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Here & There
It was supposed to be a simple proof of concept. The physics were sound. Over one hundred teleportation experiments had already been successfully performed...
Debate rages over whether the Reidier Test’s disastrous outcome resulted from human error, government conspiracy, or sabotage. No one has actual knowledge of the truth. But hidden from the public eye, there exists a government report commissioned from criminal psychologist Dr. Hilary Kahn, chronicling the events that took place.
Dr. Kahn disappeared without a trace.
Now her son Danny has unearthed and revealed the report, fueling controversy over the details of Reidier’s quest to reforge the fabric of reality and hold his family together. Exposed with little chance of finding his mother, Danny goes underground to investigate. But nothing can prepare him for what he discovers.
In this thrilling saga, a paradigm-shattering feat may alter humanity’s future as quantum entanglement and teleportation collide.
634 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2015
307 people are currently reading
1720 people want to read
About the author
Joshua V. Scher
3 books19 followersJoshua Scher is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. His debut novel, Here & There, was published by 47North and his first feature film, After the End, was released by Shout! Studios. On stage, Scher’s work has been produced around the country and internationally in a variety of theaters and festivals including Roundabout, The O’Neill, and Williamstown. Most days you can find Joshua hiking with his dog or nursing his various parenting injuries.
Check out Scher’s feature film, After the End:
https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/...
Conspiracies abound at www.TheReidierTest.com and its comments sections!
Check out Scher’s feature film, After the End:
https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/...
Conspiracies abound at www.TheReidierTest.com and its comments sections!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 148 reviews
October 8, 2015
Only halfway through but giving it five stars already because it makes me so angry that the only other reviews gave it one.
I'll tell you who this book is not for. It is not for people who have lost their sense of curiosity and joy of learning. It is not for people who need a linear plot and characters that can be condensed into a couple paragraphs.
But, if you enjoy learning about physics, philosophy, psychology, mathematics, relationships or child development, if you enjoy intellectual digressions, and if you don't mind the structure (basically a story within notes and footnotes and descriptions) then I highly recommend it.
I'll tell you who this book is not for. It is not for people who have lost their sense of curiosity and joy of learning. It is not for people who need a linear plot and characters that can be condensed into a couple paragraphs.
But, if you enjoy learning about physics, philosophy, psychology, mathematics, relationships or child development, if you enjoy intellectual digressions, and if you don't mind the structure (basically a story within notes and footnotes and descriptions) then I highly recommend it.
October 8, 2015
Immersive, Erudite Conspiracy Involving Bleeding Edge Physics, Philosophy, Cryptography & Breathroughs
I loved this book. Scher has now become a preferred author of mine and Here & There moves into my ten favorite books of all time. With its unique format, its slow reveal of reality versus perception and its deft handling of detailed subjects, this book is a masterpiece. From the time I read the first document, until the explosive ending, it was a fully immersive experience over two full days. When I came up for air, I was feeling triumphant at solving the puzzles and mysteries in the book, alongside the characters. Information is recast in a new light after reading the end of the book. What a wonderful experience.
A book that contains information on Quantum Physics, Quantum Computing, Quantum Cryptography, Ancient and Modern Philosophy and Nanotechnology integral to understanding the story seems like a highly literate geek's dream of a book. While that is true, this story is not beyond any critical thinking person's reach. Scher's treatment of these subjects is deftly woven into the story; highlighting the ramifications of select bits of each area of study, so the reader is spoon fed each new tidbit along with the reasons why each one is important for the goal: invention of teleportation technology. Some will find this objectionable, as the subject of Quantum Physics can be deeply disturbing and some won't attempt to apply the necessary thinking throughout the book. For me, the discussions of the definition of reality, when applied to the physics components made the book an extraordinarily deep and rich examination of a scientific and philosophical innovation that has extreme ramifications to our continued global existence - in effect, recasting our world into something new that we would not recognize.
Scher shows genius in his ability to create a conspiracy centered around a scientist developing his breakthrough technology, his family, his handlers and their competitors. By starting with a catastrophic event, and then framing the book as an investigation by successive people that are integrated into a set of documents that slowly open the lives, actions and intentions of the people involved, he has plotted a 'wheels within wheels' infrastructure where the story arcs swirl inside and around each other. Was the experiment that ended in catastrophic failure simply flawed, or was it a case of sabotage or something else entirely? These are the questions that drive the quest for enlightenment that occurs as you read each document with accompanying footnotes. Some of the discoveries you find are subtle, but others are more epiphanies, when information becomes a pattern that holds significant meaning for the quest. Each video transcript, each redacted document, each journal entry holds a key to meaning for the quest. Some are not immediately obvious, but hold on, because Scher has not only written a meaningful quest, but has intricately plotted each reveal; staging the rate of discovery like a blooming flower; slowly opening the petals to reveal a greater beauty with each second, until the flower is in full bloom. A glorious beauty, fully open and revealed. It is a work of art.
This is, at the basest level, the story of a scientist inventing teleportation, a son chasing his missing mother, people attempting to solve the catastrophe question, people hiding from government oppression, a love story as well as the story of a family in crisis and the conspiracies that surround them all. It is all these things and so much more. It is also an examination of how the U.S. Government deals with bleeding edge technologies and their inventors during the process of creation, and outside people who discover the government's secrets.
Bottom Line: If you enjoy intricately plotted, masterfully written stories that make you use your brain, and you enjoy learning then this is a perfect book for you. Don't be intimidated by the physics or the format, the author simplifies things significantly. The joy of discovery and subjects for subsequent thought inherent in this story make it time well spent. 5 stars
Highly Recommended!
I loved this book. Scher has now become a preferred author of mine and Here & There moves into my ten favorite books of all time. With its unique format, its slow reveal of reality versus perception and its deft handling of detailed subjects, this book is a masterpiece. From the time I read the first document, until the explosive ending, it was a fully immersive experience over two full days. When I came up for air, I was feeling triumphant at solving the puzzles and mysteries in the book, alongside the characters. Information is recast in a new light after reading the end of the book. What a wonderful experience.
A book that contains information on Quantum Physics, Quantum Computing, Quantum Cryptography, Ancient and Modern Philosophy and Nanotechnology integral to understanding the story seems like a highly literate geek's dream of a book. While that is true, this story is not beyond any critical thinking person's reach. Scher's treatment of these subjects is deftly woven into the story; highlighting the ramifications of select bits of each area of study, so the reader is spoon fed each new tidbit along with the reasons why each one is important for the goal: invention of teleportation technology. Some will find this objectionable, as the subject of Quantum Physics can be deeply disturbing and some won't attempt to apply the necessary thinking throughout the book. For me, the discussions of the definition of reality, when applied to the physics components made the book an extraordinarily deep and rich examination of a scientific and philosophical innovation that has extreme ramifications to our continued global existence - in effect, recasting our world into something new that we would not recognize.
Scher shows genius in his ability to create a conspiracy centered around a scientist developing his breakthrough technology, his family, his handlers and their competitors. By starting with a catastrophic event, and then framing the book as an investigation by successive people that are integrated into a set of documents that slowly open the lives, actions and intentions of the people involved, he has plotted a 'wheels within wheels' infrastructure where the story arcs swirl inside and around each other. Was the experiment that ended in catastrophic failure simply flawed, or was it a case of sabotage or something else entirely? These are the questions that drive the quest for enlightenment that occurs as you read each document with accompanying footnotes. Some of the discoveries you find are subtle, but others are more epiphanies, when information becomes a pattern that holds significant meaning for the quest. Each video transcript, each redacted document, each journal entry holds a key to meaning for the quest. Some are not immediately obvious, but hold on, because Scher has not only written a meaningful quest, but has intricately plotted each reveal; staging the rate of discovery like a blooming flower; slowly opening the petals to reveal a greater beauty with each second, until the flower is in full bloom. A glorious beauty, fully open and revealed. It is a work of art.
