Within Without by Jeff Noon

 


For those of us who love to read tales of extraordinary imagination, Alice in Wonderland, Calvino's Cosmicomics, Borges' Labyrinths, Lem's Star Diaries, it's time to celebrate this Jeff Noon novel under review.

Within Without (Nyquist mystery #4): we're given scene after scene after scene to take the breath away. I could almost not believe the power of Jeff Noon's imagination as I turned the pages.

Sure, there are those mind-boggling happenings in A Man of Shadows, The Body Library and Creeping Jenny (Nyquist #1-3) but with Within Without, as unbelievable as it might seem, the bar is raised high enough to cause signature Jeff Noon-ish technicolor hallucinations to explode into a rainbow of even more dazzling phantasmagoria.

Question: What did I do when I finished reading the final paragraph of Within Without (along with listening to Toby Longworth's superb narration)? Answer: I eagerly turned back to Zone One and set out on a second read of the novel since I wasn't nearly ready to say goodbye to John Nyquist.

Ah, John Nyquist, a private eye as big and as tough as Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe and as sullen as Arnaldur Indriðason's Inspector Erlendur, a man burdened with a tragic past having lost both parents when age seven and plunged into a hardscrabble fight for survival.

Within Without can be read as a standalone novel but to absorb the full impact of the drama contained in this Nyquist mystery, I heartily recommend you read all the Nyquist novels, most especially Creeping Jenny (Nyquist #3). Why the recommendation? Here's the skinny: for the case in Within Without, sleuthhound Nyquist takes along his new assistant, a twenty-year-old lad by the name of Teddy Fairclough. This is the first time Nyquist, a loner at heart, has worked with anyone. Why would Nyquist do such a thing? We're given the details of how Nyquist developed a strong bond with young Mr. Fairclough in Creeping Jenny.

Quick strokes for context: A Man of Shadows (Nyquist mystery #1) and The Body Library (Nyquist mystery #2) are both urban tales a la Philip K Dick and China Miéville. Creeping Jenny, on the other hand, takes place in an English village and will remind readers of Arthur Machen and Thomas Ligotti. Within Without is set in 1960, in the British city of Delirium, a name that hits the bullseye in a dozen delicious, delirious ways.

Delirium - as in raving, frenzy, fury, fervor and phantasm. What's in store for Nyquist and Teddy? Take a gander at my Within Without highlight reel:

CONUNDRUM CITY
Before taking on celebrity film star Vince Craven as a client, Nyquist has always turned down jobs in Delirium due to the city's terrible reputation: rumors of visitors getting lost forever, getting found in the wrong place and time, getting trapped in tiny spaces or forced to wander endlessly in confusion. And all the many borders, thousands or even millions of borders within the city, separating and sectioning off one part from all the others and many borders requiring a toll or password or a bribe paid to an official.

QUIZZICAL QUEUES
As a first step to gain entry into Delirium, Nyquist stands in the longest line he has ever seen. He shuffles along in a corridor so narrow he must move sideways, forever squeezed in by the person in front and the person behind. According to his watch only twenty minutes passed since he joined the queue but it seems like an age. He hears a great chant rise up from everyone: "WE ARE THE QUEUE! WE ARE THE QUEUE!" Meanwhile, words are written in black ink on the wall: There is only the queue, nothing but the queue, we are the queue. Where's Teddy? Nyquist strains to catch a glimpse of the lad. He's having second thoughts about bringing Teddy along on this case.

And once in the city, men and women and children take delight waiting in long lines in front of stores or at the many border crossings. Are they all on drugs? Actually, even as the Delirium craziness becomes crazier and crazier, there's not even one mention of drugs. Perhaps a good thing - what Nyquist and everyone else must deal with in Delirium is acid trip trippy enough.

BORDER BOONDOGGLES
Nyquist finally makes it to the desk where an official checks his passport and papers. An Officer Maddox asks Nyquist to open his suitcase. He does so. She riffles through the contents then her face shows concern. "She pulled the blue shirt free, revealing the base of the suitcase. There was something hidden there. Nyquist looked on with astonishment. It was a black circle about three inches across, sharp-edged, with a shimmering quality to it."

Another officer picks up the black circle with a pair of tweezers and drops the thing in a glass bowl filled with water, or another type of clear liquid. Once submerged, the circle dissolves, turning a liquid grey and then fades completely. Nyquist looks on dumbfounded and asks the official, "What was that thing?" The burly official doesn't answer but orders Nyquist to move along and make room for the next person.

Just at that point Nyquist spots Teddy standing in another line. Then the unexpected: "The first beam of light caught the young man, setting his face aglow so that every emotion was shown clearly, the joy and then the shock, and then the pain. He screamed....Teddy had fallen to the floor, right in the middle of the borderline. His body writhed about, arms and legs juddering, a high-pitched whine coming from his lips."

THE MULTIPLE PHASES OF IDENTITY
The above happenings are from the opening pages. As you move further into Jeff Noon's astonishing tale, be prepared to explore various dimensions, both within and without, of what it can mean to be fully human. How extreme are we talking here? To take one example: Nyquist looks on as Alice ponders her next chess move as she sits across the board from her opponent - Gregor Samsa in all his six legged dung beetle glory.




British author Jeff Noon, born 1957