Rating: 
Summary: Just Not Very Compelling to Me
Review: I guess I'm surprised if people don't understand the rampant symbolism of this book. Bombarded by the processing of information, Bill Chalmers shuts down. Granted, The Diagnosis is not nearly that simple, but Lightman's moralizing is pretty clear and direct. His use of e-mail, the Socrates sub-plot, and other device are fine with me. They add to the pacing of the story and don't necessarily detract from it unless you don't believe that people type poorly in e-mails. These aren't the things that made me give The Diagnosis only two stars. Instead, during the course of the book, I found I just wasn't moved by too much of it. The opening sequence is strong and engaging and there are other scenes -- when Chalmers' old friend comes to visit and describes photos he's brought -- that are emotionally engaging. Otherwise, I just wasn't compelled to care. The supporting characters -- his wife, the doctors, the attorneys, even his son -- were transparent and not only were they selfish and uncaring, but they were badly written as well. The conclusion -- or lack of -- is not surprising. By the time it comes along, the reader has a pretty good idea where it's going. The need for finality and closure is unnecessary. Overall, I don't have a lot of gripes with this book. I like the idea, I like the style, I even like a lot of the writing. I just don't like it the way Lightman put it all together. Maybe that was his intention -- to leave the reader with the same disquiet, unfulfilled feeling that Bill Chalmers experienced. Unfortunately, as the reader, I was never griped by the story and certainly never compelled by it.
Rating: 
Summary: An Angry, Intelligent Attack on Our Culture
Review: I want to begin on a note of cynicism -- if, in fact, we live in a morally bankrupt society that becomes less intelligent each year, why is the market for highly-literate novels, plays and films about our corporate dystopia so sizeable? "American Beauty" was a surprise hit and it seems that every young novelist in America has been influenced by Don DeLillo. For all the talk about our smothering popular culture, we seem to have ample wriggle room to escape into intelligent critiques of that culture. Is it that we cultural elitists just want to tut-tut those who can't see through the most shallow features of our culture? I hold none of this against Alan Lightman or his fine book. "The Diagnosis" begins with, in my opinion, the best first chapter of the year, a Kafka-esque nightmare of lost identity amid technological chaos. From there, the book deftly changes tone several times, alternating between medical drama, corporate satire, domestic soap opera and philosophical treatise. "The Diagnosis" lives in the same moral universe as Don DeLillo's "White Noise" and even includes two veiled references (one would have been sufficient) to that book. It falls short of DeLillo's greatness because it lacks his humor and keen social insight. Lightman's anger at contemporary America is sometimes suffocating -- every character in the book becomes a victim of his wrath. But taken as a work of philosophy and a snapshot of our times, "The Diagnosis" is effective and (in a strange way) entertaining. Lightman gives no easy payoffs and is completely willing to leave his reader on a down note. But somewhere in this jungle of despair is a glimmer of hope ... if we can just see, feel and hear the real world beneath our virtual creation, there is salvation. Maybe we, the great anti-consumer consumers, are the hope. Even if we aren't, thinking so makes us feel good.
Rating:
Summary: Dreary and confusing
Review: The opening chapter is frightening and compelling, but beyond that it was, for me, a tough read. The author doesn't seem to have much sympathy for any of his characters. I didn't either. The wife, Melissa, seems real if not appealing and the son is appealing but not very real. Bill seems to have no personality, no inner drive except to keep going, no moral center, no core of any sort. Is that the point? In my experience most victims of modern society, business, technology, whatever, have a stronger core (often badly flawed) than Bill. Bill doesn't seem to like his meaningless job, but that hardly differentiates him from millions of others and hardly makes him sympathetic. I felt as if I were watching a robot melt down -- fascinating in its way but hardly the subject of great fiction. My curiosity in finding out Bill's ultimate fate was more idle than fueled by any interest in Bill. I really don't think you need to suffer a debilitating illness to figure out that your life is dull and silly.
