Cory makes several futile attempts to communicate with it. Finally, one night Cory receives unconscious commands, jotting down a list of names in a handwriting not his own – it is Donovan's. Cory successfully attempts telepathic contact with Donovan's brain, much to the concern of Cory's occasional assistant, Dr. Schratt, an elderly alcoholic.
Gradually, the malignant intelligence takes over Cory's personality, leaving him in an amnesiacfugue state when he awakes. The brain uses Cory to do his bidding, signing checks in Donovan's name, and continuing the magnate's illicit financial schemes. Cory becomes increasingly like the paranoid Donovan, his physique and manner morphing into the limping image of the departed criminal. Donovan's bidding culminates in an attempt to have Cory kill a young girl who stands in the way of his plans. Realizing he will soon have no control over his own body and mind, his assistant, Schratt, devises a plan to destroy the brain during its quiescent period. Schratt resists the brain's hypnotic power by repeating the rhyme, "Amidst the mists and coldest frosts he thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts." Schratt destroys the housing tank with an axe and leaves the brain of Donovan to die, thus ending his reign of madness. During the encounter, however, the brain, attempting to defend itself, orders Schratt's heart to stop beating. Schratt dies, but bearing a look of fulfillment.
The novel was initially published as a three-partserial in the September–November 1942 issues of the pulp magazineBlack Mask.[2] The first complete edition was published byAlfred A. Knopf in 1943, and it was provided to U.S. military personnel as anArmed Services Edition during World War II. The work has since been translated into French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, and Dutch.[3]
Radio adaptations starring, respectively,Orson Welles andJohn McIntire aired in 1944 and 1948 as part of the anthology seriesSuspense.[4][5] In 1982, the LP album release of the 1944 version won theGrammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.[6]
Thenovel has been adapted for the screen three times – in 1944 asThe Lady and the Monster (later re-issued asTiger Man), in 1953under its original title, and in 1962 asVengeance (later reissued asThe Brain).[7] There was also a television adaptation, which aired in 1955—alsounder the original title—as part of the anthology seriesStudio One; it starredWendell Corey andE. G. Marshall.[8]
Bill Spier tries something new on 'Suspense.' May 22 and 29, 'Donovan's Brain' is dramatized in 2 parts with Orson Welles.
Everyone knows James Cagney as 'Jimmy'—even people who have never met him. [...] He's so versatile, he was even nominated for a Grammy this year (he lost to Orson Welles' 'Donovan's Brain') for an album he did, reading from Vladimir Nabokov'sLolita.
