The AmphibianThe Amphibian will throw you back to a time when skin and deep-sea diving had not yet made the Silent World begin yielding up its secrets on a really big scale, as aqualung and snorkel are doing today, and present to you Alexander Belayev's 1928 prevision of the ocean mastered by mankind. Argentinean doctor Salvator, a scientist and a maverick surgeon, gives his son, Ichthyander a life-saving transplant - a set of shark gills. The experiment is a success but it limits the young man's ability to interact with the world outside his ocean environment. He has to spend much of his time in water. Pedro Zurita, a local pearl gatherer, learns about Ichthyander and tries to exploit the boy's superhuman diving abilities. Similar to other works by Beliaev, the book investigates the possibilities of physical survival under extreme conditions, as well as the moral integrity of scientific experiments. It also touches on socialist ideas of improving living conditions for the world's poor. |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
amphibian ander animals Araucanian arms asked Balta Baltasar beach bishop board the Jellyfish boat body breathing Buenos Aires cabin catch caught cave corpus delicti court creature Cristo dark deck devil divers diving diving suits Dolores dolphin door eyes face father fish fishermen gills girl goggles Gulf of California Gutiérrez Hacienda hand head Ichthy Ichthyander looked Ichthyander swam Ichthyander's jumped knew la Plata land Larra legs light listen live looked round Mafalda Negro never night ocean octopus old Indian Olsen orchard Paraná pearl-divers pearls Pedro Zurita pond prison prosecutor Pulque rocks sailors Salvator Salvator's schooner sea-bed sea-devil shark shells ship shore shouted side sleep smile soon speak stopped submarine Suddenly sure surface surprise swim tell There's thing thought thyander told took Tuamotu turned underwater vator voice waiting wall waves young