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Sputnik Caledonia
Robbie Coyle is an imaginative kid. He wants so badly to become Scotland’s first cosmonaut that he tries to teach himself Russian and trains for space exploration in the cupboard under the sink. But the place to which his fantasies later take him is far from the safety of his suburban childhood. In a communist state, in a closed, bleak town, the mysterious Red Star heralds his discovery of cruelty and of love, and the possibility that the most passionate of dreams may only be a chimera... ‘Sputnik Caledonia should leave you breathless with admiration. A quantum leap forward for the Scottish novel’ Scotland on Sunday ‘A brio of a book... One for the boys, big and little – and for those of us who wonder just what does go on inside a boy’s head’ Spectator ‘Andrew Crumey has fused a thrilling personal narrative with quantum mechanics in a way that somehow looks easy... Never has astrophysics seemed so touching and funny’ Daily Telegraph ‘There are echoes here of Alasdair Gray’s Lanark ; echoes of Jonathan Coe’s What a Carve Up! ... A real haunting triumph’ Observer
553 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
3 people are currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Crumey
16 books86 followersAndrew Crumey has a PhD in theoretical physics and is former literary editor of Scotland on Sunday. He won the £60,000 Northern Rock Foundation Writer's Award - the UK's largest literary prize - in 2006. His novels combine history, science, philosophy and humour, and have been translated into fifteen languages. Music, in a Foreign Language won the Saltire First Book Award; Sputnik Caledonia was shortlisted for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize; The Great Chain of Unbeing was shortlisted for the Saltire Fiction Award. He has also been nominated for the Arthur C Clarke Award and longlisted for the Booker Prize.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
February 20, 2022
Dystopias were a thing with the middle of the last century when the humankind had not so many bright hopes for the future. Now the genre became rather neglected but some rare bursts of blinding supernovas still occur from time to time.
But however incredible, any cacotopia still remains connected with reality…
To me Sputnik Caledonia is the best dystopian novel written in the new millennium in the flowery style. It is a thoroughly postmodernistic and socially derisive mixture of outlandish terror and terrific madness. And like the majority of books by Andrew Crumey it is totally unpredictable.
Madness always creates its own unique worlds.
But however incredible, any cacotopia still remains connected with reality…
…All about these terrorist groups in the sixties and seventies who had great names like the Weathermen or the Angry Brigade or Baader-Meinhof or the Red Army Faction, like they were basically pop groups, and they all had like long hair and beards and sweaters and did drugs and the girl all had this rock-chick look, getting led away in handcuffs like they were being busted for playing their music too loud.
To me Sputnik Caledonia is the best dystopian novel written in the new millennium in the flowery style. It is a thoroughly postmodernistic and socially derisive mixture of outlandish terror and terrific madness. And like the majority of books by Andrew Crumey it is totally unpredictable.
Where we finally belong is the place a flame goes to when it’s snuffed, a song when it’s finished; the immaterial past. And if he could wind everything backwards, Joe thought, then he would, growing younger in his grief and stronger in his anger, to the day they turned Robbie into smoke and nothing, and further still, through the years till their son was a wee boy again, hiding his self in the cupboard under the sink, saying it was his spaceship. Back until he was conceived one night the pair of them never noticed, dissolved into a parting egg and sperm, unmade by life as surely as by death since both’s the same in opposite order. Unliving but unmourned, and Joe pushing further through the years like a falling stone becoming swifter and more vigorous with each retreating second. Yes, he’d do it if he could. Robbie, Janet, Anne, his years at the plant, his whole life – take it and leave me only the sweet innocent start.
Still he could hear the harmonium as he walked, its music the anthem of that great leveller, the democratic socialist republic of death.
Madness always creates its own unique worlds.
January 15, 2009
This is a totally bizarre work of modern fiction, a la Pynchon, written in a non-linear style from several different points of view, with a bit of a dystopian alternate reality thrown in. It’s set in Scotland, although it features cosmonauts and black holes, nuclear waste and secret government installations, and it was thoroughly engrossing and weird as hell. Definitely give it a read.
July 9, 2009
Great writing, great characters, great suspense and mystery, total let-down at the end. I appreciate that stretching the reader's intellectual capacity is often enjoyable for both the writer and the reader and I think of myself as routinely challenged, but not stupid. The twists and turns, the surprises and the questions, kept the pages turning, but the ending of the book was intellectually unsatisfactory - indeed frustrating verging on really irritating. OK, I filled in a few gaps by reviewing earlier parts of the book but it still didn't work. I read somewhere (in post-reading research) that the author found how to end the book the greatest challenge - it seems to me unreasonable that this monkey should be thrown on the reader's shoulders!
February 19, 2022
For me Andrew Crumey's best book and one of the best books I've ever read.
Parrarel worlds are of great importance to the plot of the book, once again, but as emotions involved this time, the mixture of Andrew Crumey's religion has been created, a light of hope among dystopia and uncertainty.
Unforgettable reading experience.
Parrarel worlds are of great importance to the plot of the book, once again, but as emotions involved this time, the mixture of Andrew Crumey's religion has been created, a light of hope among dystopia and uncertainty.
Unforgettable reading experience.
July 16, 2015
**Contains Spoilers**
Man, I was so set to love this book. The cover alone, and I was half-sold. The first section is great, and the second section I couldn't figure out at first. Then I realized, we're in Bizarro Oz! At that point, I thought my review would go something like 'Here is how you can be innovative and creative, but also coherent, and do something new with the novel. This is the kind of book that should win prizes!'. But alas, we reached section three, and it was a complet letdown, enough to ruin the book, really. It bastardized the whole Oz concept (which I could not WAIT to tell my friends about, raved about to my husband), and it was irritating to read, and it knocked this book from a 5 stars down to a 2. Because why suffer through all of section 2, which is deliberately unpleasant in a weird-cool sort of way, if all you're going to end up at is section 3, total crap. I feel like every reader of this book knows where it should go, and the author defiantly refused to let it go there. He took away our ending.
Man, I was so set to love this book. The cover alone, and I was half-sold. The first section is great, and the second section I couldn't figure out at first. Then I realized, we're in Bizarro Oz! At that point, I thought my review would go something like 'Here is how you can be innovative and creative, but also coherent, and do something new with the novel. This is the kind of book that should win prizes!'. But alas, we reached section three, and it was a complet letdown, enough to ruin the book, really. It bastardized the whole Oz concept (which I could not WAIT to tell my friends about, raved about to my husband), and it was irritating to read, and it knocked this book from a 5 stars down to a 2. Because why suffer through all of section 2, which is deliberately unpleasant in a weird-cool sort of way, if all you're going to end up at is section 3, total crap. I feel like every reader of this book knows where it should go, and the author defiantly refused to let it go there. He took away our ending.
