"The End of Mr Y" is a book shrouded in mystery. Written by Thomas Lumas (the subject of Ariel Manto's PhD) who died not long after it's publication, the book has a reputation for being cursed and it is thought that no copies survive. So Ariel can't believe her eyes when she discovers a copy in a £50 box of books at a second hand book shop. Even though it uses up nearly all of the rest of her grant for the month, she has to buy it. The story centres around Mr Y's dicovery of the "Troposphere" a place from which you can enter other people's minds. But a page is missing. Soon Ariel finds her life spiralling out of control.

If I say that I wanted to enjoy this more than I did, it sounds as though I didn't like it, which is truly not the case. Definitely a page turner with some very original ideas from all over the place. Nonetheless, I frequently found the characters difficult to believe in and some aspects of the story just a little clunky - including the ending. I know that a lot of people have found this book thought provoking, but I'm afraid I didn't particularly - or no more than any other anyway. It was, however, a very entertaining holiday read. ( )

I'm really sorry I didn't like this one better. I was so looking forward to reading it after seeing the reviews and the premise of the story. I finally scrounged a copy off Book Mooch and dove in. It definitely started off grabbing my interest, but not very far in to it I found myself having to really push myself to continue. By the last third the story had peaked my interest again and I didn't have trouble finishing it.

So what didn't I like about it? Well, homeopathy plays a big role, and I suppose you can just chalk that up to the fantasy aspect of it. It features what struck me as a very unnecessary sex scene from the perspective of a mouse. And it gets way, way into metaphysics.

The book is very well written. The characters are intelligent, three dimensional and interesting. Some of them are people I'd probably hang out with if I met them. But most of them probably would want to have as little to do with me as I would with them.

The reference in another review to Being John Malkovich is right on (though I enjoyed that movie more than I did this book). If the tag line "If you knew this book was cursed, would you read it?" grabs your attention, but metaphysics isn't so much your thing, check out The Shadow of the Wind instead. ( )

http://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2009/09... ( )

Although clumsy at the start and in places where the author brings together characters for a philosophical discussion I found this an highly original book. I congratulate the author in making strong statements in a novel that is still highly readable. In fact any novel that discusses Derrida and the French school of Deconstructionists deserves to be read! ( )

The End of Mr Y is a strange book, which felt to me like a cross between Sophie's World, Alice in Wonderland, Being John Malkovich and a generic sci-fi thriller.

That's not a bad thing though, as it comes together in a thought provoking and very readable way, despite covering some very abstract ideas within the story. It's the story of a woman who finds a book, at heart, but this is almost incidental to the main plot, which I'm trying not to spoil in this review!

I liked it, but suspect that anyone looking for a light read will be disappointed. If you liked The Somnambulist, or any of the titles mentioned above, give it a go. ( )