Dying Inside

Dying Inside
by Robert Silverberg

Dying Inside
List Price: $15.95
Our Price: $4.99
You Save: $10.96 (69%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.99 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Robert Silverberg
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-03-03
ISBN: 0765322307
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Orb Books

Book Reviews of Dying Inside

Book Review: Great Writing if you can Stomach the Characters
Summary: 4 Stars

DYING INSIDE could very well be the best written Science Fiction story I've ever read. It's almost as if Robert Silverberg tried to reimagine an SF novel through the eyes of a Roth or an Updike. The prose in this book is simply first rate, and miles above what an Isaac Asimov or an Arthur C. Clarke could produce. This is not a conventional SF novel, but a literary novel with an SF twist.

Ultimately, however, Silverberg devotes his skill to a rather unlikable set of characters. The premise of DYING INSIDE is simple -- what if a man was born with the ability to read minds, but kept it a secret? In fact, what if that man was a rather unlikable, self-pitying neurotic? And what if, in the onset of middle age, he found his telepathic ability to be dissipating? Silverberg executes this concept brilliantly, but I ultimately found it difficult to relate to his anti-hero. The supporting characters are even less likable -- most of them are petty and self-absorbed, the creations of an author who seems to hold little affection for humanity.

DYING INSIDE is also a bit of a time capsule of bohemian New York life in the late 1950s and 1960s. Everybody in this novel is a swinger and has scores of sex partners; everybody seems to be a college professor, a student, or some sort of free-floating intellectual; and nobody seems to have much of a moral code. This lifestyle is quite alien to me, but nontheless interesting. Novels like this really aren't written anymore -- this book (first published in 1972) is filled with graphic sex, drug use, and views on race that many modern readers would find offensive. By comparison, it makes many of today's novels seem quite sterile.

In short, DYING INSIDE has some great prose, but it's not the type of book I would call a personal favorite. But for fans of good writing, it's definitely worth a try.

Summary of Dying Inside

In 1972, Robert Silverberg, even then an acknowledged leader in the science fiction field, published a book that was immediately hailed as a masterpiece. More than three decades later, Dying Inside has stood the test of time and has been recognized as one of the finest novels the field has ever produced. Never wasting a word, Silverberg persuasively shows us what it would be like to read minds, painting an unforgettable portrait of a man shaped by that unique power; a power he is now inexorably losing.

Acclaimed upon first publication by SF critics and mainstream reviewers alike, Dying Inside is overdue for reintroduction to today?s SF audience. This is a novel for everyone who appreciates deeply affecting characterization, imaginative power, and the irreplaceable perspective unique to speculative fiction of the highest order.

Literature & Fiction Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Literature & Fiction Books
Little Women ImageLittle Women
by Louisa May Alcott
Scribner; Published: 1986-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops: $5.00
The Killing Ground ImageThe Killing Ground
by JACK HIGGINS
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD; Published: 2007; Hardcover; Book
Saving Fish from Drowning ImageSaving Fish from Drowning
by Amy Tan
4th Estate; Published: 2005; Paperback; Book
Life Expectancy ImageLife Expectancy
by Dean Koontz
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Constant Princess ImageConstant Princess
by Philippa Gregory
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005; Hardcover; Book
Wolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1) ImageWolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1)
by Conn Iggulden
Harper; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Sahara ImageSahara
by Clive Cussler
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2005-03-21; Paperback; Book
Perelandra (Cosmic Trilogy) ImagePerelandra (Cosmic Trilogy)
by C. S. Lewis
Voyager; Published: 2005-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.89
Price in other shops: $10.50
The Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towers ImageThe Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towers
by J. R. R. Tolkien
Harper Collins Publishers; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Red Mars ImageRed Mars
by Kim Stanley Robinson
Trafalgar Square; Published: 2001-06; Paperback; Book
Similar Books and other products
The Dispossessed ImageThe Dispossessed
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Harper Voyager; Published: 1994-10-20; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.38
Price in other shops: $7.99
Nightwings ImageNightwings
by Robert Silverberg
IDW Publishing; Published: 2008-09-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops: $14.99
The Lathe Of Heaven: A Novel ImageThe Lathe Of Heaven: A Novel
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Scribner; Published: 2008-04-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.89
Price in other shops: $15.00
Babel-17/Empire Star ImageBabel-17/ Empire Star
by Samuel R. Delany
Vintage; Published: 2002-01-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.54
Price in other shops: $15.00
Gateway (Heechee Saga) ImageGateway (Heechee Saga)
by Frederik Pohl
Del Rey; Published: 2004-10-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops: $14.95
Son of Man ImageSon of Man
by Robert Silverberg
Pyr; Published: 2008-06-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.07
Price in other shops: $17.00
The Book of Skulls ImageThe Book of Skulls
by Robert Silverberg
Del Rey; Published: 2006-01-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.40
Price in other shops: $14.00
More Than Human ImageMore Than Human
by Theodore Sturgeon
Vintage; Published: 1998-12-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.33
Price in other shops: $14.00
A Time of Changes ImageA Time of Changes
by Robert Silverberg
Orb Books; Published: 2009-04-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.87
Price in other shops: $14.95
The World Inside ImageThe World Inside
by Robert Silverberg
Orb Books; Published: 2010-03-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops: $14.99