A dark provocative short story... - Rated 
Well, it's a very short story, almost like it should belong in a collection than on it's own, but for it's length I found it nicely immersive, gripping and dripping with dread and curiosity. Some people are expecting complex characters, a detailed plot... blah, blah, it's not going to change your life but i think few stories of this length are quite as interesting.
Not sure where I stand... - Rated
Well to be honest, it's a bril book - really enjoyed it, very dark, very challenging and psychological - love the ideas and themes that are brought out... only the ending, for me was a bit like - huh? Wait... what have I missed?
Mind you, that's my FIRST reading of it... possibly will understand the ending better after my second reading.
Lol back to my point - thoroughly enjoyed reading it, twists, turns and a brilliant plot/storyline - 4/5
Strikingly original - Rated 
This short novella opens with the following facts: Carl leaves his office shortly before midnight to catch the last tube home. Inside the carriage, Carl spots a young woman reading a novel when four young men encircle her and try to grab her handbag. When Carl tries to protect her, the four men attack him and kick him into unconsciousness.
The three first pages of the book consist of the account of Carl's accident. The rest of the story is seen from Carl's point of view, suffering from a psychological fall-out and amnesia as he is being treated in the coma ward of a hospital. His view of events is disorientated, his notion of time is blurred and his memory is unreliable.
It is quite an interesting challenge that Alex Garland took to try to portray what happens in the mind of a comatose man. The effect is quite stunning, disturbing and even frightening at times. This edition is highly recommended since it features forty illustrations made from woodcuts created by the political cartoonist Nicholas Garland, the author's father.
A lost opportunity - Rated 
Coma starts off very promisingly; Carl is in a coma, and we suffer along with him all his experiences, never sure what is real and what imagined, never sure what is his real state or condition. Up to this point it is a fascinating read, and we are probably switching from one opinion to another as to what the reality is, however when we finally learn what the reality is comes as something of a let down. There is no question about the quality of the writing and how well it conveys dream like images, but its drift toward a somewhat predicable conclusion seems to be a lost opportunity, an opportunity for something really imaginative.
I know I'm dreaming.... - Rated
So let's have fun!
Garland's fascinating novella - a prime candidate for a must read in one sitting, captures that delightful feeling when you experience one of those rare lucid dreams. The main protagonist realises he is in a coma and seizes the opportunity to explore childhood memories, feelings, relationships and music. This is heady, trippy stuff accentuated by inventive and sometimes startling use of language and ably illustrated by some very evocative woodcuts. It's all over too soon though. Comfortably read in a couple of hours, the final chapter, although read and re-read several times, still did not give me satisfying closure on what had been a fun ride up until then.
Worth trying out, but annoyingly enigmatic at the close.
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