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Summary: Additional reviews for THE SEA CAME IN AT MIDNIGHT
Review: "Strip clubs, sexual slavery, Paris dreams, New York horror and California misery catastrophically define and entrap the troubled margin-dwellers inhabiting this penetrating dream vision of the post-nuclear world.Erickson sends his agile prose careening ever deeper into these intertwined lives, their disturbing memories and often tragic choices following a kind of grim logic. This provacative novel is often funny but always serious and lush with insights that make its often outlandish elements eerily familiar. The razor-sharp narrative balances a nonchalant chaos with an unrelenting stream of violence and tenderness; even the most monstrous psyche in Erickson's ensemble of stoic naifs, murderous sadists and the sexually plundered is brilliantly rendered as not only sympathetic, but honest, vigorous and enduring." -Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Erickson surprises and continually amazes in this novel of mythic circumstance. Erickson's writing is ambitious and near flawless-he perfectly contrives this modern myth of the fast-approaching millennium by creating a world where everyone is in search of her or his own millennial moment of salvation. In doing so, he may well have secured himself a place among the best of contemporary fiction writers." -Booklist (starred review)
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Summary: Luminous and unforgettable
Review: "The Sea Came in at Midnight" is Erickson at his luminous best. Rotating Tokyo memory hotels, deluges of frozen time capsules, apocalypse, blackened satellite dishes, erotic terrorism... Erickson is a visionary writer whose work glints with intelligence and honesty. "The Sea Came in at Midnight" is easily one of the best novels of recent years.
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Summary: So good it¿s scary
Review: 'The Sea Came in at Midnight' is so good it's scary. I'm worried that it will be a long time before I read another novel that is so accomplished and successful in its intent. Maybe I shouldn't worry...maybe I only have to wait until I read another of Erickson's novels before I encounter such mastery again.For me, the most enjoyable aspect of this novel was the elliptical paths the characters took. The way they crossed and re-crossed paths, never knowing the significance of the other in the way their lives have been shaped. Erickson manages this without forcing the relationships or situations in an artificial way. The story itself, though, is artificial and contrived - but I mean that in a positive way! Erickson's settings, the novels events and the characters motivations are grandiose and on an epic scale. He wants you to be confronted by his themes - the decay of society, the power of redemption and self-belief - so they are enlarged and made more bold by their scale. 'The Sea Came in at Midnight' is a novel that trades in challenging the reader and the reader's perceptions. You will never forget the desperation of some characters and the despair of others. Never forget the hyper-realistic imagery - Tokyo memory hotels, the mass suicide, the shattered aquarium. And finally, never forget that you have been privileged to read a novel of truly stunning accomplishment.
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Summary: If a dream is a memory of the future...
Review: A sometimes beautiful, sometimes disturbing "memior of the future", this novel contains plot twists that in themselves are nothing short of amazing. The books many protagonists live as if in a surreal dreamworld of cultural movements, apocolyptic fear, horrific urban legends and even worse histories of the last century. The writing is very lyrical, but the narrative also has a frenetic science-fiction like pace that keeps you turning the pages with each cosmic coincidence. Very much like Delillo in delivery and Pynchonian in plot.
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Summary: If a dream is a memory of the future...
Review: A sometimes beautiful, sometimes disturbing "memior of the future", this novel contains plot twists that in themselves are nothing short of amazing. The books many protagonists live as if in a surreal dreamworld of cultural movements, apocolyptic fear, horrific urban legends and even worse histories of the last century. The writing is very lyrical, but the narrative also has a frenetic science-fiction like pace that keeps you turning the pages with each cosmic coincidence. Very much like Delillo in delivery and Pynchonian in plot.
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Summary: If a dream is a memory of the future...
Review: A sometimes beautiful, sometimes disturbing "memior of the future", this novel contains plot twists that in themselves are nothing short of amazing. The books many protagonists live as if in a surreal dreamworld of cultural movements, apocolyptic fear, horrific urban legends and even worse histories of the last century. The writing is very lyrical, but the narrative also has a frenetic science-fiction like pace that keeps you turning the pages with each cosmic coincidence. Very much like Delillo in delivery and Pynchonian in plot.
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Summary: It's almost great . . . but in the end it's just not.
Review: Don't succumb to the hype! Erickson is a skilled writer, but he is no Pynchon or DeLillo, at least not yet. This book is clever, and vastly ambitious, both in its subject and in its shear temporal scope . . . but it's often over-written and un-focused, with a self-conscious significance that feels forced and unnecessary. Erickson's writing is often provocative and daring, but just as often it's pretentious and obtuse; the characters are intriguing, but the story is so aloof from them that it remains unmoving. Erickson's constructed a good novel, but it's nowhere near as good as some people say it is. He's a promising writer, and you should read this book to see what he's up to -- but wait for the paperback version first. If you want intellectual writing about the postmodern world, read _Infinite Jest_ instead.
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Summary: Erickson acknowledges no border...
Review: Erickson crashes into the subconscious, gently scooping out dream-fodder that we fear too much to dream. His newest novel is an apocalyptic warping of the human soul, a gateway to the coming millenium...
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Summary: The Future of the Novel
Review: Erickson is, quite simply, the finest American writer of prose in these last days of the 20th Century. His words are radio broadcasts from a world without hope in a time beyond meaning. This latest novel maps the Apocalypse through the chaotic story of a dreamless young woman and Erickson's own life; plotting the intersections of pop culture, history, and love.
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Summary: Ambitious, amazing scope
Review: Erickson occasionally misses the mark in his latest novel, but it's only because he attempts moves most authors wouldn't even begin to imagine. The millennial theme isn't as prevalent as promotion would lead one to think; this goes far beyond it, and Erickson's astounding skill makes up for his occasional shortcomings in characterization.
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