Do You like book The Man Who Turned Into Himself (1995)?
"Imagination is everything", David Ambrose writes in The Man Who Turned Into Himself, and it requires some imagination to tell a story about a man traveling between two realities: one where he is happily married with a son, and one where the same man is in an unfaithful marriage with no children. And in one horrifying moment, the wall between those two worlds cracks.Such is the posit of the Many World theory, that pivotal events in one world create a new universe, identical to the original world save for the outcome of the event. It's been the purview of science fiction and theoretical physics since time immemorial, and Ambrose's take on the subject is a good starting point for readers not familiar with the concept, or sci fi fans looking for a little hard sci fi in their parallel universe fiction. Unfortunately, the story itself struggles to hold up under the layers and layers of imagination. Ambrose keeps things moving very nicely (and the short length of the book helps), but it's hard to keep track of which Rick/Richard Hamilton is in which world - especially when time travel enters the equation. The clunky writing (Lots of short sentences. To end paragraphs. For drama. And tension.) and stilted dialog doesn't get you caught up in the writing, either.The Man Who Turned Into Himself is ultimately a very cerebral look at what your life might be like in a world exactly like this one, but despite his efforts, Ambrose falls short in making it an emotionally compelling one.
—Michael
From my very early years at school, I've never been a fan of physics. I knew that the first moment I set foot in my very first physics class back when I was in secondary school. Never had I expected a day when I'd be so astounded by a physics theory that I would actually look it up on the net and read what physicians have to say about it. Via 198 pages , David Ambrose entered my world for about three days, shook whatever doubt or hesitation I had towards the Many Worlds theory and left. The Man Who Turned Into Himself is the story of Rick Hamilton, a magazine publisher, who, in the middle of an important business meeting, gets the premonition that his wife was about to get hit by a truck. Once in the accident scene, Rick gets extremely grief-stricken that in a moment of shock, he leaves his world only to find out that he is inhabiting the mind of Richard Hamilton, another version of himself that existed in a parallel universe where his wife would cheat on him with his best friend Harold and where his son Charlie wouldn't exist. As a consequence of the amalgam of selves that this resulted in, the novel sheds light on the issue of delusion defining it as "the patient's utter certainty that he is right and the rest of the world wrong". In such a case, even the most natural activities such as sleep prove themselves psycho-neurotic and totally detached from reality. In one of the passages that I had to read for more than four times, Rick thinks to himself ""Richard sleeps - I don't". As if sitting behind a camera directing a movie, David Ambrose -who is quite familiar with theatrical devices- cleverly touches upon a variety of concepts starting from identity and self-perception to Quantum Physics and the Many Worlds Theory. Ambrose managed to do all of this by exploring unconventional twists and turns leaving his readers breathless but admiring his odd yet elevated sense of imagination. "But What if it was real ?" I caught myself whispering while reading some passages. What if there were many selves of mine existing in other worlds ? what would be my would-have-beens like ? Truth be told, this is way different from Plato's Allegory of the Cave that I've been rejecting for quite awhile now. Plato claims that everything that lives on Earth has its ideal version somewhere else. While the The Many Worlds Theory claims that there are a lot of Jowayriahs and the one writing this review right now is only one of them. They are all the same person but with slight differences which may and can result in their destinies being utterly different. But what if they all got trapped inside one body ? How many possibilities would there be ? This is one of those novels that I don't know what to do with my life after finishing reading them. Not did I only enjoy reading Mr Ambrose's debut-novel, but I actually admired every single twist and turn as well as its unpredictable views. If you're looking for a mind-boggling book about The Butterfly Effect, Chaos theory, jealousy, Quantum Physics, The Many Worlds theory and identity with an inventive and creative writing style, this is the right one for you.
—Jowayria Rahal
I hate when I read a story or book and realize the plot is essentially something I've written myself. It's always nice thinking you've come up with something original, but let's face it: originality is practically an endangered species. Of course, a good story isn't just marked by what it is about, but how it's written.The first few pages into this novel I realized it is very similar to the next novel I hope to write. Some key elements to the plot were the same. It was not a good feeling. Fortunately, the plot and focus took some turns that gave me a bit of relief. And, though I enjoyed this book, it showed me a thing or two that I now realize I want to avoid when writing my take on parallel universes. I'm not saying it did certain things wrong; just differently than I intend.The concepts covered in The Man Who Turned Into Himself are, to me, fascinating. The plot is exciting and I could easily see it being an engaging movie. Maybe it already is. But so much of it felt surface; I wanted more feeling, more emotion. I suppose I wanted it to be more like what I intend to write. And I suppose it's a good thing it wasn't because then I'd not want to write my take on the concepts.All in all, it was a enjoyable read. The science is not overbearing. I think anyone who gives this a read will spend some time going over the possibilities on their own.
—Erik
