Blake Crouch

What if someone could rewrite your entire life?'My son has been erased.' Those are the last words the woman tells Barry Sutton, before she leaps from the Manhattan rooftop. Deeply unnerved, Barry begins to investigate her death, only to learn that this wasn't an isolated case. All across the country, people are waking up to lives different than the ones they fell asleep to. Are they suffering from False Memory Syndrome, a mysterious, new disease that afflicts people with vivid memories of a life they never lived? Or is something far more sinister behind the fracturing of reality all around him?Miles away, neuroscientist Helena Smith is developing a technology that allows us to preserve our most intense memories, and relive them. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent.Barry's search for the truth leads him on an impossible, astonishing journey, as he discovers that Helena's work has yielded a terrifying gift - the ability not just to preserve memories, but to remake them... at the risk of destroying what it means to be human.

Recursion

A breath-taking exploration of memory and what it means to be human, Recursion is the follow-up novel to the smash-hit thriller, Dark Matter, by Blake Crouch. What if someone could rewrite your entire life? 'My son has been erased.' Those are the last words the woman tells Barry Sutton, before she leaps from the Manhattan rooftop. Deeply unnerved, Barry begins to investigate her death, only to learn that this wasn't an isolated case. All across the country, people are waking up to lives different than the ones they fell asleep to. Are they suffering from False Memory Syndrome, a mysterious, new disease that afflicts people with vivid memories of a life they never lived? Or is something far more sinister behind the fracturing of reality all around him? Miles away, neuroscientist Helena Smith is developing a technology that allows us to preserve our most intense memories, and relive them. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent. Barry's search for the truth leads him on an impossible, astonishing journey, as he discovers that Helena's work has yielded a terrifying gift - the ability not just to preserve memories, but to remake them . . . at the risk of destroying what it means to be human. PRAISE FOR RECURSION 'It's not often I plough through a book in two days. But Blake Crouch's action-packed, brilliantly unique Recursion had me up late and shirking responsibilities until I had devoured the last page. A fantastic read' Andy Weir, author of The Martian 'Recursion takes mind-twisting premises and embeds them in a deeply emotional story about time and loss and grief and most of all, the glory of the human heart' Gregg Hurwitz, author of the Orphan X series 'Blake Crouch has invented his own brand of page-turner--fearlessly genre-bending, consistently surprising, and determined to explode the boundaries of what a thriller can be' Karin Slaughter, author of the Grant County series 'Blake Crouch's fantastic, mind-blowing philosophical thriller' Yahoo News

Jason

Just a brilliant, compelling, thought provoking read.
Second book from Blake I've read, and yet another home run.
Loved it from start to finish.

New York City cop Barry Sutton investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome-- a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived. Neuroscientist Helena Smith dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious moments of our pasts. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent. Together they face a force that attacks not just our minds but the very fabric of the past. Memory makes reality-- and the force is beginning to unmake the world as we know it. -- adapted from jacket.

A Novel

I really enjoyed this book. Sci-fi isn’t my issue read, so I find a take longer to read them. Sometimes I was a bit confused at the book, but overall understood what was going on. It was different from what I usually read, which was good. I enjoyed the change! I would definitely read another book by this author again! I’ve got Dark Matter in my TBR! 

Bookworm

Colleen

4 Stars
 
*A thrilling, emotional SciFi that explores how memories affect us all*
 

Well, I thought I would digest this book for a couple of days before reviewing. But I’m still teetering back and forth on how I feel about this book. There were parts that were impactful to me. There were parts that were exciting and gripping. And there were parts that kept this from being a five-star read for me.
 
To start with, I loved Dark Matter. So when I saw that Crouch had a new book coming out, I got so excited. I wanted to go into this book as blind as possible, because I love when you can explore and experience a book without the hype. I only glanced at the synopsis enough to see that the story had to do with memory and didn’t read any farther. I studiously avoided all discussions about this book. I didn’t even read a single review, because I wanted to make absolutely certain nothing got spoiled for me! I was so enthused to read Recursion.
 
And it did live up to my expectations… mostly. Honestly, despite my attempts to keep my reading experience a blank slate, I was fairly sure this was going to end up on my Top of the Year list. And maybe my expectations were on the high side. So let me be clear, this is still a great book! I will highly recommend it. But it sadly, did not make it onto my favorites list.
 
The first reason that I struggled with this book (particularly the first quarter of it) is entirely personal. One of the main characters, Helena Smith, is a neuroscientist trying to find a way to record and recover memories for Alzheimer’s patients. She is driven in this mission in order to save her own mother who is rapidly declining from that disease. I recently lost a loved one to Alzheimer’s related complications, and this story hit me hard. It was so difficult to read this story and not be suffocated by grief and pain. It’s hard to see someone you love forget you, but the most heartbreaking part is watching them forget themselves. I had to put this book down for an entire week, because it overwhelmed me. On the one hand, that shows that Crouch wrote a completely convincing portrayal of the havoc that Alzheimer’s causes. But on the other, I can’t say I enjoyed this book. “Enjoy” is definitely not the right word. It was engaging. Thrilling. But I didn’t enjoy it.
 
On a less personal note, this story didn’t feel as original. I’m trying really hard to avoid any spoilers, but some of the themes and setup were quite similar to Dark Matter. Either book on its own is great, but together they are less unique. Again, trying to avoid spoilers: towards the end, it got repetitive. Up until that point, I had thought it would still be at least 4.5 Stars rounded to 5. But the repetitiveness got tedious until I found myself wanting the cycle to break just so the story would move on and wrap up. So that is the main reason I am only giving this 4 Stars. It was also difficult to follow the non-chronological storylines at first. And as always, I hate novels written in present tense. I understand why Crouch chose present tense – it fits the theme. But I found it so discordant at times.
 
But let me circle back to my earlier statement that this is still a great book. Yes, I had some issues with it, and it didn’t wow me as much as I was expecting. While there were similarities between Dark Matter and Recursion, both books are still outstanding compared to the masses of boring, unoriginal stories out there. Crouch did a wonderful job of incorporating current science and theories into a captivating story. He expertly explores all of the ways that memory affects our lives as well as topics such as love, grief, regret, purpose, and self-identity. There are many excellent ideas and talking points, so I’m glad that this book was selected by my bookclub. I look forward to discussing it!
 
Bottom line: it isn’t perfect, but it’s still bloody good. I recommend it to any fans of Speculative Fiction and Hard SciFi. And I will still look forward to whatever Crouch comes out with next!


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 4 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 5 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 4 Stars
Level of Captivation: 4 Stars
Originality: 4 Stars

Anthony

I'm a sucker for time travel. I liked the way it was written with two perspectives that intertwined. I do have to admit though, after so much investment in the characters, I wasn't too pleased with the ending!

Róbert Istók

Like his previous book, Dark matter, this one was a fascinating one as well. It was hard to put down, especially after I managed to understand where the events are going.

Audrey Lord

Crouch knows how to write dynamic stories, that grab ahold and takes everything before spitting you right back out at the end of it all. 

Barry better take her to see the penguins is all I gotta say

Jaimie Poettcker

Chaitanya

** spoiler alert **
           This is just time travel with extra steps. 

Create a time machine, wreak chaos, create a rule that you cannot go back to the original moment when the time machine was created and the chaos begin, let your characters run wild trying to find a solution to this chaos.

How do you end the book and stop the chaos? Tell the readers that the rule was a lie (haha) and go back to the original moment of creation of the machine and stop the chaos. 

That's just dumb. Although the adventures the characters go on was fun.

Shona Tiger

** spoiler alert **
           4.5+ Did *not* expect it to end up being such a beautiful book. Had to make myself keep reading through the first half (was going to be an ok 3, and you know what, some of the writing is bleh), but things really picked up and then just - wow. Blew me away. It may take a while for it to make intellectual sense for me, but emotionally, it left me breathless.

Really good book, and lots of interesting ideas.

Obada Mu

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. —SØREN KIERKEGAARD”

“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past. —GEORGE ORWELL, 1984”

Adam

Wow. He's done it again.

My brains in tatters all over the the train carridge on my way home having reached the end of this book. It's one of those that made me bitter about having to work, eat, sleep or anything else that meant I wasn't reading.

Never quite sure where my imagination would end up chapter by chapter curve balls and twists meant I didn't stand a chance second guessing anything. 

I enjoyed the hell out of this story and am now insanely jealous of anyone opening it for the first time.

What a ride!

Janice Hopper

What would happen if you could go back to a turning point in your life and make a different decision? Would you do it? Would you do it if it meant that other peoples' lives would be changed, that memories they had of the life BEFORE you changed YOUR life haunted them?

That's Recursion (the book). 

It's kind of like time travel, except you're just traveling within your own timeline. But of course actions you take affect others around you. It all gets a little convoluted with interlaced timelines/lives and it gets rather dark toward the end of the story. But Crouch handles it well. 

The narrators were effective.

Recommended.

Anna Troughton 

This is undoubtedly one of the best books i have read in a while. I can see myself re-reading this book again and again and again. If you read just one book in your lifetime, please let it be this book. It exceeded my expectations, opened my mind and my heart. I could not recommend this enough!

Vanessa Arenas

I loved Dark Matter, so I was super excited to read this one. At the beginning it really grabbed me put at the ending it was just so tedious... I understand the recursion part but all that repeating made me annoyed and ready for the book to be over. Meh, 3 stars for this one.

Hellboy TCR

The Science of this book is a bit too far fetched, but this book is miles ahead of "Dark Matter" and is a fast paced techno thriller. I was hooked to it, throughout. More on it later.

my first from this author, so i’m not sure if the premise of all his stories are just this unhinged or if this happens to be a standout, but at the same time i can’t imagine it would have been straightforward to write about something as equally metaphysical and personal (therefore subjective?) as memory, and all the salutes for the elevator pitch alone bc i truly don’t know what possesses someone to wake up one day and decide there’s a sprawling novel waiting inside how memory is both the most nebulous part of our reality and the very be-all and end-all of what we even define as real. 

recursion started off really strong for me, and the reason i picked it up it in the first place was bc reading the opening scene felt a little like detective mystery noir meets neuroscience. i’m a teeny bit sad that by the end i was only left with this feeling of… sure. yeah. of course. i don’t think it’s entirely the story’s fault that i was restless by the last act, only that the problem with conceptually massive stories is that you have to commit fully to it. to the concepts, to the speculative part of the speculative fiction, and it’s a massive wonder in itself to even be able to come up with answers to insane questions that people with multiple doctorates labour away to answer in the basements of the world’s best universities, yet some questions about human perception and life aren’t built to be answered without blowing us up to that size. this novel did commit to every huge, amazing, horrible thing that can happen when you pursue the parameters of reality and memory so that you can go beyond, and it’s really, really impressive how far the story took me considering how everything started, but i’m still like — sure. alright. 

the concept as a whole is undeniably clever (i’m still bizarrely spooked by having to read "what is the schwarzschild radius of a memory?"

in the middle of the night), and i can’t make my usual complaints about recent sci-fi stories forgetting to tether itself to human lives and emotions bc the novel did try its best to anchor the narrative in the lives of two main characters. but of course it had to leave them to fend for themselves at some point when there’s just not enough space in a story this big to keep the focus small. it was only a matter of time until all we’d be left with were suggestions and implications and at times even outright statements that what we see on the page runs deeper behind the scenes — only ever told, hinted at, never actually seen, bc truly, how do you write a time loop without overwriting or tedious repetition if the main anchoring goal is to undo memory? it’s an incredible shame that this might be where my investment started to strain, especially when the final portion had all the beats i usually love about time loops and in-every-life-it’s-you romance and the burden of being the only character who knows the world even needs saving. 

i still reacted over every time-breaking, reality-splitting plot point, but bc the story no longer had room to convince me of the smaller connections between characters, or bc we had to keep reliving the same impossibility again and again with the stuff in between condensed into a couple paragraphs at most, eventually i just… wanted the story to end for the sake of the fact that it’s a story. not for barry or helena’s sake, or even the sake of humanity. i just wanted it to be over so that the story can breathe and rest and close. i know i’d feel differently if i was more invested in the love story, or if the personal loss and horror felt more like personal loss and horror and not just yet another horrific side effect of the novel’s central tech falling on the wrong hands at a global scale. but i just… wasn’t. 

it didn’t hurt the plot that i wasn’t, and it’s not as though there are any holes i’m bitterly eager to pick at now. i think maybe it just didn’t reach my heart, which is in itself is such twee wording but if recursion sits on one end of a spectrum then interstellar is in the middle and sea of tranquility is on the other side. there’s probably a thesis waiting there about how to best anchor colossal physics-defying stories so that the stakes don’t feel too tell-not-show to not matter to me on the individual level in the end. 

none of this compromises the ambitiousness of the novel, and really, really, really, i think it’s a feat in itself that i never once felt like i wasn’t following where we were going. the prose had enough polish to please, even if it didn’t glimmer or stun. it had plenty of good lines, and it’s as hopeful as only the best sci-fi can be. it just felt like the characters were... holograms? not even ghosts but holograms, little projections of people i recognize but don’t remember ever touching in flesh and blood form: a detective grieving his past, the wife that divorced him, their dead daughter, an academic who wanted to change the world but didn’t realize the cost of her own genius, a masterminding billionaire functioning as a lex luthor type antagonist even at his most sympathetic to what he’d done, lots and lots of named characters whose lines could have been swapped out for each other and it would’t have mattered. the impressiveness of the plot is the bread and butter of the story, is what kept the narrative going and the reader following along, but if you strip it down to why i should have been invested, i’ve got nothing except a detached albeit still sincerely impressed "wow! memory! so sick! how did you even do this!" 

in any case it was great to stumble upon this by chance when it wasn’t too long ago that i was reading up on that quote by einstein after michele besso's death, about how physicists understand that the past, present and future are separated only by the flimsy illusion that make up real-time perception. even real-time is a myth; it’s always too late for anything to be happening at the same time. we’re always a little bit behind what we consider happening, what we consider real. just thinking about it makes my head feel as if it’s being stretched out like gum, and i’m not going to sit here and act as though the ability to write an entire novel on that sensation isn’t the most awe-inspiring storytelling thing i’ll read this year. whether or not it moved me seems hardly important next to what was accomplished here. 

my first from this author, so i’m not sure if the premise of all his stories are just this unhinged or if this happens to be a standout, but at the same time i can’t imagine it would have been straightforward to write about something as equally metaphysical and personal (therefore subjective?) as memory, and all the salutes for the elevator pitch alone bc i truly don’t know what possesses someone to wake up one day and decide there’s a sprawling novel waiting inside how memory is both the most nebulous part of our reality and the very be-all and end-all of what we even define as real. 

recursion started off really strong for me, and the reason i picked it up it in the first place was bc reading the opening scene felt a little like detective mystery noir meets neuroscience. i’m a teeny bit sad that by the end i was only left with this feeling of… sure. yeah. of course. i don’t think it’s entirely the story’s fault that i was restless by the last act, only that the problem with conceptually massive stories is that you have to commit fully to it. to the concepts, to the speculative part of the speculative fiction, and it’s a massive wonder in itself to even be able to come up with answers to insane questions that people with multiple doctorates labour away to answer in the basements of the world’s best universities, yet some questions about human perception and life aren’t built to be answered without blowing us up to that size. this novel did commit to every huge, amazing, horrible thing that can happen when you pursue the parameters of reality and memory so that you can go beyond, and it’s really, really impressive how far the story took me considering how everything started, but i’m still like — sure. alright. 

the concept as a whole is undeniably clever (i’m still bizarrely spooked by having to read "what is the schwarzschild radius of a memory?" in the middle of the night), and i can’t make my usual complaints about recent sci-fi stories forgetting to tether itself to human lives and emotions bc the novel did try its best to anchor the narrative in the lives of two main characters. but of course it had to leave them to fend for themselves at some point when there’s just not enough space in a story this big to keep the focus small. it was only a matter of time until all we’d be left with were suggestions and implications and at times even outright statements that what we see on the page runs deeper behind the scenes — only ever told, hinted at, never actually seen, bc truly, how do you write a time loop without overwriting or tedious repetition if the main anchoring goal is to undo memory? it’s an incredible shame that this might be where my investment started to strain, especially when the final portion had all the beats i usually love about time loops and in-every-life-it’s-you romance and the burden of being the only character who knows the world even needs saving. 

i still reacted over every time-breaking, reality-splitting plot point, but bc the story no longer had room to convince me of the smaller connections between characters, or bc we had to keep reliving the same impossibility again and again with the stuff in between condensed into a couple paragraphs at most, eventually i just… wanted the story to end for the sake of the fact that it’s a story. not for barry or helena’s sake, or even the sake of humanity. i just wanted it to be over so that the story can breathe and rest and close. i know i’d feel differently if i was more invested in the love story, or if the personal loss and horror felt more like personal loss and horror and not just yet another horrific side effect of the novel’s central tech falling on the wrong hands at a global scale. but i just… wasn’t. 

it didn’t hurt the plot that i wasn’t, and it’s not as though there are any holes i’m bitterly eager to pick at now. i think maybe it just didn’t reach my heart, which is in itself is such twee wording but if recursion sits on one end of a spectrum then interstellar is in the middle and sea of tranquility is on the other side. there’s probably a thesis waiting there about how to best anchor colossal physics-defying stories so that the stakes don’t feel too tell-not-show to not matter to me on the individual level in the end. 

none of this compromises the ambitiousness of the novel, and really, really, really, i think it’s a feat in itself that i never once felt like i wasn’t following where we were going. the prose had enough polish to please, even if it didn’t glimmer or stun. it had plenty of good lines, and it’s as hopeful as only the best sci-fi can be. it just felt like the characters were... holograms? not even ghosts but holograms, little projections of people i recognize but don’t remember ever touching in flesh and blood form: a detective grieving his past, the wife that divorced him, their dead daughter, an academic who wanted to change the world but didn’t realize the cost of her own genius, a masterminding billionaire functioning as a lex luthor type antagonist even at his most sympathetic to what he’d done, lots and lots of named characters whose lines could have been swapped out for each other and it would’t have mattered. the impressiveness of the plot is the bread and butter of the story, is what kept the narrative going and the reader following along, but if you strip it down to why i should have been invested, i’ve got nothing except a detached albeit still sincerely impressed "wow! memory! so sick! how did you even do this!" 

in any case it was great to stumble upon this by chance when it wasn’t too long ago that i was reading up on that quote by einstein after michele besso's death, about how physicists understand that the past, present and future are separated only by the flimsy illusion that make up real-time perception. even real-time is a myth; it’s always too late for anything to be happening at the same time. we’re always a little bit behind what we consider happening, what we consider real. just thinking about it makes my head feel as if it’s being stretched out like gum, and i’m not going to sit here and act as though the ability to write an entire novel on that sensation isn’t the most awe-inspiring storytelling thing i’ll read this year. whether or not it moved me seems hardly important next to what was accomplished here. 

Ewan

It's rare that a book completely knocks my socks off, but that was absofuckinlutely amazing

sophia n

* 3.5 stars

i changed my rating from 3 to 4 back to 3 back to 4 before forcing myself to stop and just stay on 4, but my fingers are still itching to change it again lmao

this book was a RIDE. i think it could have been a solid 4 stars, but during 55%-80% the book veered a little off the tracks for me, and then i was just glad to get to the ending. but the ending was good. but yeah idk? i still can't quite pin down my feelings on this.

i don't think a story about a white straight cis male nyc cop is really ... groundbreaking, nor particularly interesting. but i think the reason why this didn't completely flop for me was simply because the pace moved enough between events and characters (splitting barry and helena's narration and jumps in decades) that i never really felt like i was being forced to care about any specific character. i really didn't like helena at all, but she was super interesting. i don't mind not liking a character as long as they still catch my attention, you know? and by the end, i was really interested in what would happen and how the characters would deal with it.

(view spoiler)[the government portion of the book where they got their hands on the chair and then up until basically the timeline got fully fucked was ... tedious. i get why it was there, but it felt like i was reading a slightly different book, and it was exhausting. but if maybe that was the point, i give crouch props for that. i'm just not sure if it was. (hide spoiler)]

the main criticisms i see about this book are talking about how unrealistic it is, which is hilarious to me. it's ... if you can't suspend your disbelief for a book like this, you shouldn't be reading it lol. if you're here for real science you've come to the wrong place. also this book is way less shocking/full of surprises as it is full of tension and terror. anyway i'd rec it. i think.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the bestselling author of Dark Matter and the Wayward Pines trilogy comes a relentless thriller about time, identity, and memory--his most mind-boggling, irresistible work to date, and the inspiration for Shondaland's upcoming Netflix film. "Gloriously twisting . . . a heady campfire tale of a novel."--The New York Times Book Review NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time * NPR * BookRiot Reality is broken. At first, it looks like a disease. An epidemic that spreads through no known means, driving its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived. But the force that's sweeping the world is no pathogen. It's just the first shock wave, unleashed by a stunning discovery--and what's in jeopardy is not our minds but the very fabric of time itself. In New York City, Detective Barry Sutton is closing in on the truth--and in a remote laboratory, neuroscientist Helena Smith is unaware that she alone holds the key to this mystery . . . and the tools for fighting back. Together, Barry and Helena will have to confront their enemy--before they, and the world, are trapped in a loop of ever-growing chaos. Praise for Recursion "An action-packed, brilliantly unique ride that had me up late and shirking responsibilities until I had devoured the last page . . . a fantastic read."--Andy Weir, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Martian "Another profound science-fiction thriller. Crouch masterfully blends science and intrigue into the experience of what it means to be deeply human."--Newsweek "Definitely not one to forget when you're packing for vacation . . . [Crouch] breathes fresh life into matters with a mix of heart, intelligence, and philosophical musings."--Entertainment Weekly "A trippy journey down memory lane . . . [Crouch's] intelligence is an able match for the challenge he's set of overcoming the structure of time itself."--Time "Wildly entertaining . . . another winning novel from an author at the top of his game."--AV Club

Ariana Morris

McKayla Bohnsack

"Time is an illusion, a construct made out of human memory. There's no such thing as the past, the present, or the future. It's all happening now."

What if you could go back to a specific memory in your life and change everything?

While investigating the mysterious new phenomenon called False Memory Syndrome that leaves people with memories of lives they never lived, Detective Barry Sutton finds himself a victim of FMS after being offered a second chance to save his daughter. In attempting to untangle his memories and reality itself he crosses paths with Helena Smith, the neuroscientist set on destroying the device responsible for FMS that she created. Together they must stop this technology from falling into the wrong hands and destroying reality as we know it.

I read this whole book on one sitting and just could not put it down. I usually shy away from any book involving time travel because I never know what's going on. Was I confused at some parts of this? Yes. But I was never too lost that I couldn't follow the story.

The question of memory, time, perception, and reality all being intrinsically linked made my head spin in the best way. I was filled with equal parts excitement and dread through out this book. I already know I'll be thinking about this book for weeks to come.

Is anything even real???

Nelson Zagalo

Em 2016 li "Dark Matter" (2016) de Blake Crouch, pouco depois de ver a sua primeira temporada de “Wayward Pines” que tinha adorado. Adorei "Dark Matter" não sendo dono de nenhuma escrita memorável, nem personagens muito estruturados, gostei pelo tema e o tratamento arrojado do mesmo, nomeadamente pela mescla do thriller e ciência. Quando percebi que Crouch tinha novo livro, e sobre memória, quis lê-lo imediatamente, queria voltar a sentir um page-turner, ainda mais em pleno verão. Assim que terminei o primeiro capítulo fiquei fascinado, "memórias falsas", ainda por cima tinha acabado de ler "Memory Illusion (2016)". Mas à medida que fui entrando no livro, a admiração foi-se desvanecendo, aquilo que eu pensava ser a premissa, afinal não o era, e Crouch metia os pés pelas mãos a cada novo twist narrativo. A meio do livro já só me apetecia jogá-lo pela janela fora, sentia que Crouch estava literalmente a gozar com os leitores, esperando que estes acreditassem nas suas mais fantasiosas teorias. Não quero ler um livro para sentir adrenalina de fugas, bombas e explosões, quero que a especulação científica tenha sustentabilidade e não seja mera decoração. Aqui a ciência torna-se uma palhaçada e interessa apenas o thriller, o espetacular, e um romance forçado de meia-tigela. Como cereja, tresandava a fórmula, a estrutura não se tinha movido uma linha da apresentada em "Dark Matter", e a cultura geral que preenche o mundo do livro continuava mundana, com os cenários construídos com base em meia-dúzia de blockbusters cinematográficos. Tudo muito fraco, conseguiu mesmo ultrapassar "Sleeping Giants" (2016) em falta de densidade. Mas falar mal sem explicar porquê, é também mau, por isso deixo algumas das ideias que me incomodaram, avisando para o spoiling.


Criar uma máquina do tempo que funciona por meio de memórias humanas vívidas, que permite viajar até essas memórias, como se elas fossem bolhas de realidade compacta autónomas, mas nessa viagem, que acontece no tempo, não transporta apenas essa pessoa, mas transporta também as memórias do momento de todas as pessoas do planeta!!! Criar uma máquina do tempo que por mais saltos temporais que faça, mantém todas as pessoas sempre na mesma linha temporal, independentemente de quem está a viajar nas suas memórias!!! A história não tem qualquer suporte lógico, isto não é especulação científica, isto é mera brincadeira com ideias sobre as quais o autor denota uma total falta de conhecimento.

O livro começa com um ponto fundamental das ciências cognitivas — as memórias falsas — tendo tudo para ser uma história fantástica. Mas Crouch claramente percebeu que arriscava uma história pouco original, não faltam histórias a trabalhar memória no domínio da FC, nomeadamente Philip K. Dick ou Ursula K. LeGuin, muitos o têm feito, melhor ou pior. Por isso Crouch quis superar tudo e todos, para o fazer não deu qualquer rédea ao brincar com ideias, o que é bom se a seguir for trabalhado e delimitado, é preciso olhar para o resultado criativo da brincadeira e perceber se faz sentido, se vale a pena dar azo aos devaneios. Repare-se no rídiculo de conceitos elencados, Crouch abre o livro com o tema das Memórias Falsas, a seguir passa para o tratamento do Alzheimer, daí segue para a Máquina do Tempo, depois segue para os Multiversos Quânticos, acabando por chegar aos Buracos Negros para acabar por dizer que não sabe como é que a máquina do tempo (ficcional mas inventada por si para escrever um livro inteiro) funciona, colocando a personagem principal, a "maior cientista do planeta", a dizer que provavelmente “nunca o poderemos saber”!!!

Quanto à caracterização dos personagens, repare-se no tratamento feito: a personagem principal volta 30 anos atrás, até aos seus 16 anos de idade, 6 ou 7 vezes seguidas, ou seja, vive na pele mais de 150 anos repetidos — vai à escola, entra na universidade, faz exames, doutoramentos, namorados, lidar com pais, empregos, doenças etc. — mas essas vezes todas são passadas num parágrafo, como se fosse uma simples ida ao cinema à noite!!!! E como se isso não bastasse, chegado ao momento em que voltou atrás no tempo, ou seja em que iniciou a viagem voltando atrás, todas as pessoas à sua volta, sentem que a realidade se alterou, num espaço de momentos recebem o impacto de décadas e passam a conhecer outra vida inteira sem nunca a terem vivido, ao que se junta, muitas delas reviverem o impacto de uma suposta morte noutra linha temporal!!!!

O livro é uma autêntica fraude em termos cognitivos. Pegou em várias teorias, principalmente da física, da psicologia e neurociências não vi nada além de notícias de jornal, e aplicou-as diretamente à psicologia humana, como se a psique funcionasse do mesmo modo que o mundo material. Crouch demonstra profunda ignorância sobre a consciência humana, a subjetividade, o intrínseco e extrínseco. Mesmo o conceito de memória que deveria ter sido aprofundado, sai completamente maltratado, como se a memória não fossem interligações frágeis e sensíveis a alteração, mas antes super-estruturas dotadas de mapeamento cronológico e muito mais. Não existe aqui qualquer especulação, só mesmo absurdo.

Mas este é o meu ponto de vista. A olhar pelas estrelas que leva no Goodreads vai dar mais uma série Netflix de sucesso.


Deixo alguns excertos de reviews do Goodreads que dizem muito do que penso do livro:

Elisabeth A:
"As with his earlier novel, the premise and basic ideas explored are fascinating, but the writing isn't very good, the characters not well developed, and this story skims the surface of what should be thrilling material. "
"Scientists have been able to implant false memories in lab rats?!! That's the germ that this novel is based on. So many wonderful things to explore with that idea, so imagine my disappointment."

Daniel Kincaid:
"At first- you have a machine (a chair... A CHAIR!) that is supposed to help people with Alzheimer to retrieve their memories so they won't lose it (But wait- if they already lose their sense of reality, how can that chair actually help them? I mean, it doesn't eradicate the disease...)
Then, the chair (!!!) turns into a machine that is used to pump drugs into your system with the combination of some kind of hypnosis (I say some kind because Crouch changes the use of the machine every other page), then kills you (yet, somehow you're not really dead... go figure), and makes you believe, and relieve, your memories. Actually puts you inside of them and let's you play with them and do whatever you want. Okay.
And then- without any explanation, this machine turns into a time machine... Yup, people. A FUCKING TIME MACHINE! How did that happen? How did they achieve that? How can making one believe in a memory and making one relieving it, can actually send you back in time???
Do you have an answer? Some sort of logical explanation to this scientific miracle?
That's okay if you don't, because apparently, Crouch doesn't have one either.
But, what he actually does, is to abuse this plot-device into infinity and beyond. Someone close you gets mortally wounded or dies?! Your plan doesn't work the first time?! Fear not, my friends, because we will use the Chair-Memory Thingy-Time Machine to reset the events as much as needed. EVERY. SINGLE. FUCKING. TIME. To infinity and beyond, for all eternity.
Again, seriously- How can one author be so lazy???"

Manuel Antão:
"Book reviews used to help the reader to judge a good book but now they all seem to be written by authors with the same publisher and so are usually glowing summaries of the story (or by your run-of-the-mill book reviewers). Critical analysis no longer comes into it, the aim is to sell as many books as possible, be it rubbish or not."

Cate:
"I had to open all my windows to clear out the stink of this book. I was looking for a good summer read and had high hopes for this story. I was disappointed."
"Memories, timelines, time travel, it’s all very exciting. About 1/2 way through, I thought, gee Mr. Crouch, how are you going to get us out of all these plot tangles? I’m fascinated! Um, guns. Then bombs. Then guns and bombs. Zzzzzzzzz
Really? What about the science? What about the cool ideas of memories and how we are human bodies passing through time, and we don’t even know what time is! "
"Please, don’t waste your time"

Debbie:
"The opening scene is a killer (..) This book went from a 5 to a 4 to a 3 to a 2 (..) You’re supposed to be sad when a main character dies, it’s supposed to be a big deal. But in this book, who cares? You’ll probably see them alive in the next chapter! The characters die and get alive again so many times, it’s ridiculous."
"Usually, when the characters went back to the past, they remembered the future, which you might expect, right? But sometimes they got all scared and acted like they were clueless about what would happen next. Huh? Why were they scared when they knew the outcome? This just seemed like bad writing, and it bugged me to death."

Margaret:
"So sorry but no! I couldn’t cope with this one. Although what fascinated me in dark matter, is also here. The way to read sci fi , is to overlook any attempt to understand the «scientific explanation» and enjoy the ride. But unfortunately in recursion ,the impossibility is always there, the plot is confusing every step of the way and after the first half all this mess becomes boring."

Bart:
"Maybe he could have done better, but – like Hollywood blockbusters – Crouch clearly values tension & spectacle over logic. My guess is he doesn’t care about plot holes – and neither does his editor: shit like this sells, man! I wouldn’t have held that against Crouch – it’s everybody’s prerogative to aim for entertainment first – were it not for the fact that at the onset of the book he explicitly sneaks in some meta bits about solving puzzles, two times even. If you portray your story as a puzzle to solve, make sure the pieces fit."


Publicado no VI: https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.com...

Yasser Yahia

I can't wait to see someone adopting this into a movie or a series of some sort. Really enjoyed reading it!!

James Eaton

SO GOOD! I read Dark Matter at the end of 2021 and it was great. This was just as good (maybe better?!?!). I love Crouch's writing style and I cannot wait to read something else from his catalog. 

The last half of this novel was something that I was just not ready for (in the best kind of way). If you are looking for Sci-Fi with emotion, then Crouch has your ticket to ride.

Amr Khater 

And he says what? AND HE SAYS WHAAAAAAT 😡😡

Recursion

Reviews