Customer Reviews

Lust: or No Harm Done

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

 

 

Imagine discovering that you have the power to create a temporary copy of anyone in the world alive or dead-and they will be yours to command. You can make them desire you, work for you, tell you their deepest, darkest secrets. What would you do with such a gift? Or is it a curse?

This has become the reality for Michael Blasco, a mild-mannered research scientist. When he first conjures up a copy of his hunky gym instructor on a train platform, Michael fears for his sanity. He quickly realizes, however, that the copies are every bit as real as the original, complete with intelligence and awareness-at least while they exist. With just a thought, Michael can end their existence as easily as he brought them into being. Once they are gone, nothing remains of them except Michael's memories.

While he first sees it all as a sort of game for his own amusement, as time goes on, Michael begins to wonder why he has this strange ability. The book takes a more serious turn as Michael searches for answers and explores the morality of the situation.

What at first seems to be a wet-dream come true gradually turns into a nightmare as Michael realizes that there are consequences to his actions with the copies. His long-term relationship is crumbling, he neglects his research project, the originals seem to retain some memory of what their copies do, and not all copies appreciate being brought back from the dead.

Lust is an amazingly original and thought-provoking concept. It could have turned into a prurient tale in the hands of a lesser author, but Geoff Ryman's strong writing more than pulls it off. The story both entertains and causes us to think about the consequences of our actions. I had a little trouble getting into Ryman's style, but about a third of the way into the book it really takes off and I was left holding on for the rest of the ride. Ryman brings historic and well-known characters to life with shocking plausibility. I especially enjoyed the visits from Billie Holiday and Pablo Picasso. Knowing a bit about both of them, I believe Ryman truly caught their spirit in their portrayals.

Once you adjust to his style, Ryman's writing is simply stunning. His word-pictures are so accurate and vibrant that you feel as if you are seeing the story instead of just reading it. In turns humorous and touching, the book brings everything together by the end for a wonderfully satisfying read. I highly recommend this book.

What an interesting book! What a concept - a gay scientist can materialise any person he wills - for conversation and/or sex! When I commenced it I was aware that the author had written a cyber-novel, and my initial feeling was that this novel was written in a fashion dictated by the internet - short sentences, single and simple ideas. But no - complexity gained with each page, and fairly early on the writer showed depth, a marvellous eye for character and detail, a great sense of humour, and an ability to halt any wandering mind with a sentence that captures a sentiment so expressively that the mental jaw drops in mid-read - "It was going to be tiring living with someone who went straight to the truth without passing GO first" (from memory - forgive me, GR, if wrong). The 'scientific breakthrough' at the end seems initially out-of-place - but it does indeed work, to tie the novel together and allow it and the dear protaginist to move forward. Recommended as a quirky and unusual read that will have you recalling it fondly days afterwards.

This book is sometimes funny, frequently poignant, a little kinky and thoroughly thought-provoking. It's the story of a research scientist who one day discovers he has power to create a double of anyone on Earth who must obey his every command. At first he uses it for the obvious - sexual wish fulfillment (and some wacky experimentation with Tarzan and a buxom cartoon character) but, ultimately, he learns about himself and his responsibilities in love and life. Great characters who you can care about and a great message.

This is one of the most original stories I read in a long time -- more so because it was written in a conversational, non-preachy stream-of-consciousness which somehow involves the reader.

The book raises questions about Messianic possibilities and the excruciatingly painful stings of humiliations due to missed opportunities and lost chances. The book realistically investigates Michael Blasco's "gift" and how even the possession of such a gift can still make one lonely, wanting and unfulfilled. The author seems to know the nuances and ramifications of love in its glory and loss at its most heart-rending.

The book has a lot of heart and a wry sense of humor and it ended with wise authority. I thought the conjuring of Billie Holiday and Pablo Picasso were original (I had fun reading Billie's envy to Ella Fitzgerald and how Teddy Wilson hated her and quickened the tempo of "What A Little Moonlight Can Do") and inspired.

Although the vivid descriptions of same sex copulations are an acquired taste, one can't help but laugh at Ryman's descriptions and comparisons to animals. His perspicacity in observing humans and how their faces express many telling things gave this book its deserved excellence and timelessness.

Michael Blasco is a 38-year-old British scientist who spends most of his time conducting experiments on baby chicks. Trapped in a sexless relationship with his partner, Phil, Michael indulges in a fantasy about an attractive man from his gym and is shocked when the man suddenly materializes in front of him and drops his trousers. It turns out that Michael has developed an unexplainable ability to bring his sexual fantasies to life. He has the power to summon any person, living or dead, and make them do anything he wants them to. As you can probably imagine, Michael begins to ignore his other responsibilities and concentrates on his new extracurricular activity, summoning everyone from a security guard to Billie Holiday to Pablo Picasso. Michael's magical power isn't all it's cracked up to be, though, and instead of satisfying his lust and finding true love, Michael's life begins to unravel in ways he never imagined possible as he discovers disturbing truths about himself and realizes what is really important to him.

