In this (kind of bizarre) novel, the main character, Bjorn, moves to a new company. It immediately becomes clear that there is something odd about this man. He looks down on his coworkers and presumes to give them orders. He even thinks about ordering his boss around and these thoughts seem to come naturally to him. Bjorn doesn't seem to think that there's anything odd about this. After all, to his mind, he's far superior to everyone else in terms of talent and creativity and it's so obvious that even they must see it. Soon, Bjorn comes upon a room at the Authority (his company). It seems like a typical room in an office. Except it contains a mirror. While in the room, Bjorn begins to feel even more confident of himself and seems to work even better. However, it soon becomes apparent that the room only exists inside Bjorn's mind and that, when he thinks he's inside, he's really standing still and staring at the wall. This disturbs his coworkers to the point where they begin to demand he's fired. Bjorn believes that they are all lying and trying to drive him insane. He plans to get revenge by conducting such exquisite work that the head of the company has no choice but to cater to Bjorn's demands (which are to fire all those who have offended Bjorn).
<P>This book is quite thought provoking. While I suppose one has to entertain the thought that Bjorn might be correct and everyone else is lying about the room, given his personality, thought pattern, and the fact that, even according to Bjorn's own calculations, there is no space for the room to exist, the reader is certainly more inclined to take the view that Bjorn is mentally ill. He comes across as a cross between Dwight and Creed (for Office fans). However, even after the reader reaches this conclusion, the book still makes one ponder about the definition of existence, mental illness, and society's treatment of the mentally ill. After all, Bjorn firmly believes in the room's existence and nothing seems able of piercing this delusion. Clearly it exists for him. Furthermore, even though he's most likely hallucinating and delusional, Bjorn seems able to go through his day to day life and his hallucination seems to even aid him in his work. However, his coworkers seem unable to accept him because of his mental illness. To be fair, I'd probably be creeped out by someone staring at a wall for long periods of time. At some points he even takes people into the room, which to them just involves them staring at the wall together. That would be unnerving for most people. Furthermore, his perception of his own superiority makes it difficult to like him. However, Bjorn doesn't hurt anyone, keeps to himself, and completes all his work (and sometimes other people's work). One has to wonder, given these circumstances, shouldn't his eccentricities be ignored? After all, he's fulfilling his contract and the side-effect of his mental illness doesn't seem to get in the way of anyone's well-being. In fact, the room seems to allow him to excel at work, benefiting the Authority. Why is it so hard to just ignore his mental illness? This book forces one to ponder these questions and offers no definitive answer. However, the lack of answers isn't as unsatisfying as one might imagine. In fact, I think the book wouldn't be as interesting if there was an ending that was wrapped up in a bow.
<P>Overall, I'd give this book a 5 out of 5.
<P>Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through the Blogging For Books program in exchange for an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment