When Ariel Manto uncovers a copy of The End of Mr. Y in a second-hand bookshop, she can't believe her eyes. She knows enough about its author, the outlandish Victorian scientist Thomas Lumas, to know that copies are exceedingly rare. And, some say, cursed. With Mr. Y under her arm, Ariel finds herself thrust into a thrilling adventure of love, sex, death and time-travel.
The End of Mr Y
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Review
'A novel that bursts with originality, but her strength is not just in her ideas but in her characters' -- Sunday Business Post
'Enjoyable bunkum, as brainy as it is fantastical...Thomas has produced a contemporary fantasy novel worth reading.' -- Sunday Herald
'The End of Mr Y proves to be that rare beast - a user-friendly experimental novel.' -- Independent
'There's a touch of Kevin Brockmeier... a sprinkling of China Mieville... but Thomas beats both in her imagining of the urban dreamscape.' -- New Statesman
'Thomas pulls off this intellectual rollercoaster of a novel with dry humour and panache' -- Sunday Times
Thomas carries her readers through her wilder flights -- Observer
'Enjoyable bunkum, as brainy as it is fantastical...Thomas has produced a contemporary fantasy novel worth reading.' -- Sunday Herald
'The End of Mr Y proves to be that rare beast - a user-friendly experimental novel.' -- Independent
'There's a touch of Kevin Brockmeier... a sprinkling of China Mieville... but Thomas beats both in her imagining of the urban dreamscape.' -- New Statesman
'Thomas pulls off this intellectual rollercoaster of a novel with dry humour and panache' -- Sunday Times
Thomas carries her readers through her wilder flights -- Observer
Book Description
If you knew a book was cursed, would you read it?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is one of the best books I have ever read. Thomas is like a new Atwood for me, melding the ability to create a dark new world with something so intrinsically human that it never seems that far from home.
Do I like this because I am a female university lecturer and research student with more than a passing interest in philosophy, quantum physics and the paranormal? It can't be discounted. But I also love the mystery and magic in this book which lies somewhere between Harry Potter and The Illusionist, the ability of the main protagonist to keep striving through adversity by creating new ideas and possibilities, and the raw filth which appears periodically to distance this book from a fluffy teen adventure.
It is fair to say that some of the descriptions of scientific and philosophical ideas are either too long or too simplistic, something difficult to gauge for an unlimited audience. Also the story when told from what appears to be embellished personal experience feels richer than that told from other positions, for example that of a non-human (to avoid spoilers).
However, these things by no mean detract from the overall feeling in the book and it was one of the very few book endings which felt satisfying to me, and was a multi-layered, paradoxical and wonderful idea.
I have read other reviews which say that the ideas within are so fanciful that it spoils the book as it is neither fantasy nor reality- I would argue that this is exactly the point- a thought experiment takes us to the limits of experience and encourages us to question what it is to be alive. Other books which may support this edge of awareness thinking are 'The Sense of Being Stared At' by Sheldrake, 'The Holographic Universe by Talbot' and 'The Field' by McTaggart.
A fantastic find for the curious.
Do I like this because I am a female university lecturer and research student with more than a passing interest in philosophy, quantum physics and the paranormal? It can't be discounted. But I also love the mystery and magic in this book which lies somewhere between Harry Potter and The Illusionist, the ability of the main protagonist to keep striving through adversity by creating new ideas and possibilities, and the raw filth which appears periodically to distance this book from a fluffy teen adventure.
It is fair to say that some of the descriptions of scientific and philosophical ideas are either too long or too simplistic, something difficult to gauge for an unlimited audience. Also the story when told from what appears to be embellished personal experience feels richer than that told from other positions, for example that of a non-human (to avoid spoilers).
However, these things by no mean detract from the overall feeling in the book and it was one of the very few book endings which felt satisfying to me, and was a multi-layered, paradoxical and wonderful idea.
I have read other reviews which say that the ideas within are so fanciful that it spoils the book as it is neither fantasy nor reality- I would argue that this is exactly the point- a thought experiment takes us to the limits of experience and encourages us to question what it is to be alive. Other books which may support this edge of awareness thinking are 'The Sense of Being Stared At' by Sheldrake, 'The Holographic Universe by Talbot' and 'The Field' by McTaggart.
A fantastic find for the curious.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Scarlett Thomas is one of those authors who writes polarising books. They are complex, intentionally disjointed in places and concerned with metaphysical issues. If this doesn't seem like your cup of tea then there's no point in reading this book or PopCo.
