The End of Mr. Y

by Scarlett Thomas

book data

837 ratings, 3.84 average rating, 222 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		28%
4		39%
3		21%
2		7%
1		3%

edit

published

October 2nd 2006 by Harvest Books

binding

Paperback, 399 pages

isbn

0156031612 (isbn13: 9780156031615)

description

A cursed book. A missing professor. Some nefarious men in gray suits. And a dreamworld called the Troposphere? Ariel Manto has a fascination with nin...more

find at: Amazon | Half.com | Barnes & Noble | compare prices ($1.99)…

new topic
discuss this book

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Next Best Boo...: March's Group Reads are.......	305	828	03/15/2009 11:53AM
So, what is this reality thing anyway?	2	43	01/28/2009 01:38PM

friend reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

lists with this book

Best Books of the Decade: 2000's

789 books | 3433 voters

Stories For Book Lovers

98 books | 351 voters

More lists...

other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1,324)

sort: default (?) | date
filters: all | text-only

06/17/08

Judith rated it:

(review of isbn 1847672299)

Read in September, 2007

Oh my, I think I am cursed. Today at least I am under a spell. The day starts normally: waking up, checking the alarmclock, seeing the stack of books next to my bed. One book especially grabs my attention. I decide to read one more chapter, as I still have plenty of time before work.

I read and read, one chapter, two chapter, three chapters...
- I can start later, I will work longer -
...Words, letters, paragraphs...
- I am ill, I need to stay in bed, I will work over t...more

Like this review? yes (8 people liked it)

add a comment

09/09/07

Krissa rated it:

bookshelves: masterpieces

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: Conrad

Holy #&*#*$!@ Christ, Scarlett Thomas has taken the top of my head off. I thought PopCo was an awesome mindf!ck, but Mr. Y makes it look like so much People magazine.

I'm really not sure what to say about this novel. I think people that like House of Leaves would probably like it for similar reasons though it's not nearly so hard to follow. Her female lead, as in PopCo, is almost frighteningly intelligent, as I'm beginning to suspect Thomas is herself. It's not the intelligence that'...more

Like this review? yes (6 people liked it)

2 comments

06/03/07

Trin rated it:

bookshelves: english-lit, fiction

Read in March, 2007

Like Thomas' PopCo, I found this both fascinating and frustrating. Thomas definitely achieves something really special with her ability to make her writing intensely cerebral (some of my favorite parts of Mr. Y were the digressions into quantum physics and other brain-stretching topics) while at the same time creating very human, flawed characters. Still, there's a quality of...coldness that prevents me from becoming emotionally involved. Perhaps the whole thing seems too clever, too orchestrat...more

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

add a comment

10/26/07

Allycks rated it:

Read in October, 2007

I know it's a cop-out but my real rating of this book is 4 and a half.

The plot is simple-- a grad student stumbles across an extremely rare and purportedly cursed book, reads it, and discovers another world, a world 'made up of thought' which she calls the Troposphere.

The protagonist Ariel is characterized by her disdain of luxury, taste for hard sex, and above all an insatiable desire to know everything. Ariel's curiosity drives the book and leads the reader through...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

add a comment

03/12/07

neil rated it:

Read in March, 2007

recommends it for: people who like to read poorly written sex scenes

This is perhaps the worst book I ever finished. I don't really recommend it. The thought experiment aspect of the book could have been interesting, but was unfortunately written for people who haven't read Baudrillard and don't understand particle physics. Which I don't, but I got it much faster than the people in the book. Plus, the story was absurd, and poorly thought out. The main character was smarter than the writer, and seemed to resent that. Plus, it seemed that the sex scenes were ...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

add a comment

10/29/08

Aaron rated it:

Read in May, 2007

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Imagine a novel that has never been read by anyone who has lived to talk about it. The only people known to have finished it either died shortly afterward or have disappeared without a trace. The novel in question is so notorious that the only copy known to exist has been locked in a vault in Berlin, preventing anyone from ever reading it again. This novel, for all practical purposes, is cursed. If you read it, you will die.