This is, at the basest level, the story of a scientist inventing teleportation, a son chasing his missing mother, people attempting to solve the catastrophe question, people hiding from government oppression, a love story as well as the story of a family in crisis and the conspiracies that surround them all. It is all these things and so much more. It is also an examination of how the U.S. Government deals with bleeding edge technologies and their inventors during the process of creation, and outside people who discover the government's secrets.
Bottom Line: If you enjoy intricately plotted, masterfully written stories that make you use your brain, and you enjoy learning then this is a perfect book for you. Don't be intimidated by the physics or the format, the author simplifies things significantly. The joy of discovery and subjects for subsequent thought inherent in this story make it time well spent. 5 stars
Highly Recommended!
October 7, 2015
*Ok, I got this book through the Kindle First program. My views are solely my own.*
I see that 2 people have given it 1 star because they couldn't get into it. I feel that's a shame, because while it does throw you into the deep end, the payoff is big. I hope those reviews don't put you off in case you're looking at Goodreads before you decide to read it. This is experimental fiction, it says that from the start, and boy is it different than most other books. You have to fit the pieces together yourself, which I guess if you just want an easy read, you're gonna give it up because that's too much work.
I stuck with it, and I am so glad I did, because the overarching story is intriguing. The footnotes and sidebars and everything else just adds to the whole ambiance of reading the book. The level of paranoia exhibited by some of the characters is easy to laugh off at first, but then I found myself not being able to read this book at night because I was getting scared about being alone in my apartment. Make sure you read the footnotes and the endnotes and everything else; they really enrich the experience. That is actually why I took this down a star; I feel like the ebook format actual did this book a slight disservice. There should have been a physical copy of this so you could lift flaps up, etc.
In a way, this book reminds me of Pale Fire by Nabokov. What is the true narrative? Is this just the ramblings of a psychotic person? Is this really a censored report published as a book? Can we trust the report's author, the narrator, and the actual author? I still don't know, but the whole concept is rather clever.
I see that 2 people have given it 1 star because they couldn't get into it. I feel that's a shame, because while it does throw you into the deep end, the payoff is big. I hope those reviews don't put you off in case you're looking at Goodreads before you decide to read it. This is experimental fiction, it says that from the start, and boy is it different than most other books. You have to fit the pieces together yourself, which I guess if you just want an easy read, you're gonna give it up because that's too much work.
I stuck with it, and I am so glad I did, because the overarching story is intriguing. The footnotes and sidebars and everything else just adds to the whole ambiance of reading the book. The level of paranoia exhibited by some of the characters is easy to laugh off at first, but then I found myself not being able to read this book at night because I was getting scared about being alone in my apartment. Make sure you read the footnotes and the endnotes and everything else; they really enrich the experience. That is actually why I took this down a star; I feel like the ebook format actual did this book a slight disservice. There should have been a physical copy of this so you could lift flaps up, etc.
In a way, this book reminds me of Pale Fire by Nabokov. What is the true narrative? Is this just the ramblings of a psychotic person? Is this really a censored report published as a book? Can we trust the report's author, the narrator, and the actual author? I still don't know, but the whole concept is rather clever.
October 4, 2015
A great deal of minutiae about nothing terribly interesting
This book is to fiction what reality reel movies are to cinema. You know -those flicks from supposedly lost footage. Perhaps that is what he had in mind.
I didn't get too far because I hated the gimmicky approach. This is also a pretentious endeavor where the author seems determined to demonstrate his intellect. I would prefer a demonstration of character development in a workable plot.
I concede that I am primarily a nonfiction reader. Fiction has to be extraordinary for me to like it. I am a harsh critic.
This book is to fiction what reality reel movies are to cinema. You know -those flicks from supposedly lost footage. Perhaps that is what he had in mind.
I didn't get too far because I hated the gimmicky approach. This is also a pretentious endeavor where the author seems determined to demonstrate his intellect. I would prefer a demonstration of character development in a workable plot.
I concede that I am primarily a nonfiction reader. Fiction has to be extraordinary for me to like it. I am a harsh critic.
April 2, 2022
Okay. Yes, I have been "currently reading" this book for a year and a half, and I feel like a shit about it because my dear friend Holly gave it to me before she ran off for the frozen north, and I feel like when friends give you books, you should damned well read them. A friend giving you a book is that friend handing you a piece of something that made them feel or think, and they want you to feel it too, and by letting it sit idle, you essentially put that friend on the shelf as well. Perhaps not intentionally, but I know what it feels like to BEG some pinecone to read a book you love so you will no longer be a fandom of one, and then to stare into space and wait for them to do it.
Anyway. I tried. and tried, lol. If Holly hadn't given it to me, I probably would have DNFed it. But I wanted to know what made it tick, so I kept hauling it out and thinking about it, and then setting it aside in favor of gay makeouts in space, NaNoWriMo, and various other exciting urban fantasy. (I don't make the rules about what gives me serotonin, alright, I'm past being embarrassed about it). Of course, this book is a doorstop, AND Reidier has the habit of spending pages explaining quantum entanglement as earnestly as his wife Eve writes very deep, very French short stories modeled upon her own life, so it tends to go slowly in places. In the end however, I had a five-hour plane ride for the first time since the pandemic began and decided that I was going to shove it in my bag without backup. No excuses, yo. And I did it! And now you have to put up with me talking some shit about it! :D
In the end, it's a less-aggravating House of Leaves (HoL) for the physics and government conspiracy set; the book begins with a letter from narrator Danny to author Joshua explaining that he's sorry to have to dump this on him but he's disappearing, but anyway, his mom is missing and they've always had a fraught relationship, so good luck not getting picked up by the feds, bye. Then, the manuscript comprises the original PsyNar(TM) report by Hillary (Danny's missing mom), which is footnoted by Hillary herself, which is in turn footnoted by Danny, interspersed with strategically redacted reports of Reidier's tests and transcriptions and descriptions of the extensive video and audio surveillance on Reidier's house.
We're out here following along with Hillary as she figures out what happened and how we got to the disaster in question. It's pretty early in the book that we figure out the secret about his twin sons and what the tesselation on the video means, but there's a point of no return where the book comes clean with us, and there are a handful of revelations that are like hoh shiiiit. There are plenty of places in the second 2/3 of the book where the reading goes very quickly. A big difference between HoL and this book is that in HoL, everyone is terrible and you kind of wish the house would just eat them and be done with it. Here, the characters are complex and interesting, but not ostensibly irredeemable even if they all have some issue or another that would definitely be cause to send them to therapy (or at least, do not appear to be so until say, the last 10% of the book, lol).
Now, I know that it probably makes me sound undereducated to say that Reidier going on about quantum entanglement is a snooze fest, however, I, a data scientist in real life, do enough technical reading in my life that I don't want to do it for fun, AND I have watched way too many videos about quarks and shit, so take that with a grain of salt. Maybe this would be entertaining to you! (Especially given that the author tries to mitigate this by having Reidier explain it to his naked wife in bed at least once.) I held my eyelids open with tape a la bugs bunny for these bits.
Of specific interest to me, there are three primary female characters in this book: Hillary, the capable yet distant missing dysfunctional mom/psychology rockstar, Eve, Reidier's hot-hot, universally-desired French wife and accomplished writer and professor of literature, and Lorelei, Danny's hot-hot, spunky coworker who has friendzoned (and that's a terrible, outdated, no-good term that I don't use, but that's the intent) nice guy Danny to fuck wealthy investment bankers, but apparently secretly holds a fond place in her heart for him. So yes, thanks for noticing, all of the women who are not Danny's mom are hot-hot ultrafuckable. For once, I just want a man to shock the shit out of me and write the wife and/or love interest to be a dumpy woman who is still luminous, intelligent, and not played for laughs. Once? Shit. Anyway, all of these women are written as smart, witty, and capable, so there's no real bitch here in that respect at least.
At any rate, as the story unfolds, Danny starts losing his mind and becomes an even more unreliable narrator (though unlike HoL's Johnny, does not befriend a stripper and fuck two ladies in one night, and in fact, even as the Reidier story begins to reach the horrible climax you knew was coming but just gets sort of worse by the moment, and I have to admit, that was done pretty well. The end of one of the threads however was unsatisfying, and I'm bitter about that.
