A man is severely injured in a mysterious accident, receives an outrageous sum in legal compensation, and has no idea what to do with it. Then, one night, an ordinary sight sets off a series of bizarre visions he can't quite place. How he goes about bringing his visions to life—and what happens afterward—makes for one of the most riveting, complex, and unusual novels in recent memory.
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"A great sense of theme with a subtle humour. A tedious read at times due to the attention on detail but it is all necessary and it doesn't bog the pace of the action down too much. The concept is genuinely intriguing and the narrative execution is brilliantly paced and concise. A fantastic read. " — Jonathan (4 out of 5 stars)
"A great sense of theme with a subtle humour. A tedious read at times due to the attention on detail but it is all necessary and it doesn't bog the pace of the action down too much. The concept is genuinely intriguing and the narrative execution is brilliantly paced and concise. A fantastic read. "
“What fun it is when a crafty writer plays cat and mouse with your mind, when you can never anticipate his next move and when, in any case, he knows all the exits to the maze and has already blocked them…McCarthy’s superb stylistic control and uncanny imagination transport this novel beyond the borders of science fiction. His bleak humor, hauntingly affectless narrator, and methodical expansion on his theme make Remainder more than an entertaining brain-teaser: it’s a work of novelistic philosophy, as disturbing as it is funny.”
McCarthy's evocation of the narrator's absorption in his fantasy world as it cascades out of control is brilliant.
“The nameless narrator in this eerie debut is a Londoner severely injured in an accident. Months later, he received an £8.5 million settlement on the condition that he never speak about the payout or the incident again—not a problem, since he doesn’t remember it. Our hero then begins to wholly re-create and reenact portions of his old life with a salaried cast of extras, set designers, and stuntmen. In taut and chilly prose, McCarthy describes how this mission becomes a disturbing obsession; the horrifying conclusion is visible thirty pages off, but it’s no less shocking when it arrives.”
“Hypnotically creepy…McCarthy’s portrait of the pursuit of total control is arresting, and he is alert to the bland amorality that underlies it.”
“Captivating and challenging…Remainder isn’t a mystery novel—there’s no villain here apart from time and space—so if its core ripples with ambiguity, all the better for the reader, as this is a book to be read and then reread, rich as it is with its insights, daring as it is with its contradictions.”
“Addictively strange.”
“Fresh, funny, and deeply disturbing.”
“A chillingly clever novel of patterns that fools you into thinking it’s a novel about plot…[McCarthy] is a new author who’s ambitious and intelligent.”
" I am not even sure what to say about this book. I started reading it, then skimmed to the end. Maybe it was the skimming, but I never figured out what was going on. Why the need to feel authentic and thus create elaborate fakes? V. odd. "
" I don't know what to think about this book. I liked it, but I didn't always enjoy reading it. The last act is wonderful, and the book as a whole has stayed with me. Still, it was tedious at times... "
" I enjoyed the tone and voice of this book very much. They were both very distinct and engaging. It's a great read. "
" Phenomenal, chilling - a man after my own heart. "
" I did not like this book. I thought much of the plot was not credible, it was repetitive, the characters were poor and the ending was predictable. Sad thing is that there is a gem of an idea in there. "
" This book is off the chain. "
" Incredible. So interesting. So inventive. And disturbing. "
Tom McCarthy is a writer and conceptual artist. He is known in the art world for the reports, manifestos, and media interventions he has made as general secretary of the International Necronautical Society (INS), a semi-fictitious avant-garde network. He is the author of Remainder, Men in Space, and Tintin and the Secret of Literature. McCarthy lives in London.
James Langton, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, trained as an actor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and later as a musician at the Guildhall School in London. He has worked in radio, film, and television, also appearing in theater in England and on Broadway. He is also a professional musician who led the internationally renowned Pasadena Roof Orchestra from 1996 to 2002.
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