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Marcel Theroux
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Strange Bodies: A Novel Hardcover – February 4, 2014

by Marcel Theroux (Author)
Editors' pick Best Science Fiction & Fantasy
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A dizzying novel of deception and metempsychosis by the author of the National Book Award finalist Far North

Whatever this is, it started when Nicholas Slopen came back from the dead.

In a locked ward of a notorious psychiatric hospital sits a man who insists that he is Dr. Nicholas Slopen, failed husband and impoverished Samuel Johnson scholar. Slopen has been dead for months, yet nothing can make this man change his story. What begins as a tale of apparent forgery involving unknown letters by the great Dr. Johnson grows to encompass a conspiracy between a Silicon Valley mogul and his Russian allies to exploit the darkest secret of Soviet technology: the Malevin Procedure.
Marcel Theroux's Strange Bodies takes the reader on a dizzying speculative journey that poses questions about identity, authenticity, and what it means to be truly human.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Farrar, Straus and Giroux
  4. Publication date
    February 4, 2014
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 1.25 x 8.75 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0374270651
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0374270650
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“[Strange Bodies is] a literary science fiction novel as entertaining as it is thought-provoking and disturbing . . . Theroux masterfully braids horror and ontology, Nabokovian doppelgangers and Orwellian satire into a tragicomic narrative that pulls tight as a noose . . . A brilliant, troubling thriller.” ―Elizabeth Hand, Los Angeles Times

“[A] page-turning, thought-provoking, exhilarating novel . . . ‘Thriller' may be a somewhat misleading label to fasten on a modern fable that also has elements of science fiction, dystopia and domestic comedy. But without a doubt, Strange Bodies is a thrill to read.” ―Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal

“[Theroux] is a superb writer . . . There are beautiful things, real things, tucked in this novel.” ―Dwight Garner, The New York Times

“Strange Bodies is a rich read about so much more than the secrets that make it tick. Theroux's use of language is gorgeous.” ―Adrienne Martini, Locus

“I could not put [Strange Bodies] down . . . It was truly a joy to read each sentence.” ―Robert K. Lewis, Criminal Element

“A strange, satisfying novel about possession featuring a literary scholar, a music mogul, assorted East European thugs, and the long dead but still articulate Dr. Samuel Johnson . . . A thought-provoking and engaging fusion of comedy and horror.” ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Truly enthralling . . . An intense and nuanced examination of the plight of being . . . Philip K. Dick's The Transmigration of Timothy Archer meets Stephenie Meyer's The Host in this very highly recommended work.” ―Henry Bankhead, Library Journal (starred review)

“A labyrinthine exploration of identity and mortality, filled with big ideas.” ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Theroux has a knack for warping the anxieties of the present into an unsettling vision of our possible future. His focus here could not be timelier.” ―Steve Almond, The New York Times Book Review

“This is a superb technological fantasy, a tense thriller and a brilliantly imagined debate about the relationship between body and soul. Wonderful.” ―Kate Saunders, The Times (London)

“An eerily plausible modern Frankenstein . . . It's not often you read a book as clever as this that is also emotionally charged and moving.” ―Doug Johnstone, The Independent

“Strange Bodies is an examination of contemporary consciousness. But from its robust hook, through its comic set-up, to its dark if hopeful conclusions, it is also a kindly, intelligently entertaining thriller.” ―M. John Harrison, The Times Literary Supplement

“The perfect literary thriller for the internet age.” ―Red Online

“The unfolding of the narrative is genuinely eerie, but the richness of allusion and elegance of design make Strange Bodies as much an inquiry into language and identity as a high-concept literary thriller . . . Its exploration of human vulnerability, the notion that consciousness may be no more than ‘a trick of the light,' is moving as well as thought-provoking, as elegiac as it is gripping.” ―Justine Jordan, The Guardian

About the Author

Marcel Theroux is the author of several novels, including Far North, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award for science fiction. He lives in London, where he also works as a documentary filmmaker and television presenter.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First Edition (February 4, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0374270651
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0374270650
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.25 x 8.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:

About the author

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Marcel Theroux

Marcel Theroux

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Marcel Theroux is the author of four novels, A Blow to the Heart, A Stranger in the Earth, The Confessions of Mycroft Holmes: A Paper Chase, which won a Somerset Maugham Award, and most recently, Far North, which is a 2009 National Book Award Finalist. He lives in London.

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
347 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly good
Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2016
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I didn't know this author, and would be content with a mildly interesting sci-fi narrative. Much to my delight, it turns out to be a well written and rather moving story. A few parts do drag on a bit much, which is why it didn't get five stars, but still, I highly recommend it.
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Antonio
5.0 out of 5 stars Do words make us who we are?
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2013
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I read this novel because it appeared in the summer reading lists published by a London newspaper and the plot summary was intriguing. This is a very clever novel about a man who doesn't know who he is, but finds it out as the book progresses, moving from rarefied academia to biotechnology, passing through pre-Soviet Russian utopianism and into real horror, the Common Task and the Malevin Procedure by which radical freedom may be achieved. Add in Dr Samuel Johnson, one of the strongest personalities to survive in writing (here, there is no metaphor), Lenin and his corpse, Stalin and his desire to lead the Revolution for ever. In Elizabeth Kostova's book "The Historian" she imagines Stalin as a vampire, never dying, spreading his evil into all eternity. In Strange Bodies, Theroux refers to such a situation, from a science-fictional perspective. All this, and the nature of self, the soul and fulfillment. The ethical quandaries of allowing powerful individuals to appropriate life-changing technology to enhance themselves into permanent superiority. All in all, this is a good book, well-written, smart, amusing and thought-provoking. I recommend it.
41 people found this helpful
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Albany, CA
3.0 out of 5 stars At times beautifully written, consistently readable, solid plot, interesting exploration of identity, weak premise of science fiction.
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2020
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Possible spoiler: it is utterly unconvincing that human consciousness or identity can be fully represented in the words an individual writes. We are physical, biological beings and many nonverbal experiences and communications are critical to our identities. Thus I see a key flaw in this work. Otherwise, it is a refreshing break from the cheap action and stilted prose that plague the science fiction genre I love.
One person found this helpful
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Kat33
4.0 out of 5 stars Just read and enjoy
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2018
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It’s an unusual book and not for those with queasy stomachs. I enjoyed it but thought the ending was lacking. It was set on Earth but was out of this world!
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Jo
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow - one of the best novels I’ve read I years!
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2021
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I have just finished the final page of this wonderful book - I put my hand to my mouth, tears pricking my eyes, and exclaimed, ‘Wow!’

A wonderful intellectual book, question what it means to be a thinking conscious individual. A gothic tale, that reminded me of Dracula, Frankenstein and Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde, while being nothing like any of these books. It just gets better and better the further you read, with revelations and twists, until you finally utter, ‘Wow!’ As you close the book.
One person found this helpful
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RCR
4.0 out of 5 stars Exceptionally Imaginative
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2014
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Expertly crafted and beautifully written, the story line offers enough to allow suspension of disbelief and thoughtful ruminations of events and characters.
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Steve Berczuk
5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to Categorize and Enjoyable Book
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2014
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I picked up this book based on an interview I heard on NPR. It's different than the usual recreational mystery fiction I've been reading, and I'm glad that I read it. This is science fiction themed mystery that centers around a literature professor and his somewhat banal existence. Add in historical literary characters, a secret organization which seeks a form of immortality, and a whistle-blower of sorts, and you get an intriguing, compelling book which is engaging on a number of levels. I found this book hard to put down, and the ending was, while not surprising or even ambiguous, one that could be interpreted in a number of ways. If you are a fan of mysteries and conspiracy books, you are likely to enjoy this.
4 people found this helpful
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Mark R
3.0 out of 5 stars Back from the dead--but is it really him?
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2016
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Intriguing premise, a person back from the dead--but is it really him? The mystery unfolds through a diary left behind. Great writing held back by a tight story line that ultimately unravels leading to a story conclusion leaving much to be desired. I'm interested in more from the author, but never really cared for the characters.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Moritz Eggert
5.0 out of 5 stars surprisingly profound
Reviewed in Germany on March 9, 2014
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I read this book through a recommendation in SFX magazine. and it was every bit as good as that reviewer said. Theroux's prose is fantastic, the themes poignant, the story gripping. The characters seem real without ever being cardboard or conventional (actually all persons in the book are quite "strange" in their own way). it would also make a great film.
Highly recommended!
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L. Clarke
5.0 out of 5 stars An Astonishing Literary Thought Experiment
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 19, 2013
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Strange Bodies details the first-person account of Dr. Nicholas Slopen, a literary academic and expert on the life and work of Dr. Samuel Johnson. Slopen dictates his story from the Dangerous Humans Unit (DHU), a mental institution in which he currently resides as a patient. Because, despite the narrator's unwavering adherence to his identity and life history, Dr. Nicholas Slopen is dead. The novel begins with Nicholas Slopen called upon by music mogul Hunter Gould to verify the authenticity of some letters, supposedly authored by Dr. Johnson. Determining the letters to be fakes, written precisely in authentic style and language but sloppy in physical appearance, Nicholas concludes that only the most elaborate of fraudulent projects could produce such items. He is subsequently introduced to Jack Telagua, a man seemingly mentally deranged, who writes and speaks entirely in the character of Dr. Johnson. Initially accepting that Jack suffers from some form of psychosis, Nicholas begins to believe that there is something more going on. As the story unfolds, Nicholas is brought into a world of metaphysical uncertainty, learning that Soviet experimentation with consciousness has produced a Procedure through which it is possible to replicate one person's consciousness in the physical body (or 'carcass' of another). As the threads come together, it is clear that the Nicholas Slopen relating the story, as dictated in Strange Bodies, has found himself subject to this process. Knowing that his time is short, he lays out to the reader the facts of how he came to undergo the Procedure, while simultaneously working to convince the doctors of the DHU that, despite appearances, he is in fact the dead man, Nicholas Slopen.

Strange Bodies is unbelievably ambitious in its scope. Falling somewhere between thriller, science-fiction, and philosophical masterpiece, this book is one that pushes its readers to confront accepted truths. Most fundamentally, in asking the central question of what constitutes humanness, it posits a lack of uniqueness that runs against widely accepted and celebrated individuality: "The truth is we are virtually identical. We are interchangeable. That is the true beauty of humanity: ant beauty, not peacock beauty. We persuade ourselves that we are unique, but the typologist of human experience would have his work done in an afternoon. Every father weeps at his daughter's wedding, knowing that the tiny sugar plum he held at birth is being entrusted to another man."

Perhaps the most effective way to perceive Strange Bodies is as a contemporary literary form of the thought experiment. It introduces the reader to Nicholas Slopen, dead man, and, through his first-person narrative, is able to reveal the fundamental human reaction to the raw truth of humanness. The Nicholas who tells this story is a man detached from his old physical being, his consciousness now transferred into an unknown body. He must confront the implications of the detachment, what it means for accepted 'facts' of the essence of humanity, but also what it means as an individual, having to convince those he has known and loved (as well as the Doctors who think he is crazy) that he is, in fact, Nicholas Slopen. It is in those moments, when Nicholas in his new physical existence must confront the loved aspects his 'old' life, that Strange Bodies becomes painfully real in its attention to the human experience.

Yes, Strange Bodies is an astonishingly ambitious work. But it succeeds absolutely. Marcel Theroux delivers a work that challenges his readers without entering into the dangerous territory of pretension or overcomplexity. It is a remarkable achievement. I was left struck by Theroux's attention to detail, the sheer intelligence with which he has thought through the premises of the novel, and the extent of the research that must have been conducted to blend the fictional with the factual. Once you have closed the final pages of Strange Bodies, you will find yourself unable to let go of its conclusions and implications. Because what makes this novel so powerful is the efficacy with which Theroux takes a fundamentally philosophical question - of what it is to be human - and gives it a personal perspective. Through Nicholas' extreme experience - the detachment and coding of his consciousness and its transfer into a new physical existence - the reader is taken beyond abstract reasoning and argument, into a world of first-hand experience and perspective.

Strange Bodies is truly unlike any book I have read, walking new ground and breaking down barriers between genres. Utterly remarkable and resoundingly recommended.
2 people found this helpful
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sharon
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Concept
Reviewed in Australia on June 3, 2014
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I enjoyed the book. The unravelling process Theroux used in outlining the experimentation concept and how it was undertaken was well done and quite gripping. Could it really happen that the brain of someone (worthy) who has died is reborn whole into another generally quite different body which needs to be re-educated to enable human activity with this newly incorporated but pre-lived brain? And who acts as the enabler? And how is it done?
Theroux takes you through the experiences of Nicholas who has had some challenges, including in his marriage, but not as much as when he dies and comes back in a different body! Certainly gives one something to think about, including his psychiatrist.
For those who don't mind things that may be a bit difficult to contemplate, this is worth a read.
One person found this helpful
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Yorkie72
4.0 out of 5 stars A strange happening!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 24, 2023
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It was almost ten years before I got round to reading this book. It's a fiction, all about development about medical and surgical developments which may or pay not benefit the human race. The reader sees these developments through the eyes of one man. I wish I had this book earlier.
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J Thomson
5.0 out of 5 stars Be very afraid of mind experimentation
Reviewed in Australia on May 12, 2015
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A literary academic is offered the task of authenticating previously undiscovered letters purporting to be written by Samuel Johnson. As he delves into the provenance of the letters, he finds a dangerous world of experimentation in cloning using written works to create a persona who can almost replicate its source. The aim is to provide indefinite life, independent of the physical person. It is a challenging, sometimes frightening and poignant book, examining the ethics of mind experimentation through Theroux's clever plot shifts. I risk giving these away if I describe more.
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