Book 50: The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas
UK coverBook 50: The End of Mr. Y
Author: Scarlett Thomas, 2007.
Genre: Science Fiction-Fantasy-Thriller. Literary Mystery. Metaphysics & Philosophy.
Other Details: Paperback, 506 pages.
"Real life is regularly running out of money, and then food," acknowledges Ariel, "Real life is physical. Give me books instead: give me the invisibility of the contents of books, the thoughts, the ideas, the images."
The End of Mr. Y is one of those intriguing books about books and is simply brimming with ideas. So the philosophy of Jacques Derrida, Schrödinger's Cat, relativity vs. quantum mechanics, Victorian science, paranormal research, homoeopathy, time travel and the nature of consciousness and reality are all happily thrown into the mix.
Lonely PhD student Ariel Manto is doing her thesis on obscure 19th century writer Thomas Lumas. She is rather bumbling through her life; her PhD supervisor disappeared a week after her arrival and she is hoping no one in Administration notices. The novel opens with one of the university's buildings collapsing and the campus being evacuated while the other buildings built over an old railway tunnel are evaluated. Forced to leave her car behind Ariel walks home and discovers a small row of shops including a second-hand bookshop. Inside she asks if they have any books by Thomas Lumas. She is surprised and delighted when the shop assistant produces a copy of The End of Mr. Y, an exceedingly rare novel by Lumas said by some to be cursed.
USA coverWith the book in her possession Ariel dares to read it despite the curse. The novel tells the reader how to enter the Troposphere - a place where all consciousness is connected, and where you can surf other people’s thoughts. Ariel wonders if this could be true - it is in a novel, after all. She soon finds herself swept up into a mind bending adventure and pursued by agents of a shady intelligence agency seeking the book for their own ends.
Thomas is without doubt a good writer and she manages to incorporate philosophy and cutting edge science into the narrative without it becoming dry. There is a certain playfulness in her writing which helps a lot and its narrator, Ariel, is a wonderful, flawed character who engaged my attention from Page 1. It is very much a high concept novel and its kaleidoscope of ideas at times made my brain ache. Not a bad thing as far as I'm concerned but not what everyone seeks in a novel. At the reading group when discussed it emerged as a Marmite book, people seem to either love it or hate it. Those who enjoyed The Matrix as a film or works such as Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash will probably find themselves loving this book. I certainly did.
USA home page for 'The End of Mr. Y' includes excerpts.
UK home page for 'The End of Mr. Y' - rather trippy site with excerpts plus animated mice!