REVIEW: The Man Who Turned Into Himself by David Ambrose
REVIEW SUMMARY: A good “Literary” book with some science fictional content.
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Rick Hamilton finds himself on a parallel Earth where his wife did not die in a car crash.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: A respectable (and accessible) examination of reality; the “Many Worlds” trope is put to good use.
CONS: The subsequent use of time travel is less inspired; some plot twists were too predictable; the marginal sf content will throw off diehard sf fans expecting more.
BOTTOM LINE: A mildly thought-provoking examination of reality with marginal sf content.
There are two types of “Literary” science fiction as I see it. There are books (found in the sf section of the bookstore) that embrace the genre and show that it can be literary, and there are those (on the mainstream shelves) that are intended to be Literary but casually use some science fiction tropes.
The Man Who Turned Into Himself by David Ambrose is a book that fits into the latter category. It’s about Rick Hamilton – husband, parent, and owner of his own publishing company – who suddenly gets a premonition in the middle of a business meeting that his wife’s life is in danger. He races to save her but arrives too late. Stricken with grief, he suddenly finds that she is alive and that he is a different Rick Hamilton; Richard Hamilton, actually…a married real estate firm owner with no children at all. Rick, we learn, has willed himself to a parallel earth.
Yes, that’s right, he willed himself there. This is another clue in determining the type of Literary sf you are reading: whether occurrences in the book are central to the plot or ancillary. Sure, some admirable attempt is made to explain away the travel to a parallel world using quantum theory, but really it’s just a convenient plot device to explore the book’s central themes. You see, it’s not as simple as being transported to another world…it’s slightly more complex. Our Rick Hamilton shares the physical body of that world’s Richard Hamilton. Both men coexist within the same mind and Rick (after convincing the proper people that he is not insane) eventually enters into many internal dialogues with Richard. But will Rick convince Richard that he is not a figment of his imagination and find his way back to his Earth?
That’s the driving force behind the plot but along the way the author gets to play with the themes of reality and identity. (What is real? Who is the real Hamilton?) The story starts out as a science fiction, but quickly morphs into an examination of a character that could very well be insane. We think that there are many worlds because of what we are initially told, but it becomes just as plausible that this man is indeed a certifiable loon. And before you cut yourself on Occam’s Razor, you reject the sf premise altogether and start seeing the story as one man’s journey across the questionable landscape of reality. Yes, Ambrose is playing in Philip K. Dick’s sandbox here and he does so in an accessible way. Is it sf? You’ll find out for sure on the last few pages, but the fun of the book is in watching the events play out and seeing how Rick manipulates Richard into believing what he wants. (Is it real or an evil voice in his head?) To that end, the “Many Worlds” trope is put to good use, though the subsequent use of time travel is less inspired.
The Man Who Turned Into Himself ultimately leaves the impression of being a mildly thought-provoking examination of reality.
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It’s almost like being in a parallel dimension seeing that this book has been rereleased about 10 years after I first read it. In that regard, it is similar to Replay, which I also see on the first-run shelves again. Perhaps, I have skipped back in time without really knowing it.
Both books served as gateways to ideas based in quantum theory. I remember them fondly for that.
I don’t think the main character willed his dimension jump as much as it was a product of PTSD. I liked the subtle ideas of schitzophrenia with regard to multi-world theory. I also liked the way premonition is explained in this regard. Ambrose makes it easy to understand within the context of the story he is telling. It worked for me, but I’m glad I read the book as a gateway before so many other things.