You're All Alone

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books you'll never read
Review: Except for 'Dark Ladies' and the occassional treasure in a used book store, you'll be hard-pressed to find many of Leiber's classic works, and this is a shame.

Fans of the Wachowski's 'Matrix' trilogy will find a number of similarities of story, which centers around an unemployment clerk who is 'awakened' by a strange girl. Once awakened he steps out of his life only to find it continues on without him; indeed, the whole world continues as if it were only some huge clockwork machine.

As said, the idea of world=machine, with but a few awakened souls, seems to be a popular one today.

The creepiness comes when he can watch friends and lovers have conversations with him when he isn't there, describe shared experiences he never experienced. By not doing what he is supposed to do, by being 'awake', he is outside the machine.

The sheer horror of being outside the machine is what Leiber is interested in (hence the title). When no one notices you even if you slap them in the face, when nothing you do has an impact on the world, you truly are all alone.

Find a copy if you can. Steal one if you can't. It's a story which deserves to be read.

Rating:
Summary: A surreal awakening to ordinary life
Review: The book is about the awakening of one individual to the fact that the world is a vast machine, of somewhat mediocre efficiency, which is ignorant of the individual. The individual can leave his post, his part of the machine, and it will continue to operate without him. In many ways, it seems to be an awakening or recovery from alcoholism. All this sounds very literary, but the book is a well written story, thought provoking without being wearying or ideological, and a good read. I enjoyed it immensely, and highly recommend it.

If the first two sentances of my comments put you off, you should read it. It is a book better read than criticised. I found it fascinating and enthralling; I have found more interest in Fritz Leiber's work outside the Llankmar milieu than within it; this may be a pointer to my interests, or a comment on my taste - up to you.

Also - if you enjoy this you might also like "The Wanderer" by the same author, and possibly works by Edgar Pangbourne, (such as "Davy" and "A Mirror for Obsevors") who writes very differently, but also writes well and thoughtfully.