Customer Reviews

Dying Inside

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Robert Silverberg's "Dying Inside" is one of the great classics of SF literature. The protagonist, David Selig, is a telepath whose rare talent has brought him no pleasure. He leads the life of an outcast, a voyeur, with his gift as his keyhole. When his telepathy deserts him he is left stranded-

(Pauses). (Sits silently, head bowed). (Finally, sighs forcefully). (Prepares to whip self to indignant frenzy).

This world just isn't fair. You know that, you don't need me to tell you. But every so often an injustice so flagrant and so heinous occurs that I need to grab the nearest passerby and scream it at him. You're here, and I'm mad, so put down that mouse and listen. Have you read this book yet? Have you read "The Catcher in the Rye"- you know, "the coming-of-age story against which all others are judged," etc., etc.? Go read them. I'll wait- done yet? Good. What do you think? They're both excellent, aren't they? You really feel the turmoil and pain and angst of both Caulfield and Selig after reading them. So why has this book attracted only a handful of reviews, while "The Catcher in the Rye" has attracted- let me check- over 1000 reviews? Why does "The Catcher in the Rye" appear on all the "100 Greatest Novels of the Century" lists while "Dying Inside" doesn't? I'll tell you why- look at your copy of "Dying Inside," and look for those damning scarlet letters "Science Fiction." That's why. "The Catcher in the Rye" is serious literature; "Dying Inside" is science fiction. Never mind that David Selig is as vividly realized as Holden Caulfield, that the prose of "Dying Inside" is as smooth as silk and as scorching as a brush fire, that "Dying Inside" is to middle age what "The Catcher in the Rye" is to adolescence. One is "truly one of America's literary treasures," and one is not. There ain't no justice, is there, Larry?

Bear with me briefly while I go on a bit of a rant (part one of it at least) here, this book here represents only a very small part of what may be one of the greatest single spurts of output science fiction or the literary world has ever known. You see, during the seventies, Mr Silverberg came up with no less than thirteen masterworks of science fiction, not a sequel or connected book in the lot, each one a completely unique and searing study of people and the possibilities of science fiction as a whole. Once I heard about these, I knew that I had to get as many as I could and so I go to find them and lo and behold, how many do I find in print. Exactly none gentle reader. None at all, and the horrifying part is that at least two of these are Hugo winners (Time of Changes and the book I'll be reviewing in a moment). Why is this? What is this? Oh well, more on that as I chug along with the four classic period books that I own. This is the first one I read here, Dying Inside in case you've forgotten and it simply made my mouth drop open. The story is one that we're partly familiar with, man has great powers, uses them in a silly fashion and then realizes that he's losing them. Flowers for Algernon is another gem on this theme but in a lot of ways David Selig is even more of an innocent than poor Charley. No matter how many women he beds, no matter how many minds he reads and lives he lives vicariously, no matter how much he can shield himself with his armor of cynicism, inside is a man crying for the release of his power so he can be a normal man and yet he's desperately afraid of what will happen to him if he loses it because it has defined him and made him who is his entire life, he fears that instead of becoming a normal man, he will become even less than the rest of us. And Silverberg portrays this all and lets us into the head of this tormented man with pointed, searing prose, with a focus and poetry that is rarely seen in his work and an intensity that is rarely seen anywhere. You may not like David Selig and you may not agree with him but you will know him more intimately than almost anyone else by the time you close the pages on this all too brief book. The thing that to me is the most poignant is the closing to the book (hint: stop reading if you don't want an even vague idea of how it ends) with David having lost his powers and considering his place in the world, he has to start all over again, and a lesser writer would have gone the easy way and given us the hint of a new love in his life, or some ray of hope. But David has to start over and just like the rest of us, he's unsure and cautiously hopeful but unsure nonetheless. In the end he's more like the rest of us, both before and after, than either him or everyone else would care to admit.

One of the two Robert Silverberg books that I try to re-read every few years (the other being "The Book of Skulls"), "Dying Inside" tells the story of David Selig, a middle aged man, who is losing his ability to read minds, and consequently, his identity as well, which lacked clarity in the first place. What, at first blush, might seem like an enviable gift, turns out to be Selig's addiction and curse. From early childhood, Selig discovers that others, including his parents, do not always have pleasant thoughts about him. But more depressing to Selig, is the prospect of losing this ability and living alone in his own mind.

