(Found) Aliens put man back together wrong

[mmc13]

I'm looking for a book I read in the early 80s. Its about a spaceman that crashed and the aliens that found him & the crash tried to put him back together but since they'd never encountered humans he was put back together wrong. He has returned home but nothing feels right to him. I thought the author was Robert Silverberg but I can't seem to find. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Assuming this is a short story instead of a novel, this sounds like "Flies" by Robert Silverberg, first published in Dangerous Visions and reprinted many times.

Title: Flies

www.isfdb.org

Here's a short YouTube video featuring a reviewer talking about it:

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

It occurs to me that, if this were indeed a novel, it might be Thorns by Robert Silverberg. Detailed information here:

Thorns (novel) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

. . . Minner Burris, a space explorer who was captured and surgically altered by alien . . .

There is also quite a bit more to the novel than that.

 

[Danny McG]

I'm confused now, this query has two possible answers given and it's been marked as found, however there is no indication as to which one is correct

 

[The Judge]

Um... would you believe the mods like to run tests to see if members are paying attention?

(The "Found" now removed, and trigger happy mods will get a gentle reminder.)

 

[TomMazanec]

There was a ST:TOS episode where this happened physically to a woman.

 

[PaulMmn]

There was a ST:TOS episode where this happened physically to a woman.

That was the original pilot, "The Cage," footage included in the 2-part story "The Menagerie." That plot point seems a bit strained-- the Talosians were generally human-shaped; would they have been that hurried that they wouldn't 'assume' symmetry for Vena when she was repaired? Or was surgery one of the skills they lost over the centuries??

 

[BAYLOR]

It sounds a bit like the one shot comic book The Outsiders.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Not sure if the others have found the book or not after reading through the comments. However, if not you could try the reassembled man by Kastle. He isn't a spaceship pilot who crashed, just an alien abductee who the aliens stripped down molecule by molecule and then put back together with a recorder in his head. But they also made him stronger, with a better sexual performance and the ability to compel others to do his will. Unfortunately he's a woman hating arse - so that goes horribly sideways.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[KiraAnn]

That was the original pilot, "The Cage," footage included in the 2-part story "The Menagerie." That plot point seems a bit strained-- the Talosians were generally human-shaped; would they have been that hurried that they wouldn't 'assume' symmetry for Vena when she was repaired? Or was surgery one of the skills they lost over the centuries??

I do believe the Star Trek episode was inspired by Silverberg’s story and credit given.

 

[Bick]

Sounds like Silverberg's Thorns to me, also.

 

[merritt]

Man in the maze

 

[TomMazanec]

In Man in the Maze they altered his mind so that he telepathically reflected all the vile evil in people's deepest subconscious, so no one could stand to be near him. My favorite Silverberg book.

 

[mmc13]

Thanks all, Thorns was the book I was looking for.