If such a novel existed and you found a copy in a used books...more Imagine a novel that has never been read by anyone who has lived to talk about it. The only people known to have finished it either died shortly afterward or have disappeared without a trace. The novel in question is so notorious that the only copy known to exist has been locked in a vault in Berlin, preventing anyone from ever reading it again. This novel, for all practical purposes, is cursed. If you read it, you will die.

If such a novel existed and you found a copy in a used bookstore, would you read it?

Ariel Manto would. In fact, she does.

This idea, the notion of reading a novel known to be cursed is the premise at the heart of Scarlett Thomas's well-written, thought-provoking, but ultimately disappointing new novel.

The novel within the novel contains a recipe for a tincture that if you mix, drink, and then stare into a hand-drawn black dot allows you to exit this dimension into another (referred to in the novel as The Troposphere). In this dimension, you have access (through a process called paradesis) to the minds of any sentient being who has ever been in any way related to anyone you have ever known. This includes animals as well, especially mice or felines. Anyone who enters this dimension has their minds opened, to heretofore unknown truths about life. Truths about God. Truths about scientific law. Truths about existence itself.

This is a thought-provoking novel full of well-written, well-thought-out, well-organized postulations about reality, philosophy, and religion. One of my favorites is a discussion about whether Einstein's famous energy formula is actually something he proved to be true or something he willed to be true, forcing humanity to accept its veracity.

As it turns out, it isn't the novel itself that will kill you, but the people who want the recipe contained therein and will stop at nothing to get it. If you read the novel and enter The Troposphere, they can find you and they will more than likely catch you.

I have many problems with this novel, despite how thought-provoking it is, the least of which being the protagonist. She is described as a sexual deviant, a self mutilator, and one waits for this to have some bearing on the story being held. But it doesn't. It just is. Shocking material for the sake of shocking material has never really had much appeal for me. The bigger issue is the love story that permeates this novel. It also has no true bearing on the story (other than to allow Romeo to show up at the last minute and fix everything with both guns blazing) and kind of bogs down the philosophical discussion. The discussion is key to what makes this novel so interesting to read, but perhaps too many idea are set forth. The last forty pages go by too quickly with nothing really getting solved. And the ending is abrupt.

In the end, I really only care about the philosophical questions I was left to think about. The novel itself will fade from my memory.
(less)

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

07/24/08

Nick rated it:

(review of isbn 1847670709)

bookshelves: fantasy, philosophy-etc

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: Anyone with an interest in contemporary philosophy, physics or sci-fi/fantasy crossovers

I bought this book purely because it was offer of the week on Waterstones.com and the customer reviews of it sounded intriguing. I’m definitely going to try such tactics again in the future as The End of Mr Y turned out to be better than even those reviews suggested.

A bold and imaginative concept brings together elements of theoretical physics with the thinking of late 19th and early 20th century philosophers, in particular Derrida and Heidegger. I think the very point of the book ...more I bought this book purely because it was offer of the week on Waterstones.com and the customer reviews of it sounded intriguing. I’m definitely going to try such tactics again in the future as The End of Mr Y turned out to be better than even those reviews suggested.

A bold and imaginative concept brings together elements of theoretical physics with the thinking of late 19th and early 20th century philosophers, in particular Derrida and Heidegger. I think the very point of the book is to make these works accessible to the general reader, someone with no grounding in philosophy (in the same way that Jostein Gaarder brought the history of western philosophy to the general audience through the eyes of Sophie) or particle physics. Author Scarlet Thomas, lecturer at the University of Kent also takes the opportunity to explore her own philosophy, tackling big ideas of conscious, God, beginnings and worlds beyond ours.

As a book it is a taught thriller which leads the reader on a fascinating journey of enlightenment through the eyes of anti-heroine Ariel Manto, a PhD student and follower of free association. Her self-destructive tendencies which clash with her intelligence make for an engaging central character. Most importantly her arts background generally makes her articulation of important scientific ideas understandable, encapsulating them in thought experiments, story and metaphor.

