The Journal of Nicholas the American

by Leigh Kennedy

Nicholas Dal, a semi-drunken recluse, is a tele-empath who experiences the emotions of those around him. His family have fled from Russia to the USA to escape the deadly curse but to no avail. Now a psychiatrist is onto him and his feelings for a fellow student threaten to destroy his sanity.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy

204 pages, Paperback

First published December 28, 1986

Reviews

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's a sadly obscure stunner. I love Christopher Priest, and recently discovering he is or was married to Leigh Kennedy, I assumed she would probably be worth reading as well. Emotional but never maudlin, this novel deals with ESP on a mundane level without ever becoming ridiculous. More like subtle magical realism than science fiction or fantasy. This was a good gamble; I'll have to read more by her.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicholas Alexandrovich Dal is an empath. One of the last remaining of his family genetically disposed to the condition known as pozhar-golava in Russian. Controlling the constant feed of emotions by a combination of isolation and vodka, Kolya (as he is called) is perturbed when he meets and falls in love with a fellow student, Susanne ‘Jack” Berdo. The relationship seems doomed to failure as Kolya is averse to revealing his condition and Jack starts working for a psychologist who Kolya senses is onto his history. Leigh Kennedy takes us into the tortured life of Nicholas Dal and the equally tormented lives of Jack, her dying mother Susanne (Sr.) and her family who are not coping. This is not a book that ends in chocolates and roses but it has a punch like few SF novels. Reminiscent of 'Dying Inside' by Robert Silverberg. Well worth reading if you are not in too much of a dark place.

[Thomas R · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sad book from beginning to end. Little joy in the tale. Little redemption. The author does write well and I wished that she had added a little more hope in the book.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent read with a lot of subtlety and complexity. Koyla and his dad have a special ability that separates them from us. They are tele-empathic. Naturally, ordinary life is excruciating for them without the constant dulling of a good stiff drink to help them cope with feeling the feelings of others. Life gets even more complicated for Koyla now because he has fallen in love and someone is stalking him. The rest is a series of surprises you will have to find out for yourself. One of the best short novels I've read for some time.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This underappreciated treatment of the good, bad, and ugly--mainly the latter two--of being telepathic is as good as another classic of the era, Robert Silverberg's Dying Inside. Nicholas is the son of an immigrant family, and bears the family curse of telempathy, the ability to read the emotions of others. This doesn't work out well for Nicholas, and his humanity is what makes this a book well worth your time. It is currently available on the Kindle.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really my cup of tea, because I'm not a huge lover of sex in fiction. However, getting past that and the profanity, it's a good, interesting story about a guy (Nicholas) who is an empath, and absorbs the moods and feelings of those he comes in contact with.

[Ebenmaessiger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A placid little pond of a story, and one in which the smallest splash of plot creates the ripple we explore across the whole thing; seemingly momentous, but only for being the only thing moving on the water. All of this is a compliment.