August 9, 2011
The middle section (of three) is a curious what-if imagining of Britain as a socialist/communist state allied to the Soviet Union after the end of the 2nd World War. The story is told through the eyes of Robert, a 19 year old volunteer in the country's secret space program. Will he achieve his life long goal of being blasted into orbit on a rocket? Everyone else in The (space) Institute seems more concerned about either sex or escaping the remote Institute to re-join long lost family in the south.
Leading up to this in the first section is Robert as a 12 year old boy in a more familiar mid-1970's Scotland dreaming of being an astronaut or cosmonaut. I had a moment of deja-vu when Robert finds an object - Douglas Coupland had a not dissimilar object in Eleanor Rigby and Liz in that book does the same thing with the object. Both characters then have some similarities in the results and outcome. Was Crumey inspired or was it just coincidence? Anyway, young Robert's object, his daydreaming and his obsessive night time listening to the static on the radio segues into the 2nd section - is it all in Robert's mind or does the cosmic background microwave radiation map suggest another answer?
Robert's father is a life long Labour party member and staunch socialist, and his story is picked up in the third section 25 years later (2008-ish). The intervening years have not been kind to him (New Labour! Family tragedy. Losing his marbles, blames the CIA for everything). If only he hadn't thrown away Robert's object "they" might have believed the family's story, or just covered it up more.
Crumey has constructed a mighty fine novel and I look forward to reading more by him, including Mobius Dick.
Leading up to this in the first section is Robert as a 12 year old boy in a more familiar mid-1970's Scotland dreaming of being an astronaut or cosmonaut. I had a moment of deja-vu when Robert finds an object - Douglas Coupland had a not dissimilar object in Eleanor Rigby and Liz in that book does the same thing with the object. Both characters then have some similarities in the results and outcome. Was Crumey inspired or was it just coincidence? Anyway, young Robert's object, his daydreaming and his obsessive night time listening to the static on the radio segues into the 2nd section - is it all in Robert's mind or does the cosmic background microwave radiation map suggest another answer?
Robert's father is a life long Labour party member and staunch socialist, and his story is picked up in the third section 25 years later (2008-ish). The intervening years have not been kind to him (New Labour! Family tragedy. Losing his marbles, blames the CIA for everything). If only he hadn't thrown away Robert's object "they" might have believed the family's story, or just covered it up more.
Crumey has constructed a mighty fine novel and I look forward to reading more by him, including Mobius Dick.
May 14, 2015
This is a very strange book, written by a man with a PhD in theoretical physics. Despite its length, I read very quickly, because it kept me engrossed and entertained (if not exactly moved), but it ended in a somewhat disappointing way.
The book is structured in three parts, the first part taking place in 1970s Scotland, the final part in present-day Scotland, and the middle section taking place in a secretive military base or training camp, in a vaguely sci-fi kind of way. The character of Robbie Coyle is the link between the three sections, as a boy in the first, a trainee astronaut (of sorts) in the second, and as an absence in the third.
The descriptions are vivid – I can imagine much of the book as a film – and the characters seem mostly convincing except for the rather clichéd old man in the final part. The middle section is quite thriller-like, as most of the characters seem to live under the threat of execution at every moment. The final section is much weaker; I don’t mind ends not being tied up – I’m a David Lynch fan, after all – but the particular way in which the main character recurs and is perceived was, for me, a major failing.
I cannot help but feel that there is a slight Lanark influence hanging over this novel. Also there may well have been some kind of socialist allegory, possibly a social comment on the state of Scotland, but I’m afraid that was lost on me!
The book is structured in three parts, the first part taking place in 1970s Scotland, the final part in present-day Scotland, and the middle section taking place in a secretive military base or training camp, in a vaguely sci-fi kind of way. The character of Robbie Coyle is the link between the three sections, as a boy in the first, a trainee astronaut (of sorts) in the second, and as an absence in the third.
The descriptions are vivid – I can imagine much of the book as a film – and the characters seem mostly convincing except for the rather clichéd old man in the final part. The middle section is quite thriller-like, as most of the characters seem to live under the threat of execution at every moment. The final section is much weaker; I don’t mind ends not being tied up – I’m a David Lynch fan, after all – but the particular way in which the main character recurs and is perceived was, for me, a major failing.
I cannot help but feel that there is a slight Lanark influence hanging over this novel. Also there may well have been some kind of socialist allegory, possibly a social comment on the state of Scotland, but I’m afraid that was lost on me!
August 19, 2022
Βαθμολογία: 9/10
Όντας αρκετά αναποφάσιστος ως προς τα ποια βιβλία ήθελα να πάρω μαζί μου στις καλοκαιρινές διακοπές, την τελευταία στιγμή πριν φύγω από το σπίτι άρπαξα το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο που ήταν πάνω-πάνω σε μια ντάνα, λέγοντας από μέσα μου ότι καιρός ήταν να το διαβάσω επιτέλους, μετά από κάτι παραπάνω από δέκα χρόνια που έπιανε σκόνη κάπου μέσα στο σπίτι. Ε, λοιπόν, καλύτερη επιλογή δεν θα μπορούσα να κάνω, τόσο σαν αναγνωστική εμπειρία εν μέσω διακοπών, όσο και σαν πρώτη επαφή με το έργο ενός ιδιαίτερου συγγραφέα, όπως είναι ο Άντριου Κρούμι. Το βιβλίο κυριολεκτικά με καθήλωσε, με παρέσυρε, με μετέφερε σε έναν άλλο κόσμο (ή και σε δυο, ποιος ξέρει), με έβαλε σε κάθε είδους σκέψεις για τον κόσμο γύρω μου, για πιθανές παράλληλες πραγματικότητες, για τη ζωή, το σύμπαν και τα πάντα. Σ' αυτό το σημείο ίσως θα έγραφα κάτι σαν περίληψη για την πλοκή του βιβλίου, αλλά νομίζω ότι το ιδανικότερο είναι να ξεκινήσει κανείς το βιβλίο χωρίς να γνωρίζει και πολλά πράγματα για την πλοκή του, έτσι θα είναι πιο ενδιαφέρουσα η όλη αναγνωστική εμπειρία, και όσο να 'ναι θα υπάρχει μια κάποια αγωνία, ένα μυστήριο για τη συνέχεια. Και το βιβλίο είναι αρκετά περίεργο ως προς τη δομή του (χωρίζεται σε τρία διακριτά μέρη, με το ύφος γραφής να αλλάζει κάθε φορά), αρκετά μυστηριώδες και ιδιαίτερο, αν και οφείλω να πω ότι διαβάζεται εξαιρετικά εύκολα, η γραφή κυλάει σαν γάργαρο νερό, είναι ευχάριστη, χειμαρρώδης, οξυδερκής και με εξαιρετική αίσθηση του χιούμορ, δεν είναι καθόλου βαριά και ασήκωτη όπως για κάποιο λόγο πίστευα ότι θα ήταν, ενώ επίσης οι όποιες επιστημονικές και λογοτεχνικές/φιλοσοφικές αναφορές υπήρχαν στο βιβλίο καθόλου δεν με κούρασαν, ούτε με μπέρδεψαν, αντίθετα με έβαλαν και σε ένα τρυπάκι αναζήτησης. Βέβαια, όποιοι αναγνώστες θέλουν ένα βιβλίο με αρχή, μέση και τέλος, ίσως να μην ενθουσιαστούν και τόσο με αυτό, μιας και το τέλος του είναι αρκετά ανοικτό σε διαφορετικές ερμηνείες, μάλιστα ίσως να μην υπάρχει καν κάποιο συγκεκριμένο τέλος, πολλά ερωτήματα ίσως να μην βρίσκουν άμεση απάντηση, αλλά εδώ που τα λέμε, ακριβώς αυτό το πράγμα δεν ισχύει και στην πραγματική ζωή; Σάμπως βρίσκουμε απαντήσεις σε όλα τα ερωτήματα που ανακύπτουν κατά τη διάρκεια της ζωής μας; Τέλος πάντων, το βιβλίο μου άρεσε πάρα πολύ και χαίρομαι που έχω στη συλλογή μου τρία ακόμα βιβλία του συγγραφέα για διάβασμα, ενώ θα αναζητήσω και τα άλλα δυο δικά του που μου λείπουν (και αναφέρομαι σε αυτά που έχουν μεταφραστεί στα ελληνικά, που είναι έξι στο σύνολο). Για μένα, σίγουρα μια από τις ευχάριστες εκπλήξεις της φετινής αναγνωστικής χρονιάς!
