Reviews

Member by Michael Cisco

theesotericcamel's review

4.0

As with any Michael Cisco work, it is dense in its imagery and themes. However, compared to his earlier work this novel is less visceral. Perhaps this is due to the more abstract ideas and themes the story revolves around this time. The general idea is that Thanks, the main character, inadvertently gets himself involved in a type of cosmic game known as Chorncendantra as a courier of some kind. The problem is that Thanks does not know the rules of the game or what side (if any) he is even on. That's the plot in a nutshell, and yet in true Cisco fashion the story becomes about so much more. As a well established author of the weird, we are treated to many tangential synaesthetic moments and very idiosyncratic characters. The title, "Member," also gives a hint of a lot of the themes explored throughout the novel. The meaning of the title is explored in many iterations, from being a member of team, to the idea of body parts and limbs, to being a member of some organisation, participation as a member, etc. Game theory comes up a lot and is subverted in very surrreal ways. There is also a sense of the book as parodying the idea of life itself as a game and having "lost the game." Strangely enough, Thanks, the main character, feels quite nebulous compared to other Cisco creations... This story is also more comedic than most of his other books. Less gothic and more influenced by Science Fiction than his earlier books. Perhaps I've been influenced by the cover art, but gone is the griminess and slime of previous works, in exchange for impossible mechanisms and peppermint coloured boulders. But it still remains an unmistakably Cisco creation, and still a very, very, weird literary experience.

jake_'s review

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

4.25

Many of Cisco’s works seem to take influence from Kafka, whether it’s the bureaucratic labyrinths, the passive protagonist being shunted about, or the absurd interactions with characters. Member is surely the most Kafkaesque of Cisco’s novels, and for a large part of it the influence could not be more blatant, as our narrator-character finds himself an involuntary pawn in a big and illogical game. Just as this begins to feel hackneyed, Cisco injects his trademark hallucinogens into the heart of the novel, and now we’re talking about planets, dimensions, magic and the so-called ‘artifact’. While world-building certainly does not automatically make everything better, Member benefits enormously from this asserting of its identity as more than just a The Castle re-write (Anna Kavan has already done that, and better than anyone else could). As the novel progresses, it seems to become more confident in itself, finding its own particularly dizzying way to tackle themes of urban isolation and the woes of contemporary society.

Since it’s an impossible to novel to acquire legally these days, I would recommend Animal Money instead, which is relatively similar.