HARM

I just don't get this book. HARM, by the science-fiction writer Brian W. Aldiss, is about a man who is being tortured and in his delirium imagines that he is living on a planet over a thousand light-years away from Earth. Or is it the other way around and he is living on the planet Stygia and when he sleeps he dreams of living another life on a faraway planet?

This is a short (240 pages) book. I tend to want to think that Aldiss was sketching out a story and decided to stop before it was fully fleshed out.

Paul Fadhill (on Earth) is being tortured because he wrote a book that mentioned in a comedic line something about killing the Prime Minister. Fremant (on Stygia) seems to wander around without a personality or drive.

The story just doesn't work for me. One thing really bothered me: Near the beginning there is a rape. Why? It doesn't fit into the story. There isn't any motivation on the part of the rapist. Its just there. Reading about a rape is bad enough, but to not make sense in the story is doubly hurtful. Secondly, the ending is abrupt and I felt like maybe I was missing something. Am I supposed to have learned something or been given something to ponder by all of this? The only thing I'm pondering now is why I read the book. Oh yeah, because I got a free copy.

Not recommended for anyone. If you want to read a science-fiction book there are plenty of other choices.