Why isRobert Silverberg‘s Dying Inside not spoken of in the same hint as Philip Roth ’s Portnoy ’s Complaint , or John Updike ’s Rabbit Run ?
The Los Angeles Times has an consultation with Silverberg , which spill the beans about his stature as the old of the writers link up with the New Wave in the 1960s and seventies . Both the article ’s author , Scott Timberg , and writer / criticJonathan Lethem , attest to the awesomeness of Silverberg ’s 1972 magnum opus Dying inwardly :
In verity , it feels more like Philip Roth : The narrator , David Selig , is the sort of angst - ridden Judaic man Alexander Portnoy might have known . Selig is smart enough to peddle term paper to lazy Columbia educatee , and he spends his devoid time salute with a roomy , read the thoughts of pretty fair sex , and essay to vivify his tattered family relationship with his sister .
“ die Inside ” never witness a wide audience , but it ’s been hailed by those who know it . Michael Chabon has called it “ one of those rarefied novels that bring off to be at once dazzling and sore . ” The book , which the New York Times once ring “ the arrant science fiction novel for masses who do n’t wish scientific discipline fiction , ” was reissued last month by Tor .
Part of what make drop dead Inside so brilliant , says the Times , is that David Selig ’s telepathic superpower starts to fade as he amaze honest-to-goodness , transfer from a radio station that never turn off to a “ Joycean stream of consciousness . ” And this fading gift serves , says Lethem , as “ an intimate allegory of the creative person ’s quandary . ”
The clause is worth checking out , for Silverberg ’s thoughts on his “ love - hate relationship with skill fiction . ” And what defeat the “ quixotic literary experiment ” of the New Wave : the popularity of Star Wars . [ L.A. Times ]
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