Fremder in der Nacht

Ontological sci-fi mystery from the late, great Russell Hoban, boldly going down Philip K. Dick's metaphysical rabbit hole and deep into inner space.
A quirky, melancholy work, 'Fremder' is really a book about Becoming and the formation of identity; it just happens to use genre stylings to explore transitional states of matter and consciousness. Hoban thumbs his nose at traditional narrative structure, opting instead for a melange of Classical and Biblical allusion, references to Bach and Bizet, Judaism, neuroscience, theoretical quantum physics and Tin Pan Alley Pop. As with much of Hoban's work, this appears to be him expressing his general worldview and current interests through the prism of a novel; his persistent underlying themes connected by a seemingly random patchwork of ideas. This all makes it sound complicated and hard work but it's surprisingly compelling. Hoban is entertaining company and his central plot is a solid slice of hard sci-fi. In some respects the novel is reminiscent of 'The Centauri Device' or 'So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish', full of intergalactic doldrums and underwhelming answers to fundamental questions.
Surely not an easy book for a narrator to perform, David Wayman's reading really grew on me throughout; his tone, initially mournful, becomes filled with verve and brio as the story progresses. Admirable work.

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