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The Path of Unreason

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The Path of Unreason (1958) is a standalone SF novel. It is set in a future timeline in which scientists have discovered a new type of radiation that travels faster than the speed of light. The study of this Lawson radiation has recently been complicated by the mental collapse of several outstanding physicists in the field.

In this novel, James Forrest Carroll was the top physicist at the American laboratory studying Lawson radiation. He was found walking aimlessly and talking to himself along the river. Carroll seems to have a mental condition combining amnesia and apathy.

John Pollard is a psychiatrist who is treating Carroll. He is familiar with the condition of others physicists having such disorders.

In this story, Pollard interviews Carroll in his office. He tries to induce the physicist to answer his questions with something other than "no". Then he begins to notices discomfort when Carroll is questioned about his understanding of Lawson radiation.

Pollard is convinced that Carroll has learned something more about the radiation than others in his field. The psychiatrist believes that some irresolvable conflict concerning this radiation is responsible for the mental problems. But he also feels that Carroll must resolve his own issues.

Carroll is released to lead his own life. He stays in his own home and habitually gets up each day at seven in the morning. He attends to his ablutions and eats breakfast. Then he goes for a walk.

He starts by following known paths and gradually expands his routes. He also extends his eating habits, trying waterfront dives and uptown restaurants. Then he narrows his behaviors down to the most enjoyable.

He watches people around him and tries to understand their behavior. He avoids his former workplace, but he notices a young woman leaving the building every workday with a filecase. He casually starts following her.

Carroll is just beginning to regain the concept of time, so he is often arrives at the building too early or too late. Then he accidentally arrives just in time. As he follows her, he sees her stopping at a red light and then a limousine pulls up next to her.

The girl starts to enter the limo and Carroll is perplexed. Then he becomes angry and storms up to the car. When a big man tries to get out, Carroll hits him back into the limo. In the altercation, the filecase is dropped and papers scatter on the sidewalk.

Then another man gets out and clips Carroll, picks up the girl and the papers, and gets back into the limo. As it drives away, Carroll is left behind. He absently picks up a stray paper and takes it home.

Carroll starts following the girl regularly. Sometimes he watches her from the other side of the street and sometimes he walks with her. IF he observes her from a distance, he sees the limousine pick her up and then drop her off at the library a half hour later.

If Carroll walks with the girl, they both go into a snack shop and she orders a sandwich and a malt. Then they walk to the library together, where the girl drops off the filecase. Afterward, she takes a bus to her home.

Carroll reports this situation to his psychiatrist. Then they both watch the girl follow her route. Carroll sees her enter the limousine, notices the same girl in the snack shop, and then later watches her return to the library in the limo. But Pollard doesn't see the girl enter or leave the limo.

After a long discussion of mental quirks and memory, Pollard arranges for Carroll to replace the girl. Carroll takes the filecase and walks down to the intersection. He carefully looks for a black limo, but doesn't see any.

Carroll discovers that he is out of cigarettes and steps into a cigar store to buy more. Then he becomes suspicious and confronts the clerk. He gathers his willpower and finds himself within the limo watching some men search the filecase.

This tale confronts Carroll with an alien plot to confound Earth study of Lawson radiation. One alien wants to kill him, but the alien in charge has something else in mind. He wants to study Carroll and find out why he was able to overcome the blocking field.

This story is a classic work of science fiction. The author was wellknown in his time and produced several works that are still published. This is one of his best efforts.

The story starts as a psychological tale, observing Carroll from an external viewpoint. Pollard presents an interesting explanation of Carroll's perceptions. Then the story introduces an alien technology.

A major element is this tale is the conflict between Carroll and Pollard. Carroll notices things that clash with his perception of reality, but continues his observations. Pollard seems unable to consider anything that opposes his own worldview.

Some may have noticed the similarities between the beginnings of this novel and the movie Forrest Gump. One wonders if the movie was inspired in part by this story.

This author originally became popular for the novel Venus Equilateral. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Smith fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of advanced technology, mental manipulation, and scientific methods.

-Arthur W. Jordin