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In the Blind
"Marten's powerful novel focuses on a man trying to put the shards of his life together...Fans of Chuck Palahniuk and Jim Thompson, in particular, should take note." ―Roberta Johnson, Booklist (starred review)
Eugene Marten's In the Blind takes readers through a keyhole and shows it to be a tunnel, a cave -- a way through to a hard-earned light. The speaker in this astonishing novel has been released from the boiler room dark of prison, but he is not free. He must move on at an angle against all that has been subtracted from the world he returns to, and always against the bleak weight of memory. By accident he finds work in a locksmith's shop, and something in the dark inner spaces of the locks speaks to him of a universe of locks, and to the prospect of a concentration that will open the way to breathable air.
With the uncanny precision of observation found in Cormac McCarthy's Suttree , and the eerie mystery of Don Delillo's The Body Artist , Marten generates a narrative that enthralls. When released by the book's amazing close, readers will find themselves in the new light cast by this novel, and with a hunger for more of Eugene Marten's fine work.
Eugene Marten's In the Blind takes readers through a keyhole and shows it to be a tunnel, a cave -- a way through to a hard-earned light. The speaker in this astonishing novel has been released from the boiler room dark of prison, but he is not free. He must move on at an angle against all that has been subtracted from the world he returns to, and always against the bleak weight of memory. By accident he finds work in a locksmith's shop, and something in the dark inner spaces of the locks speaks to him of a universe of locks, and to the prospect of a concentration that will open the way to breathable air.
With the uncanny precision of observation found in Cormac McCarthy's Suttree , and the eerie mystery of Don Delillo's The Body Artist , Marten generates a narrative that enthralls. When released by the book's amazing close, readers will find themselves in the new light cast by this novel, and with a hunger for more of Eugene Marten's fine work.
- GenresFictionLiterary Fiction
197 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2000
5 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Eugene Marten
7 books42 followersEugene Marten lives in New Mexico. He is also the author of the novels In The Blind (Turtle Point), Waste (Ellipsis), and Firework (Tyrant Books).
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 19, 2020
Suppose your life was divided into eras. At the end of one you are slapping your wife in a parking lot of a seafood restaurant and arguing about who's going to drive. At the beginning of another you are trying to learn how to breath.
I remembered most of it, I just had to put it together
How would I describe this book? Well first I'd say it was a very well written piece. Each sentence and idea seemed necessary, the writing stripped down and partially left to the imagination. Marten's dialogue was one of the highlights for me, it made the book feel alive and vibrant. At first I rolled my eyes seeing that this book was to locksmiths as Melville is to whaling, but I get it now. The book abounds in a almost spiritual level of description of locks and keys. The narrator loses himself in it as the lock and key are described in Melville like detail
Released from prison, the narrator is emotionally and physically scarred and continues to deal with the fact that driving drunk resulted in the death of his son and his wife living in a vegetative state. Finding employment as a locksmith he becomes engrossed in the act of it. The entire book seems to be that, a nameless man picking the lock of his life, starting out with impressions before filing away and making a new key. His new reality runs simultaneously to his remembrance of his past. As he progresses as a locksmith, so to do the revelations of what happened.
Thank you to the Good reads algorithm for suggesting this book, I greatly enjoyed it.
I remembered most of it, I just had to put it together
How would I describe this book? Well first I'd say it was a very well written piece. Each sentence and idea seemed necessary, the writing stripped down and partially left to the imagination. Marten's dialogue was one of the highlights for me, it made the book feel alive and vibrant. At first I rolled my eyes seeing that this book was to locksmiths as Melville is to whaling, but I get it now. The book abounds in a almost spiritual level of description of locks and keys. The narrator loses himself in it as the lock and key are described in Melville like detail
Released from prison, the narrator is emotionally and physically scarred and continues to deal with the fact that driving drunk resulted in the death of his son and his wife living in a vegetative state. Finding employment as a locksmith he becomes engrossed in the act of it. The entire book seems to be that, a nameless man picking the lock of his life, starting out with impressions before filing away and making a new key. His new reality runs simultaneously to his remembrance of his past. As he progresses as a locksmith, so to do the revelations of what happened.
Thank you to the Good reads algorithm for suggesting this book, I greatly enjoyed it.
April 22, 2016
I did a video review of this book here:
https://youtu.be/jP51GriAO9c
https://youtu.be/jP51GriAO9c
November 13, 2022
This book was an enjoyable read. I'll be honest, I didn't care for the technical details behind lockpicking or locksmith work. But the writer interlaces these details with meaning/prose, instead of listing them out aimlessly (like American Psycho did).
I found myself enjoying the prose - random, small details were highlights: "My appetite shrank with the predicament of freedom: the spread is vast but the plate is small." or "I tried to read their shoulders, their backs, spines curved with the weight I'd put there." And my favorite had to be at the beginning, where the security guard told the narrator "We don't park it here." I don't know why but that was funny to me.
I loved how entertaining this book could be. Even lines like "He kills it on the chessboard [...] and he can break bricks with his bare head." were cool, despite being minor. The author had a way of setting up a scene as busy with many characters talking at once but it didn't make things confusing, only more genuine/raw/real. Felt like real life.
There's not much of a plot in this book but this is literary fiction and prose/character is where it shines. The character undergoes an obvious change and throughout the book, we discover who he is, what his past is. It's never given to us in one big block at the start. Everything feels like a subtle mystery. The more we read, the more it unravels. I stayed to learn who he was and how he changed.
My only issue is that I didn't care for certain parts, I felt they were drawn out with no purpose (the scene with the boat trespassing, the scene leading to the climax), but as a whole the book is solid.