At any rate, I didn't hate this book, and in fact, found more of it enjoyable than otherwise even if it was difficult to get into. It's given me a lot to ponder, though it might have used an edit here and there and a little less of a spankbank of female characters in my definitively unhumble opinion.
Anyway, good talk. I'm off to read about haunted woods.
Anyway. I tried. and tried, lol. If Holly hadn't given it to me, I probably would have DNFed it. But I wanted to know what made it tick, so I kept hauling it out and thinking about it, and then setting it aside in favor of gay makeouts in space, NaNoWriMo, and various other exciting urban fantasy. (I don't make the rules about what gives me serotonin, alright, I'm past being embarrassed about it). Of course, this book is a doorstop, AND Reidier has the habit of spending pages explaining quantum entanglement as earnestly as his wife Eve writes very deep, very French short stories modeled upon her own life, so it tends to go slowly in places. In the end however, I had a five-hour plane ride for the first time since the pandemic began and decided that I was going to shove it in my bag without backup. No excuses, yo. And I did it! And now you have to put up with me talking some shit about it! :D
In the end, it's a less-aggravating House of Leaves (HoL) for the physics and government conspiracy set; the book begins with a letter from narrator Danny to author Joshua explaining that he's sorry to have to dump this on him but he's disappearing, but anyway, his mom is missing and they've always had a fraught relationship, so good luck not getting picked up by the feds, bye. Then, the manuscript comprises the original PsyNar(TM) report by Hillary (Danny's missing mom), which is footnoted by Hillary herself, which is in turn footnoted by Danny, interspersed with strategically redacted reports of Reidier's tests and transcriptions and descriptions of the extensive video and audio surveillance on Reidier's house.
We're out here following along with Hillary as she figures out what happened and how we got to the disaster in question. It's pretty early in the book that we figure out the secret about his twin sons and what the tesselation on the video means, but there's a point of no return where the book comes clean with us, and there are a handful of revelations that are like hoh shiiiit. There are plenty of places in the second 2/3 of the book where the reading goes very quickly. A big difference between HoL and this book is that in HoL, everyone is terrible and you kind of wish the house would just eat them and be done with it. Here, the characters are complex and interesting, but not ostensibly irredeemable even if they all have some issue or another that would definitely be cause to send them to therapy (or at least, do not appear to be so until say, the last 10% of the book, lol).
Now, I know that it probably makes me sound undereducated to say that Reidier going on about quantum entanglement is a snooze fest, however, I, a data scientist in real life, do enough technical reading in my life that I don't want to do it for fun, AND I have watched way too many videos about quarks and shit, so take that with a grain of salt. Maybe this would be entertaining to you! (Especially given that the author tries to mitigate this by having Reidier explain it to his naked wife in bed at least once.) I held my eyelids open with tape a la bugs bunny for these bits.
Of specific interest to me, there are three primary female characters in this book: Hillary, the capable yet distant missing dysfunctional mom/psychology rockstar, Eve, Reidier's hot-hot, universally-desired French wife and accomplished writer and professor of literature, and Lorelei, Danny's hot-hot, spunky coworker who has friendzoned (and that's a terrible, outdated, no-good term that I don't use, but that's the intent) nice guy Danny to fuck wealthy investment bankers, but apparently secretly holds a fond place in her heart for him. So yes, thanks for noticing, all of the women who are not Danny's mom are hot-hot ultrafuckable. For once, I just want a man to shock the shit out of me and write the wife and/or love interest to be a dumpy woman who is still luminous, intelligent, and not played for laughs. Once? Shit. Anyway, all of these women are written as smart, witty, and capable, so there's no real bitch here in that respect at least.
At any rate, as the story unfolds, Danny starts losing his mind and becomes an even more unreliable narrator (though unlike HoL's Johnny, does not befriend a stripper and fuck two ladies in one night, and in fact, even as the Reidier story begins to reach the horrible climax you knew was coming but just gets sort of worse by the moment, and I have to admit, that was done pretty well. The end of one of the threads however was unsatisfying, and I'm bitter about that.
At any rate, I didn't hate this book, and in fact, found more of it enjoyable than otherwise even if it was difficult to get into. It's given me a lot to ponder, though it might have used an edit here and there and a little less of a spankbank of female characters in my definitively unhumble opinion.
Anyway, good talk. I'm off to read about haunted woods.
November 11, 2015
This is really 2.5 I think. I got this book through Amazon's Kindle First program, so it was free. I try to use this program to read books and genres I might not otherwise read, since they're free and all. This was categorized as "experimental fiction." It was definitely... an experiment, and I don't think the results are fully in. I'm still trying to interpret the data.
On the plus side, there's a lot of science fiction stuff about quantum physics. Ever since I read the Einstein biography (which I totally recommend!! Einstein: His Life and Universe) and I read how Einstein described quantum mechanics as "spooky action at a distance," I've been intrigued by this stuff. I'll freely admit, however, that I don't really get it. Anyways, the science of this story is teleportation by quantum entanglement.
The structure of this story is a briefcase. As in, a dude finds his mom's hidden briefcase (his mom went missing two years ago, and by the way, was a sci-fi version of a criminal psychologist) and in the briefcase is a rough draft of a report she was writing, transcripts of audio recordings, newspaper clippings, photocopies of diary excerpt and short stories. The dude (Danny) wrote a letter to the author, Joshua Scher, and then sent him the contents of the briefcase, with his own footnotes now added to the contents. So the first narrative layer is the author himself, saying that this book is simply what his "friend" Danny sent him. The second narrative layer is Danny's letter to the author, explaining his mom's job researching a scientist and his wife, and the "incident" that happened to their family. The third narrative layer is his mom's report, a psychological profile of the scientist and his wife. Those three layers alone can be confusing, because they are all written in first person. I, personally, always got annoyed when Danny interjected by writing footnotes on his mom's report. That was the least believable layer of narration, to be honest. I just didn't find it credible as a letter to his author friend. The weird details about his own life, the writing style--just not believable at all. Danny believes this report cost his mom her life, and that the secret government agency is after him as well, and he's running for his life, yet he takes the time to transcribe, word for word, a conversation with his best friend in a bar, when they tell an incredibly (and obviously) fake story about being wildland firefighters, just to pick up a girl? So dumb. Much less believable then the teleportation storyline, so that's saying something!
Anyways, his mom's report about the scientist is actually very interesting, as she tries to uncover what happened to him and his family during his experiments. How she puts the pieces together is sometimes eyeroll-inducing. Most of it is okay--interviews, surveillance tapes, secret monitoring devices from the government, diary entries, fine, fine. The part that gets to me his his wife's "writings." Apparently, the scientists's wife, Eve, was an aspiring writer. She wrote some "fiction" which conveniently word for word descriptions of secret conversations, pillow talk, really, between her and her husband about his work. But since she changed their names!!! it's fiction! And thus the government agency that tried to cover their tracks didn't destroy these pieces of fiction! And it's so ridiculously convenient! Why would she even write those and try to publish them as short stories? What market is there for a short story about a husband and wife talking about equations, and then going to bed? How is that a stand alone story? Anyways...
Experimental fiction. I liked the premise--this book is just a published version of the contents of a hidden briefcase, containing all that's left of government secrets. Most of the narrative layers I enjoyed (except Danny's stupid letter, and the even stupider fictional short stories) and the mystery kept me coming back. Some of the twists I saw coming, but some I didn't, and they surprised me. The ending made me annoyed, more than anything, but as a whole, the book kept me really interested.
I'd recommend reading this quickly, in just a few sittings. I didn't, and that made it harder to keep track of which narrative layer I was in, and easier to forget important details. So read it quickly!
On the plus side, there's a lot of science fiction stuff about quantum physics. Ever since I read the Einstein biography (which I totally recommend!! Einstein: His Life and Universe) and I read how Einstein described quantum mechanics as "spooky action at a distance," I've been intrigued by this stuff. I'll freely admit, however, that I don't really get it. Anyways, the science of this story is teleportation by quantum entanglement.
