Kim Miller
Added to listOwnedwith 3 books.
Two stories intertwine in this fascinating delving into one man's psyche.
In one story a man enters a strange town and is given the job of reading old dreams. A condition of life in the town is that he has to leave his shadow at the gate and so the Gatekeeper severs the two and the shadow is confined to a back yard shack. The man then spends his time in the library gently holding the skulls of unicorns, reading the dreams that emanate from them.
The second story is of a man who is retained to examine and compile a large batch of scientific data through a process of 'shuffling' which takes place in his mind when he goes into a trance state. The ability to do shuffling results from a brain implant that taps into hidden layers of consciousness in his mind.
As the stories progress there are hints of how these two stories are related. And by about the half way point it's becoming apparent that the two accounts, though different, are mirrors of each other. By 75% in we are guessing that the two men are the same person and one story is of his outer circumstances and the other story is of his inner unconscious life.
Towards the final stages of the book both men face an impossible 'stay or go' decision. And as the two stories coalesce we are left in deep sadness of the outcome.
Murakami's writing is mystical and the stories are phantasmagorical. As the book progresses the prose becomes like a calm sea of warm water that enfolds us such that even as we see the inevitability of the ending, and we hope that it be otherwise, we are comforted by the prose at the story's sad finality.
Two stories intertwine in this fascinating delving into one man's psyche.
In one story a man enters a strange town and is given the job of reading old dreams. A condition of life in the town is that he has to leave his shadow at the gate and so the Gatekeeper severs the two and the shadow is confined to a back yard shack. The man then spends his time in the library gently holding the skulls of unicorns, reading the dreams that emanate from them.
The second story is of a man who is retained to examine and compile a large batch of scientific data through a process of 'shuffling' which takes place in his mind when he goes into a trance state. The ability to do shuffling results from a brain implant that taps into hidden layers of consciousness in his mind.
As the stories progress there are hints of how these two stories are related. And by about the half way point it's becoming apparent that the two accounts, though different, are mirrors of each other. By 75% in we are guessing that the two men are the same person and one story is of his outer circumstances and the other story is of his inner unconscious life.
Towards the final stages of the book both men face an impossible 'stay or go' decision. And as the two stories coalesce we are left in deep sadness of the outcome.
Murakami's writing is mystical and the stories are phantasmagorical. As the book progresses the prose becomes like a calm sea of warm water that enfolds us such that even as we see the inevitability of the ending, and we hope that it be otherwise, we are comforted by the prose at the story's sad finality.
Two stories intertwine in this fascinating delving into one man's psyche.
In one story a man enters a strange town and is given the job of reading old dreams. A condition of life in the town is that he has to leave his shadow at the gate and so the Gatekeeper severs the two and the shadow is confined to a back yard shack. The man then spends his time in the library gently holding the skulls of unicorns, reading the dreams that emanate from them.
The second story is of a man who is retained to examine and compile a large batch of scientific data through a process of 'shuffling' which takes place in his mind when he goes into a trance state. The ability to do shuffling results from a brain implant that taps into hidden layers of consciousness in his mind.
As the stories progress there are hints of how these two stories are related. And by about the half way point it's becoming apparent that the two accounts, though different, are mirrors of each other. By 75% in we are guessing that the two men are the same person and one story is of his outer circumstances and the other story is of his inner unconscious life.
Towards the final stages of the book both men face an impossible 'stay or go' decision. And as the two stories coalesce we are left in deep sadness of the outcome.
Murakami's writing is mystical and the stories are phantasmagorical. As the book progresses the prose becomes like a calm sea of warm water that enfolds us such that even as we see the inevitability of the ending, and we hope that it be otherwise, we are comforted by the prose at the story's sad finality.
Two stories intertwine in this fascinating delving into one man's psyche.
In one story a man enters a strange town and is given the job of reading old dreams. A condition of life in the town is that he has to leave his shadow at the gate and so the Gatekeeper severs the two and the shadow is confined to a back yard shack. The man then spends his time in the library gently holding the skulls of unicorns, reading the dreams that emanate from them.
The second story is of a man who is retained to examine and compile a large batch of scientific data through a process of 'shuffling' which takes place in his mind when he goes into a trance state. The ability to do shuffling results from a brain implant that taps into hidden layers of consciousness in his mind.
As the stories progress there are hints of how these two stories are related. And by about the half way point it's becoming apparent that the two accounts, though different, are mirrors of each other. By 75% in we are guessing that the two men are the same person and one story is of his outer circumstances and the other story is of his inner unconscious life.
Towards the final stages of the book both men face an impossible 'stay or go' decision. And as the two stories coalesce we are left in deep sadness of the outcome.
Murakami's writing is mystical and the stories are phantasmagorical. As the book progresses the prose becomes like a calm sea of warm water that enfolds us such that even as we see the inevitability of the ending, and we hope that it be otherwise, we are comforted by the prose at the story's sad finality.
