What do you think?
Rate this book
There's Something You Should Know
Are you out there?
If these words mean something to you, I've succeeded in reaching at least a single mind, and that's already more than I had any right to hope for. You might be the first one, even the only one, but that doesn’t matter. A miracle only has to happen once for it to be a miracle.
You might already have some idea of what I'm about to tell you. I'm sure you've had the conversation at some time or other, most likely in a bar, the air hazy with alcohol and unrealised hopes and your own intoxication. Maybe it was getting close to that time of the night when conversation becomes unashamedly introspective, and in the dimness, one of your friends said something like, “Have you ever thought that maybe you might be the only conscious one? I mean, how would you ever know?”
Let me put this another way. I’m sure there must have been times in your life when you've been surrounded by people and yet found yourself feeling terrifyingly, senselessly lonely. Probably you thought there must be something wrong with you for feeling that way – but the truth is, you were right all along. You felt alone because you truly were alone.
If these words mean something to you, I've succeeded in reaching at least a single mind, and that's already more than I had any right to hope for. You might be the first one, even the only one, but that doesn’t matter. A miracle only has to happen once for it to be a miracle.
You might already have some idea of what I'm about to tell you. I'm sure you've had the conversation at some time or other, most likely in a bar, the air hazy with alcohol and unrealised hopes and your own intoxication. Maybe it was getting close to that time of the night when conversation becomes unashamedly introspective, and in the dimness, one of your friends said something like, “Have you ever thought that maybe you might be the only conscious one? I mean, how would you ever know?”
Let me put this another way. I’m sure there must have been times in your life when you've been surrounded by people and yet found yourself feeling terrifyingly, senselessly lonely. Probably you thought there must be something wrong with you for feeling that way – but the truth is, you were right all along. You felt alone because you truly were alone.
327 pages, Paperback
Published May 3, 2017
2 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 21, 2017
This book asks one fundamental question: have you ever thought about whether you exist or not?
It was Vincent Van Gogh that supposedly said,
“I know nothing with any certainty. But the sight of the stars makes me dream”
I found that this book made me dream, of galaxies far away (although to clarify, not set in space or with time travel); it made me dream in a Matrix-like way of who we really were and what consciousness is. It captured things I have thought about in the past, including the dilemma about whether any of it matters.
This is also a novel that reads well in the current political context. Yes, sorry I am mentioning Brexit and Trump again. The author essentially asks us, from my perspective that is, if someone is not truly conscious of their sheep-like actions how should we treat them? With ethics and compassion, or with exploitation? There is at the core of the book a question about how we should treat people that are different from ourselves, people that we cannot understand. As such it is a moral commentary, such as 1984 and Animal Farm.
The book is in three parts: part one follows Ethan’s story, part two shared by others, and in part three the threads are drawn together. I found I enjoyed the first part the most which describes a world where other people, the people near you right now, might not be as they appear to be. What if they didn’t really exist? How would you feel and how would you treat them?
A beautifully written novel that left me smiling, and more importantly made me think.
It was Vincent Van Gogh that supposedly said,
“I know nothing with any certainty. But the sight of the stars makes me dream”
I found that this book made me dream, of galaxies far away (although to clarify, not set in space or with time travel); it made me dream in a Matrix-like way of who we really were and what consciousness is. It captured things I have thought about in the past, including the dilemma about whether any of it matters.
This is also a novel that reads well in the current political context. Yes, sorry I am mentioning Brexit and Trump again. The author essentially asks us, from my perspective that is, if someone is not truly conscious of their sheep-like actions how should we treat them? With ethics and compassion, or with exploitation? There is at the core of the book a question about how we should treat people that are different from ourselves, people that we cannot understand. As such it is a moral commentary, such as 1984 and Animal Farm.
The book is in three parts: part one follows Ethan’s story, part two shared by others, and in part three the threads are drawn together. I found I enjoyed the first part the most which describes a world where other people, the people near you right now, might not be as they appear to be. What if they didn’t really exist? How would you feel and how would you treat them?
A beautifully written novel that left me smiling, and more importantly made me think.
Displaying 1 of 1 review