Note: I would classify this as transgressive fiction - the overall premise + certain aspects pushes it towards transgressive rather than traditional literary fiction.
I found myself enjoying the prose - random, small details were highlights: "My appetite shrank with the predicament of freedom: the spread is vast but the plate is small." or "I tried to read their shoulders, their backs, spines curved with the weight I'd put there." And my favorite had to be at the beginning, where the security guard told the narrator "We don't park it here." I don't know why but that was funny to me.
I loved how entertaining this book could be. Even lines like "He kills it on the chessboard [...] and he can break bricks with his bare head." were cool, despite being minor. The author had a way of setting up a scene as busy with many characters talking at once but it didn't make things confusing, only more genuine/raw/real. Felt like real life.
There's not much of a plot in this book but this is literary fiction and prose/character is where it shines. The character undergoes an obvious change and throughout the book, we discover who he is, what his past is. It's never given to us in one big block at the start. Everything feels like a subtle mystery. The more we read, the more it unravels. I stayed to learn who he was and how he changed.
My only issue is that I didn't care for certain parts, I felt they were drawn out with no purpose (the scene with the boat trespassing, the scene leading to the climax), but as a whole the book is solid.
Note: I would classify this as transgressive fiction - the overall premise + certain aspects pushes it towards transgressive rather than traditional literary fiction.
March 7, 2025
“Then it was cold. Trees glowed without warmth and I couldn’t tell you their names. The day turned faster, Indian Summer. I got a phone. Colors faded, and fell, puddles iced over and shards like broken windows reconstituting.
When you locked yourself out or lost your keys and called the shop after hours, you heard a recording of Doris’s voice. Small and concentrated, like that of a humorless child. She gave you two numbers, and you chose according to the nature of your problem. One of them was mine. I boiled water and walked to the shop with a can of pepper spray in my pocket. I could let you in.
Apartments, houses, cars, offices. I drove to them through that stretch of night when the lights are not red or green, but flashing yellow, and you don’t have to stop. I went through windows with a butter knife. I picked, shimmed, extracted, broken keys, opened desks, opened a chain latch with a coat hanger and a rubber band. Had a tool with a pair of holes drilled in the end, fishing line looped through the holes. I slipped it through the top of your car window, pulled the string and tightened the loose around the lock button. Lifted. Opened. Let you in.
You were grateful. You trusted, deferred, showed me respect I didn’t ask for, like I was a doctor or a priest. Someone who showed you back into your possibilities” (136).
When you locked yourself out or lost your keys and called the shop after hours, you heard a recording of Doris’s voice. Small and concentrated, like that of a humorless child. She gave you two numbers, and you chose according to the nature of your problem. One of them was mine. I boiled water and walked to the shop with a can of pepper spray in my pocket. I could let you in.
Apartments, houses, cars, offices. I drove to them through that stretch of night when the lights are not red or green, but flashing yellow, and you don’t have to stop. I went through windows with a butter knife. I picked, shimmed, extracted, broken keys, opened desks, opened a chain latch with a coat hanger and a rubber band. Had a tool with a pair of holes drilled in the end, fishing line looped through the holes. I slipped it through the top of your car window, pulled the string and tightened the loose around the lock button. Lifted. Opened. Let you in.
You were grateful. You trusted, deferred, showed me respect I didn’t ask for, like I was a doctor or a priest. Someone who showed you back into your possibilities” (136).
August 14, 2025
Rating: 3.5/5 stars, rounded down. I’m a big fan of Eugene Marten’s work and have read all but his most recent (at the time of writing) unreleased book. However, In the Blind (his first novel from what I can tell) very much felt like he was still in the middle of honing his trademark style that I have come to love.
Serving as a mile marker of progression, this book provided an interesting insight into Marten’s arc as an author and includes all of the characteristics of his later work, but they are not yet as sharp nor prominent. Compared to his later work, the disjointed narrative style and gritty atmosphere are present, while the humor, beautiful sentences, and clever turns of phrase are not as common nor revelatory, meandering moments not as engaging, and, of his often relatively weak endings, this felt the weakest.
That being said, I still enjoyed it and it’s a solid novel; it just didn’t match up to his later work that made me a devout fan.
Serving as a mile marker of progression, this book provided an interesting insight into Marten’s arc as an author and includes all of the characteristics of his later work, but they are not yet as sharp nor prominent. Compared to his later work, the disjointed narrative style and gritty atmosphere are present, while the humor, beautiful sentences, and clever turns of phrase are not as common nor revelatory, meandering moments not as engaging, and, of his often relatively weak endings, this felt the weakest.
That being said, I still enjoyed it and it’s a solid novel; it just didn’t match up to his later work that made me a devout fan.
October 1, 2012
This book was perfect in every way, from the meticulously crafted sentences, to the quickly paced scenes. I finished reading it hours ago and I can not stop thinking about it. Marten's novella Waste was among my three favorite books, but I think this one just replaced it.
I made a video review, and you can watch it here: http://www.wingchairbooks.com/2011/08...
I made a video review, and you can watch it here: http://www.wingchairbooks.com/2011/08...
January 8, 2012
I second Gordon Lish on this one. A truly amazing book! It's the kind of book that will take a long time to process when you finish it. I wanted to read it again right after I finished it. It may be a perfect work of art. I'll have to get back to you on that. But it's a great read.
March 11, 2012
There's not much plot, but we get to watch first-hand as the narrator develops from a barely-cognitive-base-instinct-only automaton to a fully functioning human. Plus, I liked the Cleveland setting.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews