Science Fiction novel by
Gene Wolfe.
* * * * 1/2.
After a brief
fling with department store salesman
Adam Green,
Lara Morgan suddenly disappears, leaving a cryptic note about the existence of "Doors" to other worlds that Green must not go through.
Green, of course, is utterly obsessed with Lara, and follows her through the first Door he finds....
...into
another world, similar to ours, with one critical difference, a difference that means Green will
die if he ever gets his heart's desire.
Green has little control over what happens to him next, and is buffeted by events and the actions of other people throughout the rest of the novel. Throughout the novel, Green's only wish is to find Lara again, causing him to take actions which take him
back and forth betwen the worlds, but only seem to get him in even more trouble. We find Green in a
mental hospital on two occasions, once in each world. Green's unbalanced mental condition is important to the progress of the novel, and much of the action takes place during his
psychotic episodes.
This book has uncounted layers of subtlety as it peers into the hero's troubled mind. You will have to
read the book several times to discover them all.