From the internationally-known author of The Beach, a gripping mystery and stylistic tour de force that delves into the subconscious mind, with brilliantly disturbing results. A young man is brutally assaulted late at night in an underground train by a gang of thugs. Beaten unconscious, he lies for days in a hospital bed - but appears to make a full recovery. On discharge from hospital, Carl picks up the threads of his daily life, visiting friends, seeing his girlfriend - until he starts to notice strange leaps in his perception of time, distortions in his experience. Is he truly reacting with the outside world, or might he be terribly mistaken? So begins a dark psychological drama that raises profound questions about the boundary between the real and the imagined.
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'It's a great story to read, but also a lovely visual object to possess.' -- Design Week
'The Coma may be short, but it's a miniature masterpiece: a beautifully conceived and executed book.' -- Zembla
'This is Garland at his best, spinning a tangled web that has more twists and turns than a mountain road.' -- Glamour --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
'The Coma may be short, but it's a miniature masterpiece: a beautifully conceived and executed book.' -- Zembla
'This is Garland at his best, spinning a tangled web that has more twists and turns than a mountain road.' -- Glamour --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
About the Author
Alex Garland is the author of the best-selling novels The Beach and The Tesseract. In 2003 he wrote the screenplay for Danny Boyle's hugely successful 28 Days Later.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By HORAK
Format:Paperback
This short novella opens with the following facts: Carl leaves his office shortly before midnight to catch the last tube home. Inside the carriage, Carl spots a young woman reading a novel when four young men encircle her and try to grab her handbag. When Carl tries to protect her, the four men attack him and kick him into unconsciousness.
The three first pages of the book consist of the account of Carl's accident. The rest of the story is seen from Carl's point of view, suffering from a psychological fall-out and amnesia as he is being treated in the coma ward of a hospital. His view of events is disorientated, his notion of time is blurred and his memory is unreliable.
It is quite an interesting challenge that Alex Garland took to try to portray what happens in the mind of a comatose man. The effect is quite stunning, disturbing and even frightening at times. This edition is highly recommended since it features forty illustrations made from woodcuts created by the political cartoonist Nicholas Garland, the author's father.
The three first pages of the book consist of the account of Carl's accident. The rest of the story is seen from Carl's point of view, suffering from a psychological fall-out and amnesia as he is being treated in the coma ward of a hospital. His view of events is disorientated, his notion of time is blurred and his memory is unreliable.
It is quite an interesting challenge that Alex Garland took to try to portray what happens in the mind of a comatose man. The effect is quite stunning, disturbing and even frightening at times. This edition is highly recommended since it features forty illustrations made from woodcuts created by the political cartoonist Nicholas Garland, the author's father.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
So let's have fun!
Garland's fascinating novella - a prime candidate for a must read in one sitting, captures that delightful feeling when you experience one of those rare lucid dreams. The main protagonist realises he is in a coma and seizes the opportunity to explore childhood memories, feelings, relationships and music. This is heady, trippy stuff accentuated by inventive and sometimes startling use of language and ably illustrated by some very evocative woodcuts. It's all over too soon though. Comfortably read in a couple of hours, the final chapter, although read and re-read several times, still did not give me satisfying closure on what had been a fun ride up until then.
Worth trying out, but annoyingly enigmatic at the close.
Garland's fascinating novella - a prime candidate for a must read in one sitting, captures that delightful feeling when you experience one of those rare lucid dreams. The main protagonist realises he is in a coma and seizes the opportunity to explore childhood memories, feelings, relationships and music. This is heady, trippy stuff accentuated by inventive and sometimes startling use of language and ably illustrated by some very evocative woodcuts. It's all over too soon though. Comfortably read in a couple of hours, the final chapter, although read and re-read several times, still did not give me satisfying closure on what had been a fun ride up until then.
Worth trying out, but annoyingly enigmatic at the close.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I can appreciate a number of people's dissatisfaction with Alex Garland's latest book. Putting aside the story/writing for a moment, the unhappiness people probably feel at paying full price (£6.99) for what is really a novella is understandable. You can argue it should be quality over quantity as much as you like, but a full price tag for this slim effort is quite insulting.
The decision to add illustration by his father doesn't help. Whilst I think they add a brilliant creepy atmosphere to the text and so work rather well, the counter argument that they are merely "padding" seems equally valid.
Still, I've not knocked a star off for this - but I was tempted. It's a shame though as I feel "Coma" is brilliantly written and cleverly delivered. The story is imaginative and Garland caputres the unsettling, quirky dream state that his character inhabits with vivid, unsettling descriptions. The story is a clever and interesting idea and I admire him for creating a story and characters so rounded in such a brief format.
Thankfully, Amazon are offering this book at a more reasonable price - I'd recommend you check it out.
The decision to add illustration by his father doesn't help. Whilst I think they add a brilliant creepy atmosphere to the text and so work rather well, the counter argument that they are merely "padding" seems equally valid.
Still, I've not knocked a star off for this - but I was tempted. It's a shame though as I feel "Coma" is brilliantly written and cleverly delivered. The story is imaginative and Garland caputres the unsettling, quirky dream state that his character inhabits with vivid, unsettling descriptions. The story is a clever and interesting idea and I admire him for creating a story and characters so rounded in such a brief format.
Thankfully, Amazon are offering this book at a more reasonable price - I'd recommend you check it out.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Not quite graphic novel, maybe the best way I can describe it is illustrated short story. It does have a "film noir" feel about it. It's an easy read, but that is not to say it's not good. The sometimes surreal sequences are very well written and quite easily draw you into Carl's world. Enjoyable.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Black Orchid
Format:Paperback
'The Coma' tells the psychological experiences of a man following a brutal beating that left him hospitalized. It aims to explore levels of human consciousness.
From its description on the back of being 'a bold step towards the creation of a new genre, an art form' along with words such as 'disturbing', 'unsettling' and 'mysterious' I was expecting a much darker journey. The story held no real suprises or emotion, and although the subject matter is of a psychological nature, the plot was relatively straightforward.
It is very short, and very quick to read having many blank pages, illustrations and chapters just a couple of paragraphs long. In its few pages it feels as though it is an outline of a story that could have been so much more detailed and gripping, and left me with neither a desire to read more of Garland's work nor a lasting impression.
Whilst the concept of this book is good, it just failed to deliver for me.
From its description on the back of being 'a bold step towards the creation of a new genre, an art form' along with words such as 'disturbing', 'unsettling' and 'mysterious' I was expecting a much darker journey. The story held no real suprises or emotion, and although the subject matter is of a psychological nature, the plot was relatively straightforward.
It is very short, and very quick to read having many blank pages, illustrations and chapters just a couple of paragraphs long. In its few pages it feels as though it is an outline of a story that could have been so much more detailed and gripping, and left me with neither a desire to read more of Garland's work nor a lasting impression.
Whilst the concept of this book is good, it just failed to deliver for me.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By CAPA7
Format:Paperback
I was looking forward to reading this book since the reviews I had read seemed to indicate that this is the sort of novel that you either love or hate.
It is definitely written in an interesting style, and the imagery Garland used is very effective. The description of the dream world is really good and conveys feelings more than real pictures. The 'plot' is also good and you will find yourself wondering whether Carl will or will not end up reaching his goal.
However, I must say I did feel cheated; each chapter is about 2 pages long, and some of them are only a few lines long. Also, considering that there is one illustration and at least one blank page between each chapter, the book is actually almost twice as small as what it looks like, and it took me only 45 minutes to finish it. The ending, I thought, was also a bit of a let down. Even though I do appreciate that it is appropriate for that sort of novel to have an elusive ending, this one made me feel like it would have beneficiated from being a bit more detailed.
All in all, a nice experience, but much too short.
It is definitely written in an interesting style, and the imagery Garland used is very effective. The description of the dream world is really good and conveys feelings more than real pictures. The 'plot' is also good and you will find yourself wondering whether Carl will or will not end up reaching his goal.
However, I must say I did feel cheated; each chapter is about 2 pages long, and some of them are only a few lines long. Also, considering that there is one illustration and at least one blank page between each chapter, the book is actually almost twice as small as what it looks like, and it took me only 45 minutes to finish it. The ending, I thought, was also a bit of a let down. Even though I do appreciate that it is appropriate for that sort of novel to have an elusive ending, this one made me feel like it would have beneficiated from being a bit more detailed.
All in all, a nice experience, but much too short.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Avoid
Liked the beach right so thought your read mote of his stuff?
I don't usually write reviews but was compelled to after reading this. Read more
I don't usually write reviews but was compelled to after reading this. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mr. A. C. Parker
3.0 out of 5 stars
Dead or Alive?
Advantages: An eerie, dark novella
Disadvantages: There is no plot twist; too pricey for its size
I read on the back cover that Alex Garland is the author of "The... Read more
Disadvantages: There is no plot twist; too pricey for its size
I read on the back cover that Alex Garland is the author of "The... Read more
Published on 17 Aug 2010 by velissaria
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Clever
When i brought this book i was on a bus in Thailand it was so addictive that i finished reading it by the end of my 7 hour journey. Read more
Published on 15 July 2008 by Mr. A. Jaye
4.0 out of 5 stars
A dark provocative short story...
Well, it's a very short story, almost like it should belong in a collection than on it's own, but for it's length I found it nicely immersive, gripping and dripping with dread and... Read more
Published on 26 Mar 2008 by Simon Kwong
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not sure where I stand...
Well to be honest, it's a bril book - really enjoyed it, very dark, very challenging and psychological - love the ideas and themes that are brought out... Read more
Published on 30 Sep 2007 by Mr. Merge
3.0 out of 5 stars
A lost opportunity
Coma starts off very promisingly; Carl is in a coma, and we suffer along with him all his experiences, never sure what is real and what imagined, never sure what is his real state... Read more
Published on 13 Aug 2007 by Benjamin
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping-a clue into a brain injured person
The Coma by Alex Garland truly kept me gripped. Indeed, I am writing this review a few years after I have actually read it and still it haunts my memory, as a good book should do! Read more
Published on 16 Mar 2007 by J. Heyes
2.0 out of 5 stars
Enigmatic
I've just finished reading this book in the sum total of an hour, but i still can't decide whether or not it's actually any good. Read more
Published on 27 Dec 2006 by Dave Jones
4.0 out of 5 stars
Coma coma coma coma coma chameleon...
I thought this was an interesting book. Like Banks's "The Bridge" and Amis's "Other People" it is very dreamy and subtle -- as elusive as a chameleon. Read more
Published on 15 Dec 2006 by SAP
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