Silverberg does a masterful job at showing us David Selig's plight, in both his use of his ability and his gradual loss of it. The book has a number of memorable scenes, for instance when David uses his powers to win a fight against a much stronger bully, or when David becomes obsessed with a woman from whom he is "blocked" (i.e. he can't read her mind). As an example of his wasted life, David earns a living by reading the minds of plagiarizing college students so that he can better prepare academic papers on their behalf.

David Selig has wasted his life and squandered his only talent, but really, could there have been any alternative? But his mind reading, though destructive, has become the defining part of his life. Silverberg has once again demonstrated why he must be considered one of the giants of the "soft" science fiction genre.

Highly recommended.

What's that you say? You don't like sci-fi? Never really cared much for the intergalactic battles, laser guns, strange aliens, godlike heroes and exotic, vuluptuous vixens of traditional space opera? Books like CATCHER IN THE RYE and PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT are more your thing? Well, here's a science fiction novel you can finally sink your teeth into! The sci-fi is kept to a minimum, but the emotion and sheer humanity of it all are in full swing. The only science-fictional element here is the fact that the protagonist has ESP. We encounter him in middle age, his extrasensory power beginning to wane. Plot threads are few and uncomplicated, but the themes are large, complex, richly and poignantly rendered: death, love, maturity, subjectivity, society, solitude, entropy. This is a very literary novel, with quick but astute references to Aeschylus, Eliot, Joyce, Kafka, Ginsberg, even Shakespeare. The setting is the New York City of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, mostly in and around Columbia University. This is not a plot driven novel, but more of a character study. Through a narrative that alternates between first and third person, you find out about the protagonist's life--his childhood, his loves, his existential outlook and spiritual yearnings. An Amazon reviewer described this novel by writing that "DYING INSIDE is to middle age what THE CATCHER IN THE RYE is to adolescence." I would say that's exactly right, and gives you a good idea of what to expect. Silverberg is a great prose stylist and has created a clear, distinctive voice for David Selig, the main character. The story works on the heart strings without being maudlin. The protagonist is flawed, true (I even disliked him at times, just as with Holden Caulfield), but, in my opinion, redeems himself by the end. This book is a real literary masterpiece and not just a "genre" novel. I'm surprised that it's not taught in college English courses across the country (never mind that it's shockingly out of print at the moment). A reviewer here at Amazon believes that it's overlooked because it's considered a sci-fi novel and sci-fi is generally sneered at by academicians. I agree, but would add that the book also contains a few un-PC moments that might affect its standing in the halls of academe, though it's really nothing that even a die-hard liberal like me can't deal with. Anyhow, this is a must-read, especially for the more literate reader.

One of the few books that I always press on new friends, along with Ursula K. LeGuin's "The Lathe of Heaven". When I first read it in high school, 1980, it blew my mind, like a hammer on the head. It still does.

I read Robert Silverberg's Dying Inside at the age of 19 in 1983, followed closely by Thorns, and to state it as simply as possible, these two books changed me from an adolescent to an adult. Up to that point in time I could only see the world from a surface point of view. I basically believed that everyone is basically the same, so I enjoyed books about characters I could identify with. When I came across a book with characters I didn't understand, I thought the writer was an idiot. I didn't realize that the problem was with ME!

But Dying Inside and Thorns took me on a voyage into the minds of human beings who were TOTALLY unlike me, yet TOTALLY understandable. I could LITERALLY feel my mind expanding as I read these books. It was as close as I have ever come to having a 'spiritual' experience. By the time Silverberg was through with me, I was not the same dumb kid. I suddenly saw that people are all DIFFERENT, not alike! I was able to read authors I hadn't appreciated before, because now I could accept not only that people are different, but actually take pleasure in trying to see the world from their point of view!

I didn't read many other Silverberg books after that, sad to say. The simple fact is, these two books were a bit sad for me. The characters and situations are VERY depressing, as well as brilliantly rendered. But I will always be appreciative of the gift reading these books gave to me: The simple ability to imagine the world from someone else's point of view, without judgement.

The world is packed full of people who have yet to learn this lesson, perhaps because they don't read anything that challenges their status quo. They see themselves as the standard of perfection, and feel justified to hate and distrust anyone who thinks differently, goes to a different church, or votes for a different political party. I think this basic lack of imagination and empathy is the core cause of most human suffering.

Just in case Robert Silverberg ever happens to read this review, I'd like to thank him for making me a better person.

I heartily recommend these novels to dumb young kids who need a kick in the brain.

DYING INSIDE could very well be the best written Science Fiction story I've ever read. It's almost as if Robert Silverberg tried to reimagine an SF novel through the eyes of a Roth or an Updike. The prose in this book is simply first rate, and miles above what an Isaac Asimov or an Arthur C. Clarke could produce. This is not a conventional SF novel, but a literary novel with an SF twist.

