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A review by madalcna
Murmur by Will Eaves
5.0
Murmur is a feat of a novel, so huge in scope and meaning, there was something to unveil in every chapter, a need to ponder every word and understand why it was there; because of it, it’s likely one of those books that “deserves” the “difficult read” stamp but, that, in my humble opinion, those are usually the books that bare fruit in the end. And oh, Murmur is an apple tree with ripe apples ready for plucking.
In it we follow Alec Pryor, a cryptanalyst working for british intelligence during the second world war, who has just been convicted of “gross indecency” and sentenced to undertake hormonal treatment and jungian therapy (instead of serving time in jail, since homosexuality was considered a criminal offense in the 50s). If any of this sounds familiar, it is because Will Eaves took great inspiration from the life of british mathematician Alan Turing -- basically, Eaves has created an “avatar” of Turing in Alec, while still retaining some creative license by changing a few names and events (it is also incredibly meaningful to the story that Alec isn’t really Turing). (I found knowing a bit about Turing’s life and work helped me understand certain aspects of the story but I only went so far as to read the Wikipedia on him, so I would say extensive knowledge and research isn’t needed in order to understand and appreciate the extension of the story).
Divided into three parts, the first one is filled with straight-forward journal entries in which Alec muses on a number of different subjects such as the human condition, god & religion, the *** of power in relationships and society’s need for conformism and rules.
Taking from the life of Alan Turing, it would be impossible not to mention artificial intelligence and robotics, and that theme is often approached by the narrator, precisely when thinking about human intelligence and the possible existence of it in other beings other than humans, and how that can lead to the erasure of “originality” (something the human race is very much obsessed with).
In it we follow Alec Pryor, a cryptanalyst working for british intelligence during the second world war, who has just been convicted of “gross indecency” and sentenced to undertake hormonal treatment and jungian therapy (instead of serving time in jail, since homosexuality was considered a criminal offense in the 50s). If any of this sounds familiar, it is because Will Eaves took great inspiration from the life of british mathematician Alan Turing -- basically, Eaves has created an “avatar” of Turing in Alec, while still retaining some creative license by changing a few names and events (it is also incredibly meaningful to the story that Alec isn’t really Turing). (I found knowing a bit about Turing’s life and work helped me understand certain aspects of the story but I only went so far as to read the Wikipedia on him, so I would say extensive knowledge and research isn’t needed in order to understand and appreciate the extension of the story).
Divided into three parts, the first one is filled with straight-forward journal entries in which Alec muses on a number of different subjects such as the human condition, god & religion, the *** of power in relationships and society’s need for conformism and rules.
“Here is a double strife: the sleeping death of duty—expectation, manners—and the waking inner life.”There’s a lot to unpack right away and many of the subjects introduced in this first part will weave through the rest of the novel but it is in the second part that things start to get a bit more… experimental (weird, even), with the description of dreams; and as is the nature of dreams to be nonsensical and distorted, everything is not as straightforward as the first part but, I thought Eaves is kind to its readers by trying to give them some direction with letters that Alec exchanges with his friend June, where they discuss and try to uncover the meaning behind these dreams.
Taking from the life of Alan Turing, it would be impossible not to mention artificial intelligence and robotics, and that theme is often approached by the narrator, precisely when thinking about human intelligence and the possible existence of it in other beings other than humans, and how that can lead to the erasure of “originality” (something the human race is very much obsessed with).
“The fear of robots, I take it, is like the fear of prophecy, the essence of which is repetition: if you can be repeated, you can be replaced.”There are constant symbols throughout the novel, such as the apple and the mirror, both nods to folk and fairy tales, of which Turing was a big fan of, and that, just like in those old stories, uncover something much deeper than is first let on -- they uncover the key themes of nature of identity and the fracturing of the self, as we learn that while Alec undergoes his treatment, he is faced with deep physical changes that lead him to question who he really is, raising the very old question of “am I still the same inside if I look so different on the outside?”.
“One is turned back on oneself and in the process one sees a second person, a new person whom one does not fully recognize.”It is an heartbreaking imagining of what might have gone through an historical figure’s head during dehumanizing moments but it is also a deeply thoughtful meditation of human nature and society’s cruelty and compliance with heinous crimes and sentiments that often only ring true to a restricted number of people.
“When I was changed—treated—I found out two odd things. One was a source of mild comfort. I found that I could still be me, somewhere inside my head, when I was physically changing. The other was quite horrible and no comfort at all: when I began to look better, like my old self, after the changing treatment stopped, I seemed to disappear from the inside. I felt as if I’d been replaced. I heard myself saying to everyone how well I felt, how everything was on the up… (...) I felt I still knew, in some way, what had been done to me, but there was now another me, speaking for me, out of my altered or remodeled shape, who mindlessly agreed with everything the doctors said. I’d always thought that, in my line of work, a thing that acts like something, must be it, someone who behaves plausibly is plausibly the product of their behaviors. But I was wrong. You can be changed—tortured, in fact—so that the person other people go on talking to just isn’t you. You’ve gone away. Your body’s holding wide the door, but you are in a very different dark chamber.”Please read it because, I can’t do it justice. This goes straight to the ‘best books ever’ pile.