Όντας αρκετά αναποφάσιστος ως προς τα ποια βιβλία ήθελα να πάρω μαζί μου στις καλοκαιρινές διακοπές, την τελευταία στιγμή πριν φύγω από το σπίτι άρπαξα το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο που ήταν πάνω-πάνω σε μια ντάνα, λέγοντας από μέσα μου ότι καιρός ήταν να το διαβάσω επιτέλους, μετά από κάτι παραπάνω από δέκα χρόνια που έπιανε σκόνη κάπου μέσα στο σπίτι. Ε, λοιπόν, καλύτερη επιλογή δεν θα μπορούσα να κάνω, τόσο σαν αναγνωστική εμπειρία εν μέσω διακοπών, όσο και σαν πρώτη επαφή με το έργο ενός ιδιαίτερου συγγραφέα, όπως είναι ο Άντριου Κρούμι. Το βιβλίο κυριολεκτικά με καθήλωσε, με παρέσυρε, με μετέφερε σε έναν άλλο κόσμο (ή και σε δυο, ποιος ξέρει), με έβαλε σε κάθε είδους σκέψεις για τον κόσμο γύρω μου, για πιθανές παράλληλες πραγματικότητες, για τη ζωή, το σύμπαν και τα πάντα. Σ' αυτό το σημείο ίσως θα έγραφα κάτι σαν περίληψη για την πλοκή του βιβλίου, αλλά νομίζω ότι το ιδανικότερο είναι να ξεκινήσει κανείς το βιβλίο χωρίς να γνωρίζει και πολλά πράγματα για την πλοκή του, έτσι θα είναι πιο ενδιαφέρουσα η όλη αναγνωστική εμπειρία, και όσο να 'ναι θα υπάρχει μια κάποια αγωνία, ένα μυστήριο για τη συνέχεια. Και το βιβλίο είναι αρκετά περίεργο ως προς τη δομή του (χωρίζεται σε τρία διακριτά μέρη, με το ύφος γραφής να αλλάζει κάθε φορά), αρκετά μυστηριώδες και ιδιαίτερο, αν και οφείλω να πω ότι διαβάζεται εξαιρετικά εύκολα, η γραφή κυλάει σαν γάργαρο νερό, είναι ευχάριστη, χειμαρρώδης, οξυδερκής και με εξαιρετική αίσθηση του χιούμορ, δεν είναι καθόλου βαριά και ασήκωτη όπως για κάποιο λόγο πίστευα ότι θα ήταν, ενώ επίσης οι όποιες επιστημονικές και λογοτεχνικές/φιλοσοφικές αναφορές υπήρχαν στο βιβλίο καθόλου δεν με κούρασαν, ούτε με μπέρδεψαν, αντίθετα με έβαλαν και σε ένα τρυπάκι αναζήτησης. Βέβαια, όποιοι αναγνώστες θέλουν ένα βιβλίο με αρχή, μέση και τέλος, ίσως να μην ενθουσιαστούν και τόσο με αυτό, μιας και το τέλος του είναι αρκετά ανοικτό σε διαφορετικές ερμηνείες, μάλιστα ίσως να μην υπάρχει καν κάποιο συγκεκριμένο τέλος, πολλά ερωτήματα ίσως να μην βρίσκουν άμεση απάντηση, αλλά εδώ που τα λέμε, ακριβώς αυτό το πράγμα δεν ισχύει και στην πραγματική ζωή; Σάμπως βρίσκουμε απαντήσεις σε όλα τα ερωτήματα που ανακύπτουν κατά τη διάρκεια της ζωής μας; Τέλος πάντων, το βιβλίο μου άρεσε πάρα πολύ και χαίρομαι που έχω στη συλλογή μου τρία ακόμα βιβλία του συγγραφέα για διάβασμα, ενώ θα αναζητήσω και τα άλλα δυο δικά του που μου λείπουν (και αναφέρομαι σε αυτά που έχουν μεταφραστεί στα ελληνικά, που είναι έξι στο σύνολο). Για μένα, σίγουρα μια από τις ευχάριστες εκπλήξεις της φετινής αναγνωστικής χρονιάς!
February 2, 2025
Schottland in den 1970er Jahren: der neunjähriger Robbie hat einen großen Traum. Er will Raumfahrer werden. Allerdings kein Astronaut, sondern ein Kosmonaut. Dafür tut er alles und lernt sogar Russisch. Aber als sich sein Traum erfüllt, muss er feststellen, dass sich dadurch nicht nur sein Leben komplett verändert.
Andrew Crumey erzählt die Geschichte auf drei verschiedenen Ebenen: der neunjährige Junge lebt in einem Schottland, in dem die Angst vor dem kalten Krieg allgegenwärtig ist. Der Vater steht mehr auf der Seite der Sowjetunion als auf der der Amerikaner, was zu dieser Zeit fast schon ein Skandal ist. Der neunzehnjährige Robert lebt ein einem kommunistischen Staat, der nach der Belagerung der Nazis gebildet wurde. Wie der kleine Junge auch will er in den Weltraum fliegen, aber vorher muss er noch eine andere Mission erfüllen und im dritten Teil tritt der vierzigjährige Robert in die Erzählebene ein, die der kleine Junge verlassen hat.
