Mind Catcher

by John Darnton

Book Overview

Newsdaycalled John Darnton's Neanderthal"hair-raisingly believable" and The New York Timescalled The Experiment"complex and original [and] wholly engaging . . . a world where fiction pales before the unbelievable truth." Now the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author has done it again, in a story almost beyond imagining. New York City: A thirteen-year-old boy named Tyler lies in a hospital, his brain damaged in a tragic accident. By his bedside,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525946624
• ISBN13: 9780525946625
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 387 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Artistically crafted, imaginatively conceived

I was also unable to put this book down. I was amazed by the imaginative detail - little things such as the meter that determines whether or not the machines or the brain is keeping Tyler alive, or even the use of a psychiatric ward as the backdrop for the exploration of the mind.Most important of all, Darnton's novel is a new and fresh perspective on what it means to be human. He has separated out what we rarely discern as separate, and he has suggested definition for the mind beyond what we typically consider.I do not, ironically, agree with the other reviews that Darnton has somehow probed a potentially terrifying future based on biomedical science. This book is more comparable to Shelley's "Frankenstein" than it is to Crichton's "Andromeda Strain", in that it is about the issue of hubris and humanity. Yes, there could come a time when the mind is somehow mapped out by computers and stored away, much as there has already come the time when the human parts of deceased people are used to extend life for the living - but the horrors portrayed by Darnton are not neccessarily any more likely to come about than the monster of Shelley's imagination.The issue is the *character* of the surgeon Saramaggio (what a great name, by the way - shades of "Dimaggio" mixed up with Saramaggio's portrayed greatness), the *character* of Cleaver (another interesting name, in contrast to the innocence of "the Beav"), and the transformed innocence of the father and the assistant surgeon, Scott and Kate. It is those first two characters' obsessions with success at the cost of humanity that drives this story, and their respective fates by the end of the book are fascinating in their contrast.A great book! Very well done, John Darnton!

Another great SciFi adventure

Loved Neanderthal and the Experiment - so I eagerly awaited Mind Catcher. I heard the 9 unabridged tapes each day driving to and from work - it was difficult to turn the player off and get out of the car and go to work!!Or go into our home. It's a shame the other 'raters' told the whole story - the end should be a surprise. Luckily I didn't read any of the other ratings - until just now - so I experienced the conclusion without forewarning! THE BEST. Keep those novels coming Mr Darnton.

John Darnton Mind Catcher

I have read all of Darnton's books and Mind Catcher (as did Neanderthal and The Experiment) kept me rivoted from the first page to the last. Darnton has the talent to combine scientific and precise technical writing with enticing and captivating character plot and development. Anyone interested in philosophical end of life issues from a medical viewpoint and where it perhaps intersects with religious and spiritual notions will find Darton's book addressing some of the most important questions of our time. A great read and an intelligent surprising ending leaving you wanting more Darnton best sellers available as fast as he can write them! I am eagerly awaiting your next novel!

MIND CATCHER

I have just finished the last page of John Darnton's, MIND CATCHER, and can report that it kept me sitting on the edge of my seat from the first page to the last. What an astonishing yet eerily credible concept! This is thinking man's fiction, with complex, heart stopping plot twists. For many years I have toyed with the idea of the existence of "anima", having found a personal version of proof, but not a proof that strayed beyond an article of faith. I have read extensively on this topic, yet never before have I found anything that made the connection between the concept of a soul, or center of life, and our contempory world of cyberspace. The connections between this spiritual precept, that all things, all ideas, all people may exist at all times, and the web, are indeed compelling. Darnton's premise is of course, at once thrilling and frightening. I've read his previous books(being interested in the collision of science, the human condition and ethics), but believe MIND CATCHER to be his best work yet. And even more impressive, through this intricate web of science and medicine, Darnton has drawn deeply sympathetic, believable characters (human, flawed in love and life). MIND CATCHER is not only a great read, but a dramatic and chilling call to all of us, as we embark on this newest century.

Soul in Cyberspace

Mind Catcher is a great read! It is a driving story. A boy suffers a massive head injury. His father goes to all lengths to have him cared for properly and with dignity. An arrogant superstar brain surgeon and his kooky computer-wiz colleague want to carry out revolutionary procedures to restore his brain and his life. The surgeon wants to keep the boy alive connected to a computer and then extract brain cells to be cultivated in a lab and reimplanted into his brain. The computer-wiz plans to extract the boy's mind, his "anima", out of his brain and have it float around in cyberspace. The story raises and teases you with age-old questions about the concept of a soul, its relation to the body and the brain, and its eternal presence. The thriller plot develops in ways one does not expect. The characters are engaging. The style is clear and direct. It is a book you cannot put down.