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A review by spacenoirdetective
Amnesia Moon by Jonathan Lethem
3.0
Amnesia Moon is one of the strangest novels I have ever read. It definitely fits into the category of "weird fiction" and from the little I know about Lethem's other works, it is an example of how eclectic his fiction can be.
Amnesia Moon brings two characters in a post-apocalyptic setting, Chaos and Melinda. Melinda is a young teenager that happens to be covered in short fur like an orange tabby cat. Chaos is just a bit of a mess. The feeling and mood of this novel is perpetually confusing as they make their escape from their little town in Wyoming. Consider this similar to Stephen King's the Stand if everyone from that book took acid. They balance each other out, though. Chaos feels a reluctant protectiveness over Melinda, who wants to come across as very strong. Their relationship takes on paternal tones as both of them realize they don't want to necessarily go it alone on this surreal journey, even though they sometimes consider it. Both of them display extreme independence, which is somewhat necessary given how they have been surviving an apocalyptic situation where bombs supposedly fell.
I say supposedly because we aren't really sure what's happening for the first two thirds of the novel. Each geographic location they go to appears totally different from every other in terms of what apocalyptic scenario they appear in along with the people they meet. Reality itself seems to be mutually exclusive depending on where you are. Whether it's killer green mist, a suburban town that appears normal at first, or San Francisco's elite wealthy meeting for parties. But in each location they go to, they try to adapt to what should be "normal" and instead it twists into an authoritarian system they must rebel against. As the book progresses, we begin to realize that reality is being controlled differently in each location. The laws of reality at the end seem to become undone completely and I will only say that the ending will not give you any closure. It ends just as something tremendous is about to happen. Did Lethem end it this way on purpose? I say yes, because of the dreamlike nature of the book itself. Sometimes we wake up in the middle of a story-dream where we wonder "wait, what happened NEXT?" so I think he decided to end the book on that note.
It doesn't really make a difference to me, because I was far more interested in the increasingly frenetic desperation of the characters as they run out of options and places to go. This is a very legitimate fear either in real life or in dreams. Their relationship is what makes the book so interesting.
I recommend it even though most of this book I slogged through wondering where it was going. It subverts expectation, that much is certain. I wish I could give it more stars. I liked the idea of this book. I liked where it took me at the end. I think the theme of anti-authoritarianism is most beautifully illustrated at the beginning as well as in the "suburban" segment. I just wish the story was tied together better. It is definitely a "road story" and I wanted it to be a little bit more of a road story, I suppose. I expected there to be more expounding on the idea of the open road as a metaphor for freedom, but you don't really get that with this novel. Instead you are constantly feeling the characters wariness, sense of dread and distrustful nature, and persistent gloom. It's somewhat depressing but with just enough ridiculous quirkiness to separate it from the typical traps that the post apocalypse genre can bring with it. It also could have used a few more characters I actually cared about. Most of them come across as "stock characters" and serve only to move the plot along, but I didn't really feel they were especially interesting. Chaos and Melinda have vivid personalities and other characters don't really match their in terms of how much they stand out, which is a shame. You have such great settings here and not enough is really going on to pull that off with personalities that can bring that world even more to life.
Here is the only spoiler that I will give:
Their world is being controlled by "Dreamers" or humans that have been gifted with the ability to change the geographical area around them to their own personal whims. Most of these "dreamers" have created nightmares and horrors, and whatever initially caused the breakdown of reality is alluded to only as a weapon that should never have been created. Reality corrodes near the end of the novel, which I won't spoil, because it was so surprising that I still retain it as one of the most unexpected endings.
Amnesia Moon brings two characters in a post-apocalyptic setting, Chaos and Melinda. Melinda is a young teenager that happens to be covered in short fur like an orange tabby cat. Chaos is just a bit of a mess. The feeling and mood of this novel is perpetually confusing as they make their escape from their little town in Wyoming. Consider this similar to Stephen King's the Stand if everyone from that book took acid. They balance each other out, though. Chaos feels a reluctant protectiveness over Melinda, who wants to come across as very strong. Their relationship takes on paternal tones as both of them realize they don't want to necessarily go it alone on this surreal journey, even though they sometimes consider it. Both of them display extreme independence, which is somewhat necessary given how they have been surviving an apocalyptic situation where bombs supposedly fell.
I say supposedly because we aren't really sure what's happening for the first two thirds of the novel. Each geographic location they go to appears totally different from every other in terms of what apocalyptic scenario they appear in along with the people they meet. Reality itself seems to be mutually exclusive depending on where you are. Whether it's killer green mist, a suburban town that appears normal at first, or San Francisco's elite wealthy meeting for parties. But in each location they go to, they try to adapt to what should be "normal" and instead it twists into an authoritarian system they must rebel against. As the book progresses, we begin to realize that reality is being controlled differently in each location. The laws of reality at the end seem to become undone completely and I will only say that the ending will not give you any closure. It ends just as something tremendous is about to happen. Did Lethem end it this way on purpose? I say yes, because of the dreamlike nature of the book itself. Sometimes we wake up in the middle of a story-dream where we wonder "wait, what happened NEXT?" so I think he decided to end the book on that note.
It doesn't really make a difference to me, because I was far more interested in the increasingly frenetic desperation of the characters as they run out of options and places to go. This is a very legitimate fear either in real life or in dreams. Their relationship is what makes the book so interesting.
I recommend it even though most of this book I slogged through wondering where it was going. It subverts expectation, that much is certain. I wish I could give it more stars. I liked the idea of this book. I liked where it took me at the end. I think the theme of anti-authoritarianism is most beautifully illustrated at the beginning as well as in the "suburban" segment. I just wish the story was tied together better. It is definitely a "road story" and I wanted it to be a little bit more of a road story, I suppose. I expected there to be more expounding on the idea of the open road as a metaphor for freedom, but you don't really get that with this novel. Instead you are constantly feeling the characters wariness, sense of dread and distrustful nature, and persistent gloom. It's somewhat depressing but with just enough ridiculous quirkiness to separate it from the typical traps that the post apocalypse genre can bring with it. It also could have used a few more characters I actually cared about. Most of them come across as "stock characters" and serve only to move the plot along, but I didn't really feel they were especially interesting. Chaos and Melinda have vivid personalities and other characters don't really match their in terms of how much they stand out, which is a shame. You have such great settings here and not enough is really going on to pull that off with personalities that can bring that world even more to life.
Here is the only spoiler that I will give:
Their world is being controlled by "Dreamers" or humans that have been gifted with the ability to change the geographical area around them to their own personal whims. Most of these "dreamers" have created nightmares and horrors, and whatever initially caused the breakdown of reality is alluded to only as a weapon that should never have been created. Reality corrodes near the end of the novel, which I won't spoil, because it was so surprising that I still retain it as one of the most unexpected endings.