Sunshine is one of my all-time favorite movies. So is 28 Days Later. Besides the creepy-coolness of Cillian Murphy, those two films have one thing in common – Alex Garland. Garland wrote the screenplays for both movies and therefore became one of my favorite writers by default. While Garland’s most acclaimed novel may be The Beach, I stumbled upon The Coma by happenstance at my local library and took it as a sign that it should be the next book that I checked out and reviewed.
The plot of The Coma is short and relatively unimportant. The narrator, a man, intervenes during a subway robbery and is attacked by four young men. He wakes up in a hospital bed, apparently after sustaining some serious injuries. He goes home, cleared by doctors, but feels wrong. Things don’t quite add up. That’s the plot. The point of the book isn’t plot; it’s mood.
The book is a nightmarish look at consciousness, reality, perception, and dreams. Mood-wise, it feels like a Resident Evil game or a Camus book or…a dream! Time and perception are toys that the author uses to play with ideas and us, the readers. Adding to mood of the book are the woodcarvings that accompany each chapter. Each carving represents something in the chapter. They are beautiful and grotesque, and carved by Garland’s father. (What an interesting family!)
If you are into that kind of thing, I would definitely recommend this book. Even though it’s nearly 200 pages, it’s a short read. I knocked it out in a couple of hours. Also, please do use the comments section to recommend similar books to me. I enjoyed this rabbit hole and would like to return soon.
