Thoughts On The Book “The End Of Mr. Y”

I bought the book “The End Of Mr. Y”, by Scarlett Thomas, as a Christmas gift but for a number of reasons I ended up reading it and I am glad I did, in fact I couldn’t wait to steal moments throughout each day just to read another chapter.

The story follows poverty stricken and lonely Ariel Manto as she attempts to make some sense of her life and she finds some answers in the most unusual of places – the Troposphere (or Mindscape whichever you prefer). She becomes fascinated by a cursed nineteenth century book titled “The End Of Mr. Y” written by Thomas Lumas – there are very few copies left and apparently all who read it die – who wouldn’t want to read a book that promises that?

Her adventure really begins when she meets Professor Saul Burlem at a lecture. Burlem, who shares many of her ideas, signs her up as a PhD Student looking into thought experiments, but some time later he disappears. After part of the University suddenly collapses everyone is told to leave the site temporarily and Ariel, whilst visiting a local book shop, manages to find a rare copy of “The End Of Mr. Y” and it’s up for grabs if she plays her cards right. Adventures into the world of the Troposphere ensue and a menacing threat from mysterious men with KIDS accelerates the need to find answers.

Who are the two men and what are they after? What is their interest in the Troposphere and who are the KIDS and what is their agenda if they have one? Who is the even more mysterious Apollo Smintheus? The only way to find out for sure is to spend more time in the Troposphere but distance and time are directly related in the Troposphere and if she spends too long inside this captivating world she may lose her real self altogether (not that she would find that a great loss). Fortunately, Apollo Smintheus is conveniently on hand to help Ariel but does he have his own reasons for doing so? Why does Apollo need help from Ariel and has she helped him already? Why has he not solved his own problem? One is left to wonder, does Ariel possess some unique ability in the Troposphere? A unique ability which might ultimately lead to her downfall?

Possibly the only person who can provide any clue as to what is going on is the missing Saul Burlem but how can Ariel find someone who is missing?

Many questions are asked along the way. What is the Troposphere and could it really exist physically or metaphysically? If it only exists metaphysically then what does it say about thought, distance and the notion of time? Can each really exist without the other? Deep questions indeed and Ariel makes a startling discovery early on in the Troposphere when she manages to access a strange navigational console. Within the Troposphere this console is useful as it allows for a meaningful interaction with the world around her – on a side note I loved the metaphor about following a particular train of thought (or emotion) to travel somewhere. Ariel appears to struggle with metaphors and it does seem odd that whilst Ariel seems quite clued up philosophically she continually fails to understand the concept of a metaphor, perhaps she looks too deeply for simple explanations –ironically she does seem to have a knack of expressing complex ideas simply.

The uncomfortable yet necessary relationship between Ariel and Lua is good reading as they attempt to strike some bond whilst going through the motions of planting.

Whilst reading the book I found it interesting that Ariel seemingly never finishes reading the book as she becomes obsessed with the Troposphere. Also, about two thirds of the way through the story a shift happens that didn’t quite make sense to me –possibly leaving the story wide open to interpretation. Ariel appears to be in hospital in some sort of coma but moments later she is driving down the A2 – is she really out of the Troposphere? I guess we are supposed to assume so. A number of other threads are left loose and unexplored, perhaps the topic of another book? For example, what exactly did happen to Adam? In the Troposphere he seems incredibly clued up yet at the same time he is completely in the dark as to what is going on and how it all works. Was there a relationship to the program that was running on her new office mate computer? What about her next door neighbour?

There are a huge number of philosophical discussion and narrative in the book but I found these don’t really get in the way of the story too much and instead offer “food for thought” on the various predicaments Ariel finds herself in. It is a fascinating read if you have a search engine handy and can look up the various plot points, e.g. Pedesis which fundamentally comes down to a kind of leaping action.

The end of this story leaves you to derive your own conclusion – are we talking about the tree of knowledge with Ariel playing Eve to Adam or are we moving back to the time of creation of consciousness itself? Whatever it is, by the end, Ariel completely understands.

I found the “The End Of Mr. Y” to be a riveting read and the conclusion, in fact the whole story, leaves you wanting to know more. Is the Troposphere real or is Ariel simply lost in a world of substance abuse?

You now have 2 choices.