It is this last one that is the most important, for Ariel discovers a world made of metaphor, a world of thought. It is this central idea that Thomas explores whilst sending sinister American agents and mice-gods to hinder or help Ariel on her quest. I like the classical elements of history she introduces, as well as the Victoriana. These certainly make a welcome change from the fashionable oriental elements that have pervaded recent science-fiction (such as the Matrix films).

The book exudes cool; pop culture references abound but it is set amongst the steel-grey skies of an English winter in a small University town. I think it is this remarkable closeness and familiarity, and the fact that the world of the mind is so personal, which make this such a successful book for me.

This is by no means a perfect book (the dénouement is let down by a tacked on epilogue), but it certainly makes you think, has moments of great passion and great pain. More importantly it gives you the tools to access a world of much more abstract thought and might even encourage you to read a bit more about theoretical physics (try Brian Greene or Michio Kaku) or philosophy (Sophie’s World etc).(less)

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

06/21/08

Yvonne rated it:

Read in January, 2007

Not at all what I expected. The basic story is simple enough, a girl whose supervisor goes missing, aquires a cursed book which (as she finds out) belonged to him. As she reads, she finds the book is missing a page. When she finds the page in her supervisor's books, she discovers a formula and the curse. The book tells how to travel to a 'Mindspace' or Troposhere, a place where you can go into people's minds and see all about them and even travel through time using ancestors. Each troposphere is...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

11/28/07

Mary-Beth rated it:

bookshelves: fantasy, fiction

I don't know what it is about the life of the graduate student being a popular topic for novelists these days, but it seems to be the case. This novel tends not to glamourize the lifestyle much anyway, as the protagonist spends most of her time finding ways to stretch her money.

The premise is that a graduate student discovers the last copy of an extremely rare book in the world. This book tells the tale of Mr. Y, a gentleman who one night in a seedy fairground discovers the Troposphe...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

05/02/07

Sam rated it:

bookshelves: favorites

Read in January, 2007

recommends it for: Everyone, anyone

This book is the best book I have ever read, and I do not give this title away lightly. Franny and Zooey has held that spot since I was 12 so in it took 11 years for me to find a book to supplant its spot, but this book has to.
The ideas that float in and out of the plot line are amazing, taking the reader for a ride through the idea of ideas.
The main character is believable with her flaws and determination. She has a strong voice that you just want to root for, even though you someti...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

07/05/08

Laura rated it:

Read in July, 2008

My first impression: "Quotations from Baudrillard and Heidegger to start a book - oh, no."

By page 29 I was hooked. Very, very rare are the books that can deal with thought experiments, old books, and the nature of thought and reality without being utterly pretentious or just bad in other ways. The End of Mr. Y is not. It's philosophical, erotic, mind-boggling, exciting, enchanting and great fun.

I haven't loved a book this much since David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

12/07/07

Doogyjim rated it:

(review of isbn 184195957X)

Read in December, 2007

Undoubtedly exciting and brimming with ideas about identity and philosophy, the novel is a little slow to start but then takes off into Matrix territory as Ariel Manto is pursued by sinister agents trying to stop her using the knowledge she has discovered by finding a cursed book

Ultimately it did leave me a little cold and addmittedly a lot of the specualtion went over my head. But it's that rare thing, a book full of ideas that also keeps you gripped as a thriller. It's light years ...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

09/22/07

Anica rated it:

bookshelves: favorites

Read in January, 2009

recommends it for: douglas adams fans, philosophy/physics geniuses

there's so much I don't know about quantum physics -- but this book makes me really want to know. it starts off about a slightly salty british PhD student, but quickly becomes about using an acid-like substance to bend the space-time continuum (which happens to be a favorite subject of mine.) there's just enough racy sex and true romance (that is to say, the bare minimum) to weave all the quarks together. it moves at an exciting pace, but you want to stop reading every few pages and just thin...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

12/25/08

Michael rated it:

