Out of My Head: A Novel [Paperback]

Didier van Cauwelaert (Author), Mark Polizzotti (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 2005

In his high-powered novel, Didier van Cauwelaert, the award-winning author of One-Way, explores the illusory nature of identity and the instability of the things we take for granted. Dispossessed of his job, his family, his name, and his very past, Martin Harris is an Everyman caught in an absurd and yet disturbingly convincing nightmare, one that seems to have no exit and that resists every explanation. Part moral fable, part Robert Ludlum-style thriller, Out of My Head is a fast-paced tale of one man's desperate attempt to reclaim his existence—even at the cost of his own life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Van Cauwelaert's trademark absurdist-existential angst is evident again in this follow-up to his Prix Goncourt–winning debut, One-Way. American botanist Martin Harris is relieved to return home after a week-long absence, three days of which he spent in a coma in a Paris hospital following a car accident. What a surprise, then, to discover that his wife of 10 years doesn't recognize him and is now living with another man, a botanist named Martin Harris whose knowledge and memories are identical to the narrator's in every detail. When no one from his former life will vouch for him, Martin starts entertaining unlikely conspiracy theories (adultery, corporate espionage) that are just credible enough to add some real spice to the mystery of his predicament. Feistily questioning his most basic assumptions—Where is memory stored? How authentic are the stories we tell about ourselves? How much of what we cherish about life is based on nostalgia and repetition?—he quickly finds that he "had to stop existing in order to start living." What has been a spirited exploration of identity and memory abruptly turns into a somewhat flimsy thriller in its final pages, but Martin's mighty struggle with self-doubt, paranoia and the disorienting freedom of losing his place in the world makes the ride well worth it.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Didier van Cauwelaert is the author of several international bestsellers, including the critically acclaimed Out of My Head (Other Press, 2004). He also wrote the libretto for the off-Broadway musical, Amour, which garnered five Tony nominations in 2003. Mark Polizzotti has translated numerous books from the French, including works by André Breton, Jean Echenoz, Marguerite Duras, and Gustave Flaubert. He is the author of Revolution of the Mind: The Life of André Breton, a collection of poems, The New Life, and the collaborative novel S. He lives in Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Other Press (October 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590511999
• ISBN-13: 978-1590511992
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.6 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,151,714 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great premise, interesting presentation, January 4, 2005

By 

Craig (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Out of My Head (Hardcover)

While a weak ending hurts somewhat the overall impression one might get from this book, it's still a thought-provoking (and brief!) read.

After awakening from a coma, Martin Harris discovers that he has been "replaced" by someone else with his name, and that nobody from his former life recognizes or acknowledges him. Martin spends the novel doing 2 things - trying to prove to others who he really is, and questioning his own existence.

While he may not be breaking any new ground, Van Cauweleart definitely makes the reader think about the value and meaning of memories and self-awareness. A great book, one that would likely be worthy of 5 stars if not for the poor finish.

12 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars why god. why., February 14, 2005

By 

Lisa Schutt "ignu" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Out of My Head (Hardcover)

