Brutus sees himself as just an average salaryman living in the City. Every day he puts on his alabaster Face and lives the life that is expected of him. He rides the train to work and files and files until it’s time for him to go home and repeat the day.
Unbeknownst to Brutus, he has been picked to be the catalyst that changes the City and the lives of everyone in it. What was a chance occurrence at a café alters the course of his very identity, sending him down a spiral of self-discovery and sanity-inspiring events.
But not all revolutionaries are heroes, and not all revolutions bring about a better age.
Follow Brutus as he discovers how much more there is to living, and the violent consequences that change his world forever, and the generations that follow after.
Brutus’ story is a struggle of the mind and the challenges we face in understanding a reality where madness is seen in a simple thought of sanity.
Brutus sees himself as just an average salaryman living in the City. Every day he puts on his alabaster Face and lives the life that is expected of him. He rides the train to work and files and files until it’s time for him to go home and repeat the day.
Unbeknownst to Brutus, he has been picked to be the catalyst that changes the City and the lives of everyone in it. What was a chance occurrence at a café alters the course of his very identity, sending him down a spiral of self-discovery and sanity-inspiring events.
But not all revolutionaries are heroes, and not all revolutions bring about a better age.
Follow Brutus as he discovers how much more there is to living, and the violent consequences that change his world forever, and the generations that follow after.
Brutus’ story is a struggle of the mind and the challenges we face in understanding a reality where madness is seen in a simple thought of sanity.
Like all places, our surroundings become a reflection of ourselves. The City was no exception. A sterile and vaulted place, its complexity was not in its design but in its breadth. Born from an evolution of ideas that had bred structures and places to suit its people, the City grew and grew until its manifestations outweighed its capacities. So then the people made their lives busy to fill in all those places that had been created, and in doing so, forgot about the self, and the shadow cast by such magnificent edifices.
It’s hard to place where A Simple Thought of Sanity sits in terms of plot and genre. It feels less of a linear story and more like a loose web of existential reflection. The protagonist, for all intents and purposes, is Brutus, living a mundane existence in a futuristic city where everyone must wear masks—or Faces—at all times.
Obsession with cleanliness and consumerism has sterilised society of everything, from germs to emotions. A series of strange events disrupt Brutus’ normal life and lead him down a path that, ultimately, derails this whole orderly culture. Unfortunately, the new system becomes worse than the last—unsurprising, considering the severely restrained and disconnected people in came from.
The writing, imagery, characterisation, and overall messages are powerful to say the least. You feel relatable pangs again and again as you go through this surreal sequence of human experiences. The emotive and bizarro elements make A Simple Thought of Sanity quite the ride, toeing the line between reason and madness, reality and illusion, stability and transformation.
There are downsides, however. The book’s very intriguing plot sometimes becomes blurred and weak, especially under the weight of so much meaning and deviation from the core storyline. While I love narratives that keep me guessing, I can’t say that I was fully satisfied by the time I finished reading this one. There are definitely elements that could have been expanded or clarified further, if only to balance out the plot.
Flaws aside, I did very much enjoy A Simple Thought of Sanity. It’s mysterious, exciting, and harsh, often in a chillingly timely way. If nothing else, it’s also a very effective cautionary tale against losing your heart and individuality. Mildly echoing stories like 1984, Equilibrium, A Clockwork Orange, and even The Matrix, this is a great choice for fans of dystopian fiction.