Ghost: A Novel [Hardcover]

Alan Lightman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 23, 2007

Alan Lightman’s first novel, Einstein’s Dreams, became an international best seller and was hailed by Salman Rushdie as “at once intellectually provocative and touching and comic and so very beautifully written.” His novel The Diagnosis, called “highly original and imaginative” by the New York Times, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Now comes a stunning and disturbing new novel about a man’s encounter with the unfathomable.

David is a person of modest ambitions who works in a bank, lives in a rooming house, enjoys books and quiet walks by the lake. Three months after unexpectedly being fired from his job, he takes a temporary position at a mortuary. And there, sitting alone in the “slumber room” one afternoon at dusk, he sees something that he cannot comprehend, something that no science can explain, something that will force him to question everything he believes in, including himself. After his metaphysical experience, all his relationships change-—with his estranged wife, his girlfriend, his mother--and he grudgingly finds himself at the center of a bitter public controversy over the existence of the supernatural. As David struggles to understand what has happened to him, we embark on a provocative exploration of the delicate divide between the physical world and the spiritual world, between skepticism and faith, between the natural and the supernatural, and between science and religion.

Combining a dramatic story with compelling characters and provocative ideas, Ghost investigates timeless questions that continue to challenge contemporary society.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this smartly paced novel from the author of Einstein's Dreams, a divorced, former banker witnesses a supernatural event, inspiring him to continue the search for something that has hovered in the back of his mind throughout his life. A promising, handsome student in his younger years, middle-aged David struggles to restore order to his life and relationships after being sacked from his middling bank job. The search leads him to the local funeral home, where he takes a job as an apprentice among a cast less hip than the Six Feet Under crew, but compelling in a quieter way—the director, Martin, is a fatherly figure whose allegiance to his inherited profession rules an existence otherwise restricted by severe agoraphobia. After David has a vision he can't describe in words in the home's slumber room, he gets agitated to the point where he is compelled to confess to a loose-lipped friend. Soon, David's vision becomes a local media event, with unwanted consequences. Familiar questions about the existence of God, life after death and the fluidity of time arise, and the cast doesn't get the detail it deserves. But the momentum that builds alongside David's ensuing psychological turmoil is enough to carry the story. (Oct.)
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From The New Yorker

In straightforward prose, Lightman tells the story of a divorced and childless forty-two-year-old man whose primary ambition has been to "understand the world," rather than change it. Believing that logic holds life together, he struggles to be content with his limited lot, but also admits to "searching for something" beyond himself, "some totality, which can be glimpsed only between the cracks." When he is let go from a mid-level banking position, he finds work in a mortuary, where, one day, he sees something he can only describe as a "vapor" apparently emanating from, or getting sucked into, a corpse. In the ensuing frenzy—a local paper gets wind of the story—he is forced to wrestle with fundamental beliefs about human existence. Unfortunately, Lightman’s fine sense of the upheavals that can occur when an ordinary person confronts the inexplicable is marred by the hollowness of his central character.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 244 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon; 1 edition (October 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375421696
• ISBN-13: 978-0375421693
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.2 x 8.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,113,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alan Lightman, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences since 1996, is adjunct professor of humanities at MIT. He is the author of several books on science, including "Ancient Light: Our Changing View of the Universe" (1991) and "Origins: The Lives and Worlds of Modern Cosmologists" (with R. Brawer, 1990). His works of fiction include "Einstein's Dreams" (1993), "The Diagnosis" (2000), which was a finalist for the National Book Award, and, most recently, "Reunion" (2003).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Aptly Named "Ghost", March 27, 2008

By 

Stephen Williams "Stephen Williams" (Hawthorne, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ghost: A Novel (Hardcover)

Review of: Ghost

By: Alan P Lightman

Published: 2007

The story is aptly named "Ghost" because it gives the reader a lot to think about while showing only a glimpse of its mystery.

Like all good ghosts this apparition gives us just a peek. The "Ghost" gives David (the protagonist and the witness) only one certainty, it exists. The "Ghost" is real. David is allowed only a few seconds to witness, but the apparition leaves no room for doubt. David saw a "Ghost"

Ironically, the protagonist says that the only science he remembers from school is the Pythagorean Theorem. He says:

"The Pythagorean Theorem I still know: The square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of something or other. It has to do with the sides of triangles. Would a crazy person at age forty-two be able to remember anything about the Pythagorean Theorem?"

as proof that he has not gone crazy. Pythagoras was the founder of a religion as well as a mathematician. All that David recollects is the Pythagorean Theorem, not Pythagoreanism. Pythagoreanism (the Pythagorean religion) held the human soul is as real as the human body. David has accepted the concrete mechanical concept of Pythagoras, but is not even aware of Pythagorean concept of the soul.

David is reading Edward Gibbon's "The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" while searching for a job. David mentions this, to himself, and shows that he has time on his hands and that he is using it well (the penguin press edition is published in three volumes and is a total of 3,616 pages). By selecting "The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" he shows indifference to a spiritual view (see The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Volume 1 (Penguin Classics), The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Volume 2 (Penguin Classics) and The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Volume 3 (Penguin Classics) or the single volume abridgement The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Penguin Classics)). Before his encounter with the "Ghost" David shows no interest in religion or the divine. He seems like the perfect skeptic.

David is not psychologically equipped to handle the consequence of his encounter with the "Ghost." What follows is a story of loneliness, quiet desperation, social ostracism and ultimately emancipation. David's emancipation comes from his ultimate acceptance of the truth that he saw with his own eyes. He saw the "Ghost" and it doesn't matter what anyone else wants to make of his vision.

I thoroughly enjoyed this thoughtful book. It has a "home town" appeal and a simple message of optimism that applies even to the least significant members of our society. The characters in "Ghost" are all very believable and they become like old friends.

See also:

Einstein's Dreams

Dance for Two: Essays

The Diagnosis: A Novel

A Sense of the Mysterious: Science and the Human Spirit

Reunion : A Novel

Good Benito



Read this upbeat book for its simple message of hope.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful novel by a gifted writer, November 2, 2007

By 

Kacey H. Kowars "kaceyk" (Powell, ohio USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ghost: A Novel (Hardcover)

Alan Lightman is an author who trusts that his readers can deal with complex issues. The protagonist of the novel, David Kurtzweil, experiences an unexpected career change. He ends up working at a mortuary. One day, while working, he 'sees something' when sitting with a recently deceased corpse. The press finds out about his experience and writes about it. A paranormal society contacts David and he is tested to see if he has paranormal powers. GHOST is a fascinating look at the world of science versus the world of metaphysical experience. Only a writer like Mr. Lightman can pull off such a story. If you have not read Alan Lightman you should. EINSTEIN'S DREAMS remains one of the most creative works of fiction written in our generation. High praise.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lyrical prose, beautifully written human story, March 22, 2008

By 

Mary Chrapliwy (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ghost: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book is written with lyrical prose reminiscent of Alice Hoffman's finest works. It isn't so much a suspense tale, or even a solid ghost story. It is about a man who experiences a phenomenon that he cannot fully define. He sees something that isn't thoroughly described - he isn't sure what he really saw.

When the story gets out that he saw something that may have been a spirit in the funeral home where he works, his life is thrown into complete upheaval. His mother, who is already a bit cold and self-centered, rejects his experience. His ex-wife, who is equally cold hearted, decided to show up, sending his life into further upheaval. I won't say more as I don't want to ruin the story.

This author has created a flawed character you come to care for. You agonize over the upheaval in his life. You hope, throughout the story, that he will end up with a happier life than the one he is leading. He becomes human in your mind. That is the mark of a story well told. I highly recommend this book.