Ply by Hernan Diaz: Sci-fi thriller and philosophical treatise a marvel of breadth and concept
Following his Pulitzer-winning novel Trust in 2022, this much-anticipated new book from Hernan Diaz will not disappoint in its brilliance, breadth and concept. Hugely ambitious, it explores the big themes that haunt us all, including climate change , AI , the breakdown of world power structures and more traditional philosophical thought about identity, time and our role in the universe. Ply is set several centuries hence, in the remains of a decrepit city where the state is dead and random communes struggle for fresh water and electricity, both controlled by private corporations. A rebel known as “the Pincher” survives by leeching energy illicitly from the grid into home-made batteries with which she trades and provides power for bands in a thriving downtown music scene. When she invents a new device that holds a massive charge, she takes up with a wealthy scientist who covets its potential to unleash a new reality. The writing, while on occasion rambling, is more frequently immersive and beautiful. Yet just when you’re settling into a Neuromancer meets Gravity’s Rainbow sci-fi thriller, the second part of the book kicks in and the narrative morphs at speed into what could either be an end-of-days philosophical treatise or a PhD thesis in quantum physics. Among other ideas, the author postulates that civilisation, which began letting go of God at the end of the Middle Ages in favour of the Renaissance and the glory of man, has, by the end of the “modern age” (21st century), began to let go of man too. “Our devices redefined what both ‘intellect’ and ‘consciousness’ meant,” we read. “The very notion of experience, which is how we meet reality, was challenged; people’s lives and their humanity, once precious, became cheap ...” AK Blakemore: ‘The best historical fiction is comfortable living with the sheer weirdness of the past’ As momentum builds with experimental complexity, its multiple threads converge into a research-crammed, physics-dense exploration of consciousness and human essence, where pronouns and points of view slice quickly across each other in a thunderous, fragmented denouement. In the book’s acknowledgments, Diaz thanks, among other intellectual hubs, the CERN nuclear research facility and a Mind Brain Behaviour Institute in Columbia University; perhaps indicative of the level of science that informs this work of fiction. It will undoubtedly challenge and perplex the reader to a degree that neither of his previous works have done. Helena Mulkerns is a writer and publisher.