The structure of this story is a briefcase. As in, a dude finds his mom's hidden briefcase (his mom went missing two years ago, and by the way, was a sci-fi version of a criminal psychologist) and in the briefcase is a rough draft of a report she was writing, transcripts of audio recordings, newspaper clippings, photocopies of diary excerpt and short stories. The dude (Danny) wrote a letter to the author, Joshua Scher, and then sent him the contents of the briefcase, with his own footnotes now added to the contents. So the first narrative layer is the author himself, saying that this book is simply what his "friend" Danny sent him. The second narrative layer is Danny's letter to the author, explaining his mom's job researching a scientist and his wife, and the "incident" that happened to their family. The third narrative layer is his mom's report, a psychological profile of the scientist and his wife. Those three layers alone can be confusing, because they are all written in first person. I, personally, always got annoyed when Danny interjected by writing footnotes on his mom's report. That was the least believable layer of narration, to be honest. I just didn't find it credible as a letter to his author friend. The weird details about his own life, the writing style--just not believable at all. Danny believes this report cost his mom her life, and that the secret government agency is after him as well, and he's running for his life, yet he takes the time to transcribe, word for word, a conversation with his best friend in a bar, when they tell an incredibly (and obviously) fake story about being wildland firefighters, just to pick up a girl? So dumb. Much less believable then the teleportation storyline, so that's saying something!
Anyways, his mom's report about the scientist is actually very interesting, as she tries to uncover what happened to him and his family during his experiments. How she puts the pieces together is sometimes eyeroll-inducing. Most of it is okay--interviews, surveillance tapes, secret monitoring devices from the government, diary entries, fine, fine. The part that gets to me his his wife's "writings." Apparently, the scientists's wife, Eve, was an aspiring writer. She wrote some "fiction" which conveniently word for word descriptions of secret conversations, pillow talk, really, between her and her husband about his work. But since she changed their names!!! it's fiction! And thus the government agency that tried to cover their tracks didn't destroy these pieces of fiction! And it's so ridiculously convenient! Why would she even write those and try to publish them as short stories? What market is there for a short story about a husband and wife talking about equations, and then going to bed? How is that a stand alone story? Anyways...
Experimental fiction. I liked the premise--this book is just a published version of the contents of a hidden briefcase, containing all that's left of government secrets. Most of the narrative layers I enjoyed (except Danny's stupid letter, and the even stupider fictional short stories) and the mystery kept me coming back. Some of the twists I saw coming, but some I didn't, and they surprised me. The ending made me annoyed, more than anything, but as a whole, the book kept me really interested.
I'd recommend reading this quickly, in just a few sittings. I didn't, and that made it harder to keep track of which narrative layer I was in, and easier to forget important details. So read it quickly!
October 23, 2015
Sorry. I got through 18%. Life's too short to force yourself to read a book you don't like. I really loved the premise, and I liked the emails, reports, letters, etc way of presenting information. What turned me away were the portions that were based on Eve's fiction novels. A page or two of excerpts would have been fine. Pages and pages of her bad writing? No. Could not choke down another page. I was bored to tears and only forcing myself to read because of all the other reviews saying this book is so brilliant (and for people smart enough to understand it; i.e. a challenge!).
I am all for pretentious books. I'm a bit of a book snob myself (except for a few bodice-rippers). But, this book did not deliver for me. It's one thing to be super smart about physics and use a gimmick writing technique... but, the writing overall still has to be good. I can't. Thank goodness this was a kindle first free book. I'd have felt robbed to have paid for it. Hand's down - the fiction writing of Eve's novels ruined it for me.
I am all for pretentious books. I'm a bit of a book snob myself (except for a few bodice-rippers). But, this book did not deliver for me. It's one thing to be super smart about physics and use a gimmick writing technique... but, the writing overall still has to be good. I can't. Thank goodness this was a kindle first free book. I'd have felt robbed to have paid for it. Hand's down - the fiction writing of Eve's novels ruined it for me.
September 15, 2017
Sometimes a good book is a light and easy walk through the woods. I'm thinking of books like "A Confederacy of Dunces" or "To Kill a Mockingbird." For those books, as long as the reader shows up, they can't help but have a great time without considerable effort.
Other books are like a long and difficult hike up a steep mountain. You have to work for every inch you go but once you reach the top you have the extreme satisfaction that accompanies hard work. I'm thinking of books like "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" and "Moby Dick."
"Here & There" belongs in the latter category. I say this only as a warning to the reader. You have to be in a very specific mood with a great deal of time on your hands to read this book but if you do, all the way to the end, I guarantee you will feel satisfied and accomplished.
On it's face, it's a straight forward sci-fi set up: A brilliant scientist attempts a large scale experiment involving teleportation. It appears that the result was a spectacular failure...or was it? What follows is an investigation within an investigation within an investigation within a book. There are faux footnotes and faux sources. There are tangents which don't seem to go anywhere. There are revelations which shocked me because of how slow the boil was. I felt like the frog in hot water where the temperature is slowly turned up. By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late.
I enjoyed this immensely but don't go into this work lightly. Scher certainly put in his leg work in writing it. I suggest you do the same.
Other books are like a long and difficult hike up a steep mountain. You have to work for every inch you go but once you reach the top you have the extreme satisfaction that accompanies hard work. I'm thinking of books like "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" and "Moby Dick."
"Here & There" belongs in the latter category. I say this only as a warning to the reader. You have to be in a very specific mood with a great deal of time on your hands to read this book but if you do, all the way to the end, I guarantee you will feel satisfied and accomplished.
On it's face, it's a straight forward sci-fi set up: A brilliant scientist attempts a large scale experiment involving teleportation. It appears that the result was a spectacular failure...or was it? What follows is an investigation within an investigation within an investigation within a book. There are faux footnotes and faux sources. There are tangents which don't seem to go anywhere. There are revelations which shocked me because of how slow the boil was. I felt like the frog in hot water where the temperature is slowly turned up. By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late.
I enjoyed this immensely but don't go into this work lightly. Scher certainly put in his leg work in writing it. I suggest you do the same.
April 21, 2018
I get it, Reider wears a tweed sports coat and the machinery powers up and off - why do I have to read this a bajillion times? The author is trying way too hard - all the scientific references, footnotes, literary quotes, stories within stories, book within a book, etc. I wanted to only read about The Reiderer Test not all that other stuff, which only made me confused and felt like I drank all that absinthe that the characters did.
February 4, 2017
This book was truly an enjoyable and witty ride(5/5). It has been accused of being "difficult" to read, which is not necessarily true. I CAN see how the typical person might not enjoy the book because of it's atypical storytelling style, above baseline vocabulary, and both the reality based quantum physics and the more "experimental" fiction elements. It happens that these are the exact things I find charming about the book.
Let's begin with the way the story is presented to the reader. Essentially if you strip the story down it is about the controversial disappearance of the scientist Reider and his family. This story is built using several different media, including but not limited to, video/audio recordings at his home, video recordings of in lab experiments, interviews with relevant people, diary entries, etc. But the details don't stop there it just so happens all of this information is organized by none other than a criminal psychologist (aka the main narrator's mother). The benefit here is she provides valuable insight and comments into the events and thoughts surrounding the Reider family. On top of all of this the narrator, who is looking into his mother's disappearance and stumbled upon her "Reider File" (essentially what Here & There is), also provides additional comments and expands the storyline a bit further. Now several people have argued that the storytelling is hard to keep track of. I disagree, the material is presented for the most part in an order that is easy to follow. Obviously there are several twists that don't come to light until much later on, but that's what makes it a fantastic mystery. If you can't handle that, then you simply (and understandably) don't like mysteries. Most of the book is setting up the plot in a way that keeps you interested, but leaves plenty of room for some insane, but perfectly fit twists. I personally thought the book was incredibly easy to follow CONSIDERING its a mystery and the style of storytelling.
