The Coma

Novel by Alex Garland

This article is about the 2004 Alex Garland novel. For other uses, see Coma (disambiguation).

The Coma

First edition (US)

Author| Alex Garland
Language| English
Genre| Fiction novel
Publisher| Faber & Faber (UK)
Riverhead Books (US)

Publication date

| 17 June 2004
Publication place| United Kingdom
Media type| Print (hardcover and paperback)
Pages| 208 pp.
ISBN| 978-1573222730

The Coma is a novel by Alex Garland, illustrated by his father, Nicholas Garland.[1] It explores the boundary between the conscious and subconscious mind. The Coma was published in 2004, eight years after Garland's first novel, The Beach.

## Plot summary

[edit]

While traveling home on an underground train, Carl is forced to defend a young girl from the harassment of a group of men. For his efforts, Carl is violently attacked and falls into a coma. When he awakes, he quickly discovers that his seemingly normal world is very peculiar.

## Critical reception

[edit]

Scott Tobias, writing for the A.V. Club, said, "The Coma lacks the gravity of ideas, which leaves the narrative to drift along in the blinkered consciousness of a pot haze."[2]

Tim Adams, writing for the Guardian, said, "Garland is very good at recreating the virtual worlds of the half-awake and then subtly dissolving them."[3]

A reviewer for Bookslut said, "Initially, some of Garland’s motifs and literary devices seemed too elaborate and obscure; yet on a second read they disentangle and shine."[4]

Scott Lamb, writing for Salon, said, “The Coma is essentially a story composed of a single arc, and this formal tic may, for some, be its big weakness ... What the book lacks in plot twists, though, it makes up for in atmosphere and tone."[5]

## Adaptations

[edit]

In 2006, The Coma was adapted into a play by Marcus Condron, alongside the theatre group 'We Could Be Kings'. The play made heavy use of projected video content to help express the thoughts of Carl, and original music was composed by Alex Cornish.[6]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Urquhart, James (16 July 2004). "The Coma, by Alex Garland". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 March 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
2. ^ Tobias, Scott (30 August 2004). "The Coma". A.V. Club. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
3. ^ Adams, Tim (27 June 2004). "Coma chameleon". The Guardian (British newspaper). Retrieved 8 April 2015.
4. ^ Black, Lee Bob (August 2004). "The Coma by Alex Garland". Bookslut. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
5. ^ Lamb, Scott (27 July 2004). "The Coma by Alex Garland". Salon. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
6. ^ McBay, Nadine (24 August 2006). "The Coma". Metro. Retrieved 4 January 2015.

## See also

[edit]

* Simulated reality

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* e

Works by Alex Garland

Novels|

* The Beach (1996)
* The Tesseract (1998)
* The Coma (2004)

Films written and directed|

* Ex Machina (2014)
* Annihilation (2018)
* Men (2022)
* Civil War (2024)
* Warfare (2025)

Films written|

* 28 Days Later (2002)
* Sunshine (2007)
* Never Let Me Go (2010)
* Dredd (2012)
* 28 Years Later (2025)
* 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026)

Television series|

* Devs (2020)

Video games|

* Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (2010)
* DmC: Devil May Cry (2013)

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