About this title: David Selig was born with an awesome power, the ability to look deep into the human heart and to probe the darkest truths hidden in the recesses of the soul. With reckless abandon, he used this talent in the pursuit of pleasure. Then, one day, his power began to die.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date Published: 1984-03
ISBN-13:9780553240184ISBN:0553240188
Description: Good. Paperback, light cover wear, store stamp & price inside. Pages very nice & tight. David Selig was born with an awesome power-the ability to look deep into the human heart, to probe the darkest truths hidden in the secret recesses of the soul. With reckless abandon, he used his talent in the pursuit of pleasure. Then, one day, his power began to die.... read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Date Published: 1976
ISBN-13:9780345248220ISBN:0345248228
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. well kept older book. Pages yellowing due to age. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date Published: 1984
ISBN-13:9780553240184ISBN:0553240188
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Has a little wear, front cover creased along spine, pages tanned. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 256 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: Spine line/tilt /rubs/hinge crease/tight
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine
Date Published: 1976
ISBN-13:9780345235633ISBN:0345235630
Description: Good. 0345235630 Book Description David Selig was born with an awesome power--the ability to look deep into the human heart, to probe the darkest truths hidden in the secret recesses of the soul. With reckless abandon, he used his talent in the pursuit of pleasure. Then, one day, his power began to die...Universally acclaimed as Robert Silverberg's masterwork, Dying Inside is a vivid, harrowing portrait of a man who squandered a remarkable gift, of a superman who had to learn what it was to be ... read more
Edition: Pages Yellow But Tight. Cover Creased
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine, New York, NY, U.S. A
Date Published: 1976
ISBN-13:9780553240184ISBN:0553240188
Description: Good. 0553240188 Reviewer: H Hoffman from Chicago, IL I first read this book over 20 years, and it has still stayed with me. Silverberg is a genius-he wrote this piece, set in Manhattan in the late 1960's, about a guy who was always able to read people's minds, and who benfitted greatly from his ability. Then-whammo-for no reason-he begins losing this central part of his existence. Nowadays, many are writing serious tomes about psychic ability, but Silverberg was showing how one guy loses it, ... read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books, New York
Date Published: 1973
ISBN-13:9780345235633ISBN:0345235630
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. (042407) 1st edition Mass market paperback is in VG+/Fine condition with crease in spine, light crease very spine edge, crease very tip end bottom right corner, very light ovrall wear. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Date Published: 1973
ISBN-13:9780345288936ISBN:0345288939
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. some wear to cover; no marks or writing within text; RTB933. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 256 p. Del Rey Books (Paperback). read more
"Be warned: this book is not SF at all. Or is it? Well, it was written by a major SF author, and published under the label "SF". And it is true it deals with telepathy. But do not expect any aliens, time travel or even any reference to the future.
Instead, the story is about a perfectly ordinary guy, who is cursed with the ability of reading people's mind. Instead of propping him up to the highest spheres of society, it ruins his life. What is worse, when he reaches the age when most people start to experience deficiencies in eyesight or hearing, he feels his ability gradually fading.
So this is an uncommon experiment in the SF field: using a classical SF topic to write a psychological study, of an individual having to cope with his difference, and then with the loss of what makes him different. Yes, this is speculative fiction, in a way. It could also be taken as a realistic novel on very realistic themes, like difference and personal failure. Whatever you take the novel to be, its style is wonderful, and the construction, alternating between external and internal points of view, extremely well suited to the story. This is an author who obviously know what he is doing. Do not read this novel if you want action and suspense; but if it is insight and style you are after, this is guaranteed to be a great experience."
"I was expecting this to be better. It was a great idea but the execution failed. The primary character is born with the ability to read the minds of others and he begins to lose this ability during middle age.
Anyone with this power shouldn't be living a boring life, but he did. He also wasn't a very sympathetic character, and that could have been because the life he lived was a little bit unbelievable. The author tried to convince the reader that the power is in some way a curse, but I didn't buy it; I just felt like his life was too ordinary for this kind of power. His life and the overall book should have been a lot more interesting. Some of the descriptions he wrote about mind reading were good, but I was disappointed overall.
This is supposed to be science fiction, but there wasn't a lot of science and the author showed contempt for science, probably without even realizing it. There was more political commentary than science and his politics were lame and simplistic.
Finally, the description toward the end about feeling a oneness with other souls followed by a great loneliness was just plopped down for no apparent reason. I guess there is some deep significance to it, but it seemed out of place. I probably just missed the whole point, but didn't think it worthwhile to figure out."
I felt like the telepath, the mind-reader, the voyeur while reading this novel. Silverberg sucked me in to the mind of David Selig so completely that I had to force myself to take a break from the book after hours of voracious reading to come up for air and perspective. It appears to be the autobiography of a telepath, but reads like a confession of mind crimes, social ineptness and stunted maturity. He fears his gift is fading and dying, and he flops impotently against the impinging silence.
Silverberg succeeded in evoking many emotions from me with David Selig's monologue - frustration, depression, outrage, compassion.
I'm not sure what I was expecting when I started reading this novel. It is definitely not traditional science fiction, but it is very well written, keeping my attention, almost exclusively, the entire weekend.
And for once, I did not read the Foreward until I finished the book. It contained information that would have spoiled the experience of Dying Inside with David Selig."
"I'm surprised how much I enjoyed this. I read it in two days. I first read it when I was 11 years old. I remember enjoying it, although I couldn't possibly have appreciated most of what's going on here at that age. When I saw a recent article about the reissue of this book and how it's an underrated gem, I decided to reread it. I'm glad I did. Silverberg does a great job of capturing the flavor of the early 70s and 60s. The story is very moving also, even though the protagonist is pretty pathetic. It reminded me a lot of early Philip Roth. This positive experience makes me interested in rereading some of the other Silverberg books from the 60s and 70s, like Book of Skulls."
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