The next element is the use of words beyond the typical everyday vocabulary. This one is pretty simple; I don't have a vocabulary worth bragging about, Scher does, I like that. I also read books on my kindle so it is as simple as pressing on the word to get a quick definition, so I believe I had the benefit of expanding my vocabulary a bit. One review argued that he was flexing his vocabulary muscles, I have no problem with that. It flowed fine to me (didn't take away from the plot) and I love to learn.
Finally, being that the book is a science fiction thriller it includes some technical language. I was in a STEM major in college and have a casual interest in space relativity and the works, so I loved the over my head quantum science. Most of it is adequately explained, but honestly we aren't meant to understand a good portion of it. That's what makes Reider's work so impressive (and interesting) and helps us to understand what the narrator is feeling as well. For some the quantum physics speak may seem too heavy, but I believe we understand just enough so that teleportation seems possible even though the actual science doesn't quite exist (as far as I am aware).
Overall, I thought it was great. There was a splendid mix of science, mystery, and character development. The way we come to intimately know Reider and his family, especially considering we are nearly 3 sources separated (different media -> psychologist mother's commentary -> narrator -> us) is incredibly well done. That's not to forget we even really get to know the witty narrator and his own story branch as he deals with all of the information. I can certainly appreciate the subtle and tastefully splashed romance in the book. The book had me feeling breathless at the end; five out of five stars from me.
Let's begin with the way the story is presented to the reader. Essentially if you strip the story down it is about the controversial disappearance of the scientist Reider and his family. This story is built using several different media, including but not limited to, video/audio recordings at his home, video recordings of in lab experiments, interviews with relevant people, diary entries, etc. But the details don't stop there it just so happens all of this information is organized by none other than a criminal psychologist (aka the main narrator's mother). The benefit here is she provides valuable insight and comments into the events and thoughts surrounding the Reider family. On top of all of this the narrator, who is looking into his mother's disappearance and stumbled upon her "Reider File" (essentially what Here & There is), also provides additional comments and expands the storyline a bit further. Now several people have argued that the storytelling is hard to keep track of. I disagree, the material is presented for the most part in an order that is easy to follow. Obviously there are several twists that don't come to light until much later on, but that's what makes it a fantastic mystery. If you can't handle that, then you simply (and understandably) don't like mysteries. Most of the book is setting up the plot in a way that keeps you interested, but leaves plenty of room for some insane, but perfectly fit twists. I personally thought the book was incredibly easy to follow CONSIDERING its a mystery and the style of storytelling.
The next element is the use of words beyond the typical everyday vocabulary. This one is pretty simple; I don't have a vocabulary worth bragging about, Scher does, I like that. I also read books on my kindle so it is as simple as pressing on the word to get a quick definition, so I believe I had the benefit of expanding my vocabulary a bit. One review argued that he was flexing his vocabulary muscles, I have no problem with that. It flowed fine to me (didn't take away from the plot) and I love to learn.
Finally, being that the book is a science fiction thriller it includes some technical language. I was in a STEM major in college and have a casual interest in space relativity and the works, so I loved the over my head quantum science. Most of it is adequately explained, but honestly we aren't meant to understand a good portion of it. That's what makes Reider's work so impressive (and interesting) and helps us to understand what the narrator is feeling as well. For some the quantum physics speak may seem too heavy, but I believe we understand just enough so that teleportation seems possible even though the actual science doesn't quite exist (as far as I am aware).
Overall, I thought it was great. There was a splendid mix of science, mystery, and character development. The way we come to intimately know Reider and his family, especially considering we are nearly 3 sources separated (different media -> psychologist mother's commentary -> narrator -> us) is incredibly well done. That's not to forget we even really get to know the witty narrator and his own story branch as he deals with all of the information. I can certainly appreciate the subtle and tastefully splashed romance in the book. The book had me feeling breathless at the end; five out of five stars from me.
October 21, 2015
There's nothing quite like the sweet anticipation of climbing into a warm bed on a cool fall night and reaching for a good book. Ahhh, to delve into a tome that so fascinates, is so compelling, so well written, a story you just lose yourself in, filled with characters you absolutely love or love to hate absolutely, a story that draws you in such that you actually feel you are right there in the plot--this is what I look for in a novel.
Unfortunately, this book is not that.
However, if you groove on quantum physics and impossibly long passages chock full of complex scientific and pseudo-scientific terminology and complete confusion as to which of the cast of characters is relating the story at any given time then this may be the book for you. If you dig lengthy dialog about Quark Resonators or Boson Cannons or Pion Beams then this could be right up your literary alley. Oh, and don't forget the Entanglement Channel. This story, you may have guessed, is about experiments in teleportation and the "scientists" who attempt to perform them. Oh, but wait -- there's more! It's also got some "romantic" scenes wherein the chief scientist, Dr. Reider, is in bed with his beautiful French wife, Eve (or is it Elle?). He is writing formulas and equations all over her thighs while he expounds on his theories about transmogrification. If that doesn't put you into a state of euphoria and heightened arousal, I just cannot imagine why!
Needless to say, I did not like this book. But perhaps I'm not being fair. Because I did not finish it. Could not finish it. Will not finish it. There are far too many great reads waiting to be discovered and too little time. But, hey, there are all kinds of people in this world and obviously all kinds of literature to appeal to them. If you absolutely love this book, I won't judge. But if you hate it, don't blame me.
Unfortunately, this book is not that.
However, if you groove on quantum physics and impossibly long passages chock full of complex scientific and pseudo-scientific terminology and complete confusion as to which of the cast of characters is relating the story at any given time then this may be the book for you. If you dig lengthy dialog about Quark Resonators or Boson Cannons or Pion Beams then this could be right up your literary alley. Oh, and don't forget the Entanglement Channel. This story, you may have guessed, is about experiments in teleportation and the "scientists" who attempt to perform them. Oh, but wait -- there's more! It's also got some "romantic" scenes wherein the chief scientist, Dr. Reider, is in bed with his beautiful French wife, Eve (or is it Elle?). He is writing formulas and equations all over her thighs while he expounds on his theories about transmogrification. If that doesn't put you into a state of euphoria and heightened arousal, I just cannot imagine why!
Needless to say, I did not like this book. But perhaps I'm not being fair. Because I did not finish it. Could not finish it. Will not finish it. There are far too many great reads waiting to be discovered and too little time. But, hey, there are all kinds of people in this world and obviously all kinds of literature to appeal to them. If you absolutely love this book, I won't judge. But if you hate it, don't blame me.
February 8, 2016
What are we reading?: Here & There, by Joshua V Scher
Give me the short version: House of Leaves meets The Philadelphia Experiment.
I enjoyed this. I really enjoyed it.
Unfortunately, to an analytical reader the close adherence to the House of Leaves model and story arc: including the nested “mystery” narratives of protagonist (i.e. young resentful person struggling with adult identity) into documentation, a dissolute friendship based around wild freeform lies in bars, the typesetting, references, the false flashes of love and redemption, and the analysis of crumbling domesticity as catalyst for greater disaster may obfuscate Here & There’s emerging story, which is a real shame.
With a taste for psychology and physics rather than space and occupation Mr Scher has fascinating material to bring, a deft touch with revelation, and an almost Crichton-esque accessibility to the layman for higher concepts. He writes in a style with straightforward resonance, offsetting the complexity of the narratives.
Of course if you’ve skimmed existing reviews Here & There is obviously not an experience for everyone; but by the time I was 5% in I was already thinking “This story was MADE for me!” It especially began hitting its own more unique stride in the second half, which is also when my habit of reading the best bits out loud to my partner got me sent out of the room.
Ultimately I’d very much recommend this to read, but unless there’s some in-joke about entanglement afoot I feel the story might have been served better striking off on its own path and asserting itself as something really genre-defining, rather than occupying a shape that another tale so famously inhabits.
Favourite bit: Every accident is an act of falling – an act devoid of control, an act impossible to govern.
Give me the short version: House of Leaves meets The Philadelphia Experiment.
