Mountains Oceans Giants: An Epic of the 27th Century

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In his visionary future novel, "Mountains Oceans Giants," Döblin constructs a negative utopia. Presented as a future universal history divided into nine books, he depicts a technized, industrialized society marked by urbanization, massification, alienation from nature, and dehumanization, extending into the 27th century. The uprising against the machines of the metropolises begins in the late 24th century. By the 26th century, the Ural War erupts, resulting in the defeat of the West. Consequently, Western peoples must venture into new territories. Greenland is to be de-iced, and to harness the necessary energy, the volcanoes of Iceland are detonated. The operation succeeds, but it simultaneously awakens the seeds of prehistoric monsters and plants, leading to the resurgence of a dinosaur world. In response, human giants are bred as a countermeasure. Both thematically and linguistically, Döblin has created an expressionist masterpiece that impressively encapsulates all the currents of the era.