Odd John: A Story Between Jest and Earnest [Easton Press]

Odd John: A Story between Jest and Earnest is a 1935 science fiction novel by the British author Olaf Stapledon. The novel explores the theme of the Übermensch (superman) in the character of John Wainwright, whose supernormal human mentality inevitably leads to conflict with normal human society and to the destruction of the utopian colony founded by John and other superhumans. John is extremely intelligent, even if he is retarded in his physical development. Like Stapledon himself, he believes in communist ideas, but is critical of mainstream Marxism. He is also quite vain and highly skilful in arts of seduction. From a human viewpoint, he can be considered amoral, or perhaps following a morality beyond human understanding.