The Pains (Mind Over Matter) (Kindle Edition)

by John Damien Sundman (Author), Cheeseburger Brown (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Any book that features a moral battle between a frozen-headed god and a shape-shifting Cheney monster played out on a Hebbian association-deformed surface of a 7-dimensional unit hypersphere is OK by me! --Hugh Betcham, Betcham Review Services

Product Description

Say you’re the Savior, Fred Christ. Would you want your frozen head to be reanimated in 1984?

The world is going all to hell. Wars loom. Earthquakes strike with increasing regularity; weather patterns are awry; birds are in the water, fish in the air. Old ways wither; old languages are lost as the memories of their last surviving speakers dissolve like cobwebs. Something rotten this way comes.

Governments collapse around the globe, leaving only the Party to rule over all.

In a prison cell, a madman spins theories of the mind, conjuring his own freedom. In cars and bars and shopping malls, proles obediently obey the insipid pronouncements of Big Brother, Ronald Reagan, and Oliver North that emanate from the irony machine they call the telescreen. In a subzero laboratory, a scientist stares at an imprisoned god. And in a lonely bare room in a vast and nearly empty monastery, a young novice studies and prays and contemplates the idea of simple goodness, trying to comprehend chaos. For which his only reward will be the pure torment of

The Pains

In a world that is part Orwell, part Cheney, and part who knows what, a holy man tries to find a way to give meaning to his suffering, and perhaps thereby save us all.

With The Pains, John Damien Sundman, an eigenvector of the author of Acts of the Apostles and the editor of Cheap Complex Devices, has created his most disturbing and most hopeful vision yet.

Cheeseburger Brown, the creator of Simon of Space brings this universe to life with twelve vivid illustrations.

In a deranged world, what will save us: science or faith? Open your mind and — Fred willing — you will find release from your own pains within these pages.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 1240 KB
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Rosalita Associates; 1 edition (November 17, 2008)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B002ACNYFY
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #113,966 in Kindle Store (See Bestsellers in Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing but Brilliant, January 25, 2009

By	Rich Dodgin (Edinburgh, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pains (Paperback)

'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!)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scary, well-written techno-dystopian thriller, January 25, 2009

By	Michael A. Barlow (Fairfield, Connecticut USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Pains (Paperback)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's MEANT to be disturbing. , April 5, 2009

By	G. M. Arnold "Geoff, that is" (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Pains (Paperback)

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.