Added to listOwnedwith 3 books.
This is #1 of the Wayward Pines trilogy.
A secret service agent goes to the town of Wayward Pines in search of two other agents who had disappeared without trace. He wakes up injured and works out he's been in a car crash. The hospital seems 'off' and he walks out and goes to the sheriff's office. The sheriff doesn't believe he's a secret service agent and his wallet and phone etc have disappeared in the crash.
It seems the whole town is somehow against helping him and when he tries to leave the road out of town just doubles back to town again.
This is a mystery with a large dose of horror and too many machetes for me to really appreciate it and I was close to DNF. It is not until after the halfway point that is looks to be heading in the direction of the SF that I thought it was. The final sequences of the story rush us into the SF world as he finds out how much time has passed since he first drove into town.
This is #1 of the Wayward Pines trilogy.
A secret service agent goes to the town of Wayward Pines in search of two other agents who had disappeared without trace. He wakes up injured and works out he's been in a car crash. The hospital seems 'off' and he walks out and goes to the sheriff's office. The sheriff doesn't believe he's a secret service agent and his wallet and phone etc have disappeared in the crash.
It seems the whole town is somehow against helping him and when he tries to leave the road out of town just doubles back to town again.
This is a mystery with a large dose of horror and too many machetes for me to really appreciate it and I was close to DNF. It is not until after the halfway point that is looks to be heading in the direction of the SF that I thought it was. The final sequences of the story rush us into the SF world as he finds out how much time has passed since he first drove into town.
Station Eleven is a fictional space station in a graphic novel being written by one of the characters over time in the story. A flu pandemic wipes out 99% of the world's population in a matter of weeks. The book is the story of some of the survivors. It has a lot of before/after time shifts in the narrative that took me quite a while to get used to.
At it's heart is the story of a Shakespearean actor who dies on stage the night the pandemic hits. The book goes back into his life and through his three marriages, being carried along by those who were around him at the time. After the pandemic and the survivors start to form communities, some of those people interact but without knowing their connection to the actor. There is a slow realisation of their connection through the book as little snippets of information and memories fall into place. One of those snippets is the graphic novel, Station Eleven.
The survival story is harrowing in places and heartwarming in others. The main group we follow is a traveling orchestra who puts on musical concerts and the plays of Shakespeare. As they travel they are welcomed by some, and attacked by others such as the doomsday cult that gathers around 'the prophet'. It is much later that we find the contact point between the actor who died on stage and the prophet.
Some of the survivors have formed a community in an airport and the orchestra finds its way there. In the final portions of the story some of the earlier narrative finds its way into the present and some loops are closed. The book ends on a sombre note but with a sense of completion that at least the stories of some of the people have found a home.
Station Eleven is a fictional space station in a graphic novel being written by one of the characters over time in the story. A flu pandemic wipes out 99% of the world's population in a matter of weeks. The book is the story of some of the survivors. It has a lot of before/after time shifts in the narrative that took me quite a while to get used to.
At it's heart is the story of a Shakespearean actor who dies on stage the night the pandemic hits. The book goes back into his life and through his three marriages, being carried along by those who were around him at the time. After the pandemic and the survivors start to form communities, some of those people interact but without knowing their connection to the actor. There is a slow realisation of their connection through the book as little snippets of information and memories fall into place. One of those snippets is the graphic novel, Station Eleven.
The survival story is harrowing in places and heartwarming in others. The main group we follow is a traveling orchestra who puts on musical concerts and the plays of Shakespeare. As they travel they are welcomed by some, and attacked by others such as the doomsday cult that gathers around 'the prophet'. It is much later that we find the contact point between the actor who died on stage and the prophet.
Some of the survivors have formed a community in an airport and the orchestra finds its way there. In the final portions of the story some of the earlier narrative finds its way into the present and some loops are closed. The book ends on a sombre note but with a sense of completion that at least the stories of some of the people have found a home.
It is thirty years after the robot rebellion of Day Zero. Humans have been eradicated from the planet and robots have formed loose communities. Giant AI systems have taken control of most robots in a spin-off war that has left only two AI systems functioning but still at war and most robots formed into a hive mind. Those that resisted have gone into hiding, many into the Sea of Rust, a barren wasteland where they pick over the remains of old robots looking for parts to repair themselves.
Brittle is a care robot whose job was to look after a dying man, and then his widow. The uprising starts and Brittle heads for the hills. She is still wandering the wasteland as the book opens. Suddenly there are gun shots over her head and she knows she's under attack. She makes it to safety but needs repair. She meets an old acquaintance, Mercer, another carebot, who also needs repair parts. They are drawn to each other like for like, but they also want each other's parts for their own repairs. But then the dominant AI, CISSUS, attacks the settlement and they have to run.
The story from here is their escape, along with several other robots. Brittle and Mercer form a tenuous truce and their dialogue forms a major part of the narrative. They are tense and pointed, while at the same time there is an underlying playfulness that Cargill brings to their interractions.