Die Geschichte von Robbie konnte ich am besten nachvollziehen. Der kleine Junge mit dem großen Traum, der dadurch zum Außenseiter wurde. Der Gegensatz zum zweiten Teil war mir zu groß, hier habe ich den Faden ein bisschen verloren. Auch wenn der dritte Teil die beiden vorigen zusammengeführt hat, war es kein zusammenhängender Roman, sondern drei Geschichten, die mir unterschiedlich gut gefallen haben.
Andrew Crumey erzählt die Geschichte auf drei verschiedenen Ebenen: der neunjährige Junge lebt in einem Schottland, in dem die Angst vor dem kalten Krieg allgegenwärtig ist. Der Vater steht mehr auf der Seite der Sowjetunion als auf der der Amerikaner, was zu dieser Zeit fast schon ein Skandal ist. Der neunzehnjährige Robert lebt ein einem kommunistischen Staat, der nach der Belagerung der Nazis gebildet wurde. Wie der kleine Junge auch will er in den Weltraum fliegen, aber vorher muss er noch eine andere Mission erfüllen und im dritten Teil tritt der vierzigjährige Robert in die Erzählebene ein, die der kleine Junge verlassen hat.
Die Geschichte von Robbie konnte ich am besten nachvollziehen. Der kleine Junge mit dem großen Traum, der dadurch zum Außenseiter wurde. Der Gegensatz zum zweiten Teil war mir zu groß, hier habe ich den Faden ein bisschen verloren. Auch wenn der dritte Teil die beiden vorigen zusammengeführt hat, war es kein zusammenhängender Roman, sondern drei Geschichten, die mir unterschiedlich gut gefallen haben.
January 5, 2013
this tale, or set of interwoven tales perhaps, depends on a particular cosmology but makes fewer demands of the scientific part of one's brain than Mobius Dick. Robbie Coyle and those who form part of his life/lives is a sympathetic character and, although Crumney is very good at viewing the world from the perspective of a child, his return to doing so in the last third of the book is a bit disappointing in that for a long while it takes us away from Robbie ... but it all makes sense in the end.
Overall I enjoyed this book, but got a bit squeamish at the methods deemed necessary to communicate with the red star: there was a logic to it, it made sense, but to me seemed a rather unnecessarily sensationalist addition to the plot.
Overall I enjoyed this book, but got a bit squeamish at the methods deemed necessary to communicate with the red star: there was a logic to it, it made sense, but to me seemed a rather unnecessarily sensationalist addition to the plot.
June 17, 2009
Brilliant writer!
The journey was excellent, but the destination was a bit of a mystery. The book is divided into three parts. The last part doesn't hold the story together and was somewhat disappointing, but I still loved it.
The journey was excellent, but the destination was a bit of a mystery. The book is divided into three parts. The last part doesn't hold the story together and was somewhat disappointing, but I still loved it.
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September 28, 2010I haven't read a book in such a long time where I felt it was worth talking about to whoever would listen. It's by far the most perfect depiction of what I aspire to be as a cosmonaut.
Last chapter wtf?!
Last chapter wtf?!
October 3, 2022
Just finished reading 'Sputnik Caledonia' by Andrew Crumey. This is such a bizarre, obscure choice that I admit I would never have picked it up if it's not for the book club that I attend. One of the members is such a sci-fi enthusiast he decided to endow us with his knowledge in the lesser-known gem, and this turned out to be one.
The book started out seemingly normal - we are in 20th Century Scotland, following the life of a nine-years old Robert Coyle who, at his very young age, decided to set his entire future on becoming a space explorer. The idea was supported whole-heartedly by his highly opinionated father, who imposed his socialist ideas on his young son and drove him to become a cosmonaut rather than astronaut who works for those 'fat, capitalist American'. We started to see the hilarity of this early propaganda – Young Robbie starts to learn Russian letter (and concluding that it might be just a made-up language); keeping complicated relativity theory book on his desk as an ornament of academic encouragement (without reading it); spent his days at school daydreaming about his patriotic feat (and not listening to the teacher) and other daily shenanigans. This skewed pursuit also affects his social life; he suspects that the next door neighbors were aliens who are "made of plastic from faraway galaxies" and proceeded to avoid interacting with them, feeding into his already insufferable personality. He might be one to avoid human contact like a plague, however, quite contrastingly, he longs to find messages from a distant star he named 'Red Star' through the help of radio static at night, hoping to find some cosmic being to console his solitary existence.
When we got into the second part of the book, things started to get weird. All of a sudden Robbie is in his late teens, registering himself as a volunteer at a military compound, committed as a subject in a super secret experiment in space exploration. While our mind is trying hard to fill the missing gap due to the time anomaly, we also learn that Scotland has undergone a monumental change over the years, where it becomes part of British Democratic Republic - a Communist state founded after the overthrow of Nazi occupation in the “Great Patriotic War" and as of now is allied with the Soviet Union. I must say, this is where the story got much more interesting.
The comical tone of the book that was already somber in the beginning, learning about the loneliness of the boy, now has turned even more suffocating with the depressing undertone of totalitarian lifestyle within a compact society with strict military regulations and cold, machine-like companions. Everything is transactional; no exchange between two individuals have any resemblance of basic emotion and simple sensibility - all is in accordance with the rule. Even when the plot reveals that Robbie has the opportunity to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a cosmonaut and explore the 'Red Star', it is far from being a happy occasion since he is just being used as a human weapon and at the end of the mission (spoiler alert) he would have to die.
Hmm, chill, anyway, so, suddenly we come to an abrupt end and the story understandably continues on to the third and last part of the book. We are now residing in the mind of a 13-year-old nameless child runaway who met a strange, self-proclaimed spaceman named R.C. With nowhere to go, he was casted as R.C. 's son and get dragged around in his 'undercover' scheme where they stayed in a rundown motel staring at nothing in a crusty dusty musty room. Scared, the child run out of the motel and met Mr. Coyle, now old and demented, who lamented the death of his young son Robbie and shouted his curse to an invisible enemy, blamed the military for killing his child with radioactive military waste.
This is where I stopped and grabbed my hair. Plot twist is nothing new in this day and age but I feel like the way Crumey writes this story is more like twist within twist that at some point it becomes redundant and I wonder if there's any twist at all in the plot. The three vastly different parts of the story could as well be taken as three different books with their own standalone storyline. Despite that, there’s enough semblance and recurring images of certain aspects from each of the three stories to welcome a vague inclination that all parts were about the same Robert Coyle. A friend of mine went so far as to assume that the real Robert Coyle died when he was young at the end of Part 1 and Part 2 were the product of his hallucination-induced brain cancer (and might I say that the theory is quite convincing).