I enjoyed this. I really enjoyed it.
Unfortunately, to an analytical reader the close adherence to the House of Leaves model and story arc: including the nested “mystery” narratives of protagonist (i.e. young resentful person struggling with adult identity) into documentation, a dissolute friendship based around wild freeform lies in bars, the typesetting, references, the false flashes of love and redemption, and the analysis of crumbling domesticity as catalyst for greater disaster may obfuscate Here & There’s emerging story, which is a real shame.
With a taste for psychology and physics rather than space and occupation Mr Scher has fascinating material to bring, a deft touch with revelation, and an almost Crichton-esque accessibility to the layman for higher concepts. He writes in a style with straightforward resonance, offsetting the complexity of the narratives.
Of course if you’ve skimmed existing reviews Here & There is obviously not an experience for everyone; but by the time I was 5% in I was already thinking “This story was MADE for me!” It especially began hitting its own more unique stride in the second half, which is also when my habit of reading the best bits out loud to my partner got me sent out of the room.
Ultimately I’d very much recommend this to read, but unless there’s some in-joke about entanglement afoot I feel the story might have been served better striking off on its own path and asserting itself as something really genre-defining, rather than occupying a shape that another tale so famously inhabits.
Favourite bit: Every accident is an act of falling – an act devoid of control, an act impossible to govern.
October 14, 2015
A SIMPLE MAN'S REVIEW:
This first thing you need to know is this book is written in the style of person A commenting on person B's research into person C's life. Similar to House of Leaves, but executed better.
This book is fantastic! It will grab you from the start and you'll find it tough to put it down because you are trying to put the pieces together as person A discovers new information from person B's notes. You will completely get wrapped up in person C's life and begin to understand the decisions they make.
There were a few times when I knew some of the secrets before the reveal, and I'm unsure if it's because I watch/read A LOT of Sci Fi or if the author intentionally dropped clues. But here's the thing: it didn't matter. The story was compelling and the last "notebook" found put everything into a different light anyway. I knew the gist but not the whole story.
And then there's the appendix! (You'll have to read it to understand)
About the footnotes: I read the book quickly, skipping the footnotes and then skimming them after I finished. Many of them are unimportant, some of them are translations for Eve's French, but a few actually explain the actions of the characters at that moment. Since I had read the book in only a few days, I was still able to put the footnotes into their context. It will probably be a huge pain to go back and forth for each footnote, but it might add something to the story.
I would definitely read this book. It was one of the free ones through Amazon Prime but now that I know how good this book is, I would gladly pay for it.
This first thing you need to know is this book is written in the style of person A commenting on person B's research into person C's life. Similar to House of Leaves, but executed better.
This book is fantastic! It will grab you from the start and you'll find it tough to put it down because you are trying to put the pieces together as person A discovers new information from person B's notes. You will completely get wrapped up in person C's life and begin to understand the decisions they make.
There were a few times when I knew some of the secrets before the reveal, and I'm unsure if it's because I watch/read A LOT of Sci Fi or if the author intentionally dropped clues. But here's the thing: it didn't matter. The story was compelling and the last "notebook" found put everything into a different light anyway. I knew the gist but not the whole story.
And then there's the appendix! (You'll have to read it to understand)
About the footnotes: I read the book quickly, skipping the footnotes and then skimming them after I finished. Many of them are unimportant, some of them are translations for Eve's French, but a few actually explain the actions of the characters at that moment. Since I had read the book in only a few days, I was still able to put the footnotes into their context. It will probably be a huge pain to go back and forth for each footnote, but it might add something to the story.
I would definitely read this book. It was one of the free ones through Amazon Prime but now that I know how good this book is, I would gladly pay for it.
October 15, 2015
I approached this book expecting some kind of interesting science-fiction story about teleportation. Instead, what I got was a dull, boring book attemtping to come across as something that could actually happen.
The book is written in a series of letters, recordings, transcripts etc. as an individual pieces together a science experiment seemingly gone awry. It falls into the usual traps that these kind of poorly written narratives regularly fall into by often over describing certain aspects in order to cram as much information in as possible. For example, a conversation between two individuals conveniently describes in intricate detail all the information required, ignoring the fact that this is rarely how conversations take place. Or footnotes apparently written by an indivdual that run for pages and go off on tangents as if a person would actually write in this level of detail.
However, the most unforgivable aspect of the book is the sheer boredom of the subject matter. The book is dense with scientific words, theories and phrases which never seem to go anywhere. It feels that after coming to the end of a chapter that you have just spent the last hour or so wading through treacle and are relieved that this segment of the book has come to an end, only to discover another desert of narrative to cross.
All in all, slow, plodding, dull and really not worth the pain of reading.
The book is written in a series of letters, recordings, transcripts etc. as an individual pieces together a science experiment seemingly gone awry. It falls into the usual traps that these kind of poorly written narratives regularly fall into by often over describing certain aspects in order to cram as much information in as possible. For example, a conversation between two individuals conveniently describes in intricate detail all the information required, ignoring the fact that this is rarely how conversations take place. Or footnotes apparently written by an indivdual that run for pages and go off on tangents as if a person would actually write in this level of detail.
However, the most unforgivable aspect of the book is the sheer boredom of the subject matter. The book is dense with scientific words, theories and phrases which never seem to go anywhere. It feels that after coming to the end of a chapter that you have just spent the last hour or so wading through treacle and are relieved that this segment of the book has come to an end, only to discover another desert of narrative to cross.
All in all, slow, plodding, dull and really not worth the pain of reading.
February 4, 2016
Now this is a five-star book. This is a TEN star book. Maybe eleven. Which is not to say this is an easy book. Something about the tone kept reminding me of House of Leaves - its not quite as impenetrable as that, but I think people who enjoyed HoL will also appreciate this one. This is written 'as if' it is an actual manuscript received by the author under somewhat unusual circumstances. The narrator had likewise received the manuscript - there are asides in the narrators voice, conveyed in a different font - and unraveling the mystery it contains is the entire scope of the book. While I found some items obvious well before their big reveal, there were still plenty of unexpected twists that kept me wondering up to and beyond the very last page.
It is probably advisable to have a lay person's grasp of quantum physics before wading in - the plot revolves around a physicist who may have managed to create a reliable method of teleportation. Much of the book is comprised of collected reports on the work he is engaged in, which necessarily involves a certain amount of jargon. You won't need a calculator by your side, but if the idea of quantum entanglement or collapse of the wave function makes your eyes cross, this might not be the best book to curl up with on a long winter's night. But if you're comfortable with Schroedinger's Cat, I highly recommend this. As a debut novel, it promises much to look forward to from the pen of Mr. Scher.
It is probably advisable to have a lay person's grasp of quantum physics before wading in - the plot revolves around a physicist who may have managed to create a reliable method of teleportation. Much of the book is comprised of collected reports on the work he is engaged in, which necessarily involves a certain amount of jargon. You won't need a calculator by your side, but if the idea of quantum entanglement or collapse of the wave function makes your eyes cross, this might not be the best book to curl up with on a long winter's night. But if you're comfortable with Schroedinger's Cat, I highly recommend this. As a debut novel, it promises much to look forward to from the pen of Mr. Scher.
December 24, 2015
This is a very modern, very complex book, during which I often felt the author was showing off his intellect and enthusiasm for his ideas. It's way over-written (The appendix is ridiculous) and, like many first-time novelists, the ending is disappointing.
At it's base, the book is a mystery. A young man finds the papers of his missing mother. The papers represent the classified project the Mother was working on and the son thinks they hold the clue to her disappearance. Part of the book is about the danger the son is in due to him finding the secret stash, but the bulk of the book is the contents of the documents. The documents, "written" by the mother are about a scientist's experiments in teleportation and replication. But, they also examine his personal life, especially his relationship with his wife and twin boys. The book is structured with various narrators, lots of footnotes, lots of technical data, and some heavy-handed corporate and government bad-guys.
I like what Scher is trying to do with this book, and the big plot twist is cool. There's a lot of good stuff in here, and a lot of bad, and too much of everything.
