{{Short description|Novel by Alex Garland}} {{about|the 2004 Alex Garland novel|other uses|Coma (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox book | name = The Coma | title_orig = | translator = | image = TheComa.jpg | caption = First edition (US) | author = Alex Garland | cover_artist = | country = United Kingdom | language = English | series = | genre = Fiction novel | publisher = Faber & Faber (UK)<br>Riverhead Books (US) | release_date = 17 June 2004 | media_type = Print (hardcover and paperback) | pages = 208 pp. | isbn = 978-1573222730 | oclc = | preceded_by = | followed_by = }}
'''''The Coma''''' is a 2004 novel by Alex Garland, illustrated by his father, Nicholas Garland.<ref>{{cite news|last=Urquhart|first=James|title=The Coma, by Alex Garland|date=16 July 2004|newspaper=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-coma-by-alex-garland-6165521.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150307185155/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-coma-by-alex-garland-6165521.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 7, 2015|accessdate=4 January 2015}}</ref> It explores the boundary between the conscious and subconscious mind.
==Plot summary== While traveling home on an underground train, Carl defends a young girl from the harassment of a group of men. Carl is violently attacked and falls into a coma. When he awakes, he discovers that his seemingly normal world is very peculiar.
==Critical reception== Scott Tobias, writing for ''The A.V. Club'', said, "''The Coma'' lacks the gravity of ideas, which leaves the narrative to drift along in the blinkered consciousness of a pot haze."<ref>{{cite news|last=Tobias|first=Scott|title=The Coma|date=30 August 2004|newspaper=A.V. Club|url=http://www.avclub.com/review/alex-garland-ithe-comai-4939|accessdate=8 Apr 2015}}</ref>
Tim Adams, writing for ''The Guardian'', said, "Garland is very good at recreating the virtual worlds of the half-awake and then subtly dissolving them."<ref>{{cite web|last=Adams|first=Tim|title=Coma chameleon|date=27 June 2004|publisher=The Guardian (British newspaper)|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/jun/27/fiction.features2|accessdate=8 Apr 2015}}</ref>
Scott Lamb, writing for ''Salon'', said, "''The Coma'' is essentially a story composed of a single arc, and this formal tic may, for some, be its big weakness ... What the book lacks in plot twists, though, it makes up for in atmosphere and tone."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lamb|first=Scott|title=The Coma by Alex Garland|date=27 July 2004|work=Salon|url=http://www.salon.com/2004/07/07/coma/|accessdate=8 Apr 2015}}</ref>
==Adaptations== In 2006, ''The Coma'' was adapted into a play by Marcus Condron, alongside the theatre group We Could Be Kings. The play made heavy use of projected video content to help express the thoughts of Carl, and original music was composed by Alex Cornish.<ref>{{cite news|last=McBay|first=Nadine|title=The Coma|date=24 August 2006|newspaper=Metro|url=http://metro.co.uk/2006/08/24/the-coma-210641/|accessdate=4 January 2015}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==See also== * Simulated reality
{{Alex Garland}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coma, The}} Category:2004 British novels Category:English novels Category:Novels by Alex Garland Category:Faber & Faber books
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