Dying Inside

I liked this book. Did I LOVE it? No. I felt the plot was a little too close to "Flowers for Algernon" (also known as "Charly). A man is born with super powers of the brain; he can read other people's thoughts and can, to an extent, influence their behavior. As time meanders on, he craves more and more intelligence and conducts some illegal acts to obtain them. His social interactions with others (esp. females) fall apart when then suspect what he's doing. Finally, he find out there are others like him and ultimately his "gift" is his downfall. This book was fairly early in Silverberg's career and he has written better, but this book is worth a "look-see", but don't expect brilliance.

One of the two Robert Silverberg books that I try to re-read every few years (the other being "The Book of Skulls"), "Dying Inside" tells the story of David Selig, a middle aged man, who is losing his ability to read minds, and consequently, his identity as well, which lacked clarity in the first place. What, at first blush, might seem like an enviable gift, turns out to be Selig's addiction and curse. From early childhood, Selig discovers that others, including his parents, do not always have pleasant thoughts about him. But more depressing to Selig, is the prospect of losing this ability and living alone in his own mind. Silverberg does a masterful job at showing us David Selig's plight, in both his use of his ability and his gradual loss of it. The book has a number of memorable scenes, for instance when David uses his powers to win a fight against a much stronger bully, or when David becomes obsessed with a woman from whom he is "blocked" (i.e. he can't read her mind). As an example of his wasted life, David earns a living by reading the minds of plagiarizing college students so that he can better prepare academic papers on their behalf. David Selig has wasted his life and squandered his only talent, but really, could there have been any alternative? But his mind reading, though destructive, has become the defining part of his life. Silverberg has once again demonstrated why he must be considered one of the giants of the "soft" science fiction genre. Highly recommended.

Robert Silverberg's "Dying Inside" is one of the great classics of SF literature. The protagonist, David Selig, is a telepath whose rare talent has brought him no pleasure. He leads the life of an outcast, a voyeur, with his gift as his keyhole. When his telepathy deserts him he is left stranded-(Pauses). (Sits silently, head bowed). (Finally, sighs forcefully). (Prepares to whip self to indignant frenzy). This world just isn't fair. You know that, you don't need me to tell you. But every so often an injustice so flagrant and so heinous occurs that I need to grab the nearest passerby and scream it at him. You're here, and I'm mad, so put down that mouse and listen. Have you read this book yet? Have you read "The Catcher in the Rye"- you know, "the coming-of-age story against which all others are judged," etc., etc.? Go read them. I'll wait- done yet? Good. What do you think? They're both excellent, aren't they? You really feel the turmoil and pain and angst of both Caulfield and Selig after reading them. So why has this book attracted only a handful of reviews, while "The Catcher in the Rye" has attracted- let me check- over 1000 reviews? Why does "The Catcher in the Rye" appear on all the "100 Greatest Novels of the Century" lists while "Dying Inside" doesn't? I'll tell you why- look at your copy of "Dying Inside," and look for those damning scarlet letters "Science Fiction." That's why. "The Catcher in the Rye" is serious literature; "Dying Inside" is science fiction. Never mind that David Selig is as vividly realized as Holden Caulfield, that the prose of "Dying Inside" is as smooth as silk and as scorching as a brush fire, that "Dying Inside" is to middle age what "The Catcher in the Rye" is to adolescence. One is "truly one of America's literary treasures," and one is not. There ain't no justice, is there, Larry?

I have read almost all of Silverberg's novels written before 1980, and believe that "Dying Inside" is his best. It is unfortunate that it is out of print, but one can find it with a bit of effort. My daughter found a used copy in a small bookstore in NYC -- I have since re-read the book and found it even more poignant than the first time I read it. Readers not interested in science fiction should take the plunge into the genre with this book, as it explores the psychological aspects of alienation that can result from possessing a rare quality (or affliction). The main character of the story, David Selig, struggles with his relationships with others because of his ability to know exactly what they are thinking, feeling, etc. He learns that even his parents aren't always loving despite what they say. His unique loneliness is heartbreaking. Take the time to find this book. You may conclude that it is one of the most powerful science fiction novels ever written.

Bear with me briefly while I go on a bit of a rant (part one of it at least) here, this book here represents only a very small part of what may be one of the greatest single spurts of output science fiction or the literary world has ever known. You see, during the seventies, Mr Silverberg came up with no less than thirteen masterworks of science fiction, not a sequel or connected book in the lot, each one a completely unique and searing study of people and the possibilities of science fiction as a whole. Once I heard about these, I knew that I had to get as many as I could and so I go to find them and lo and behold, how many do I find in print. Exactly none gentle reader. None at all, and the horrifying part is that at least two of these are Hugo winners (Time of Changes and the book I'll be reviewing in a moment). Why is this? What is this? Oh well, more on that as I chug along with the four classic period books that I own. This is the first one I read here, Dying Inside in case you've forgotten and it simply made my mouth drop open. The story is one that we're partly familiar with, man has great powers, uses them in a silly fashion and then realizes that he's losing them. Flowers for Algernon is another gem on this theme but in a lot of ways David Selig is even more of an innocent than poor Charley. No matter how many women he beds, no matter how many minds he reads and lives he lives vicariously, no matter how much he can shield himself with his armor of cynicism, inside is a man crying for the release of his power so he can be a normal man and yet he's desperately afraid of what will happen to him if he loses it because it has defined him and made him who is his entire life, he fears that instead of becoming a normal man, he will become even less than the rest of us. And Silverberg portrays this all and lets us into the head of this tormented man with pointed, searing prose, with a focus and poetry that is rarely seen in his work and an intensity that is rarely seen anywhere. You may not like David Selig and you may not agree with him but you will know him more intimately than almost anyone else by the time you close the pages on this all too brief book. The thing that to me is the most poignant is the closing to the book (hint: stop reading if you don't want an even vague idea of how it ends) with David having lost his powers and considering his place in the world, he has to start all over again, and a lesser writer would have gone the easy way and given us the hint of a new love in his life, or some ray of hope. But David has to start over and just like the rest of us, he's unsure and cautiously hopeful but unsure nonetheless. In the end he's more like the rest of us, both before and after, than either him or everyone else would care to admit.

"Dying Inside," by Robert Silverberg, is an amazing masterpiece on the subject of alienation which, unfortunately, seems to have fallen out of the public consciousness in the 1990's. David Selig is a telepath who is losing his power. He is also losing his only source of feedback for human emotion and real contact with other human beings. Reduced to hacking out term papers for otherwise engaged Columbia University students, Selig's superhuman powers serve only his prurient, voyeuristic interests. Selig has never realized the potential of his power and his regrets are underscored by his constant referral to T.S. Eliot's masterpiece of modern anti-heroic poetry, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." Although he is becoming trapped within himself, Selig has a reconciliation with his normal sister and his fading power, which is ultimately affirmative and uplifting. Silverberg won the Hugo Award for "Dying Inside" and the book secured his place as a master of modern fiction. Although Selig is superhuman, he is really Everyman, trying to define himself in a vast and confusing world. His story is a personal and painful, yet rewarding, trip into the human conscience. While exploring basic questions from the entire range of man's emotional experience, "Dying Inside" remains grounded in the eternal modern question of the consequences of action, inaction and the value of human existence. In interviews, Silverberg has revealed how emotionally draining it was to write this book. His personal sacrifice should be rewarded with a periodic reprinting of this powerful and urgent portrait.