At it's base, the book is a mystery. A young man finds the papers of his missing mother. The papers represent the classified project the Mother was working on and the son thinks they hold the clue to her disappearance. Part of the book is about the danger the son is in due to him finding the secret stash, but the bulk of the book is the contents of the documents. The documents, "written" by the mother are about a scientist's experiments in teleportation and replication. But, they also examine his personal life, especially his relationship with his wife and twin boys. The book is structured with various narrators, lots of footnotes, lots of technical data, and some heavy-handed corporate and government bad-guys.
I like what Scher is trying to do with this book, and the big plot twist is cool. There's a lot of good stuff in here, and a lot of bad, and too much of everything.
March 17, 2016
I did not have any problems with the structure of this book (as did some readers) nor was I bothered at the unresolved plot -- if you read much contemporary fiction you will encounter such techniques fairly frequently (consider Gods Without Men or Infinite Jest). However, two things did bug me: first, the science was oddly specific without actually being all that plausible (quantum computing offers some interesting capabilities, but is not actually magical, insurmountable data-handling problems are hand-waved away, and the scanning technology almost certainly violates both information theory and the Uncertainty Principle); and second, the book was too long for what it was doing. Somewhere in that 630+ page monster was a 400-450 page tightly-written novel screaming to get out.
Two and three quarters stars.
Two and three quarters stars.
October 8, 2015
When my Kindle dropped on my face I finally awakened
I almost never give 1 star. I just can't. Besides the obvious respect to the author work, almost in everything should be some "meal for thoughts". It should, but... In my point of view, author "experimented" too much. He sacrificed the plot to the "originality". He had thrown everything he knew - prose writing, script writing, essay writing, scientific reports writing - to the one boiling pot hopping to be "original", but unfortunately this broth didn't come through correctly. The result is as disastrous as "Reidier's Test" he was describing (trying to) and extremely boring. Petty. The idea isn't bad, the implementation failed.
I was trying really hard to get through, but when my Kindle finally fell on my face, when I got asleep, I decided to give up. Don't wanted to waist my time anymore.
I almost never give 1 star. I just can't. Besides the obvious respect to the author work, almost in everything should be some "meal for thoughts". It should, but... In my point of view, author "experimented" too much. He sacrificed the plot to the "originality". He had thrown everything he knew - prose writing, script writing, essay writing, scientific reports writing - to the one boiling pot hopping to be "original", but unfortunately this broth didn't come through correctly. The result is as disastrous as "Reidier's Test" he was describing (trying to) and extremely boring. Petty. The idea isn't bad, the implementation failed.
I was trying really hard to get through, but when my Kindle finally fell on my face, when I got asleep, I decided to give up. Don't wanted to waist my time anymore.
June 15, 2016
I got bored and stopped reading about half way through so cannot give a complete and accurate review. But sometimes it's important to know that some people stopped reading when looking at reviews.
I know some people loved this book, I just didn't. We are human beings with varied interests and tastes and wouldn't life be dull if that were not the case. I quite like "different" books and those with a science fiction element but after persevering I just thought life's too short and there are a zillion books on my 'to read' list that I would rather start.
I do however get irritated when reviewers slag other reviewers off because they don't agree with them and start bandying insults around and (in relation to this book in particular) questioning their intelligence - that is incredibly PATRONISING. And to those reviewers I say "get over yourselves".
I know some people loved this book, I just didn't. We are human beings with varied interests and tastes and wouldn't life be dull if that were not the case. I quite like "different" books and those with a science fiction element but after persevering I just thought life's too short and there are a zillion books on my 'to read' list that I would rather start.
I do however get irritated when reviewers slag other reviewers off because they don't agree with them and start bandying insults around and (in relation to this book in particular) questioning their intelligence - that is incredibly PATRONISING. And to those reviewers I say "get over yourselves".
November 19, 2015
I try not to get angry about other people's opinions, but I can't help it in this case. People are leaving one star reviews, claiming this book doesn't make sense and nothing happens. Let me break it to those people: you are not very smart, and you should not be leaving reviews about books you didn't understand. Stick with your John Grisham/Nora Roberts supermarket paperbacks and stop trying to tear down an author who worked hard to create something beautiful and brilliant.
As for my review, refer to the other five star reviews. I have nothing further to add, but wanted to try to counteract some of the mouth breathers "contributions."
As for my review, refer to the other five star reviews. I have nothing further to add, but wanted to try to counteract some of the mouth breathers "contributions."
March 7, 2016
This book had lots to make it potentially interesting: piecing together a timeline of events after a mysterious accident/disappearance, psychology, quantum physics, teleportation, a "twist" towards the end... the pieces just never came together in a satisfying way for me. I like "slow burn" books when there is a payoff, but this one felt like nothing was ever solved/resolved, and 600+ pages later, I'm left unsure about how much even "happened" that was reported in the book. Not a bad book, just not for me.
November 3, 2015
I am literally offended at how this book ended, that's how unhelpful this ending was. I pushed through the book because I like a good mystery, and I needed to know where Reider and his family went after the Reider Incident - I feel like I've been hung out to dry. WHERE ARE THEY?!?! I got this book for free because I'm an Amazon Prime member, and although thoroughly confused most of the time I did enjoy the major plot points of the book, but still...I want an answer dammit
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 22, 2016
What an annoying book. Parts of it are original and brilliant, but they're spoiled by diversions, and the fact that as a whole, it's just too long, which meant that there came a point when I just wanted it to be over. And in the end, we still don't know for sure what actually happened at the Reidier Test. Probably really a 2.5 star book, but the annoyances don't quite make it 3-star.
January 8, 2018
I am really torn on this book. On the one hand, I think a tremendous amount of work went into the extraordinary level of detail in the novel. On the other hand, it was a hard slog to get through it and I nearly gave up a couple of times (although I did read all the way to the very, very last page). I think the reason I finally settled on 2 stars is three-fold, and I am going to try to be vague so as to not spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it yet. Let me start out by saying that I don't have an issue with how the book is presented - it is a combination of e-mails/reports, first-person narrative, and a large report written as a narrative based on videos and other inputs. First, there is a reveal about one of the characters part-way through that I saw coming a mile away and when another reveal pops up near the end it wasn't as impactful to me as I think the author intended. It is as if someone told you that it snowed 12 feet one day during the winter, and then they told you there were 3 days that winter when it snowed 12 feet. The fact that it snowed 12 feet once has the larger impact. Second, the book leaves too much unresolved. Maybe I missed some clues because I spent the last 200 pages just trying to get to the end, and maybe I skimmed through the appendices too quickly (same reason), but I wanted more closure / resolution. Especially after wading through so much story. Lastly, the entire story can really be summarized in a page. The plot is not that complex, and I think the author believed he kept things hidden for longer than it took me to figure them out. I certainly don't feel the plot was complicated enough to justify the novel's length. I don't like being so critical of a book that clearly had a tremendous amount of work put into it, but I felt like if the narrative gimmick had been dropped and this had been told as a straight-forward story, it would have been half the length, would have moved more quickly, and would have more people finish it. I am sure that comes off as disparaging the author's craft, but I can appreciate the work and the craftsmanship that went into the creation of an item, without liking the item. That is how I feel here.
May 9, 2017
Not so much fun is “Here & There” (47North, $14.95, 660 pages), beginning with the fact that the protagonist lets it be known early on he cannot be relied on. He is, in fact, known for free-style lying on an impressive scale.
To make “Here & There” even more difficult to believe in, the primary narrator (Danny) does his work in footnotes to a manuscript written by his mother, Hilary – and he often questions her veracity. In fact, it’s all very suspicious, as supposedly Hilary’s sources about the main figure in the book, a modern-day cross between Leonardo daVinci and Martin Heidegger, are nanobots that can attach to clothes and cars and pretty much anything, and film and record every word and expression of the various characters.
