Book Review: The Gone-Away World

Although I ought to be studying anesthesia, lately I've been hankering for some immersing nonfiction, and a friend recommended Nick Harkaway's The Gone-Away World. His first novel, it attempts to be and succeeds as an epic all-encompassing science fiction stream of consciousness that dallies in mysticism, philosophy, the industrial complex, physics, ninjas and mimes, identity, and love. It reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle in creating a world teetering on the edge of collapse and following it through. The writing is witty, crisp, hilarious, and tongue-in-cheek, almost Douglas Adams in nature. It does have some of the hallmarks of a writer's first foray, however, and is quite long and occasionally loses itself in tangents and diatribes. But it's been one of the most fun new reads I've had this year and figured I'd mention it on this blog.

Image shown under Fair Use, from www.nickharkaway.com.