I got tired of reading his e-mails long before he did, and I guess his high-powered business colleagues had not discovered spell checking -- the misspellings were irritating and a stupid device (to indicate what?).
I actually found the Plato material far more interesting than Bill's story but found only superficial parallels with the main story. It's a relatively short book, but it took me forever to get through it.
Maybe it's time to call a halt to fiction based on "life in modern society is hell and technology rules." It is and it does, but been there, read that.
Well written, I must say.
Rating:
Summary: Stick your tongue out and say "Blah."
Review: A disappointment. "The Diagnosis" tells the Kafka-esque story of Bill Chalmers, a 40-something financial analyst in Boston who, unable to keep pace with the overload of information modern society requires of him, slowly loses all of his physical senses. The modern story is offset by a parallel tale set in ancient Greece concerning Anytus, the executioner of Socrates, during the final days before the execution. The relation between these two seemingly disparate stories is this: Socrates introduced Western society to the practice of acquiring knowledge through public discourse and communication, and both Anytus and Chalmers suffer for their irrational rejection of the "information revolutions" of their time. Each of their sons, however, embrace the free exchange of ideas enabled by public discourse and technology and are rewarded for it. So what? It's a superficially clever conceit, but it's not sufficient to sustain a book. It's not even sufficient to sustain a "Twilight Zone" episode, as no diagnosis for Chalmers' condition, however farfetched, is ever revealed. The characters are woodenly written and unconvincing. (Why, for example, did Chalmers flee the hospital during his initial memory loss?) Moreover, Lightman's attitude towards the rejection of modernity is never made clear. On the one hand, Lightman's portrayal of Chalmers' degeneration (and Anytus' parallel tale) suggests that it's a fool's strategy; on the other, Lightman's horrific depiction of modern life (as an unending clutter of car horns, emails, phone calls and red tape) suggests that it's the only rational reaction. Pick one, Mr. Lightman, then write a book. There's no gnosis in "The Diagnosis." You're better off reading Socrates.
Rating:
Summary: A commentary on life in our times.
Review: After reading several reviews of what I believed was a thought-provoking and ultimately disturbing commentary on our times, I was forced to counter the reviews of those who found the book lacked meaning. In my view, Lightman is addressing the spiritual poverty of the business community, and in turn, millions of Americans who are part of that community, by way of his main character Bill Chalmers. The vaguely unhappy Bill is blindly chasing the American Dream working in a hyper-competitive, soul-deadening position, and bears some similarity to the Kevein Spacey character in American Beauty. The unique twist to Lightman's story is this spiritual unhappiness manifests itself in a physical way, causing Chalmers to grow increasingly ill and physically deteriorate over the course of the story. As doctor after doctor fails to find the cause of his illness, he slowly begins to sense the reason for his malady and lashes out at the people and institutions that caused it. But he can not find the way out, the solution that will enable him to escape the confines of his life which ultimately (and literally) paralyze him. This story may hit too close to home for some -- for others, it will be a cause for serious reflection on the spiritual ills of the business world today and on the changes we might make in our own lives to avoid or better cope with them.