Ultimately, however, Silverberg devotes his skill to a rather unlikable set of characters. The premise of DYING INSIDE is simple -- what if a man was born with the ability to read minds, but kept it a secret? In fact, what if that man was a rather unlikable, self-pitying neurotic? And what if, in the onset of middle age, he found his telepathic ability to be dissipating? Silverberg executes this concept brilliantly, but I ultimately found it difficult to relate to his anti-hero. The supporting characters are even less likable -- most of them are petty and self-absorbed, the creations of an author who seems to hold little affection for humanity.

DYING INSIDE is also a bit of a time capsule of bohemian New York life in the late 1950s and 1960s. Everybody in this novel is a swinger and has scores of sex partners; everybody seems to be a college professor, a student, or some sort of free-floating intellectual; and nobody seems to have much of a moral code. This lifestyle is quite alien to me, but nontheless interesting. Novels like this really aren't written anymore -- this book (first published in 1972) is filled with graphic sex, drug use, and views on race that many modern readers would find offensive. By comparison, it makes many of today's novels seem quite sterile.

In short, DYING INSIDE has some great prose, but it's not the type of book I would call a personal favorite. But for fans of good writing, it's definitely worth a try.

"Dying Inside" is a painfully intimate portrait of a man who has been blessed (or cursed, as he might say) with the gift of telepathy. He has learned to live with this, but now finds that his amazing power is slowly disappearing, leaving him ordinary again. The man, David Selig, is literate, insightful and self-deprecating as he mercilessly dissects his own life. As a character, I found him less than likeable, but completely fascinating. He leads an almost meaningless life, has no friendships and hardly any meaningful relationships, and despite being worldly and erudite, he is also depressingly small-minded.

Getting such an intimate view into Selig's mind was at times a painful experience: despite his pettiness, despite the sexism and occasional racism, you can't help but feel for him. The bitter irony of the book is that this man, who is able to read people's thoughts, is so completely self-centered and small-minded that he is incapable of having a meaningful relationship with anyone.

The novel is beautifully written, using a series of flashbacks to tell Selig's story as he thinks back on his life. The prose is just gorgeous, perfectly reflecting his thoughts, full of often inwardly-directed irony. After reading this book, you will feel like you know David Selig. You might not like him very much, but he will be real to you.

This is an excellent novel, and one I'd recommend both to SF fans and to people who usually don't read the genre. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time to come, and will probably re-read it at some point.

I have read almost all of Silverberg's novels written before 1980, and believe that "Dying Inside" is his best. It is unfortunate that it is out of print, but one can find it with a bit of effort. My daughter found a used copy in a small bookstore in NYC -- I have since re-read the book and found it even more poignant than the first time I read it. Readers not interested in science fiction should take the plunge into the genre with this book, as it explores the psychological aspects of alienation that can result from possessing a rare quality (or affliction). The main character of the story, David Selig, struggles with his relationships with others because of his ability to know exactly what they are thinking, feeling, etc. He learns that even his parents aren't always loving despite what they say. His unique loneliness is heartbreaking. Take the time to find this book. You may conclude that it is one of the most powerful science fiction novels ever written.

"Dying Inside," by Robert Silverberg, is an amazing masterpiece on the subject of alienation which, unfortunately, seems to have fallen out of the public consciousness in the 1990's. David Selig is a telepath who is losing his power. He is also losing his only source of feedback for human emotion and real contact with other human beings. Reduced to hacking out term papers for otherwise engaged Columbia University students, Selig's superhuman powers serve only his prurient, voyeuristic interests. Selig has never realized the potential of his power and his regrets are underscored by his constant referral to T.S. Eliot's masterpiece of modern anti-heroic poetry, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." Although he is becoming trapped within himself, Selig has a reconciliation with his normal sister and his fading power, which is ultimately affirmative and uplifting. Silverberg won the Hugo Award for "Dying Inside" and the book secured his place as a master of modern fiction. Although Selig is superhuman, he is really Everyman, trying to define himself in a vast and confusing world. His story is a personal and painful, yet rewarding, trip into the human conscience. While exploring basic questions from the entire range of man's emotional experience, "Dying Inside" remains grounded in the eternal modern question of the consequences of action, inaction and the value of human existence. In interviews, Silverberg has revealed how emotionally draining it was to write this book. His personal sacrifice should be rewarded with a periodic reprinting of this powerful and urgent portrait.