Customer Reviews

Atom

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the third book I've read by Steve Aylett, the first two being (in order) Slaughtermatic and Gothic Hall. Both of these are personal favorites of mine, which I eagerly force upon unsuspecting friends and family whenever possible. Compared to these two, however, his newest novel Atom falls short.

Now, this isn't a bad book, not in the least. The basic premise is that of a retelling of The Maltese Falcon in the future-cyber-surreal city of Beerlight, except that the mysterious object everyone scrambles after is not a black statue, but Franz Kafka's brain. That alone should give you an idea of the lengths of madness traveled, and Aylett does so with his gifted ability to throw unforgettable one-liners and curt descriptions at you until you're bruised and bleeding and begging for more. For this the novel is not lacking.

My only real problem was the lack of depth achieved. The characters (including our hero, Taffy Atom) run around only half defined and barely memorable as individuals. And the storyline felt thrown together, as merely an excuse to throw around the players. That's not always a bad thing, mind you, but Aylett is capable of so much more, and has proven it in the past. Slaughtermatic (which was only 20 pages longer) not only felt real and drew you into the bizarre and complex storyline and characters, but he even succeeded in drawing out the individual personalities of two people who were essentially the same person!

So, as I said, I'm not saying this is a bad book. I enjoyed it, and I recommend it to others, although new readers of his may want to try the other two titles I mentioned first. It is simply not his best. But here's to hoping it is his worst.

This wildly kinetic work of avant-garde sci-fi might be best described as "extreme improv writing" with loads of linguistic convolutions and pyrotechnics that are the end unto themselves. The story, such as it is, is populated by a P.I. and a bunch of outrageous gangsters racing to recover Kafka's stolen brain. Or at least, I think that's the gist of it... the wordplay moves so quickly and violently in building images up and tearing them down that it's hard to keep track of what's actually going on. Everyone speaks with over-the-top verbal tics and sarcasm. The imagery one gets is sort of a near future Maltese Falcon or Kiss Me Deadly but with decidedly odder weapons and setting. The inventiveness in language and imagery is truly impressive, check out my favourite passage: "Like most flux technology, the Syndication bomb hinged on a cheap but ingenious trick. Rather than actually stripping the subtext from the blast site, it converted the wave range into a living Updike novel, the subtext containing information everyone already knew--the end result was a shallow reality in which every move was a statement of the obvious." As this passage tells you, there are inside jokes by the barrelloads here, and if you don't get one, don't bother to re-read, because there's sure to be another on the next page. After a while, this hyperkinetic slapsticky style gets wearying, and the lack of story starts to show through. Still, worth checking out if you're looking for something unusual.

aharlib@worldnet.att.net Atom by Steve Aylett British author of 'slipstream', avante-garde SF, Steve Aylett, with 5 previous books under his belt, has a reputation for outrageousness that precedes him. 'Atom', his most recent novel, definitely lives up to expectations. The protagonist, Mr. Taffy Atom, is a private detective of an unconventional and eccentric sort with a sidekick that's even weirder: Jed Helms, who has a voraciously vicious human personality somehow grafted onto a souped-up brain in the body of a giant goldfish! The near-future setting, as in Aylett's novel 'Slaughtermatic', is the city of 'Beerlight' that 'sprawls like roadkill'. The plot, a bit thin, but then the book is only 137 pages long, takes Atom on a mission to trace a missing brain that vanished the night the City Brian Facility blew up and the grey matter that's gone is none other than that of Tony Curtis. A motley crew of bizarre gangsters will do anything to see that Atom, his gorgeous, smart and tough girlfriend Madison Drowner and Jed Helms don't succeed. Reading Aylett is not reading for depth of character, intense emotional subtlety or intricate background descriptions---rather, it's like reading a manic anime noir where the imagery dominates---stark and startling, with satirically over-the-top metaphors abounding and the pacing lightning-swift, cutting from one scene to the next almost too fast to follow. Yet the language is so clever and witty that the reader is only too happy to go along for the mad car-chase of a ride in order to encounter bits like this: "Industrial gothic was tempered by Bren Shui, the art of exchanging negative energy with the environment through the correct placement of firearms around the house." Laugh out loud moments of this sort are to be found on practically every page of 'Atom' for Aylett

definitely delivers outrageousness. Everything in the book is extreme, bordering on caricature: Atom, the ultimate cynical, wise guy gumshoe; Madison, the smart-mouthed babe; Jed Helms, surreal and bizarre; Joanna, the hulking, amusingly dumb henchman, that's right, man; and then there's the fiendish mastermind behind it all, Candyman, not to mention a whole bevy of colorful supporting characters. Everyone talks in the snappy patter of the author's slangy dialog (warning---contains curse words), voices that dominate the text and propel the story. 'Atom' is wild and crazy and funny, replete with satirical allusions to much of contemporary and current pop-cultural trends---all extrapolated to the mind-stretching max. For a high energy romp, 'Atom' is hard to beat!

The are two ways to look at this book, either of them will leave you with a headache. You might actually be able to make more sense out of this book if you read it back to front. The plot, if there is one, is a Maltese Falconesque brain of Franz Kafka which everyone wants. Two characters here represent Sidney Greenstreet (The Candyman) and Peter Lorre (Thermidor).

Everyone else is along for the laughs, if you can find them. The book appears to be written in one continuous session like "On the Road" without all of the beatnik mystique. It reads like an acid-trip with a speed chaser. What it's suppose to be is the bottom line question. Though it would warm the heart of any 50s 'nouveau roman' writer or semi- practicing Dadaist.

Take two beers, hit yourself on the head, and don't sleep for three days and you should be able write something better than this. If you can't, finish the six pack and go to bed.

After the first dozen pages of this book, try putting it down and switch instead to The Crime Studio, Bigot Hall or Slaughtermatic. The difference in quality is striking.

This book feels like it's been thrown together with little care or attention. I really enjoyed other books by Aylett, but have noticed the quality drop with each new book. Is he just running out of ideas?

I found Atom truly original, laugh-out loud funny: my prediction is that Aylett will come to be recognized as one of the most interesting writers of our day. Aylett does things with the language I've never before encountered: this novel is a riotous take on Dashiell Hammett's Maltese Falcon, although anyone who's not open to an EXTREMELY raucous, funny and bizarre viewpoint need not apply. He's challenging, but not in a ponderous way: no neat plot structure, no nice, logical development...but WELL worth your money. None of the same old, same old here.

I thought I was a pretty open-minded person a couple of years ago, but I either never was, or I have become less so in my older age. "Atom" by Steve Aylett really put my senses to the test, however.

This book, after just a few pages in, seems more like a joke on the reader than a novel. It almost reads like a Burroughs opium nightmare about a private eye, or a Gertrude Stein poem about one. There is no plot and even a nonlinear thinker will become lost amid the electron-induced battling plotlines.

I could be wrong, I hope I am, but I have a feeling that the people who loved this book and gave it excellent reviews were just not up to the task of admitting it didn't make much sense.