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K-Pax #1
K-Pax
Imagine a time and space traveler from another planet. One that looks human and exemplifies the ideal world he comes from, a world free from human nature's greed and cruelty. That creature would be "prot", as he calls himself, the newest patient at the Manhattan Psychiatric Institute.
Prot seems to know more than he should about faster-than-the-speed-of-light-travel. And besides drawing constellations as viewed from K-PAX, the name of his home planet, "prot" can describe its orbit around double suns in unpublished detail. Who is "prot" and where did he really come from? Why does he have the ability to cure severe mental cases? And to disappear at will? And to charm everyone he comes into contact with?
Bizarre delusion or reality? Listen in as a psychiatrist who specializes in delusional behavior documents his sessions with the man from K-PAX.
(P)2004 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
Prot seems to know more than he should about faster-than-the-speed-of-light-travel. And besides drawing constellations as viewed from K-PAX, the name of his home planet, "prot" can describe its orbit around double suns in unpublished detail. Who is "prot" and where did he really come from? Why does he have the ability to cure severe mental cases? And to disappear at will? And to charm everyone he comes into contact with?
Bizarre delusion or reality? Listen in as a psychiatrist who specializes in delusional behavior documents his sessions with the man from K-PAX.
(P)2004 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 1995
74 people are currently reading
2,057 people want to read
About the author
Gene Brewer
24Ìýbooks79ÌýfollowersGene R. Brewer was born and raised in Muncie, Indiana and educated at DePauw University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before becoming a novelist Dr. Brewer studied DNA replication and cell division at several major research institutions, including St. Jude Children's REsearch Hospital (Memphis) and Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland). He is the author of the acclaimed K-PAX trilogy, a memoir (Creating K-PAX), a story for young adults ("Alejandro" in Twice Told), and the stage adaptation of his novel, K-PAX. He lives in New York City and Vermont with his wife and their dog Flower. Hobbies are flying, running, chess, astronomy/cosmology, music, theater, and of course, reading (favorite author: Kurt Vonnegut). Passions include ecology, animal rights*, and his wife, Karen.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 230 reviews
May 6, 2021
"—Muy bien. DÃgame, señorâ€� disculpe, prot, ¿sabe por qué está aquÃ?
—Naturalmente. Creen que estoy loco.
—Yo prefiero el término «enfermo». ¿Cree que está enfermo?
—Tal vez sienta un poco de nostalgia. Echo de menos mi hogar.
—¿Y dónde está su hogar?
—En K-PAX
Entonces sonrió al darse cuenta de que yo ya sabÃa que creÃa proceder de otro mundo. Pero dijo simplemente:
—K-PAX es un PLANETA. Pero no se preocupe; no voy a comérmelo"
"La mayorÃa de los pacientes que tienen delirios se sienten tan confusos que balbucean o tartamudean cuando intentan responder a las preguntas complejas con coherencia. Pero éste además de conocer una serie de temas misteriosos tenÃa la confianza suficiente para exponer lo que sabÃa de un modo convincente(...)
me he encontrado con muchos pacientes que han sido capaces de hacer cosas sorprendentes que no podÃan hacer antes de caer enfermos. Y ahora aparece un hombre que cree proceder de un planeta en el que la gente es más sensible a la luz que nosotros. En momentos como ése uno se pregunta dónde están los lÃmites de la mente humana"
Una hermosa historia, sumamente emocional y que te pone a volar la imaginación. Maravillosamente narrada y construida. Con un protagonista totalmente carismático y entrañable.
Mi primer acercamiento con esta historia fue a través de su adaptación cinematográfica, hace varios años. la cual me encanto, y ahora tras leer la novela original, antecesora, debo decir que es bastante fiel, Aunque por obvias razones la novela indaga mas en diversos aspectos.
*Ojala fuésemos todos un poco k-paxianos y nuestra sociedad y paradigmas se asemejaran un poco con los de K-PAX
—Naturalmente. Creen que estoy loco.
—Yo prefiero el término «enfermo». ¿Cree que está enfermo?
—Tal vez sienta un poco de nostalgia. Echo de menos mi hogar.
—¿Y dónde está su hogar?