And finally, “Here & There” is supposed to entertain its readers by a constant set of plot twists that shift the ground of the narrative – except for the fact that the narrative can’t be trusted. All of what is written about may or may not have happened, and there is no resolution at the end of the 660 pages of difficult-to-read multi-page footnotes, and footnotes upon footnotes that might possibly clear things up. (And what does it mean that every member of the family at the center of the book has a name that is a palindrome? Don’t expect an answer.)
And speaking of 660 pages, the editors of “Here & There” deserve some negativity as well. At best, “Here & There” should have been half the length, and better, about 250 pages. Then, as a lean and mean teleportation machine, the long digressions about a failing marriage, Danny’s doomed desire for a woman named Lorelei (who may or may not have risked her life for him) and another character’s dull short stories, could have been eliminated.
Joshua Scher ponders the nature of being and truth, but needed much more help from his editors, and a lot less ambiguity, to give readers their money’s worth.
To make “Here & There” even more difficult to believe in, the primary narrator (Danny) does his work in footnotes to a manuscript written by his mother, Hilary – and he often questions her veracity. In fact, it’s all very suspicious, as supposedly Hilary’s sources about the main figure in the book, a modern-day cross between Leonardo daVinci and Martin Heidegger, are nanobots that can attach to clothes and cars and pretty much anything, and film and record every word and expression of the various characters.
And finally, “Here & There” is supposed to entertain its readers by a constant set of plot twists that shift the ground of the narrative – except for the fact that the narrative can’t be trusted. All of what is written about may or may not have happened, and there is no resolution at the end of the 660 pages of difficult-to-read multi-page footnotes, and footnotes upon footnotes that might possibly clear things up. (And what does it mean that every member of the family at the center of the book has a name that is a palindrome? Don’t expect an answer.)
And speaking of 660 pages, the editors of “Here & There” deserve some negativity as well. At best, “Here & There” should have been half the length, and better, about 250 pages. Then, as a lean and mean teleportation machine, the long digressions about a failing marriage, Danny’s doomed desire for a woman named Lorelei (who may or may not have risked her life for him) and another character’s dull short stories, could have been eliminated.
Joshua Scher ponders the nature of being and truth, but needed much more help from his editors, and a lot less ambiguity, to give readers their money’s worth.
May 29, 2023
This is an enormously ambitious book. It takes the form of found writing, with Danny Kahn discovering a report written by his mother, Dr Hilary Kahn. There are three levels of plot here. Danny’s comments on the report, the report itself and the subject of the report.
Dr Kahn has been asked to find out what went wrong with an experiment that was to demonstrate teleportation by Professor Kerek Reidier. An experiment that led to the deaths of Reidier, his entire family and everyone present in the room. But now Dr Kahn has disappeared and Danny wants to find out what happened to her. But to do that he must work out what happened to Reidier.
I’m not sure the book entirely lives up to its own ambition. It reminded me in its scope of Mark Z Danielewski’s House of Leaves, but is much less successful. At times the writing is patchy and it drags. The sections of Reidier’s wife Eve’s writing were a slog. Given how obvious the twist was, it took Danny a very long time to work it out. The ending felt much like the author couldn’t work out how to finish it.
That said, it kept my attention throughout and I read it quickly. The science is convincing – I even looked up the author’s biography to see if he had worked in the sciences. Overall it’s an original, enjoyable, mostly successful read let down by an unsatisfying ending.
This should really be 3.5 stars, but Goodreads won’t allow half stars.
Dr Kahn has been asked to find out what went wrong with an experiment that was to demonstrate teleportation by Professor Kerek Reidier. An experiment that led to the deaths of Reidier, his entire family and everyone present in the room. But now Dr Kahn has disappeared and Danny wants to find out what happened to her. But to do that he must work out what happened to Reidier.
I’m not sure the book entirely lives up to its own ambition. It reminded me in its scope of Mark Z Danielewski’s House of Leaves, but is much less successful. At times the writing is patchy and it drags. The sections of Reidier’s wife Eve’s writing were a slog. Given how obvious the twist was, it took Danny a very long time to work it out. The ending felt much like the author couldn’t work out how to finish it.
That said, it kept my attention throughout and I read it quickly. The science is convincing – I even looked up the author’s biography to see if he had worked in the sciences. Overall it’s an original, enjoyable, mostly successful read let down by an unsatisfying ending.
This should really be 3.5 stars, but Goodreads won’t allow half stars.
April 16, 2018
I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn't get into it.
The author has a tendency to info dump and assumes that his audience needs their hands held through very basic explanations of philosophy and physics. The text is peppered with footnotes that make completely unnecessary additions to the story. A bit of a personal pet peeve, but footnotes in genre fiction irritate me. If the information can't fit into the original text naturally, it doesn't need to be there at all. This isn't a textbook or a piece of classical lit where I need the extra information to understand what is going on.
I normally enjoy stories that follow a non linear path and you have to do a little thinking to piece everything together, but in this novel the structure was handled poorly and instead of keeping my attention it lost my interest.
I think there is a good book hidden underneath all of this, but I didn't really have the patience to find it.
The author has a tendency to info dump and assumes that his audience needs their hands held through very basic explanations of philosophy and physics. The text is peppered with footnotes that make completely unnecessary additions to the story. A bit of a personal pet peeve, but footnotes in genre fiction irritate me. If the information can't fit into the original text naturally, it doesn't need to be there at all. This isn't a textbook or a piece of classical lit where I need the extra information to understand what is going on.
I normally enjoy stories that follow a non linear path and you have to do a little thinking to piece everything together, but in this novel the structure was handled poorly and instead of keeping my attention it lost my interest.
I think there is a good book hidden underneath all of this, but I didn't really have the patience to find it.
November 14, 2024
This book is an odd one – I liked the premise, and while there is one easily-guessable/telegraphed “twist”, it’s not the *actual* twist that you get slapped with on the last ten pages, so that part is all good.
However.
The main plot exists in two layers of framing plots: The investigator’s report on what happened, and her son reading the report after she disappeared. I generally like nested structures that play with multiple levels of footnotes and commentary, so it’s not a problem in itself, but: The son is such a whiny asshole it seriously detracted from my reading experience.
One or zero framing layers would’ve been so much more preferable. I guess you can’t make the twist work without frame, but just the investigative report would’ve worked so much better imo, because after a while, it’s hard to be sure if the whiny bullshit dudebro attitude the actual protagonist shows is author bias or characterisation (and to *some* degree it’s got to be on the author, tbh).
However.
The main plot exists in two layers of framing plots: The investigator’s report on what happened, and her son reading the report after she disappeared. I generally like nested structures that play with multiple levels of footnotes and commentary, so it’s not a problem in itself, but: The son is such a whiny asshole it seriously detracted from my reading experience.
One or zero framing layers would’ve been so much more preferable. I guess you can’t make the twist work without frame, but just the investigative report would’ve worked so much better imo, because after a while, it’s hard to be sure if the whiny bullshit dudebro attitude the actual protagonist shows is author bias or characterisation (and to *some* degree it’s got to be on the author, tbh).
December 21, 2022
The thing I liked the most about this book is how the story was presented. When Danny's mother disappears he finds a key that sends him to her last project. His mother is a psychologist who has patented as process of evaluating situations and then creating a narrative. She works frequently for the government. After an explosion at a secret lab she is tasked providing insight to what went wrong. Danny finds her files and notes which sends him down the rabbit hole trying to figure out what exactly she had uncovered and why she disappeared. What exactly was the scientist up to and why all the secrecy? The narrative is told through Danny's mother's files along with Danny's notes. Interesting, intriguing and the ending left me questioning everything I thought about the characters along the way.
March 11, 2023
There were some fun things in the book. The physics behind it was interesting. I liked the multiple layers of the story (it was told through notes, letters, narration, etc.). However, the quality of the writing vacillated wildly from good to painfully terrible. Some of the supposedly surprising payoffs were less surprising than they were supposed to be. The end of the book is so odd that I spent several pages wondering if it was a preview of another novel by the author. If you have plenty time, it might be worth a read because it does some interesting things with genre-bending fiction, but I cannot recommend it.
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