Inside Outside

Rating:
Summary: A grim, depressing, success
Review: In this peculiar novel Farmer takes us to a radically new locale - a heretofore unknown portion of the cosmos which its inhabitants refer to as "Hell". The protagonist (one certainly can't call him a hero) is Jack Cull, an agent of an investigative agency known as the Exchange. Amidst this living horror where no one seems to know any essential facts of existence, the Exchange seeks out information concerning the possibility of eternal salvation, or failing that, any rumors that might suffice to give some hope to the long-suffering inhabitants. Of primary concern is the mysterious being known only as "X", who appears to collect the bodies of the deceased, delivers a cryptic moral message to any bystanders, and then retires to engineer the resurrection of the dead. Thus death does not end, but only interrupts, the tedious existence of these god-forsaken creatures. Without giving away the many unique twists this story presents, Farmer gives us an extensive tour of the premises, a confrontation with X, and a major cataclysm, all within this rather short novel. This adds up to a book packed full of action, and brimming with radical, even bizarre, cosmological ideas. The characters, setting, and violent action are uniformly grim, depressing, only half-familiar, and often morally repugnant; all of which contribute to making this book an artistic success as a view of a world without any moral compass or any real hope of redemption. Regrettably, these same qualities make the book a rather depressing read, as the hopelessness and despair of the characters tends to bleed over onto the reader. Things happen so quickly that it's often hard to understand exactly what's going on, and of course no one ever understands why (they aren't supposed to, until the very end), keeping the reader more befuddled than engrossed. The conclusion of the novel, where the secrets are revealed, is certainly surprising enough, although like most theories of cosmology it may offend those with strict ideas about the nature of the universe, and it certainly is of no practical importance even if one believed in it. All in all, readers who are neither offended nor depressed by Farmer's vision may find it both clever and even amusing, although no one's life will ever be changed by it. But in the last analysis, though Farmer has done a magnificent job of integrating every facet of his novel to create a perfect picture of soulless emptiness, as with the artist who fills jars with urine, it's hard to believe that many people will actually enjoy the result.

Rating:
Summary: A grim, depressing, success
Review: In this peculiar novel Farmer takes us to a radically new locale - a heretofore unknown portion of the cosmos which its inhabitants refer to as "Hell". The protagonist (one certainly can't call him a hero) is Jack Cull, an agent of an investigative agency known as the Exchange. Amidst this living horror where no one seems to know any essential facts of existence, the Exchange seeks out information concerning the possibility of eternal salvation, or failing that, any rumors that might suffice to give some hope to the long-suffering inhabitants. Of primary concern is the mysterious being known only as "X", who appears to collect the bodies of the deceased, delivers a cryptic moral message to any bystanders, and then retires to engineer the resurrection of the dead. Thus death does not end, but only interrupts, the tedious existence of these god-forsaken creatures. Without giving away the many unique twists this story presents, Farmer gives us an extensive tour of the premises, a confrontation with X, and a major cataclysm, all within this rather short novel. This adds up to a book packed full of action, and brimming with radical, even bizarre, cosmological ideas. The characters, setting, and violent action are uniformly grim, depressing, only half-familiar, and often morally repugnant; all of which contribute to making this book an artistic success as a view of a world without any moral compass or any real hope of redemption. Regrettably, these same qualities make the book a rather depressing read, as the hopelessness and despair of the characters tends to bleed over onto the reader. Things happen so quickly that it's often hard to understand exactly what's going on, and of course no one ever understands why (they aren't supposed to, until the very end), keeping the reader more befuddled than engrossed. The conclusion of the novel, where the secrets are revealed, is certainly surprising enough, although like most theories of cosmology it may offend those with strict ideas about the nature of the universe, and it certainly is of no practical importance even if one believed in it. All in all, readers who are neither offended nor depressed by Farmer's vision may find it both clever and even amusing, although no one's life will ever be changed by it. But in the last analysis, though Farmer has done a magnificent job of integrating every facet of his novel to create a perfect picture of soulless emptiness, as with the artist who fills jars with urine, it's hard to believe that many people will actually enjoy the result.