Nonetheless, this is where the genius of the book lay – well, not mentioning that the book has problem with savior complex, serious lack of decent female character writing and icky implementation of unsavory science experiment in tow – the juxtaposition and contrasts of the plot is forcing inviting the reader to rework and reinvents the story for themselves.
The book started out seemingly normal - we are in 20th Century Scotland, following the life of a nine-years old Robert Coyle who, at his very young age, decided to set his entire future on becoming a space explorer. The idea was supported whole-heartedly by his highly opinionated father, who imposed his socialist ideas on his young son and drove him to become a cosmonaut rather than astronaut who works for those 'fat, capitalist American'. We started to see the hilarity of this early propaganda – Young Robbie starts to learn Russian letter (and concluding that it might be just a made-up language); keeping complicated relativity theory book on his desk as an ornament of academic encouragement (without reading it); spent his days at school daydreaming about his patriotic feat (and not listening to the teacher) and other daily shenanigans. This skewed pursuit also affects his social life; he suspects that the next door neighbors were aliens who are "made of plastic from faraway galaxies" and proceeded to avoid interacting with them, feeding into his already insufferable personality. He might be one to avoid human contact like a plague, however, quite contrastingly, he longs to find messages from a distant star he named 'Red Star' through the help of radio static at night, hoping to find some cosmic being to console his solitary existence.
When we got into the second part of the book, things started to get weird. All of a sudden Robbie is in his late teens, registering himself as a volunteer at a military compound, committed as a subject in a super secret experiment in space exploration. While our mind is trying hard to fill the missing gap due to the time anomaly, we also learn that Scotland has undergone a monumental change over the years, where it becomes part of British Democratic Republic - a Communist state founded after the overthrow of Nazi occupation in the “Great Patriotic War" and as of now is allied with the Soviet Union. I must say, this is where the story got much more interesting.
The comical tone of the book that was already somber in the beginning, learning about the loneliness of the boy, now has turned even more suffocating with the depressing undertone of totalitarian lifestyle within a compact society with strict military regulations and cold, machine-like companions. Everything is transactional; no exchange between two individuals have any resemblance of basic emotion and simple sensibility - all is in accordance with the rule. Even when the plot reveals that Robbie has the opportunity to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a cosmonaut and explore the 'Red Star', it is far from being a happy occasion since he is just being used as a human weapon and at the end of the mission (spoiler alert) he would have to die.
Hmm, chill, anyway, so, suddenly we come to an abrupt end and the story understandably continues on to the third and last part of the book. We are now residing in the mind of a 13-year-old nameless child runaway who met a strange, self-proclaimed spaceman named R.C. With nowhere to go, he was casted as R.C. 's son and get dragged around in his 'undercover' scheme where they stayed in a rundown motel staring at nothing in a crusty dusty musty room. Scared, the child run out of the motel and met Mr. Coyle, now old and demented, who lamented the death of his young son Robbie and shouted his curse to an invisible enemy, blamed the military for killing his child with radioactive military waste.
This is where I stopped and grabbed my hair. Plot twist is nothing new in this day and age but I feel like the way Crumey writes this story is more like twist within twist that at some point it becomes redundant and I wonder if there's any twist at all in the plot. The three vastly different parts of the story could as well be taken as three different books with their own standalone storyline. Despite that, there’s enough semblance and recurring images of certain aspects from each of the three stories to welcome a vague inclination that all parts were about the same Robert Coyle. A friend of mine went so far as to assume that the real Robert Coyle died when he was young at the end of Part 1 and Part 2 were the product of his hallucination-induced brain cancer (and might I say that the theory is quite convincing).
Nonetheless, this is where the genius of the book lay – well, not mentioning that the book has problem with savior complex, serious lack of decent female character writing and icky implementation of unsavory science experiment in tow – the juxtaposition and contrasts of the plot is forcing inviting the reader to rework and reinvents the story for themselves.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 26, 2018
Andrew Crumey does it again- blending physics with fiction to create a mind bending triple-angled narrative that, it's true, isn't 100% explained by the end of the book but I for one just don't care. Sections one and two have no clear link but are each excellent narratives with well constructed characters, a few dashes of humour and draw on the reader's empathy to a surprising level (I say surprising because there's nothing traumatic or heart rending here, but Crumey makes you really feel, for example, the huge injustices faced by a child that, from an adult's perspective, tare nothing at all). Section three gives you an "ahhhhh!" of connectivity...but still gives you room to draw your own conclusions as to the details. I can see how some would consider this as, conversely, either lazy writing or snobbish if-you-don't-know-I'm-not-going-to-tell-you-ism but I feel like Crumey knows exactly what he's doing and could probably draw you a diagram to explain it if you asked. But you haven't asked. And so to provide you with said diagram would be rude and presumptuous and so he hasn't. He's waiting politely in the corner if you have any questions or would like him to provide a suggested further reading list. Or so I like to think...
August 6, 2017
My Elliott Bay bookstore, Seattle purchase. Chosen almost entirely on the irresistible title. I found myself enjoying it whilst at the same time wondering where it was going. A lot to recognise in the depiction of a late 70s childhood, then everything switches to a communist Scotland! It all resolves in part three, it's a many worlds story, and very moving as well. Liked a lot.
December 11, 2018
This turned me into a fan of Crumey, a big fan. The Physics/Literature blend is almost seamless.
But his output is quite uneven in quality. Mobius Dick is also very good but the rest is not as good unfortunately..
But his output is quite uneven in quality. Mobius Dick is also very good but the rest is not as good unfortunately..
June 1, 2025
Still thinking about this one, overall I enjoyed it though the middle part did take some odd twists but overall an interesting read.
January 26, 2014
A very interesting, fascinating and originally built book, which uses the theories on parallel universes in physics to show that human experiences, purposes and feelings almost totally depend on the universe one forms in one’s mind. The heroes create their own imaginative worlds, closed yet having unlimited possibilities (in the case of the positively thinking children), or being but an unceasing conspiracy against the poor. (In the adult’s negative way of thinking).
In this context the middle (the second out of three) part of the book, which is a dark communist dystopia, has an ambiguity that other similar dystopias (for example 1984) lack, making us to question not so about the reality of the story in the book (for which the author finally provides a kind of answer) as about history itself: Is this fictional nightmare a parallel universe that could really happen in Scotland as it r e a l l y did in other countries after SWW, or is it just the way human sub conscience, or fear, or even illness –or just literature!-has created it?
The two children in the book (in the first and the third part correspondingly) represent the unlimited creative possibilities of man which social and family structures ignore and often destroy. The father is a very realistic, common, next-door character, one that tends to explain everything with conspiracy theories and who, though believing just the opposite about himself, is in fact a narrow-minded and conservative person.
Yet the peak of the book is that one gorgeous moment, when after having for 500 pages contemplated on parallel universes and politics, the reader faces the father’s pain, his loneliness and his love for the son, in that crucial night beside the river of the little town. The contrast to the whole atmosphere of the book is so strong and abrupt, the appearance of the feelings so unprepared, solid and naked, that this single page brings literally tears.
