The Glass Bees

the long version

In The Glass Bees the celebrated German writer Ernst junger presents a disconcerting vision of the future. Zapparoni, a brilliant businessman, has turned his advanced understanding of technology and his strategic command of the information and entertainment industries into a discrete form of global domination. But Zapparoni is worried that the scientists he depends on might sell his secrets. He needs a chief of security, and Richard, a veteran and war hero, is ready for the job. However, when he arrives at the beautiful country compound that is Zapparoni's headquarters, he finds himself subjected to an unexpected ordeal. Soon he is led to question his past, his character, and even his senses ... When The Glass Bees was first published in 1960, junger's German critics dismissed the book's vision as lacking contemporary relevance. Today, however, the future it imagines seems very much like the present we now know.