Atmospheric Disturbances [Kindle Edition]

You might view this book as either a beautifully-written and subtly inconclusive thriller about a doppelganger appearing for a man's wife, a detailed analysis of the assorted neuroses and psychoses of a New York psychiatrist, a pseudo-academic treatise on meteorology, a hefty measure of autobiography in which the writer indulges in a voyage around her father, who as stated died in 1994 of a sudden heart attack, and/or a load of nonsense masquerading as fiction!

The blurb states: "Atmospheric Disturbances investigates the moment of crisis when you suddenly understand that the reality you insist upon is no longer one you can accept, the person you love has been somehow reduced to merely the person you live with, and how you spend your life trying to weather the storms of your own making."

All of which are true, though anyone reading the book could not help to think that the facsimile Rema is the real version and that Dr Leo has taken leave of his senses - maybe the fate of psychiatrists everywhere? Full marks to Rema for not giving up on him, though he appears every bit as gaga as his weather-changing patient Harvey (a name artfully chosen, I thought.)

On the other hand, maybe this debate is irrelevant. This is a closely-observed book in which not an awful lot happens but a great deal of time is spent deconstructing it in minute detail. At first it seems refreshing, though as time wears on you tire of Dr Leo and his anally-retentive ramblings. His tale peters out with speculation about how he might go on living with the doppelganger, though we have no word on what Rema's views might be on that. Maybe that's an opportunity for the next novel?

For me, the most decisive conclusion is that I want to visit Buenos Aires and maybe even Patagonia, though probably not with a self-obsessed American psychiatrist, nor with my wife or her mother or any of my clients!!

The plot, such as it is, has already been described in detail, so here's the quick version: a middle-aged psychiatrist believes his wife has been replaced. The perfect set-up for a paranoia thriller, perhaps? Well, yes, but this is not the author's intent.

The intent is to accurately describe, from the narrator's point of view, a slide into psychosis. The author succeeds in this, and for that has my respect, Unfortunately, this leaves us with a novel of minimal plot.

The first half of the book attempts to preserve the mystery and keep the narrator's theory believable. Here, the author has my sympathy, as the last paragraph of the description on the book jacket reveals the truth about the protagonist's situation. The second half finally sees some narrative movement, but by this point, the novel has become rather tedious. Thanks to the publisher, what should be a slow, mysterious build-up in which the reader makes their own judgement becomes rather dull -- like watching the first half of The Matrix while Keanu Reeves tries to figure out the blatantly obvious.

Rivka Galchen must be an expert on the condition the narrator suffers from, and paints an extremely convincing first-hand picture of the neuroses and delusions of the protagonist, although one would expect most men in his situation to simply experience a mid-life crisis, and buy a sports car and attempt to woo 20-something girls. We receive no sense of reality, or even location, as we read. Descriptions of places and situations are irritatingly thin, and the story essentially boils every scenario down to (a) how the allegedly replaced wife would have reacted in such a situation, (b) a situation the narrator is reminded of from his past, and (c) thoughts and justifications to tie events into his delusions of conspiracy.

This story has endless possibilities, and handled by, say, Haruki Murakami, could have bewitched, charmed, excited, provoked and bemused the reader. As written by Galchen, this is merely two steps away from a research paper. The writing is not complex or difficult to follow, nor are the ideas presented likely to go over the heads of the average readers. The style is meticulous, yet dull, just like the the main character.

Ultimately, as this book reaches it's conclusion, and the reader finds they have travelled full circle, Atmospheric Disturbances can be dismissed as and unsatisfying read, little more than an intellectual exercise on the part of the author, and most definitely a poor excuse for a novel, despite the positives already mentioned.

I've always loved the theme of doppelgangers, and this seemed like the perfect tale from the outset with its Stepford wife premise. The story is certainly original - a bizarre psychological mix of paranoia, delusion, and perceived realities - although it's not a realist tale in the strictest sense. Beneath the very odd surface it's an unconventional love story full of melancholy and sadness, and although it does feel slightly unresolved, the author writes such terse and eloquent prose - at times really beautiful. Writing against backdrops from New York to Amazonia, there's a touch of the magical realism of Garcia Marquez in there at times.

It's a novel of many layers and as such isn't an easy, throwaway read or something the reader will 'get' straight away - but it is compelling reading, and rewarding if you spare it the thinking time afterwards.