Didier Van Cauwelaert's Out of My Head, translated by Mark Polizzotti from the French, (Other Press, 2004) could easily be judged by the fact that the work is not intact in its original state. As in the case of a book of ancient Hindi poetry I read not too long ago that had only recently been translated from abysmal readings of the early 20th century (Songs of the Sons and Daughters of Buddha, trans. Anne Waldman, Andrew Schelling), the magnitude to which a bad translation can change the flow and meaning of even very good prose and poetry is a significant issue when examining the text of a translated work. However, most of the problems I found in reading Van Cauwelaert's second novel had nothing to do with a quirkily placed word, or perhaps a dull passage that might have been exciting in its original Romance tongue. What I read was probably one of the most confusing, and least entertaining texts I've ever run across in my life, and if structure's the problem, we have no one. If to be understood as a bid at existentialism, Out of My Head fails parlously to reach the mark of anything more than a jumble of abstract ideas mixed with the basest form of "mystery thriller", in the school of any number of back-of-the-issue newsprint editions. I was thoroughly disappointed anyone with an IQ higher than that of a cabbage would assign any cohesive and general merit whatsoever to this work.
The story is ostensibly a tale of mistaken identity- but whose? Protagonist Martin Harris (hence called "Martin Harris One") shows up to his flat in Paris after a car accident and a short coma to have the door opened by not his wife, but a stranger- a stranger who his wife calls "Martin Harris" (hence called "Martin Harris Two"). And who everyone else in the BUILDING calls Martin Harris. A man who, as Martin Harris One has no identification on him following the accident, is, for all intents and purposes, the one true Martin Harris. An interesting twist initially on the urban legend of a daughter coming back to the hotel after fetching her mother's prescription to find her mother gone, the hotel room repainted, and any recollection of either she or her mother erased. The explanation in that story was simply that the mother had yellow fever, or a similar disease, and to prevent panic over an epidemic, the woman was simply "erased" by the government. However, Martin Harris One has not been erased- he's been, by appearances, duplicated and stamped obsolete in face of Martin Harris Two. The chase that ensues weaves in and out of Martin's attempt to prove the authenticity of what he considers to be his identity.
The idea that should be important in this book is Martin Harris One's reaction, and the projection of the reader in their imagination into a similar predicament, to having to question the property of one's own memories and identity as specifically one's own. The prevailing idea is, you can lose your own identity, through brain alteration, coma-induced memory loss, etc...but how would it be if someone could take it from you? No one recognizes Martin Harris One as the real Martin Harris but himself. And thus, do his own memories alone make him who he is, or not? In one particularly mind boggling confrontation, both Martin Harrises are gathered to go through a strange drilling of questions from one of Martin Harris's colleagues in his research in the field of botany. Questions are asked that only the real Martin Harris should know about his own research, and Martin Harris One realizes for the first time that this man is no simple imposter, but a man with his very same memories. When the path of questioning veers to the personal, questions about his childhood, his father, his first job- Martin Harris Two answers letter perfectly, in exactly the words Martin Harris One would have used. What does this mean? Without his own, distinct memories, is Martin Harris One any more legitimate than Martin Harris Two?
The philosophical arguments that tentatively raise their multi-faceted heads are interesting, but the actual footwork of writing the novel seems like loosely drawn pencils connections scrawled shorthand on a legal pad. Less than an afterthought, and more of a complete hodge podge of "And then the character went here! No, wait, then the character met this person! Oh, wait, and there was a sensual encounter! Mm, that'll do it!" The strain of the plot called for a Beckett-esque writer who could abstractly look at the points presented and stitch them into some, though abstract, cohesive narrative instead of what we get, which is an odd combination of Remington Steele and Sartre. Two things, right up there with battery acid and orange juice, which should never mix. The offhand additions of the occasional bra-less salesclerk oggling, a brief encounter with quasi-main character /confidante/taxi driver Muriel, and the EVER SO CONSTANT plot switcheroos left me at the last page going "Oh please God don't tell me this is how he's going to end it. Oh God. This IS how he's going to end it." Initially intrigued by the "is he or ISN'T he who he says he is" dilemma, I was completely uninterested by the end of the book, turned off by the main character's unlikeability, and the heavy-handedness of the author's treatment of what could have been a fascinating subject matter I closed the book without my usual desire, post-reading anything, to go "google" the author and figure out, good or bad, if the book I'd just read was a fluke. Because at the end of this book, I didn't care if it was a fluke. I knew it was a badly written book, and I knew while maybe I hadn't wasted three straight hours of my life in reading it, I could have at least put them to better use. As in maybe, washing my hair. Or reading the nutrition facts on a cannister of salt. Lots of things, really.
Thanks, Didier Van Cauwelaeart.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Rushed Ending Lets Down This Otherwise Masterpiece Novella, March 17, 2011

By 

James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Out of My Head: A Novel (Paperback)

Out of My Head is one of those few books that you pick up, start reading, and just don't want to put down! Incidentally you can also get this republished under the same title as the 2011 movie Unknown. So get whichever is cheaper.

When a scientist and expert on every little detail of the plant kingdom awakens from a coma after his taxi crashed in Paris he is disturbed to discover his wife and more importantly the man who is in his apartment and claims to be him, say he's not Martin Harris. He knows this to be a lie but has no idea what exactly is going on. He tries to get the police involved but the imposter has ID, his neighbours all verify him to be so and most importantly his wife claims she doesn't know who he is, that the imposter is her husband and she's quite scared of this obviously mentally unbalanced man. Martin is determined to prove he is who he says he is, but is he?

This is a nice Harlan Coben/Linwood Barclay style novel, where the reader can easily put themselves in Mark's shoes and ask themselves, what would I do? It's a great masterpiece for the most part, except for the ending which seems rushed and there to fit under a word count. If a bit more effort had been put extending out the ending so it wasn't so convenient, thereby delivering more satisfaction for the reader who has come along on the journey, then I'd rate this one of the greatest masterpieces I've read in a while.