Dying Inside (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: Robert Silverberg
- First Published: 1972
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Science fiction—extrasensory powers
- Time of Work: Primarily 1976, with flashbacks
- Setting: New York City
- Genres: Long fiction, Science fiction
- Subjects: 1970’s, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, New York City, Extrasensory perception or powers, Alienation, Middle age
- Locales: New York, NY
The Plot
David Selig is a forty-one-year-old man gifted from birth with the ability to read minds. The main conflict in the novel is his attempt to come to terms with the gradual loss of this ability. He has never known why he was born with his gift, nor does he understand why he is losing it.
Ironically, Selig’s ability to know what others are thinking has caused him to feel alienated throughout his life. Instead of being able to forge closer bonds with other humans, such as his parents and his sister, Judith, he becomes isolated from them because he can see beyond...
[The entire page is 940 words long]
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