I don't usually speak badly of the books I read because before buying them I make sure I'll like them... this one is going to be the exception that proves the rule. What a boring book!
The title and synopsis on the back cover promised a science fiction novel based on biotechnology and mind control.Manipulating the human brain is easier than you think” says the cover… but no. It is not Science Fiction. It is a story about the “neuroses"A psychologist talking to a neurosurgeon friend, with futuristic touches to make it seem like science fiction.
It may be my fault… and someone with a background in Psychology may find the book fascinating. For me, it seemed endless. I almost gave up halfway through… I got the feeling that a large part of the secondary plots are fluff to fill pages in a book that claims to have a scientific basis based on the latest discoveries in consciousness research, but that doesn’t engage, that I don’t understand and whose characters have no depth (except for the 2 main characters).
The story is about a psychologist, a university professor, who is a failure in most aspects of his life (children, marriage, career...). Everything changes when one night an old friend knocks on his door and confesses that he has been working these last few years on a government project focused on neuromanipulation. From there, the plot gets tangled up with subplots and secondary characters that don't make or break anything. The dialogues between the psychologist and his friend are endless. They spend entire pages discussing what is reality and what is illusion in our thoughts and in our lives... and on top of that, they use phrases like: “(…) we adapted it from neuroradiosurgical stereotactic devices, yes, those used to superimpose particle beams to burn tumors.”
Well… I only recommend it if you can’t find anything better to read, or if you are a psychologist…
One Response
It seems that psychologists suck in your opinion.