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'The End of Mr. Y' by Scarlett Thomas

Channeling past classics elevates this look at faith and fantasy

By Melissa Silvestri
Published: October 23rd, 2006 | 12:22pm

Harvest Books, 416 pages, $14.00

The NeverEnding Story. Being John Malkovich. A Wrinkle in Time. Proof. The End of Mr. Y, by Scarlett Thomas, is a brilliant combination of those past works, with an original flair for mapping a convoluted 'journey of science, faith, consciousness, death, and everything in between.'

Ariel Manto is a Ph.D. candidate at a British university, studying the works of a controversial 19th century scientific theorist whose final book, The End of Mr. Y, was rumored to be cursed — everybody connected with it disappears. By chance, Ariel discovers a copy of the cursed book in an old bookshop and takes a big risk by reading it herself. Getting more and more wrapped up in the split between scientific faith and the supernatural, Ariel’s livelihood is consumed by the book and the mystery of the author’s death upon completing the book.

Through a recipe for teleportation in the book, Ariel is able to enter the Troposphere — a dimension of travel through people’s thoughts in any time and place — and discover secrets and answers by sitting in on a person’s mind. But as she gets closer to the secrets of the Troposphere, Ariel is being persecuted by beings who wish to extinguish her out.

Thomas has created a fascinating world of science and fantasy, her heroine a brilliant but complicated mess, indulging in passionless sexual deviance and being consumed by archaic literature.

A downside to the novel is the character of Adam, a former priest who works as a theologian at the university. Adam is made an instant love interest for Ariel, with lines like “His eyes are locked on mine. I have no idea why, but I have an urge to walk across the room and merge with him: not to kiss, not to fuck, but to merge.” Adam’s character serves as the perfect soul mate with a damaged psyche but who ultimately fits in with Ariel. He is unnecessary, dry, and the use of giving a solitary and independent character like Ariel a bland stock love interest is cheap and futile.