A book not easily read, but sealed in mind when finished.
Πολύ ενδιαφέρον, γοητευτικό και πρωτότυπα δομημένο βιβλίο, που χρησιμοποιεί τις θεωρίες της φυσικής για τα παράλληλα σύμπαντα για να δείξει ότι οι ανθρώπινες εμπειρίες, οι σκοποί και τα συναισθήματα εξαρτώνται απόλυτα από το "σύμπαν" που ο καθένας σχηματίζει στο μυαλό του. Οι ήρωες δημιουργούν τους δικούς τους φανταστικούς κόσμους, κλειστούς αλλά με απεριόριστες δυνατότητες (στην περίπτωση των θετικά σκεπτόμενων παιδιών) ή που, αντίθετα, δεν είναι παρά μια διαρκής συνωμοσία σε βάρος των αδύναμων. (Όπως στο μυαλό του αρνητικά σκεπτόμενου ενήλικα).
Μέσα σε αυτά τα συμφραζόμενα το μεσαίο (το δεύτερο από τα τρία συνολικά) μέρος του βιβλίου, που είναι μια σκοτεινή κομμουνιστική δυστοπία, έχει μια αμφισημία που άλλες παρόμοιες δυστοπίες (πχ το 1984) δεν έχουν, καθώς μας κάνει να αναρωτηθούμε όχι τόσο για την πραγματικότητα της ιστορίας του βιβλίου (για την οποία ο συγγραφέας τελικά δίνει μια απάντηση), όσο για την ίδια την Ιστορία (με κεφαλαίο): είναι άραγε αυτός ο λογοτεχνικός εφιάλτης ένα "παράλληλο σύμπαν" που θα μπορούσε πράγματι να συμβεί στη Σκωτία όπως π ρ ά γ μ α τ ι συνέβη σε άλλες χώρες μετά τον Β Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο, ή μήπως είναι μόνο κάτι που δημιούργησε το ανθρώπινο υποσυνείδητο ή ο φόβος ή και η αρρώστια - ή, ακόμη, απλώς η λογοτεχνία;
Τα δύο παιδιά στο βιβλίο (στο πρώτο και το τρίτο μέρος αντίστοιχα) αντιπροσωπεύουν τις απεριόριστες δημιουργικές δυνατότητες του ανθρώπου που οι κοινωνικές και οικογενειακές δομές αγνοούν και συχνά καταστρέφουν. Ο πατέρας είναι ένας πολύ ρεαλιστικός, κοινός, καθημερινός χαρακτήρας, που έχει την τάση να ερμηνεύει τα πάντα με θεωρίες συνωμοσίας και που, παρόλο που ο ίδιος πιστεύει για τον εαυτό του το αντίθετο, είναι στην πραγματικότητα ένας στενόμυαλος και συντηρητικός άνθρωπος.
Όμως το κορυφαίο σημείο του βιβλίου είναι εκείνη η μεγαλειώδης στιγμή κατά την οποία ο αναγνώστης, αφού έχει εντρυφήσει επί 500 σελίδες σε παράλληλα σύμπαντα και πολιτική, αντικρίζει τον πόνο του πατέρα, τη μοναξιά του και την αγάπη του για το γιο του, εκείνη την κρίσιμη νύχτα δίπλα στο ποτάμι της μικρής πόλης. Η αντίθεση με την όλη ατμόσφαιρα του βιβλίου είναι τόσο δυνατή και απότομη, η εμφάνιση των συναισθημάτων τόσο απροετοίμαστη, συμπαγής και γυμνή, ώστε αυτή η μοναδική σελίδα φέρνει κυριολεκτικά δάκρυα.
Ένα βιβλίο όχι εύκολο στην ανάγνωση, μα που σφραγίζεται στο μυαλό μας μετά από αυτήν.
In this context the middle (the second out of three) part of the book, which is a dark communist dystopia, has an ambiguity that other similar dystopias (for example 1984) lack, making us to question not so about the reality of the story in the book (for which the author finally provides a kind of answer) as about history itself: Is this fictional nightmare a parallel universe that could really happen in Scotland as it r e a l l y did in other countries after SWW, or is it just the way human sub conscience, or fear, or even illness –or just literature!-has created it?
The two children in the book (in the first and the third part correspondingly) represent the unlimited creative possibilities of man which social and family structures ignore and often destroy. The father is a very realistic, common, next-door character, one that tends to explain everything with conspiracy theories and who, though believing just the opposite about himself, is in fact a narrow-minded and conservative person.
Yet the peak of the book is that one gorgeous moment, when after having for 500 pages contemplated on parallel universes and politics, the reader faces the father’s pain, his loneliness and his love for the son, in that crucial night beside the river of the little town. The contrast to the whole atmosphere of the book is so strong and abrupt, the appearance of the feelings so unprepared, solid and naked, that this single page brings literally tears.
A book not easily read, but sealed in mind when finished.
Πολύ ενδιαφέρον, γοητευτικό και πρωτότυπα δομημένο βιβλίο, που χρησιμοποιεί τις θεωρίες της φυσικής για τα παράλληλα σύμπαντα για να δείξει ότι οι ανθρώπινες εμπειρίες, οι σκοποί και τα συναισθήματα εξαρτώνται απόλυτα από το "σύμπαν" που ο καθένας σχηματίζει στο μυαλό του. Οι ήρωες δημιουργούν τους δικούς τους φανταστικούς κόσμους, κλειστούς αλλά με απεριόριστες δυνατότητες (στην περίπτωση των θετικά σκεπτόμενων παιδιών) ή που, αντίθετα, δεν είναι παρά μια διαρκής συνωμοσία σε βάρος των αδύναμων. (Όπως στο μυαλό του αρνητικά σκεπτόμενου ενήλικα).
Μέσα σε αυτά τα συμφραζόμενα το μεσαίο (το δεύτερο από τα τρία συνολικά) μέρος του βιβλίου, που είναι μια σκοτεινή κομμουνιστική δυστοπία, έχει μια αμφισημία που άλλες παρόμοιες δυστοπίες (πχ το 1984) δεν έχουν, καθώς μας κάνει να αναρωτηθούμε όχι τόσο για την πραγματικότητα της ιστορίας του βιβλίου (για την οποία ο συγγραφέας τελικά δίνει μια απάντηση), όσο για την ίδια την Ιστορία (με κεφαλαίο): είναι άραγε αυτός ο λογοτεχνικός εφιάλτης ένα "παράλληλο σύμπαν" που θα μπορούσε πράγματι να συμβεί στη Σκωτία όπως π ρ ά γ μ α τ ι συνέβη σε άλλες χώρες μετά τον Β Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο, ή μήπως είναι μόνο κάτι που δημιούργησε το ανθρώπινο υποσυνείδητο ή ο φόβος ή και η αρρώστια - ή, ακόμη, απλώς η λογοτεχνία;
Τα δύο παιδιά στο βιβλίο (στο πρώτο και το τρίτο μέρος αντίστοιχα) αντιπροσωπεύουν τις απεριόριστες δημιουργικές δυνατότητες του ανθρώπου που οι κοινωνικές και οικογενειακές δομές αγνοούν και συχνά καταστρέφουν. Ο πατέρας είναι ένας πολύ ρεαλιστικός, κοινός, καθημερινός χαρακτήρας, που έχει την τάση να ερμηνεύει τα πάντα με θεωρίες συνωμοσίας και που, παρόλο που ο ίδιος πιστεύει για τον εαυτό του το αντίθετο, είναι στην πραγματικότητα ένας στενόμυαλος και συντηρητικός άνθρωπος.
