Customer Reviews

The Pains

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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Sundman has done it again: Created a weird universe of unpleasant events and strange occurrences set against a futuristic background steeped in anxiety, guilt, anger and despair. Luckily for us (and for him), Sundman is a talented writer who manages to make it all seem like a walk in the park -- Central Park at around 3 a.m., that is. Some of the religious references are too arcane for me to understand, but the emotional heart of the story beats loud and clear as you follow the travails of the protagonist, Norman Lux, a good man struggling to comprehend the strange world around him. "The Pains" is a great addition to the body of Sundman's literary work, which includes "Acts of the Apostles" and "Cheap Complex Devices." And the illustrations by Cheeseburger Brown are terrific! I suggest that you read this darkly amusing book, and then take a long walk or bicycle ride in the sunshine.

'The Pains' is the third novel from John Sundman and, although this one is more orthodox in structure than his last work, it is different again in the sense that as well as the text, there are 12 beautiful accompanying illustrations that perfectly complement the story.

The plot involves an Orwellian government, an ancient religious order, an anti-Big-Brother scientist, and a young priest experiencing strange miraculous "pains". It's fast paced, dark, and a cleverly written commentary on both organised religion and the police state.

I'd highly recommend this book.

I'd also highly recommend his other two works - "Acts of the Apostles" and "Cheap Complex Devices" (please note that these are published under slightly different names, as John Sundman likes to give himself different middle names/initials on each of his books!)

I'm a science journalist who reads a fair amount of sci fi, mostly, I admit, classics like Dicke, Zindell, Gibson, LeGuin. My attention was drawn to The Pains by a friend who's more attuned than I am to the latest stuff. This book is amazing, funny, profound, a great tale with provocative extrapolations of and riffs on contemporary science, philosophy, theology. The pix are cool too. Highly recommended.

It's like, what, A Canticle for Leibowitz meets Snow Crash in 1984 or something. With kewl illustrations, ooooooooh.

There's no reason not to read this book - as science fiction literature goes it is short, easy to read, entertaining, funny, and has terrific pictures that thoroughly support the story. You can even read it for free online at the author's Website.

Except that the book is deeply disturbing (in a surprisingly hopeful way), and too deeply relevant for the beach.

With Sundman's cinematic staging and elegant descriptions, The Pains feels like a cherished small movie on the scale of Liquid Sky or Memento. If the Cohen brothers made it, it would be the kind that makes you want to see another of theirs instead of the kind that doesn't.

Like these film stories, Sundman poses a number of trick questions:
Would a savior want his disembodied head to be reanimated by science?
What if cheap-parlor trick science was just a little more advanced, and Americans accepting of totalitarianism for just a little bit longer prior to the Cheney administration? Would we have had Orwell's vision in 1984's America?
How god-awful was 1980's popular music?
What if you, dear reader, had faith? Or do you?
What is the scope of science, religion, and politics?

Sundman's tight prose answers all but the last. While the neo-cons may be gone (for now), the balance between personal vs messianic science, religion, and politics is just as precarious as ever.

With his third book, John has succeeded in yanking me out of my comfort zone. His first novel was close enough to home (just a couple of miles and years, actually), that I could allow the familiar to distract me from the apocalyptic. Mostly. The second was really unsettling, but it was so clever and witty that one could take comfort in the frisson of delight. The third bars the doors to the familiar and clever, leaving no refuge.

Another reviewer described this as John's most hopeful novel. Yes, it is - in the sense that by the end of the book, all we (characters, reader, author) have left is hope, and sharing hope is a powerful feeling.

Mr. Sundman has done it again. He has written a short but complex story of religion, recent history, politics, media and popular culture and uses to it to both entertain and warn the reader. Sundman as much as any current novelist seems to understand there is a very dark side to the computer age and that those who do not realize it will be swept away by those who do. In Sundman's world a desktop computer and flat screen television are as much of the Devil's tools as "forbidden books" were inn the 16th Century. Of course, Sundman invites the reader to determine who is the Devil.

The Pains is John Sundman's third novel; it comes with a set of admirable illustrations by Cheeseburger Brown.

All three of Sundman's books are somewhere between excellent and brilliant. Perhaps the best way to describe this one is to say that it takes place in 1985 (or so) in a parallel universe. This is a world in which Jesus Christ has never been heard of, but Fred Christ definitely has. Whereas Jesus was crucified on a cross, Fred was hanged. The cross, as a symbol, has no power in this world, but the noose does. Oh, and Ronald Reagan is Minister of Awareness; he plays the role of friendly Uncle Ronald. And the nation Freemerica is ruled by The Party.

The Pains is a short book, and the text makes clear references to George Orwell's 1984 (written in 1949). In that book, Orwell tried to warn the people of the remaining democracies about what it would mean to allow the forces of tyranny to take over the state.

My take on The Pains is that John Sundman is seeking to make a similar point. His third novel constitutes a dreadful warning of what will become of us if we allow the present political situation to go unchecked.

The Pains is a pretty good narrative read, and it holds the attention throughout. It can be read with enjoyment without reference to any deeper meanings and implications. But by my reading The Pains also touches upon the key issues of our time: it is a book which is philosophical to the point of being mystical.

Note: You can read the full text of The Pains online, under a Creative Commons licence, on the author's own web site, wetmachine.com.

Although the story it's too short, I really enjoy it. Not just because the rebel girl likes punk/hardcore music like me (I'm a guy though) but also because it's kind of part 2 of Orwel's 1984, which is one of my top 10 favorite books of all time. I also highly recomend "Acts of the Apostles" a little confusing at the begining, but really good afterwards. Kindle price was 2.99, but I'm sure that the price for this great book should be 11.99. Salud Serote.

John [Xavier, Compton, Demain] Sundman. The middle name always matches the book, and this one has Hesse's Demian somewhere in the background in the same way that the Compton effect threads unnamed and almost unnoticed through Cheap Complex Devices: Mind Over Matter Volume Red. The book series is called Mind Over Matter, but a big question that always seems to be in the back of Sundman's mind is the perception-based nature of each person's lived experience.

And that's a lot of big words that shouldn't disguise the fact that this book is just cool. It's unconventional, but easy to read. Sundman is a master of making something both thought-provoking and entertaining.