Cuckoo by Richard Wright

Reviewed by Megan Powell

Meet Greg Summers. He's an ordinary man, someone the reader can relate to. He loves his wife, despite the fact that he's having an affair. He does his best to convince himself he loves his mistress, because that makes him feel less sleazy.

In an effort to get to know his mistress Georgina on a more than physical level, Greg invites her to dinner at a restaurant. Over the course of the evening, he is wracked by guilt and gets drunk. So, when Greg discovers that the hotel (where he distinctly remembers booking a room under the name of Johnson) has no record of him, the discrepancy seems confusing rather than sinister. But more than a hotel reservation has been lost: his home has been changed, his wife is living with another man, and memories of a man named Richard Jameson are seeping into Greg's mind.

Wright successfully keeps Greg (and the reader) off balance throughout the novel. How much of Greg's paranoia is justified? Is it possible that he's had a mental breakdown, or has some larger conspiracy stolen the life he remembers? Has his wife been brainwashed, or is she a willing pawn? Is he really Greg Summers, or is he perhaps Richard Jameson?

Given the nature of the novel, we as readers are pretty sure that Greg hasn't simply gone crazy, especially with the surreal scenes of torture interspersed throughout the narrative. When Greg meets his tormentor, it is clear that his paranoia, at least, is justified: someone really is out to get him. But Wright isn't satisfied to simply let the novel turn into a narrative of Greg's attempts to escape or fight back--although the plot certainly contains such elements, and Wright's characters behave in a believable way when confronted with situations that appear to defy logic. Throughout the novel, the identities of Greg Summers and Richard Jameson are called into question. Childhood memories, family relationships and sexual orientation are uncertain. Where does Greg Summers end, and Richard Jameson begin? What defines an individual? What is worth fighting to protect?

Wright does a very good job of balancing these philosophical questions against the way in which they specifically relate to Greg/Richard, and against the more physical dangers posed by his tormentors. He's not easy on his characters: identity, the situation, the enemy and even the outcome to be desired are constantly questioned. Yet even with the lack of clarity about the "true" situation, Wright gives us enough information to care about what happens: we may not be sure exactly who or what the bad guys are, but we know who we like.

That makes it even more devastating when Wright pulls the metaphorical carpet out from under his characters (and his readers).

Read and enjoy this suspenseful thriller (science fiction? fantasy? horror?--who cares), and be glad that you aren't trapped in Wright's world. At least, hope that you aren't.

Cuckoo by Richard Wright Hard Shell Word Factory ISBN

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