Book Review: Limitless

Limitless is a book by Alan Glynn written in 2001 (called The Dark Fields on its first print through). It was turned into a major motion picture starring Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro a few years ago. The set-up of Limitless is that there is a drug that the main character, Eddie Spinola, acquires that is effectively a steroid for the brain muscles. As Eddie becomes a genius at pretty much anything he puts his mind to, he also starts to encounter problems. As always, minor spoilers follow.

Eddie uses his enhanced mental capacity in order to make money and become a mover and shaker in the world. However, most of the problems he encounters while taking the drug seem reminiscent of plot devices. Although in the story there is a good reason that Eddie does not know the drugs side effects (he more or less accidently stumbles on a stash of the drug), some of his characterisation seem to be there just to advance the plot. For example, his reckless impatience when on the drug leading him to get involved with a dangerous loan shark seems to be forgotten about once this plot device is set-up. The convenient plot devices don’t overshadow the story being good or the good character writing of both Eddie and the supporting characters.

The supporting characters were also the victims of inconsistent characterisation in some places. Normally written as very fleshed-out characters, some of their decisions leave allot to be desired. For example, some of the most powerful men in finance do not bother to do background checks on the new, middle-age prodigy rising up through their ranks before letting them in on some of their biggest deals? However, for the most part, the writing style is well suited to the book and it never felt like it dragged.

Alan Glynn’s style of writing really fitted well with the character that he was trying to portray with Eddie Spinola. Although he is very sparse in his descriptive writing, I really got the feel of a character which alternated between being in over his head and a character which was well in control of the situation. The illusion of him being in control is well and truly shattered by the end of the book. The conclusion is very different from what was in the movie. In the context of the story, I think the books ending was a much better fit to the overall theme of the story.

Although Limitless is a very good book, there were some inconsistencies in the characterisation of the main characters and a sometimes heavy reliance on convenient plot devices in order to advance the story. The writing style and overall story, however, were good enough to keep the book entertaining to the end and I felt the ending fit the theme of the book better than the movie’s more optimistic ending.

4 out of 5 genius-pill waffles