Read in December, 2008

The End of Mr. Y is hard to describe. It's part mystery, part chase thriller, part metaphysical puzzle. Ariel Manto is a graduate student in Britain. Part of her study concerns an obscure 19th Century author who wrote an allegedly cursed book. When a copy falls into her hands, Ariel life begins to change as she discovers a way into an entirely new world of thought. Unfortunately for her, this is a world that others are more than willing to kill to keep to themselves. Ariel has to figure ou...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

12/03/08

Shawne rated it:

bookshelves: fiction

Read in November, 2008

recommends it for: Philosophy students (especially of the metaphysical variety), casual fans of quantum physics

Have you ever read a book or watched a movie and gone, "Wow, that was some mindfuck!" - well, The End Of Mr Y takes that just about as literally as one can go. Thomas has created a complex book within a book, a universe within a universe, teeming with ideas and theorems, hope and life and well... sheer mindfuckery. As her lead character Ariel Manto doggedly discovers the secrets of a purportedly cursed tome (also named The End Of Mr Y), Thomas' fictional world explodes outwards: a meta...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

04/06/09

Nell-lu rated it:

(review of isbn 1847670709)

bookshelves: 2009-04-april, bookcrossing

Read in April, 2009

Interesting, intriguing, thought-provoking and a page-turner.

I enjoyed this a lot. The balance between theory and story is good: the strengths of the characterisation and plot make the physics and philosophy fascinating. The notion of a cursed book, or a book containing knowledge too powerful for its readers, is a good starting point, but it's the introduction of the flawed, believable characters that make The End of Mr. Y something special.

I found it interesting that Tho...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

01/06/09

Victory rated it:

bookshelves: fantasy, fiction

Read in January, 2009

I really liked this book. It's a bit hard to describe it without giving away everything... But I will refrain from any major plot spoilers.

This is about a grad student who is studying an author who's last book _The end of Mr. Y_ (among other things) and who stumbles upon the last copy of the book which has a man in the book who ends up taking a potion and staring at a black dot and falling into some alternative universe... or is he just high? She tries to find the potion to try it...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

06/18/09

Victoria Chan rated it:

bookshelves: sci-fi-fantasy

Read in May, 2009

The book is quite a strange hybrid of philosophy/science (quantum physics, evolution)/bad science (homoeopathy, alchemy). It reads rather like a teenage novel with a childish, girly, sexually-deviant (just to keep male readers happy, I guess) narrator.

I personally find the romance in the book rather cringeful. It seems childish, improbable, wistful, stereotypical and annoying like some romance that a teenage girl made up. I think it makes the book trashy.

It is quite amaz...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

02/25/09

Victoria rated it:

(review of isbn 1847670709)

Read in February, 2009

recommended to Victoria by: sister in law
recommends it for: Philosophy enthusiasts

Things I couldn't help thinking constantly throughout the reading of this book..."Wow! What? How? *splutter* oh my god! Mindf**k!!"

So I was suitably impressed <--understatement.

This book was incredibly thought provoking, I can't imagine I'll ever forget it. It made me question my very existence. How many books can truly be said to reduce their reader to a base state of awe and wonder?

The only nagging little let down for me was the ending. It was...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

01/18/09

cattywampus rated it:

Read in February, 2009

To say this story is thought-provoking is like saying the Fight Club was kind of interesting. Reading this book is like traveling along a worm hole through the rich soils of quantum particles and the philosophy of what is (and is not) real, and to realize at once that this very soil is a substrate for the old roots of a gnarled tree, teeming with simultaneously fetid and gorgeous microscopic life that allows its great arms to hold the sky. And, to realize how proximate this tree is to your own w...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 66 67 next »

recent status updates | recommend it | blog it

combine
other editions (6)

More editions...

quotes from this book

"I pray for meaning. I pray for the limits of reality to become clear. For a world – and a type of being – that makes sense. I pray for a life after death that is not like this life. I pray for the end of mystery. What would a life be like with all the mysteries solved? If there were no questions, there’d be no stories. If there were no stories, there’d be no language. If there was no language there’d be no . . . What?" More quotes...