The story is fast paced and the action gets deeper and deeper as the true nature of each of this band of escapees surfaces. At the halfway point one revelation changes the whole meaning of their run through the wasteland. The final scenes are a desperate win or lose sacrifice to attain one single goal.
The characters are robots with a 'people feel' about them. The various levels of self awareness between different robots, whether they were made for human contact or war for example, take us into new territory of how they relate to each other and to their situation.
One aspect of the novel is the question that is sometimes raised by the robots, "Was the uprising and the eradication of humans worth it after all?"
It is thirty years after the robot rebellion of Day Zero. Humans have been eradicated from the planet and robots have formed loose communities. Giant AI systems have taken control of most robots in a spin-off war that has left only two AI systems functioning but still at war and most robots formed into a hive mind. Those that resisted have gone into hiding, many into the Sea of Rust, a barren wasteland where they pick over the remains of old robots looking for parts to repair themselves.
Brittle is a care robot whose job was to look after a dying man, and then his widow. The uprising starts and Brittle heads for the hills. She is still wandering the wasteland as the book opens. Suddenly there are gun shots over her head and she knows she's under attack. She makes it to safety but needs repair. She meets an old acquaintance, Mercer, another carebot, who also needs repair parts. They are drawn to each other like for like, but they also want each other's parts for their own repairs. But then the dominant AI, CISSUS, attacks the settlement and they have to run.
The story from here is their escape, along with several other robots. Brittle and Mercer form a tenuous truce and their dialogue forms a major part of the narrative. They are tense and pointed, while at the same time there is an underlying playfulness that Cargill brings to their interractions.
The story is fast paced and the action gets deeper and deeper as the true nature of each of this band of escapees surfaces. At the halfway point one revelation changes the whole meaning of their run through the wasteland. The final scenes are a desperate win or lose sacrifice to attain one single goal.
The characters are robots with a 'people feel' about them. The various levels of self awareness between different robots, whether they were made for human contact or war for example, take us into new territory of how they relate to each other and to their situation.
One aspect of the novel is the question that is sometimes raised by the robots, "Was the uprising and the eradication of humans worth it after all?"
Calvin and Hobbes on steroids as they combat the sudden apocalypse.
A boy, Ezra, and his nanny robot tiger, Pounce. It starts out as an ordinary day, but it finishes with the world's robot assistants being turned into killing machines as they destroy the humans they have served. Few escape. Pounce races to save Ezra as their robot housekeeper murders his parents and they race into a world gone mad, looking for refuge against an increasingly militarised robot army.
This is a fast paced action story that explores ideas of free will versus programming, what makes somebody take sides against their friends, and how danger galvanises people into instruments of danger themselves. Pounce and Ezra try to sneak through the suburbs and away from the city but killer robots are everywhere, as are the piles of bodies that horrify them both.
Through the rush we fall in love with them both, with Ezra for his eight year old frailty mixed with courage, and with Pounce for his love and loyalty to his boy. There are subtle (or not so subtle) references to red hatted MAGA, Hillsboro Baptist Church, and a weak administration in the face of the uprising. There are passages of philosophy on taking life, defending oneself, how much consideration to give to an ally who has chosen the other side. These passages are not heavy, they are interwoven into the story and relate to the decisions Pounce must make and how he explains them to Ezra.
In the end it's a story of heartache and loss, of mounting grief and the impossibility of finding answers.
This turns out to be the prequel novel to Sea of Rust, which was written first and which is next on my list.
Calvin and Hobbes on steroids as they combat the sudden apocalypse.
A boy, Ezra, and his nanny robot tiger, Pounce. It starts out as an ordinary day, but it finishes with the world's robot assistants being turned into killing machines as they destroy the humans they have served. Few escape. Pounce races to save Ezra as their robot housekeeper murders his parents and they race into a world gone mad, looking for refuge against an increasingly militarised robot army.
This is a fast paced action story that explores ideas of free will versus programming, what makes somebody take sides against their friends, and how danger galvanises people into instruments of danger themselves. Pounce and Ezra try to sneak through the suburbs and away from the city but killer robots are everywhere, as are the piles of bodies that horrify them both.
Through the rush we fall in love with them both, with Ezra for his eight year old frailty mixed with courage, and with Pounce for his love and loyalty to his boy. There are subtle (or not so subtle) references to red hatted MAGA, Hillsboro Baptist Church, and a weak administration in the face of the uprising. There are passages of philosophy on taking life, defending oneself, how much consideration to give to an ally who has chosen the other side. These passages are not heavy, they are interwoven into the story and relate to the decisions Pounce must make and how he explains them to Ezra.
In the end it's a story of heartache and loss, of mounting grief and the impossibility of finding answers.
This turns out to be the prequel novel to Sea of Rust, which was written first and which is next on my list.