The Coma

E375742

The Coma is a surreal psychological novella by Alex Garland that explores memory, identity, and consciousness through the experiences of a man trapped in a coma-like state.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
The Coma canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf book ⓘ
novella ⓘ
author Alex Garland ⓘ
centralTheme consciousness ⓘ
identity ⓘ
memory ⓘ
reality versus illusion ⓘ
unreliable perception ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United Kingdom ⓘ
coverArtist Nicholas Garland ⓘ
exploresConcept selfhood under altered consciousness ⓘ
the boundary between dream and waking life ⓘ
the reliability of memory ⓘ
genre novella ⓘ
psychological fiction ⓘ
surreal fiction ⓘ
hasCharacter Carl ⓘ
Carl's co-workers ⓘ
Carl's girlfriend ⓘ
hasISBN 9780571220516 ⓘ
hasMotif distorted everyday reality ⓘ
repeated awakenings ⓘ
shifting locations ⓘ
illustrator Nicholas Garland ⓘ
language English ⓘ
literaryCategory contemporary British fiction ⓘ
literaryStyle minimalist prose ⓘ
surreal narrative ⓘ
mainCharacter Carl ⓘ
mediaType hardcover ⓘ
paperback ⓘ
print ⓘ
narrativePerspective first-person ⓘ
notableFeature accompanied by woodcut-style illustrations ⓘ
ambiguous ending ⓘ
originalPublisher Faber and Faber ⓘ
pages approximately 200 ⓘ
partOfAuthorCareerPhase post-The Beach works of Alex Garland ⓘ
plotSummary A man named Carl is attacked on a train, falls into a coma, and experiences a shifting, dreamlike reality as he tries to wake up. ⓘ
protagonist Carl ⓘ
publicationYear 2004 ⓘ
setting London ⓘ
linked to: London, England
structure short chapters ⓘ
subjectMatter altered states of consciousness ⓘ
coma-like state ⓘ
psychological disorientation ⓘ
timePeriodOfPublication early 21st century ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Alex Garland → notableWork → The Coma ⓘ
Alex Garland → wrote → The Coma ⓘ