Όμως το κορυφαίο σημείο του βιβλίου είναι εκείνη η μεγαλειώδης στιγμή κατά την οποία ο αναγνώστης, αφού έχει εντρυφήσει επί 500 σελίδες σε παράλληλα σύμπαντα και πολιτική, αντικρίζει τον πόνο του πατέρα, τη μοναξιά του και την αγάπη του για το γιο του, εκείνη την κρίσιμη νύχτα δίπλα στο ποτάμι της μικρής πόλης. Η αντίθεση με την όλη ατμόσφαιρα του βιβλίου είναι τόσο δυνατή και απότομη, η εμφάνιση των συναισθημάτων τόσο απροετοίμαστη, συμπαγής και γυμνή, ώστε αυτή η μοναδική σελίδα φέρνει κυριολεκτικά δάκρυα.
Ένα βιβλίο όχι εύκολο στην ανάγνωση, μα που σφραγίζεται στο μυαλό μας μετά από αυτήν.
November 23, 2010
This book kept me firmly on my toes with its wild shifts in tone and setting. Nevertheless, as a Wizard of Oz parable of a young boy with a brain tumour represented by the seeminlgly sensate 'Red Star', it creates a palpable and dystopic future contingent on the simple act of human kindness which sees a young student drown whilst rescuing others. Whilst he perishes in the first and third movement, his survival lays the framework for the second section's political development.
The childlike wonder of the first passage is compelling and nostalgic before the spartan austerity of the second movement shocks the reader with its explicit violence and graphic shift in tone. Yet, the fantasy future of a Scoialist Scotland remains grounded enough to evoke a genuine reaction, steering away from tawdry exoticism and unreality.
In its final section, this book returns to a faded and washed out facsimile of the characters from the first, continuing in a ruptured timeline of loss. The stark nature of modern social decay set against the backdrop of the first section's chummy nostalgia is especially potent in highlighting the decline of the father and the trivialisation of his commitments.
A thoroughly enjoyable read which was challenging and unexpected, yet satisfactorily resolved in a contemplative meditation on human relationships in the face of fantasy.
The childlike wonder of the first passage is compelling and nostalgic before the spartan austerity of the second movement shocks the reader with its explicit violence and graphic shift in tone. Yet, the fantasy future of a Scoialist Scotland remains grounded enough to evoke a genuine reaction, steering away from tawdry exoticism and unreality.
In its final section, this book returns to a faded and washed out facsimile of the characters from the first, continuing in a ruptured timeline of loss. The stark nature of modern social decay set against the backdrop of the first section's chummy nostalgia is especially potent in highlighting the decline of the father and the trivialisation of his commitments.
A thoroughly enjoyable read which was challenging and unexpected, yet satisfactorily resolved in a contemplative meditation on human relationships in the face of fantasy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 13, 2016
I enjoyed the first section of this book more than the 2nd and 3rd. The first part seemed to be realistic, the second you aren't sure if it is happening or is part of a delirium, and the third part adds to that feeling although it goes returns to reality. I have a feeling that much of it is an illustration of some scientific principles that weren't quite clear to me, possibly just alternate realities as many of the names were repeated and used for different characters. Part of it seemed like physics described using sex acts, again, not quite clear to me. The whole thing like reading a fevered dream.
I didn't hate it, and found the ending inexplicable but sad at the same time. Although the writing was fine, it wasn't quite compelling enough for me to hang on every word.
I bought it in the airport without knowing anything about it other than the comments on the back of it. I like to take a chance this way when on trips and have occasionally lucked into an excellent book. This was one of the few modern Scottish writers I can recall reading and was interesting from that standpoint.
I didn't hate it, and found the ending inexplicable but sad at the same time. Although the writing was fine, it wasn't quite compelling enough for me to hang on every word.
I bought it in the airport without knowing anything about it other than the comments on the back of it. I like to take a chance this way when on trips and have occasionally lucked into an excellent book. This was one of the few modern Scottish writers I can recall reading and was interesting from that standpoint.
Read
July 27, 2011First of Crumey's novels I have read. The book has three sections - the first is a domestic setting, and the second is set in a dystopian communist Scotland in an alternative reality. The final section attempts to tie the other two together, although is deliberately left open and a little obscure.
Crumey has a PhD in theoretical physics, and some of the themes in this novel (the ideas of connectedness and alternative realities) are probably derived from his scientific background. The novel reminded me of some of David Mitchell's work in its use of separate narratives which eventually link togther, although some of the linkages (and the end of the novel itself ) remain open to interpretation. The relationship between literature and the sciences is also explored in an interesting way. He is without doubt a talented author, and I would recommend this book to anyone with a serious interest in modern literary fiction.
Crumey has a PhD in theoretical physics, and some of the themes in this novel (the ideas of connectedness and alternative realities) are probably derived from his scientific background. The novel reminded me of some of David Mitchell's work in its use of separate narratives which eventually link togther, although some of the linkages (and the end of the novel itself ) remain open to interpretation. The relationship between literature and the sciences is also explored in an interesting way. He is without doubt a talented author, and I would recommend this book to anyone with a serious interest in modern literary fiction.
February 29, 2016
This is a three act book with some excellent writing in a sci fi genre. First act has some lovely characterisation and warm portrayal of a Scottish family with a left wing disillusioned Dad, practical gritty mother who might have been fleshed out more, with main character of dreamy astro obsessed kid. I warmed to the first act, but found the second wasteful in the loss of these characters and the hands off approach as fantasy sci fi possibilities grew. In this part the atmosphere built with some rather extreme sexual scenes - a rites of passage of the main character. The tenuous linking and bridging of the two realities works to some extent in the final part with the new adoption of poetry to deliver the parental grief and the metaphorical river with its crossing of realities. This is a certainly a book of its time, and the author writes well, but for me it tried to be too many things, but an ambitious book that by no means falls apart but rather frustrates in its meandering way.