—En K-PAX
Entonces sonrió al darse cuenta de que yo ya sabÃa que creÃa proceder de otro mundo. Pero dijo simplemente:
—K-PAX es un PLANETA. Pero no se preocupe; no voy a comérmelo"
"La mayorÃa de los pacientes que tienen delirios se sienten tan confusos que balbucean o tartamudean cuando intentan responder a las preguntas complejas con coherencia. Pero éste además de conocer una serie de temas misteriosos tenÃa la confianza suficiente para exponer lo que sabÃa de un modo convincente(...)
me he encontrado con muchos pacientes que han sido capaces de hacer cosas sorprendentes que no podÃan hacer antes de caer enfermos. Y ahora aparece un hombre que cree proceder de un planeta en el que la gente es más sensible a la luz que nosotros. En momentos como ése uno se pregunta dónde están los lÃmites de la mente humana"
Una hermosa historia, sumamente emocional y que te pone a volar la imaginación. Maravillosamente narrada y construida. Con un protagonista totalmente carismático y entrañable.
Mi primer acercamiento con esta historia fue a través de su adaptación cinematográfica, hace varios años. la cual me encanto, y ahora tras leer la novela original, antecesora, debo decir que es bastante fiel, Aunque por obvias razones la novela indaga mas en diversos aspectos.
*Ojala fuésemos todos un poco k-paxianos y nuestra sociedad y paradigmas se asemejaran un poco con los de K-PAX
July 17, 2016
I remember seeing the movie version of this book some years ago, and while reading I could easily picture Kevin Spacey as prot (rhymes with goat). The book was quick to read, very compelling, with interesting and realistic characters. I thought the details of the planet K-PAX were fascinating, and I was left hoping that there really is such a place. Sorry to be so short here, but I am in a hurry to get back to the sequel, . Must find out what happens next!
August 8, 2016
A superb book. Combines typical SF elements brewed with mainstream Psychology and Psychiatry.
The book made me realize that as much as we can at several times put our psyche to be responsible for various things, there is eventually still a limit to understanding the psychology of a human being by a human being. IT GOES WAY BEYOND, ... UNDOUBTEDLY !!
Highly recommended.
The book made me realize that as much as we can at several times put our psyche to be responsible for various things, there is eventually still a limit to understanding the psychology of a human being by a human being. IT GOES WAY BEYOND, ... UNDOUBTEDLY !!
Highly recommended.
April 22, 2019
What a delightful read!
There is a clever beauty about this book that deals with belief, or rather suspension of disbelief, because the way it is written, the reader must pass judgement on 2 levels:
1) The book is written in non-fiction style, as if this was a true case history from a professional psychiatrist. Is it, or is it a work of fiction?
2) If fiction, is the the character Prot really a visitor from the planet K-PAX? (actually his name is prot, because names are not capitalized on K-Pax, except for celestial things like PLANETS and STARS)
Both of these questions operate throughout most of the book, although one question is resolved towards the end (not saying anything more - you'll have to read it to find the answer!) Of course if you've seen the film (DON'T IF YOU HAVEN'T YET AND YOU PLAN TO READ THE BOOK) then you know already. But do you know, really? Is prot a corporeal being, or some other metaphysical entity?
Obviously, I read the book, but I admit that I still don't know the answer to that question.
You decide.
There is a clever beauty about this book that deals with belief, or rather suspension of disbelief, because the way it is written, the reader must pass judgement on 2 levels:
1) The book is written in non-fiction style, as if this was a true case history from a professional psychiatrist. Is it, or is it a work of fiction?
2) If fiction, is the the character Prot really a visitor from the planet K-PAX? (actually his name is prot, because names are not capitalized on K-Pax, except for celestial things like PLANETS and STARS)
Both of these questions operate throughout most of the book, although one question is resolved towards the end (not saying anything more - you'll have to read it to find the answer!) Of course if you've seen the film (DON'T IF YOU HAVEN'T YET AND YOU PLAN TO READ THE BOOK) then you know already. But do you know, really? Is prot a corporeal being, or some other metaphysical entity?
Obviously, I read the book, but I admit that I still don't know the answer to that question.
You decide.
July 1, 2020
Maravilloso.
May 28, 2015
I saw the movie before reading the book. I didn't know the book existed at first. Anyway, I would go to the theater down from where I lived. I saw the movie four times! I went to the theater to see it the last three times by myself!
Alas, this isn't a movie review...
Then I came across the book in the bookstore (of all places), and read it. I read the book a second time (I love rereading books or rewatching movies). I'm rereading it for the third time. I recommend that if you have it, read it! If you don't have it, then you should obviously get it!
Alas, this isn't a movie review...
Then I came across the book in the bookstore (of all places), and read it. I read the book a second time (I love rereading books or rewatching movies). I'm rereading it for the third time. I recommend that if you have it, read it! If you don't have it, then you should obviously get it!
