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Dying Inside

Robert Silverberg

Start date: February 15, 2025

Finish date: March 15, 2025

Discussion: Dying Inside

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Mar 15, 2025 Bryan Alexander rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sf, 20th-century, new-york, aging

I reread this novel for our local science fiction group. I dimly remember reading it in college.

The book concerns a telepath in 1970s New York City, one who has not really used his extraordinary power for much of anything, and then experiences the ability's fading away. It's a character study, deeply focused on David Selig's life and thoughts. I think it would be a fine novel to give to someone who doesn't read sf but is curious about the genre.

In terms of sf, this strikes me as a creative appro I reread this novel for our local science fiction group. I dimly remember reading it in college.

The book concerns a telepath in 1970s New York City, one who has not really used his extraordinary power for much of anything, and then experiences the ability's fading away. It's a character study, deeply focused on David Selig's life and thoughts. I think it would be a fine novel to give to someone who doesn't read sf but is curious about the genre.

In terms of sf, this strikes me as a creative approach to Campbell's famous problem of the superman - i.e., how do you depict one, if you're only human? Silverberg makes Selig in Nietzsche's phrasing all too human: lonely, stalled in life, wracked by self-doubt, using his talent only as a kind of tv entertainment. He is very much his name, being blessed with the ability, yet ironically not making the most of it. We glimpse one other telepath in the book, a far happier person who uses psi to become wealthy and satisfied, a good foil for David.

But I suspect many sf fans will have a hard time with this, as there isn't any sf content other than the power. To the degree that fans want excitement and adventure they will largely be disappointed. Today's readers may also be put off by the narrator's attitudes towards women and black people.

David is far from the kingly hero his name suggests. In the novel's present (October and November, a perfect time for fading and decline of life) he is eking out a poor living by writing essays for Columbia University students. He is as sexually interested as his namesake, but rarely manages to connect with anyone. By the book's end his only real connection is his sister, Judith (herself not a king-killer, but a sexually voracious person who has managed some successes in life, and who cares for her brother).

Ah, the finale: (view spoiler)
I find this to be in the ancient tradition of art about middle age and the depressions thereunto: the recognition of life's limitations yet possibilities, the fading of one's powers and reach.

Silverberg's style is in fine form, a kind of furious white heat as we switch between present and memory, first and third person accounts. The text reads like standup, as confession, and more than a bit of Portnoy's Complaint (1969, just before this book in 1972). There are some gorgeous passages describing telepathic experiences. I also enjoyed the games played with the essays.

This is a very literary novel, especially since the protagonist specialized in literature. Silverberg has him explicitly, and the text implicitly, refer to all kinds of texts, sometimes playfully or wryly. (Has anyone done an annotated edition?)

PS: 1970s New York is where and when I grew up, so I admit to some nostalgia at reading about subways and urban life. I was surprised that the setting was relatively cheerful, not like the decaying nightmare it was, in many ways. ...more

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Mar 11, 2025 Jay Bolling rated it did not like it

DNF. I was reading this with my science fiction book group, and quite frankly I finally got too bored to continue at page 162.

I was going to at least give the book 2 stars, as I did think it was well written. However, if a book can't hold my interest then to me it doesn't merit that. ...more

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Sep 06, 2014 Peter rated it liked it

Feb 22, 2025 Faith rated it did not like it

Nov 09, 2013 Steve Johnsen rated it it was ok

Mar 16, 2025 April rated it liked it

Shelves: scifi-book-club

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Mar 04, 2025 Tim Fitzpatrick added it

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