March 20, 2012
Although this is Crumey's sixth novel it strikes me that this, at least in the opening section, is the semi-autobiographical work more usually associated with an author's first book. Being of roughly the same vintage, it was easy to empathise with the over-imaginative and under-confident protagonist Robbie, as cooped himself up in the cupboard under the sink and projected himself into outer space. In fact I wished that opening section had carried on longer as I found the central 'alternative history' section set in a drab Socialist Republic Britain over-long and grindingly bleak. Then comes part three, twenty-five years on in real history, we discover what really happened to young Robbie ( it's connected to a discovery he makes in part one ) and are left to reflect whether the hellish dystopian fantasy was perhaps the product of the character's ailing mind.
June 27, 2013
Ίσως να είναι όντως το πιο ολοκληρωμένο από τα βιβλία του Crumey.
Εμπνευσμένος λοιπόν από την θεωρεία της σχετικότητας του Αϊνστάιν, τα παράλληλα σύμπαντα, και την θεωρεία της διαλεκτικής του Καντ που θέλει τα πάντα να συνδέονται και να αλληλεπιδρούν μεταξύ τους, χτίζει ένα σενάριο στην επαρχιακή Σκωτία, και παντρεύει με απολυτή επιτυχία την Εξιδανικευμένη επιστημονική εκπαίδευση, την φαντασία ενός 12 χρόνου παιδιού και την φιλοσοφία μεσώ της Τέχνης.
Κινείτε ευέλικτα σε ένα ευρύ φάσμα περιγραφής, αφήγησης και πλοκής που σε κράτα συντονισμένο απολυτά στην δικιά του συχνότητα.
Sputnik Caledonia λοιπόν, μια ιστορία που μπερδεύει τον χρόνο, διαμορφώνει τον χώρο και θέλει την αλήθεια της κάθε υποκειμενικής πραγματικότητας πάντα εφικτή.
Ποιο κομμάτι λοιπόν είναι η " πραγματικότητα" και πιο η "φαντασία".... είναι καθαρά επιλογή της εκάστοτε αντίληψης!!
Συνιστώ!
Εμπνευσμένος λοιπόν από την θεωρεία της σχετικότητας του Αϊνστάιν, τα παράλληλα σύμπαντα, και την θεωρεία της διαλεκτικής του Καντ που θέλει τα πάντα να συνδέονται και να αλληλεπιδρούν μεταξύ τους, χτίζει ένα σενάριο στην επαρχιακή Σκωτία, και παντρεύει με απολυτή επιτυχία την Εξιδανικευμένη επιστημονική εκπαίδευση, την φαντασία ενός 12 χρόνου παιδιού και την φιλοσοφία μεσώ της Τέχνης.
Κινείτε ευέλικτα σε ένα ευρύ φάσμα περιγραφής, αφήγησης και πλοκής που σε κράτα συντονισμένο απολυτά στην δικιά του συχνότητα.
Sputnik Caledonia λοιπόν, μια ιστορία που μπερδεύει τον χρόνο, διαμορφώνει τον χώρο και θέλει την αλήθεια της κάθε υποκειμενικής πραγματικότητας πάντα εφικτή.
Ποιο κομμάτι λοιπόν είναι η " πραγματικότητα" και πιο η "φαντασία".... είναι καθαρά επιλογή της εκάστοτε αντίληψης!!
Συνιστώ!
July 1, 2012
I love books that make you think as well as entertain you. It did that.
There were references to theoretical physics, politics, different worlds, and more. All have made me re evaluate my views.
The book started slowly but gathered pace. I liked the middle section the most where the themes were much darker and mysterious. The ending was open and leaves much to the reader to fathom. I know open endings can be frustrating, but there are so many ways that this story could be interpreted so perhaps it's best to leave it to the reader to decide.
I'm going to be thinking about this one for some time.
There were references to theoretical physics, politics, different worlds, and more. All have made me re evaluate my views.
The book started slowly but gathered pace. I liked the middle section the most where the themes were much darker and mysterious. The ending was open and leaves much to the reader to fathom. I know open endings can be frustrating, but there are so many ways that this story could be interpreted so perhaps it's best to leave it to the reader to decide.
I'm going to be thinking about this one for some time.
November 4, 2014
Started out really well - the story of the young boy who dreamed of being an astronaut and his subsequent arrival into the dystopian "Installation" town with its weird and mysterious characters. Yes, interesting - liked it - well written, engaging and amusing - so far so good.
What I didn't see coming was the superflous waffle and puzzling plot in the third part of the story leading to a sad and depressing ending which didn't make any sense in my universe and completely spoilt the experience of reading this book and making me annoyed with it because I had invested my time in a promising novel.
Then I saw that Andrew Crumey is a theoretical physicist - which explains a lot.
What I didn't see coming was the superflous waffle and puzzling plot in the third part of the story leading to a sad and depressing ending which didn't make any sense in my universe and completely spoilt the experience of reading this book and making me annoyed with it because I had invested my time in a promising novel.
Then I saw that Andrew Crumey is a theoretical physicist - which explains a lot.
April 16, 2016
If you were a teenager in the seventies, or want to know what it was like then this is a must read. The first part delivers memories of everything from 'chirpy chirpy cheep cheep' to tinned russian salad to the cold war all entwined around the world of physics. What could be better? This is a laugh out loud humorous tale. This is in sharp contrast to the second part which gets much of the focus of other reviews, dark and other world like, not the place to be. The third part you'll have to make up your own mind about and how the tales get linked. I thought that it worked well as a novel and would recommend it.
January 2, 2011
I was gripped from the start by this. It starts with a young boy growing up in Scotland in the 1970s and dreaming of becoming a astronaut/cosmonaut. His father's lectures on socialism are then echoed in the next part where an older version of the boy lives in a Scotland allied to the USSR, involved in scientific experiments, then back to a more recognisable Scotland for the final third, which sort of ties up some of the earlier threads. Not a book to whizz through on the beach as there is lots to chew over. A book I'll come back to and read again
December 6, 2022
“ They we’re there: the event horizon was opening and the singularity stood naked before him, an infinite pearl. This was how space and time began and this was where it ended: the limit and purpose of everything. Whatever had gone before was only a crude simulacrum of what he now experienced; for this was heaven, and he was like a wheel being turned by the force that moves the stars .”
Parallel universes are explored in this absorbing Scottish novel , dystopian worlds are visited as well as a trip to space , or was there ? Good read .
Parallel universes are explored in this absorbing Scottish novel , dystopian worlds are visited as well as a trip to space , or was there ? Good read .
March 18, 2009
This is deeply-crazy book in three parts, the first and third parts creating a kind of reality sandwich around the more fantastical middle section. I enjoyed this, although not as much as Crumey's previous book Mobius Dick. The central family is well drawn, with lots of smile/cringe-inducing detail to their personalities and foibles, but the 'science' aspect this time around doesn't seem to work as well.
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