February 15, 2019
I really enjoyed this. I'm still not certain, however, if Prot really was a visitor from another world or not (I'm leaning towards "yes").
October 19, 2012
Psychiatrist Gene Brewer begins therapy with a new patient named Prot. During therapy, Prot makes a convincing argument that he is an alien from the plant K-PAX. Can it be so simple that Prot is an alien? Or is there something more to the story? What follows is a suspenseful journey to discover Prot's true identity.
This would have been a good book if it had not been for a few strikes that I have against it. The first strike is that I saw the movie based on this book a long time ago, so I already knew what was going to happen, who Prot really was, and therefore found nary a suspenseful moment in the book.
The second strike against this book is that I have recently read, "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden," which is a book very similar to "K-PAX" in plot, except that "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden," is a superior book in every possible way.
The psychiatrist, Gene, in "K-PAX" is boring, and makes no insightful comments. In fact, Gene's background, family life, and deepest feelings are often related to the reader all throughout the book, even though such information is not in any way interesting. Gene is just not interesting.
The dialogue between therapist and patient is not sharp and clever, filled with occasionally brilliant moments like it was in, "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden," but instead, it was lumbering and dull.
The mental health details in the book appear to have been hastily researched, and though there was an opportunity for the book's author to get inside of the head of Prot and show the reader the mind of a mental patient (as was so brilliantly done in, "I never Promised You a Rose Garden,") the author dropped the ball. I know nothing about the workings of Prot's mind, even though I did read what was supposedly hours of his therapy.
The quality of the book's writing is grade B, the dialogue is dull and the characters are not well rounded or interesting. This book is a quick read, and what keeps the pages turning is the question of who Prot really is--which is why once you do know who Prot is the book ceases to be interesting. It was still a fun read though. Although if I had to recommend a book about mentally ill patients working with their therapists to resolve mental health issues, I would totally suggest, "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden."
This would have been a good book if it had not been for a few strikes that I have against it. The first strike is that I saw the movie based on this book a long time ago, so I already knew what was going to happen, who Prot really was, and therefore found nary a suspenseful moment in the book.
The second strike against this book is that I have recently read, "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden," which is a book very similar to "K-PAX" in plot, except that "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden," is a superior book in every possible way.
The psychiatrist, Gene, in "K-PAX" is boring, and makes no insightful comments. In fact, Gene's background, family life, and deepest feelings are often related to the reader all throughout the book, even though such information is not in any way interesting. Gene is just not interesting.
The dialogue between therapist and patient is not sharp and clever, filled with occasionally brilliant moments like it was in, "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden," but instead, it was lumbering and dull.
The mental health details in the book appear to have been hastily researched, and though there was an opportunity for the book's author to get inside of the head of Prot and show the reader the mind of a mental patient (as was so brilliantly done in, "I never Promised You a Rose Garden,") the author dropped the ball. I know nothing about the workings of Prot's mind, even though I did read what was supposedly hours of his therapy.
The quality of the book's writing is grade B, the dialogue is dull and the characters are not well rounded or interesting. This book is a quick read, and what keeps the pages turning is the question of who Prot really is--which is why once you do know who Prot is the book ceases to be interesting. It was still a fun read though. Although if I had to recommend a book about mentally ill patients working with their therapists to resolve mental health issues, I would totally suggest, "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden."
September 3, 2016
Delicioso. Tierno. Entrañable.
Agotados los calificativos “moñasâ€� que demuestran que soy más tierno que el dÃa de la madre, deciros que este libro se puede leer en cualquier momento para que esos tres calificativos nos impacten de lleno.
El protagonista de la novela, “prot� se llama, es un loco o un extraterrestre. Eso no lo sabréis –si llegáis a saberlo, no hago ni ese spoiler- hasta el final de la novela. Y en el psiquiátrico le trata un psiquiatra comprensivo.
¿Os suena a algo el rollito paciente guay versus psiquiatra guay?. A mÃ, desde el comienzo, me sonaba a Los renglones torcidos de Dios, de Torcuato Luca de Tena. Y yo dirÃa que tiene muchas, muchas semejanzas. Si leÃsteis ese último y os gustó seguro que este de K-PAX también os va a gustar.
Los dos personajes principales (prot y su psiquiatra) están muy logrados e incluso los secundarios (resto de locos del lugar) tb tiene su interés. Hechos a pinceladas, pero bonitas pinceladas.
Un placer leer este libro. 8,75/10, y como pasa del 8 pues le caen las 5 estrellas. Hale.