I loved the End of Mr Y for its ambition. It's the author's ideas of the nature of reality ensconced in a sprawling narrative. I would say it's loosely inspired by Edgar Alan Poe's Eureka "prose poem". Meaning it presents an a priori theory of consciousness with reference to physics but without mathematical analysis of experimental data. I was fascinated at how the plot was woven together. It really was most ingenious how the different strands of the author's thoughts on reality, existence and thought itself are brought together over the many plot arcs. This is the chief strength and weakness of the book, depending on your perspective. The chief protagonist is Ariel Manto which I believe is a deliberate anagram of I Am Not Real. Ariel's mind is full of metaphysical chatter. It's relentless. If you don't think this way you'll hate this book. It really is as simple as that. If you're not someone who engages in thought experiments and has spent nights lying awake pondering the origins of the universe this is not the book for you. If you're the kind of person who feels Phil Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy is uncomfortably godless or can't cope with obscene sex scenes in books then don't read this book. If you think philosophical discussions are indulgent then stay away. This book will just annoy you and may compel you to write another negative review here :)
On the plus side this is one of the most inventive books I've ever read which combines a decent insight into physics with solid philosophical discussion and some likeably neurotic characters. The plot is engaging which helps turns the pages. Some of the existentialist meanderings are overwrought and unnecessary. Some of the sex is contrived. Some of the science is trite, in my opinion anyway. It could have done with some of Alan Sokal's skepticism of grand yet pseudo-scientific metaphysics. You're left under no illusions that the author is witty and autodidactically brilliant. Mostly however, it's daring and very clever. I even loved the ending which I thought was a great piece of mischief.
I loved the End of Mr Y for its ambition. It's the author's ideas of the nature of reality ensconced in a sprawling narrative. I would say it's loosely inspired by Edgar Alan Poe's Eureka "prose poem". Meaning it presents an a priori theory of consciousness with reference to physics but without mathematical analysis of experimental data. I was fascinated at how the plot was woven together. It really was most ingenious how the different strands of the author's thoughts on reality, existence and thought itself are brought together over the many plot arcs. This is the chief strength and weakness of the book, depending on your perspective. The chief protagonist is Ariel Manto which I believe is a deliberate anagram of I Am Not Real. Ariel's mind is full of metaphysical chatter. It's relentless. If you don't think this way you'll hate this book. It really is as simple as that. If you're not someone who engages in thought experiments and has spent nights lying awake pondering the origins of the universe this is not the book for you. If you're the kind of person who feels Phil Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy is uncomfortably godless or can't cope with obscene sex scenes in books then don't read this book. If you think philosophical discussions are indulgent then stay away. This book will just annoy you and may compel you to write another negative review here :)
On the plus side this is one of the most inventive books I've ever read which combines a decent insight into physics with solid philosophical discussion and some likeably neurotic characters. The plot is engaging which helps turns the pages. Some of the existentialist meanderings are overwrought and unnecessary. Some of the sex is contrived. Some of the science is trite, in my opinion anyway. It could have done with some of Alan Sokal's skepticism of grand yet pseudo-scientific metaphysics. You're left under no illusions that the author is witty and autodidactically brilliant. Mostly however, it's daring and very clever. I even loved the ending which I thought was a great piece of mischief.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Is this book cursed? I found this book in the library and was so excited I started reading it there and then. The first few chapters were brilliant, I couldn't put it down. The main character, the university, the way she lived, made an enthralling world. I took the book home and read and read through a whole afternoon and into the late evening. But oh dear, when I finished the book I felt what? A bit sick, a bit muzzy in the head and very disappointed. This book could have been so much more. Too much pseudo-scientific lecturing. Too quickly the author escaped into another world instead of staying in this one and making the story interesting here. Too easy to escape to where there are no rules and anything can happen. And the ending-awful. Too similar to many other similar books and films about people stuck in similar situations. (Don't want to give too much of the plot away here.)As much of a cop-out as the child's story that says 'and then they woke up and it was all a dream'.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lost time
Thomas has written a book where a character called Ariel enters another mental dimension and returns to find hours of her life have slipped by. I know how she felt. Read more
Published 3 days ago by EmmaH
1.0 out of 5 stars
Please Do Not Buy This MYsterY
I bought this book in a second hand shop as we you do, as it looked attractive as mentioned by other reviewers. Book by its cover etc... Read more
Published 15 days ago by A-Team Removals
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful
I picked this up from a bookstore purely because I liked the cover, and bought it only on the strength of the blurb. I'd never heard of Scarlett Thomas. Read more
Published 17 days ago by Mork calling Orson
3.0 out of 5 stars
A daring literary and philosophical experiment that just didn't quite...
It's always quite disappointing when you pick up a book expecting to absolutely love it and instead end up merely liking it. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Georgiana89
2.0 out of 5 stars
The only mystery (or Mr Y) here is the good reviews
An unlikeable protagonist, an unbelievable love story and 100 yards of exposition to get us to a pseudo-religious end to all the pseudo-scientific wittering that preceded it. Read more
Published 1 month ago by The Amazon J
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent concepts & intelligent content, wrapped in a bit of a chick...
I really loved this book and it took me right back to happier times when I did my philosophy degree and studied hermeneutics! Read more
Published 1 month ago by ClairyV
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thought provoking, creepy, slightly weird, but excellent
I cannot even begin to summarise this book. I have never read anything quite like it and I doubt I will find something the same again. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Maz
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome and thought-provoking
This book was awesome. It really got me thinking about things, and I got absorbed very easily. It engaged my mind even when I wasn't reading, and I had a 'book hangover'... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Louise
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pearls before a swine?
Ariel Manto, an impoverished and directionless PhD student, discovers by chance a copy of a rare and notorious novel "The End of Mr Y". Read more
Published 2 months ago by Crookedmouth
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing
Having read another of Scarlett Thomas's books, I thought I would try this one. The concept of a cursed book being the persuading factor. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Taymar
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