Name: Atmospheric Disturbances
ISBN: 9780312428433

Rivka Galchen

A Novel

Atmospheric Disturbances

Tobias V. Langhoff

I think it quite likely that this book was inspired by The Crying of Lot 49. The premise and plot bear some similarities, and I assume the nefarious and nebulous "49 Quantum Fathers" are a reference. Instead of a covert postal service, it's a covert academy of meteorology that the protagonist grapples with at the edges of his/her sanity. 

The story reads very similarly, but not the prose; it's less fever dreamy than Pynchon and more an analytical and self-reflective treatise on going mad and seeing your reality unravel. Analytical because the protagonist is a psychiatrist (psycho-analyst?) who himself seems to go insane, with a cool and professional detachment. 

The narrative is also meta-fictional in an interesting way: The author's real-life deceased father, the meteorologist Tzvi Gal-Chen, or at least a version of him (a "Quantum Father"?) plays a prominent part in the plot. 

I was also reminded slightly of Solaris; the doppelganger Rema in this book is portrayed similarly to Lem's simulacrum Rheya (although her name was Hari in the original Polish), and there's a similar focus on clothes and their missing buttons/zippers, but I might be reading too much into things. 

Anyway, I really liked this book. It was brooding, not sprawling, which was both a strength and a slight weakness. At times there was little moving the plot forward, but it felt focused.

I actually think I originally bought this book because I liked the ballpoint pen cover designed by Billie Jean.

Atmospheric Disturbances A Novel

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