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"From the widely acclaimed author of The Gone-Away World and Tigerman, a virtuosic new novel and his most ambitious book yet--equal parts dark comedy, gripping detective story, and mind-bending philosophical puzzle--set in a not-too-distant-future, high-tech surveillance state. In the world of Gnomon, citizens are ceaselessly observed and democracy has reached a pinnacle of "transparency." When suspected dissident Diana Hunter dies in government custody during a routine interrogation, Mielikki Neith, a trusted state inspector, is assigned to the case. Immersing herself in neural recordings of the interrogation, she finds a panorama of characters and events that Hunter gave life to in order to forestall the investigation: a lovelorn financier in Athens who has a mystical experience with a shark; a brilliant alchemist in ancient Carthage confronting the unexpected outcome of her invention; an expat Ethiopian painter in London designing a controversial new video game. In the static between these mysterious visions, Neith begins to catch glimpses of the real Diana Hunter--and, alarmingly, of herself, the staggering consequences of which will reverberate throughout the world. Gnomon is a dazzling, panoramic achievement from one of the most original voices in contemporary fiction"--… (more)
I adored [b:The Gone-Away World|3007704|The Gone-Away World |Nick Harkaway|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328322676s/3007704.jpg|3038235], Nick Harkaway’s first novel. [b:Angelmaker|12266560|Angelmaker|Nick Harkaway|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1326121401s/12266560.jpg|14751763] was by comparison a bit of a let-down, then [b:Tigerman|19322249|Tigerman|Nick Harkaway|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1395753349s/19322249.jpg|26019755] didn’t have a weird enough concept to appeal so I haven't read it. ‘Gnomon’, however, is a definite return to form and I found it very satisfying. That said, I realise now that the final twist is very similar to that in [b:The Gone-Away World|3007704|The Gone-Away World |Nick Harkaway|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328322676s/3007704.jpg|3038235]. It’s a brilliant twist, though, and used differently enough that I still loved it. My reading experience was pretty intense, as I have to take it back to the library tomorrow so read the second half in one go this evening. I recommend that, actually. ‘Gnomon’ is a long, dense novel of fracturing and overlapping realities. It reminded me of a much more verbose version of Inception, which happens to be one of my favourite films of all time (on conceptual and aesthetic grounds). The novel begins in an arguably dystopian near future, managed by a combination of a benevolent big data crunching computer system and online direct democracy. Mielikki Neith is an Inspector on this system’s behalf, investigating a death during a supposedly routine interrogation. Re-playing recordings of this interrogation, she finds a web of mysterious repeating themes and signs. The reader accompanies her as she attempts to understand what the hell is going on.
‘Gnomon’ gives you a lot to get your teeth into. References to Brexit, Greece’s resurgent neo-Fascism, Roman mysticism, and the amorality of the super-wealthy, among other things. There’s a running theme of the power of books, and stories in general, to shape our minds. Harkaway loves to drop five or so rhetorical questions into the narrative, keeping the reader off-balance. Questions of identity, free will, and mortality are repeatedly raised and played with. The narrative doesn't have much to say about the transition away from an online massive multiplayer democracy at the end, though, which is rather interesting in itself. The characters have memorable voices and the world-building is deeply involving. The combination of the dreamlike and visceral is nicely judged, riveting yet ambiguous enough to keep you guessing. Ideas and images fragment, drift away, reform, and recur. Worlds collide and identities collapse. It’s a very enjoyable ride. While I could feel familiar echoes from other fiction, the whole was re-imagined and re-combined into an original new pattern. I don’t want to spoil anything by going into further details. Suffice it to say, I enjoyed 'Gnomon' very much, on both conceptual and aesthetic grounds, and expect it to stay in my mind for a good while. ( )
2023 book #39. 2017. When a suspected dissident dies while being questioned in a future 100% surveillance Britian, the woman investigating her death finds info that is a danger to the state. Long and boring in parts, the ending did not justify the 600+ page length. ( )
When the first question was asked in a direction opposite to the customary one, it was a signal that the revolution had begun. --Ryszard Kapuscinski, The Emperor
Dedication
For Tom, my son.
Wow.
First words
"The death of a suspect in custody," says Inspector Neith of the Witness, "is a very serious matter. There is no one at the Witness Programme who does not feel a sense of personal failure this morning."
Quotations
Even in death, as the saying goes, her head sings upon the waters.
There's only one fundamental human right, and that is the right to security of person, be it physical or mental. Everything else is contingent on the level of society in which you exist—food, shelter, broadband digital access: all these come later. The only right that cannot be debated—if you acknowledge any kind of right at all—is the one that asserts a boundary at the skin, and says that anything within its boundary is the business of that person and no one else. The right to avoid self-incrimination, the right to die, the right to live, the right to freedom from slavery, freedom of conscience and religion, of opinion, and the right not to be tortured—all these exist as subheadings of that one, simple statement: I am me and I am not yours. No one who believes in rights at all can deny this right. It is the first. Without it, there are no others.
Poetry is a shotgun aimed at our shared experience, hoping to hit enough of the _target that we all infer a great bulk of information conveyed as implication and metaphor in an approximately similar way. Making a unity between poet and reader.
The devil in the detail is that Smart Crowds are fragile. With a very little adulteration, they cease to be smart at all, and become remarkably stupid, or indeed self-harming. They are susceptible to stampeding by demagogues, poisoning by bad information. They can be made afraid, and when they do they become mobs. They can be divided by scapegoating and prejudice, bought off in fragments, even just romanced by pretty faces.
"From the widely acclaimed author of The Gone-Away World and Tigerman, a virtuosic new novel and his most ambitious book yet--equal parts dark comedy, gripping detective story, and mind-bending philosophical puzzle--set in a not-too-distant-future, high-tech surveillance state. In the world of Gnomon, citizens are ceaselessly observed and democracy has reached a pinnacle of "transparency." When suspected dissident Diana Hunter dies in government custody during a routine interrogation, Mielikki Neith, a trusted state inspector, is assigned to the case. Immersing herself in neural recordings of the interrogation, she finds a panorama of characters and events that Hunter gave life to in order to forestall the investigation: a lovelorn financier in Athens who has a mystical experience with a shark; a brilliant alchemist in ancient Carthage confronting the unexpected outcome of her invention; an expat Ethiopian painter in London designing a controversial new video game. In the static between these mysterious visions, Neith begins to catch glimpses of the real Diana Hunter--and, alarmingly, of herself, the staggering consequences of which will reverberate throughout the world. Gnomon is a dazzling, panoramic achievement from one of the most original voices in contemporary fiction"--
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