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In a city built on rigid logic and state‑mandated eugenics, every citizen is measured, monitored, and molded from birth. The streets hum with schedules, and even love is assigned by law, creating a world where chance and spontaneity have been erased. Into this immaculate order is born a young man who has known only examinations, inspections and the quiet obedience demanded by the twenty boards that govern his life.
One restless morning, a sudden laugh breaks the classroom’s solemn rhythm, and the protagonist’s hand strikes the lecturer dead. That impulsive act shatters the façade of control and propels him beyond the city’s walls, into fields where wind, birds and untamed rivers greet him. As he walks through the open countryside, the contrast between the sterile metropolis and the raw vitality of nature awakens a yearning for something beyond the prescribed, setting him on a path that will test both his newfound freedom and the limits of the world he left behind.
Language
en
Duration
~1 hours (95K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
United States: E. P. Dutton & Company, 1926.
Credits
Tim Lindell, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)
Release date
2023-02-22
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1898–1963
Best known for bringing Narnia to life, this beloved writer also shaped generations of readers with his clear, thoughtful books on faith, imagination, and literature. His work moves easily from fairy tales and science fiction to essays that still feel lively and readable today.
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