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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A philosophical horror novel,
By
This review is from: Neuropath (Hardcover)
Neuropath is sold as a thriller.It is not. It borrows from the trappings of the thriller genre, but at its base it is horror. It is horror that delves deeply into neurology, consciousness and perception. The antagonist is a neurosurgeon that goes way off the reservation (and that's after he's worked for the NSA in tinkering with the brains (and thus minds) of terrorists and prisoners). It touches on loss of control, volition and violation on deep, deep levels. And, frankly, it creeped me out. All you have to do is imagine yourself in any of the victims shoes. The progagonist is Dr. Thomas Bible, a cognitive psychologist and author of a book about the nature of consciousness that wasn't well received. He's also in the midst of a painful divorce, with limited access to his children. In the midst of all this, his friend from college, Neil Cassidy, a neurosurgeon, shows up to continue their Argument - one about the nature of consciousness and the platform it runs on, the human brain. The next morning, Dr. Bible goes to work and the FBI turns up looking for Neil. From there, the novel takes off. I'll be honest, a lot of what happens made me deeply uncomfortable. Its violent and the violence is tied to the Argument that is going on. Its degrading, unpleasant and nasty. But it does tie to the plot. Its also very talky with information dumps about neurology and consciousness throughout, so be warned. And while Neuropath is not a happy book, it does make you think (heh). Not a bad accomplishment that.
4.0 out of 5 stars
excellent blend of science philosophy and horror,
This review is from: Neuropath (Hardcover)
This book stuck with me way too long! If you follow the latest consciousness arguments studies on brain experimentation it IS very scary in its discussions. The arguments he uses are lame but you would never notice it.
5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Author seems depressed by classic philosophical questions,
By
This review is from: Neuropath (Hardcover)
I had high hopes for Neuropath. I read Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy and think that it's some of the best, most thoughtful fantasy I've ever read. I'm also a big fan of thrillers, and was very interested to see what Bakker would do with the genre. Most of the time I find them a bit vapid, and was hoping he'd bring some depth in his effort. I was excited enough that I paid the extra money and ordered from Amazon's Canadian store even though I live in the U.S. I mention all this to show that I don't think I'm biased against the book or author.You can see the 2 stars I've given this book, and know that I was disappointed. I have three reasons for my disappointment. First is that the book doesn't work as a thriller. There is rising action which is often exciting, but the ending lacks the crucial climax and catharsis. It's more like a horror novel that stops in the middle of the most horrific part. This relates to my second reason, which is that I found the level of violence (sexual and otherwise) and psychological torture to be unpalatable. I've watched my share of ultraviolent movies, including many underground Japanese flicks that people consider to be some of the most disturbing ever made. I've read violent books full of carnage and horror. This book doesn't top them all, but it does fall firmly into the group of works that I am unable to enjoy because they cross the level of violence I'm comfortable with. I don't feel like this level of grotesquerie is necessary, or particularly effective. It took me out of the story and made me worry much more about the author's mental state than think about anything in the book. My third reason for rating this book 2 stars is that I feel like the author is panicked about concepts that philosophers have been discussing for centuries, if not millennia. He presents all of his ideas as being brand new because neuroscience has recently proven them as being fact. I say that these ideas are not new, and that philosophers from Aristotle to Descartes have struggled with the nature of consciousness and how to deal with it for all of human history. Bakker seems worried because recent advances in neuroscience show that by stimulating different parts of the brain in a mechanical way, you can artificially create all facets of human experience - sight, sound, touch, pain, pleasure, love, hate, etcetera. Putting aside any discussion of quantum physics, this does seem to "prove" that consciousness is an illusion of some sort. It doesn't, however, make these ideas new concepts. In the end, it also doesn't justify the extreme violence, torture, and lack of satisfying conclusion in this book. I give the book not one star, but two, because it is fairly well written. I don't think the prose is anything approaching his previous work, but it's readable. The action does rise in an exciting arc for a good part of the book, but the ending ruins it. I also want to note that although I mostly dismiss the philosophical dialogue present in the book, I would like the chance to talk to the author at some point and see how he would respond to more specific criticisms. He opens the door for an interesting dialogue (though I don't feel he explores more than one facet of it), and so that helps with the 2 stars as well. Overall, not recommended in the slightest, but fairly well written. I think he lost the bet with his wife. He wrote a book, certainly, but in my opinion, it's not a thriller.
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