Genre:
Contemporary Literature/Psychological/Suspense
Description:
“Coulter
Zahn sees reality differently than others. Much like light can
theoretically be in all places at once, Coulter sees multiple
versions of his life… An existential psychological thriller, An
Elegant Theory explores
how the construction of memory and consciousness can shape motive,
guilt, and identity through the lens of a modern-day mad-scientist
motif.”
Author:
“Noah
Milligan splits his time between words and numbers and is a longtime
student of physics, prompting him to write his debut novel, An
Elegant Theory, a draft
of which was shortlisted for the 2015 Horatio Nelson Fiction Prize.
His short fiction has appeared in numerous literary magazines,
including MAKE, Storyscape Literary Journal, Empty Sink Publishing,
and Santa Clara Review. He is a graduate of the MFA program at the
University of Central Oklahoma, and he lives in Edmond, OK, with his
wife and two children.”
Appraisal:
Coulter
Zahn is a promising PhD candidate at MIT with a wife and a baby on
the way. Understandably, he is under a lot of pressure writing his
dissertation. When his hypothesis comes under criticism and his
estranged mother (who suffers from mental illness herself) returns,
his life starts unraveling or perhaps fracturing would be a better
word? As Coulter loses control everyone’s life around him becomes
irreparably changed forever.
Mr.
Milligan uses a style writing An
Elegant Theory that I
have not experienced before. There are sudden time-warps where the
story will jump either back in time or into a future you are not
quite sure is real or imagined. He has employed this style to keep
the reader as off balance as Coulter is feeling as his own mental
health is deteriorating. And it works. At one point I was convinced
Coulter was suffering from schizophrenia, however if you consider the
subject of his dissertation it’s likely he was experiencing
different planes of existence altogether.
The
plot is character driven and not linear. The twists in the story are
extreme and well thought out. The most important people are well
developed and realistic. I’m wondering if I should warn the readers
they may come away from this novel with a taste of quantum physics
and string theory as well as what it may feel like to go slowly
insane.
I
think if I re-read this book, it’s possible, I may come away with a
totally different theory about what was actually happening here.
After saying that, this would be an excellent novel for discussion
with a group or book club. Egads! I don’t think I have ever said
that before in a review. I believe Noah Milligan is an author to keep
an eye on in the future.
FYI:
**Warning**
this book may change the way you see yourself, those around you, or
life in general, forevermore.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No
significant proofing or formatting issues.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
Approximate
word count: 95-100,000
words
3 comments:
What a terrific review, ?wasi. But here's a personal reflection. As soon as I'd read your appraisal, I punched the Amazon "buy" button. But when the author wanted $7.99, I didn't follow through. Had it been $3.99, it'd be on my Kindle now. Sure, I can afford the extra $4.00. But I considered $7.99 a big risk for an unknown author and a very different topic and approach. Even after reading your review, every reader's different and I might not enjoy the treatment. $7.99 is where Harper et al are positioned for digital. I dunno? Does my lack of click say more about me or more about the market?
... Pete
Thank you, Pete. Your comment means a lot to me.
I have the same concern about the price point for any author I am unfamiliar with. To add to that, this is Mr. Milligan's debut novel so, you can't even check the success of past books. A larger concern is that with a digital file all you really have is the right to read a file copy, you don't really own anything.
Mark it up to the growing pains of the new publishing quagmire? I think a lower price point would be a good start to get the book out there to be read and reviewed. So, it's not just you, Pete.
Thanks for dropping in and commenting.
I tend to agree with Pete as well, but have talked to a few authors who have argued for a higher price point and done well with that strategy. (Also, I suspect in Mr Milligan's case, it is his publisher who set the price. Not that a reader is going to know or care who set the price or what their logic was.)
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