James is on a mission to uncover the truth about himself. But what makes him HIM? What makes each of us ourself? Hopes, fears. Memories. These things belong only to us. Or do we share them with others, i.e. our past and future selves? I enjoyed this story for feeding my brain some philosophical existential themes to chew on. It really did get me thinking deeply and affected my moods and thoughts. That’s how you know it’s good writing. It even weirdly and intimately reflected a brief period of my...

I got the feeling, as I read this, that I was supposed to think it was The Coolest Book Ever - impossibly clever, stunningly original, blah blah blah. And for the first two thirds, I was sufficiently dazzled by the tight pacing, crisp prose, ominous overtones, and all of the hairpin twists and turns in the plot. But then it devolves into murky psychology, bizarre scenarios that seem shoehorned in for no good reason, and an ending that's not nearly as much of a shocker as it would like to believe...

what an odd book. it's kind of like a detective story crossed with a gothic novel, both borgesian and kafkaesque (yeah, i'm evidently now one of those douchebags who uses adjectives based on authors' names) with a strong dose of "eternal sunshine of the spotless mind." note, however, that even if all of those references appeal to you, you might not be crazy about this novel, which somehow adds up to less than the sum of its parts. it's about an english guy who realizes, after he turns 30, that t...

Fittingly, I have no recollection of where I heard about The Amnesiac, and I only have the haziest remembrance of purchasing it. Weirdly, it's as if the little sucker just magically *appeared!* on my bookshelf, where it then sat, gathering dust for ages. And it may have continued to gather dust for quite some time to come, however I spent a lot of time on the road this holiday season and the book I had been reading just wasn't doing it for me. I needed something else, something readable, somethi...

Loved this one, I was sucked right in by it. It freaked me out, played with my mind a bit - had a surreal quality to it which I'm always a sucker for. I thought it was remarkably similiar to Jonathan Coe's "The House of Sleep" which I had coincidentally just finished; I wasn't looking to read a similiar book. It actually had some similiar elements to Jonathan Barne's "The Somnambulist" as well. All three deal with dreams, memories, and all three read fast......Highly recommended unless you're no...

Quite similar to Kafka's The Trial, The Amnesiac is indeed written the same gothic fashion with an interesting meld of existential philosophy from Descartes and the like. The plot is somewhat onerous although the writing style is simple. All in all an average read for me.

I definitely gave this book a 5 star because I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The journey of memory lost, regained, and then lost again set amongst picturesque settings and intricate storylines was very gripping. I most definitely enjoyed the solitary tone and settings, and Jame's character was quite interesting. His love for solitude yet his helplessness when he's suddenly aware of his now "loneliness" seems relatable. However, the 5 star rating does NOT reflect the excellenece of the story ove...

I felt like this author was playing with me with all the whimsically dropped homage. A scene pulled right out of Paul Auster, yet another from Wilkie Collins. In one way or another we are brought back to Borges, HG Wells, Dr Who, the movie "Primer", Aldous Huxley, et al in a parade of disjointed episodes. At times the story bordered on plagiarism - but then, no one thread was followed long enough for serious condemnation. Ultimately my problem with the book is that it doesn't follow through to a...

Actual rating 2.5 stars .The Amnesiac is a hard book to write about. It starts off well, is intriguing and interesting and the writing draws you in. And then about 200 pages in it starts to become....weird. Just plain weird. And the writing loses its shine and you start getting bored, so you force yourself to read it because you can't just stop ANOTHER book halfway through. And then when it ends it all makes sense but it's kind of boring and predictable anyway, despite the fact that you didn't

The Amnesiac begins as a possible existential meditation on loss and lonliness but smoothly slides into a creepy little mystery without ever losing sight of the emotions that haunt and drive the main character, James Purdew. We first meet James after breaking his ankle on a flight of stairs while rushing to answer the telephone which seems to ring with an underlying urgency. Once laid up in plaster James doent have much to do but sit alone and ponder life when not spending time with his girlfrie...

pre: Found in a rain-wilted box on the curb, and I don't know one single thing about it. Very exciting!post: Holy shit this book is great. Given that it is all about amnesia, intentional and unintentional memory suppression, the existence or non-existence of consensus-based reality, the possibility or impossibility of coincidences, etc., I am stunned and delighted that it came to me so anonymous, so unknown. I still know not a thing about Sam Taylor (though I plan to learn more once I finish thi...

Only two stars because the main character, James, pissed me off. He can't remember three years of his life, and decides to do a little investigating to figure out what happens. But every time that punk gets a clue, instead of following it he decides to go drink beer. I hate him so hard. The story was decent, a little existentialist for my tastes. I did learn what solipism is. Still can't spell it though.

This is a deeply disconcerting book that really penetrates your psyche and will stay with you for weeks. It is about a man who has lost three years of his life and tries to find out what happened. It has a very original format and is basically a detective story written backwards ...and only at the end do we find out what crime was committed. Utterly brilliant!

I think what you should know before reading this is this is all about memory and the fallacies of memory, the details of why and how we choose to forget things we obviously don't want to remember. It gets really philosophical at times (something that I don't exactly mind but it makes my head spin when it extends for pages) and brings us deep into the dark depths of a "sinned" soul. How could we be sure that a memory that no one but us remembers has really happened, or at least went the way we th...

Started out with promise, engaging build-up, disappointing climax.

Sam Taylor’s The Amnesiac has potential, but I feel like it underperforms. It is the kind of novel that could be put down early and forgotten about, but also had some interesting symbols that grow in complexity as the narrative continues. There are moments in this novel that I love, but I find James as a protagonist and the narration in general feels more bland than other places. The only reason I am giving this a 4 star rating is that I feel that the text may offer more on an additional reading...

I'm torn between giving this 3 or 4 stars and have chosen 3 only because the author used the word "labyrinth" so many times that it really left me wishing that there were more words to describe such a thing. That being said, this story is definitely one filled with labryrinths and the basic premise reminded me of the the "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", although the overall story is different and in the book, more complicated. It's an amalgamation of multiple genres - part mystery, part

I read a brief review that was critical; this sort of book has been done before. So I added the book mentioned to my list. But I still liked this one. Seems a bit like the movie Memento, though without the anxiety. A bit of a mystery like Calamity Physics (but a bit shorter). Nice book and I recommend it for those interested in fiction about memory.

This is a real mind-warp of a book that reads like you’re trapped in a confusing, not-so-pleasant dream that’s based off a memory you’re trying to simultaneously forget and remember. The main themes are memory, identity, solipsism (that the only thing you can be sure of as real is your mind’s interpretation of reality), and hell. Scenes flicker in voice, time, and subject, just as a dream does.People seem to have a real problem with the last two pages — and I’ll admit it was an odd way to end th...

What a labyrinth of a book! It’s not all that long but it wanders in time and space to feel maze-like. My crappy memory made me pick up the book - the title just screamed at me. The slow meandering journey he makes through our poor memories and the unreliable stories we tell ourselves, is at times throw-the-book-out-the-window frustrating. James and his other narrators made me want to shout ‘get a grip, man’ on a few occasions. But the beautiful woven fabric of the tale that unravels to lead to