Other Days, Other Eyes by Bob Shaw
"Other Days, Other Eyes" is a speculative fiction narrative that explores the philosophical and societal implications of a groundbreaking technology known as "slow glass." This innovative material has the unique ability to store and emit light with a delay, leading to unforeseen consequences in everyday life. The story follows Alban Garrod, the inventor of Thermgard, a type of slow glass used in vehicle windshields. As accidents occur due to drivers reacting to past events, Garrod develops a more advanced version called Retardite, which captures and displays scenes from much further back in time.
Retardite transforms various aspects of life, giving rise to “scenedows farms” that produce picturesque window panels, making unpleasant views obsolete and changing urban landscapes. However, the technology also facilitates governmental surveillance and raises ethical questions about privacy and personal autonomy. Garrod's journey becomes a personal struggle as he grapples with the consequences of his inventions, particularly when his wife Esther becomes affected by the misuse of Retardite, leading to a significant conflict in their relationship. Ultimately, the narrative poses critical reflections on the implications of pervasive surveillance and the loss of privacy in a world increasingly dominated by technological advancements.
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Other Days, Other Eyes
First published: 1972
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—technocratic
Time of work: The 1980’s and 1990’s
Locale: Primarily the United States
The Plot
The action and philosophical implications of the novel evolve from extrapolating the consequences of potent new technologies connected with applications of so-called “slow glass,” which emits light with delay. Alban Garrod invents Thermgard, a type of glass to be used in windshields of cars and aircraft. Vehicles with the new windshields soon become involved in a series of accidents. Garrod discovers that the glass accumulates light and that drivers and pilots had been reacting to events from the past, causing their accidents. He soon finds a way to make the glass encompass more of the past, displaying scenes that occurred years, rather than seconds, previously.
His new glass, called Retardite, has innumerable applications over a wide range of human activities. An industry of “scenedows farms” develops in which pleasing window scenes are recorded in Retardite panels, which are then sold to be used as windows in houses that do not have pleasant views of their own. Retardite panels full of stored daylight make streetlamps obsolete. “Scenedows” become the most objective witnesses to crimes committed in front of them, the only setback being the necessity of waiting until the panel gives away the information held in its depths. The government secretly sprays wide spans of the terrain with tiny beads of Retardite as a means of spying.
Garrod triggers a powerful emission of stored light that blinds his wife Esther as he tries to extrude such information. His politician father-in-law was framed for killing a man while driving heavily drugged, and Garrod intended to prove him innocent. Possessiveness of Esther feeds on Garrod’s guilt. He becomes an extension of her physical self and carries a set of her extra Retardite eye-disks on his lapel wherever he goes. She therefore sees whatever he does, but twenty-four hours later.
Garrod eventually revolts against the perceived use of slow glass by the government and the tyranny of his wife. He meets Jane Watson, who works as a secretary for General Mannheim. He gets a divorce from Esther, whom he ceased to love long ago, and together with Jane launches a campaign against using Retardite for indiscriminate spying. He even stops his own plants from producing the material. The world, however, already has changed, and it overflows with unseen but omniscient spy-glass. In later decades, as a result, people “learned to live without subterfuge or shame as they had done in a distant past when it was known that the eyes of God could see everywhere.”