In der futuristischen Megacity Metropolis vergnügen sich die Reichen und Schönen, während die Arbeiterschaft im Akkord schuften und ein trauriges Leben im unterirdischen Bereich der Stadt fristen muss. Der Reichtum der Stadt fußt auf der Ausbeutung der Arbeiter und auf intelligenten, den Alltag beherrschenden Maschinen. Freder, Sohn des allmächtigen Gebieters über diese Maschinen und sohin Herrschers der Stadt, verliebt sich in Maria, Bewohnerin der Unterstadt. Die Liebe der beiden setzt Ereignisse in Gang, die die Ordnung von Metropolis ins Schwanken bringt.

Von Harbous expressionistische Romanvorlage für Fritz Langs monumentalen Science-Fiction-Stummfilm-Klassiker überzeugt mit einer dystopischen Darstellung einer Zweiklassengesellschaft. Der Roman ist zugleich eine Warnung vor kritiklosem Fortschrittsglauben. Die maschinengesteuerte Stadt Metropolis weckt bewusst Assoziationen mit dem Turmbau zu Babel.

Die Autorin erwirkt durch rasche Handlungsabläufe, kurze Sätze und stakkatohafte Einschübe ein rasantes, dem futuristischen Thema angepasstes Tempo, vermag sprachlich aber nicht zu überzeugen: Ihre Sprachbilder wirken unpassend, sperrig und gekünstelt. Von Harbou verwendet zahlreiche beschreibende Adjektive und Metaphern, deren Stimmigkeit nur selten gegeben ist. Hinzu kommen willkürliche Bezüge zu religiösen und historischen Figuren und Legenden, die im Kontext nur oberflächlich zur Erzählung passen. Von Harbou schafft so ungewollt Disharmonien, die sich auf die Lesefreue auswirken.

Summa summarum ist van Harbous eigentliches Meisterwerk nicht dieser Roman, sondern das parallel für Fritz Lang geschaffene Drehbuch, welches dieser wiederum genial umsetzte. Es handelt sich um einen der wenigen Fälle, bei denen die Romanvorlage deutlich hinter der filmischen Umsetzung hinterherhinkt. ( )

Needed rather too much concentration to be a good audio book for the car. One I might come back to in print.

Thoroughly enjoyable book although at times the translation was confusing, I sometimes found I was guessing which character was being talked about in a paragraph; for example, I understood it was the son who found the cryptic note with symbols on, inside the worker's pocket when he had changed clothes with him, but later on it was the father who had the note, which the inventor revealed to be a map. And other times I thought the son had died working on the machine, but he hadn't; I thought Maria was the one burned by the workers, but it was her robotic clone instead. The plot reminded me mostly of HG Wells' The time machine when set in the future with the underground workers serving the privileged over-ground people, and images from Pink Floyd's The Wall with the workers walking in step, and serving the machines; and indeed Brave New World, with one man trying to change the structure of the society around him, and with his love for Maria.
Having finished the novel, I was glad to discover a review by HG Wells himself (of the film version) which he obviously didn't enjoy. The review amongst other things said tall cities would not be a feature of the future, which I found amusing, and I recommend reading both the Von Harbou book and the Wells review. ( )

So this is the book version of the famous film. Obviously its somewhat expanded beyond what they could show in a silent film but its also pretty similar in plot.
Its descriptions of machines are one of the oddest things about it. The workers are linked to the machines but you can't tell if it means literally or figuratively. Overall its fairly well written. ( )

Na cidade futurística de Metrópolis, a população divide-se em dois andares. No primeiro, uma elite dominante desfruta dos prazeres da vida; no segundo, subterrâneo, os trabalhadores lutam para sobreviver. Quando Freder, o filho do Senhor da grande Metrópolis e habitante do primeiro andar, se apaixona por Maria, da cidade subterrânea, começa a conhecer melhor as condições às quais os trabalhadores são submetidos. Uma revolta começa a surgir entre os operários, e só o que faltava para uma revolução era uma líder. Quando ela surge, nada pode conter a fúria dos oprimidos. ( )