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The Coma |
Author: Alex Garland
Published: |
List price: $19.95
Our price: $4.44
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As of: November 20th, 2008 06:56:40 AM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Some Existential Fun
I have been an avid reader my whole life and I would consider this one of my all-time favorite books. Although it is short, it will have you thinking about it long after you finish reading. I read this in college and after finishing it, immediately had 2 of my roommates read it so that I would have someone to discuss it with. They were equally blown away. It is hard to explain, but the book (both because of its subject matter and writing style) really does make you question the line between dream and reality. Since reading it, I have read both The Beach and Tesseract and although the are both impressive, this short book has stuck with me the most out of Alex Garland's work. If you enjoy existentially questioning the world around you, this is a very worthwhile read.
A surreal, head spinning experience
I intended to read a few pages before bed, but ended up reading the whole thing in one feverish 2 hour session. I was just so mesmerized that I couldn't stop until I had completed it. The eerie black and white illustrations add to the dreamy atmosphere. Garland is probably the most precise writer going today. Each word is deployed evocatively, for maximum effect. It is brilliant, and if you want to go on a head trip, ignore all the negative reviews and pick this up. Garland is such a great writer, I just wish he would write more novels. Alex, if you happen to read this, hook us up bro!
 ugh
i was heavily disappointed with this book. i read the beach by him which was amazing but this was a waste of paper.
 Shocked by Publisher's Weekly Review
I've never been moved to write a review on Amazon before---shamefully, as many of my friend's novels languish here and Alex Garland hardly needs my help. However, I was so shocked by the negative editorial reviews of the book that I just felt moved to say something in the spirit of literary fairness. I'm trolling today for books for my Comp II research (multigenre) class and am considering using "The Coma" as one of my texts.
"The Coma" is a spare, elegantly written, suspenseful, sad, and disturbing novella. I bought it last year as a gift for someone else but decided to keep it as something to reference craft-wise for my own writing. I picked it up again last week, thinking to just check out the opening, and found myself reading the whole thing again in one sitting. In a way, "The Coma" reminds me of Kobo Abe's "Women in the Dunes" in it's ability to hook the reader and maintain tension even in a closed environment where the action is "small."
Do I see this as a "deeply layered, major work of earth shattering importance?"---no, but I do strongly suspect that this author will one day write something significant, and the reviews that suggest that this book has a "sluggish pace and plodding prose" are, in my opinion, absurd. You can't put the sucker down.
 Lots of potential
As many have pointed out, this is not exactly a bad book as much as a disappointing one. It seems to be set up as a slightly unsettling, mysterious story. It starts out that way before quickly ditching that idea to focus on more philosophical musings (this is the only time "the rug is pulled out from under the reader..." though we are promised many). Many others have trod similar philosophical musings in the past, but it has ample ground for further musings and Garland is obviously talented enough to go there. But he never really does, though, instead going about as deep as one of those douche bags in high school who reads philosophy and spouts it off...incessantly. I'd guess it has to do with the shortness of the book. Others have said the length ties into what the book is really about, blah blah blah. That may be so, but it also robs the book of being anything other than a Clif Notes read (an abbreviated Clif Notes, at that). Some more substance could have been added with more pages, I'd guess, and it would still be fairly short; there's nothing wrong with short novellas, as long as they're good. Now, there were some great moments in the book, up through the beginning of part two is fun and, later, the walk through the city is wonderful, but they can't hold the rest of the book from...wallowing and, while I may be thinking about it now, I just finished it. I doubt it'll be on my mind much through tomorrow.
It could have been just the unsettling, twisting, fun little ride, or just the philosophical journey. Or, with more length, it could have been both. As it stands, it's too weak. Still not bad, just...eh, which is disappointing.
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