Rating: 
Summary: Suffering From Information Overload
Review: I was introduced to the writing of Alan Lightman with his delightful book, EINSTEIN'S DREAMS. I have to admit, I really didn't care for THE DIAGNOSIS nearly as much as I thought I would, but it is very well written. THE DIAGNOSIS is the story of Bill Chalmers, a Bostonian who spends far more time in cyberspace than he does in the "real" world. Bill is totally engrossed in his job-the processing of information-and he's totally dependent on things like mobile phones, PDAs and, most of all, the Internet. Chalmers' son, Alexander and his wife, Melissa, live their lives in cyberspace as well, all to their detriment rather than to their good. One day, while Chalmers is running for the subway, he's distracted by a woman using a new type of mobile phone and a digital display involving stock quotes. The next thing he knows, he can't remember anything...not even his own name. Despite not knowing who he is or where he's supposed to be going, Chalmers gets on the subway and rides. And rides. And rides. It gives nothing of the plot away to say the Chalmers' memory does return in a very short time, but he finds himself faced with another problem...he's behind in his work and it seems like he simply can't catch up. And, even though he's regained his memory, he still doesn't feel well and his productivity suffers, something he knows his company won't tolerate. Despite setting up the story of Bill Chalmers and his loss of memory and productivity, Lightman switches gears, so to speak, in midstream and begins to focus on Chalmers' son, Alexander, instead. Here is where the book got a little strange for me. Alexander, who decides he wants to take an online course on Plato, manages to break into the school's computer, download the course and send it to Bill. Now, the story cuts back and forth between Bill's flagging productivity, Alexander's desire to learn about Plato and goings on in ancient Athens. I have to say, I really didn't "get" the point of all of this. Bill, meantime, is pressing his doctor, Dr. Petrov, for a definitive diagnosis as to his loss of productivity, his anxiety and the numbness and tingling in his arms and legs. Petrov, however, is very reluctant to confer a diagnosis on Bill. Instead, he sends Bill to a round of specialists who email their findings to Petrov who then emails Bill. More of the dreaded cyberspace. Bill's anxiety, as well as his other symptoms, increase, and he certainly doesn't find a sympathetic soul in Melissa. His wife is more annoyed with him than anything else. To say more would give away too much of the plot, and especially the ending of THE DIAGNOSIS, but suffice it to say that it ends in cyberspace, just as it began and neither Bill's story nor Alexander's nor Melissa's nor even Socrates' ends on a wholly satisfactory note, but I think that's part of the book's theme. I think computers are very convenient things to have around and I love online shopping, but I hate technical things. THE DIAGNOSIS is filled with texting and email jargon, much of which I simply didn't understand (and what I did understand, I loathed). Both the story and the characters failed to engage me, though Lightman is certainly an original writer and his prose is excellent. Even though I didn't enjoy reading the book, I do think it succeeded in doing what it set out to do, and, for that reason, I gave it four stars. I simply couldn't justify five, since I couldn't find anything engaging in the book. THE DIAGNOSIS focuses far more on theme than it does on plot of character. If you like computers and cyberspace, you'll probably like this book. If you're like me, however, and you only like computers for the convenience they offer, then THE DIAGNOSIS probably won't be the right book for you. I kept wishing Lightman would change course and focus on character development instead of theme, but I don't think character is what this book is all about. Good, not great, and certainly not the delight that EINSTEIN'S DREAMS is.
Rating:
Summary: Multiple Narratives and deep meanings
Review: In response to Tim Appelo's review. - Great Review, just to add: Bill's paralysis: (caused by) (smymptom?)His innability to do anything about his situation, his life, the speed car that got him to where is today. Also: Both Socrates and Bill were put in a "Cage"...(but an individual's mind can never be caged..)
Rating:
Summary: Starts Fast , Ends Slow...
Review: ...much like the protagonist of the novel. The opening chapter is fantastic but the book seems to stall after Chalmers is released from his job. I like the jabs at technology and society and the idea of the human machine failing while the electronic revolution keeps moving forward but I thought that the e-mail sections of the novel were a bit tedious and the internet affair of Bill's wife just disappears. I agree that not all questions should be resolved in a good novel but this one left too many. Buy the book if you don't need a feel good ending (sorry!) and enjoy reading Kafka.
Rating: 
Summary: Thanks God I am no longer in America
Review: Did you know? The Moscow Metro system is designed a way that makes a person want to ride it to work, and then makes him want to go back. Of course America has its equivalent, which is the largest highway pullution system in the world. If you haven't yet, read this book.
Rating:
Summary: a disturbing masterpiece
Review: A profoundly beautiful book of masterful detail and nuance, "The Diagnosis" is nonethless painful and disturbing in its relentless candor about the absurdities of modern life. The mental and physical decline of Bill Chalmers and his world is haunting in its vivid sadness. Alan Lightman is a masterful writer of the greatest skill. This is a truly memorable book.
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