A homo superior is born. John the Strange is an ordinary man, at least in appearance. What sets him apart from the others? Why is he described as superhuman? Olaf Stapledon follows him from the moment of his birth. He records his childhood, during which his power becomes apparent, his adolescence, and his full maturity.
John moves very quickly through all stages of human experience and knowledge in every field, and once this is completed, he seeks and finds his own kind—individuals with far more powerful intellectual and spiritual abilities than those of ordinary humans.
Together with them he creates a commune, “the true society” envisioned by Stapledon, which ultimately attains the deep essence of the human. This perfection becomes both a challenge and a source of fear and danger, resulting in an unexpected turn of events. Odd John is still considered today the best novel ever written on the theme of the superhuman.
