Customer Reviews

An Unusual Angle

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Seriously! As an impressionable young teenager I read and reread this book, and I'm quite certain that it did something (good) to my brain. The protagonist is a high school student with the ability to film through his eyes. Unfortunately, he is unable to get the film out of his head to show anyone. I noted with interest that Egan has re-used the notion of being able to film through the eys in "Distress".

The book is not exactly a conventional narrative, rather it is a series of episodes that allow Egan to make witty, thought provoking and at times poignant observations about (the Australian) school system, and life in general.

In short -- I recommend this book for anyone, but _especially_ for younger readers (say 12 - 16). I am now 26, and have never forgotten the brain-twisting joy this book brought me.

This was Greg Egan's first published novel, and the early promise of the younger Egan is evident. Unlike his more recent work, it isn't science fiction (although it would be possible to read it as SF if you really wanted to). The work is less hard-hitting and a little less polished than his more recent writing, but it shows a character more sympathetic and believable than many (in fact most) of his more recent characters.

The plotline effectively shows the daydreaming of a suburban schoolboy (but it's better than that makes it sound).

Greg Egan wrote this book in the summer holiday at the end of school. It is light-hearted, satiric, and nostalgic. Sort of a Catch-22 about high school, and Egan's affection for The Catcher In The Rye is also evident.

Greg Egan - An Unusual Angle

A thoroughly enjoyable novel which also provides a fascinating insight into the genesis of some of the concepts which Mr Egan develops with enthralling effect in later works. Some traditional Science Fiction devices are merged to good effect with an interesting approach to the first-person narrative style. The journey undertaken by the protagonist in the attempt to understand his world, without being limited by it, and while maintaining a sense of non-involvement and isolation from it, should be instantly recognizable to many people who went to School in a Western Culture in the second half of the 20th Century.

Many popular Australian / US / British cultural references, to films, books and global events, are included throughout the story to excellent effect.

Mr Egan's readers, and anyone who enjoys indulging in a skewed view of life, will be pleasantly surprised by this book.