"Lust" is a very entertaining story filled with humor, tenderness, and romance. There are a lot of sexually explicit passages as well as a very lengthy and graphic description of an incestuous encounter with Michael and his father...readers who don't usually warm to that kind of thing should probably steer clear of this book. However, I thought it was very touching and well-written overall, even though it's not the kind of book I usually get into.

Just finished in two sittings and could not put it down. What a great idea for a book, and the science end of it is fascinating. At times funny others sad it comes to a wonderful conclusion. And you know no one has to die. What a refreshing novel. I would recommend anything by this author.

Living in London, Michael Blasco, good looking at 38, has been in a relationship for around twelve years, but things have not been going too well of late, and while they still share a bed, he and Philip otherwise seem to lead separate lives. Matters are not helped by Michaels impotence. He's a workaholic too, a research scientist and teacher just opening a new lad for his research project. It is then that he discovers he has a unique power, he is able to conjure out of nothing the attractive young man at his gym, and he can make him do whatever he wants, that includes wanting to sleep with Michael. Michael soon learns that he can summon almost anyone he desires, living or now dead. Being a scientist he also experiments with this power, and learns some of the limitations along with some advantages.

This new found power begins to take over his life, affecting his work and relations with real people, and while he can have anyone he wants (he calls them angels), he seems unable to establish a loving relationship with a real person. But can he live with his angels, among whom he calls up missed opportunities from his own past as well as the likes of Billie Holiday, Tarzan, Lawrence of Arabia and Picaso, not to mention a cartoon character and an entire New Zealand team?

This makes for a most interesting story. Ryman approaches the idea sensibly, using Michael's scientific mind as a means of maintaining a sense of reality to the fantasy. He is able to explore his ruined childhood relationship with his father, divorced from his mother and with whom he would spend his summers in the US; gradually he learns about himself, and eventually gains self respect. The slightly misleading title, Lust, while being perhaps one of Michael's perceived problems, hides a very thought provoking and well reasoned storyline that ponders a number of interesting questions and possibilities, which Ryman does not neglect.

I just finished reading this book and was completely in awe of the depth of the psychology and the feelings and inner workings of the mind of the main character partcularly but also to the people he interacts with.

This is a highly compelling story that I was very much excited to pick up at each sitting... yet it is also languid and heady.

I do not feel the title presents this book well, as it is about far more than lust; it is about understanding and searching for yourself and finding it through interacting with others - in this case apparitions that are willed into existence by the protagonist.

A fascinating read that I may say is the best book I have ever read in regards to illustrating the inner workings of the mind and inner dialogue we all have inside.

Thirty-something scientist, Michael Blasco, is your typical all work/no play type. He is involved in a love affair that's gone well past its sell by date, mostly owing to his neglect, and his current research project involves the sort of animal testing that even he seems a bit squeamish, if not rueful, over. One day, on his way home from the gym, the personal trainer about whom he fantasizes appears to him on the tube platform and performs an ad hoc striptease seemingly as a result of Michael's thoughts. In short order, Michael discovers that he can create a doppelganger of anyone on the planet (living, dead, real or fictional) who must do exactly as he pleases. After the initial shock and disbelief wear off, he warms to the idea and wastes no time in calling up a variety of "doubles," including his boyhood wet-dream, Tarzan (as played by Johnny Weismuller), a Jessica Rabbit-like cartoon character, Lawrence of Arabia, his own American military man Father (on whom he was sexually fixated as a boy), Billie Holliday and, most memorably, a totally manic go-getting Pablo Picasso.

Of course, much like the experiments he performs on helpless animals, his manipulation of these people is not without its ethical ambiguities and complications. Each person reacts differently to his overtures and, despite their obligation to obey him, almost none of them acquiesce happily. Slowly, with each encounter, he begins to learn valuable lessons about consideration, responsibility and relationships. In the end, rather than being corrupted by his newfound powers, he comes out a better, more caring, person.

LUST is a rewarding book on so many levels. It has a lot of humour, partly as a result of the absurdity of its premise but in larger part due to the hilarious, whimsical characterizations which are the book's major strength. Every character, whether based on a real person or a complete fiction, is wonderfully alive and completely unique without ever once stepping over the boundaries into caricature. Increasingly I find fictional characters (particularly those in queer literature) to be bland and difficult to distinguish from one another, with the unfortunate exception being the token outrageous, flamboyant stereotype, but the people in LUST are absolutely 100% believable individuals. Even Picasso, the book's most over-the-top creation, is a total delight. Reading it, I felt as if Ryman really knew these people.

In addition to the humour, the book has a lot of heart and is surprisingly romantic. It examines religion, destiny, self-acceptance, relationships (familial and sexual) and responsibility. It has a protagonist who, while not always likable, is extremely easy to relate to, understand and even sympathize with. In many ways, he is just an average guy in extraordinary circumstances. If you like your queer lit with a dose of fantasy, humour, philosophy and/or romance, LUST has something for you.