Agotados los calificativos “moñasâ€� que demuestran que soy más tierno que el dÃa de la madre, deciros que este libro se puede leer en cualquier momento para que esos tres calificativos nos impacten de lleno.
El protagonista de la novela, “prot� se llama, es un loco o un extraterrestre. Eso no lo sabréis –si llegáis a saberlo, no hago ni ese spoiler- hasta el final de la novela. Y en el psiquiátrico le trata un psiquiatra comprensivo.
¿Os suena a algo el rollito paciente guay versus psiquiatra guay?. A mÃ, desde el comienzo, me sonaba a Los renglones torcidos de Dios, de Torcuato Luca de Tena. Y yo dirÃa que tiene muchas, muchas semejanzas. Si leÃsteis ese último y os gustó seguro que este de K-PAX también os va a gustar.
Los dos personajes principales (prot y su psiquiatra) están muy logrados e incluso los secundarios (resto de locos del lugar) tb tiene su interés. Hechos a pinceladas, pero bonitas pinceladas.
Un placer leer este libro. 8,75/10, y como pasa del 8 pues le caen las 5 estrellas. Hale.
March 14, 2015
I was torn about how to rate this one so I left it for a while. Now, a week on, I barely remember most of the details, which I think shows that it wasn't amazing, although it was definitely a fast-paced and interesting read.
The story is told from the perspective of Gene Brewer, a psychiatrist at a hospital in New York, who encounters prot - a man who insists that he is an alien from the distant planet K-PAX. Despite the fact that prot displays a range of unusual abilities and knowledge, Gene knows that he can't actually be an alien and so goes about trying to trace his past. In the mean time, prot begins to affect the mood of the other residents in the hospital by promising them that he will take one of them back with him when he returns to the utopia of K-PAX.
I'd seen the film of the book with Kevin Spacey ages ago and really enjoyed it. I read the book because it came highly recommended and usually books give more depth than films, however, I felt that the book didn't offer much more than the film in terms of the depth of the characters or the richness of the plot and setting. It was interesting all the way through and contained some entertaining digressions about scientific topics (neurology, astronomy, psychology, etc) that might have been obscure at the time the book was written 20 years ago but are now well understood even by non-scientists.
I think I would recommend it as a good 'beach read', easy to read an entertaining, but not hugely memorable.
The story is told from the perspective of Gene Brewer, a psychiatrist at a hospital in New York, who encounters prot - a man who insists that he is an alien from the distant planet K-PAX. Despite the fact that prot displays a range of unusual abilities and knowledge, Gene knows that he can't actually be an alien and so goes about trying to trace his past. In the mean time, prot begins to affect the mood of the other residents in the hospital by promising them that he will take one of them back with him when he returns to the utopia of K-PAX.
I'd seen the film of the book with Kevin Spacey ages ago and really enjoyed it. I read the book because it came highly recommended and usually books give more depth than films, however, I felt that the book didn't offer much more than the film in terms of the depth of the characters or the richness of the plot and setting. It was interesting all the way through and contained some entertaining digressions about scientific topics (neurology, astronomy, psychology, etc) that might have been obscure at the time the book was written 20 years ago but are now well understood even by non-scientists.
I think I would recommend it as a good 'beach read', easy to read an entertaining, but not hugely memorable.
February 1, 2015
The first book of the year for UK IT book club and what a cracker! I was a little bit dubious (as I always am) when it comes to sci-fi, but this is a great story. Set in a Manhattan psychiatric institute, it's based round a character called prot, who claims to be from the far distant planet of K-PAX. Where everything is better than it is on Earth. Doctor Brewer does his utmost to be to the bottom of prot's story. But does he fathom it out by the time prot is scheduled to return home? Well written, nice pace, a worthy 5* book imho.
June 12, 2019
2.5 maybe. Easy read, but mostly naive. I wanted sci-fi and got psych-fi... Oh well.
+ Environmental protection aspects
+ Interesting premise
- The psychiatrist sounds like he just finished his undergrad degree and has been practising for maybe a year, not 30.
- Acupuncture bit...
- Simplistic/Lay approach to mental health
+ Environmental protection aspects
+ Interesting premise
- The psychiatrist sounds like he just finished his undergrad degree and has been practising for maybe a year, not 30.
- Acupuncture bit...
- Simplistic/Lay approach to mental health
August 28, 2015
Second reading and still as entertaining. Well polished writing and solid plot balanced with a well-written protagonist. The psychological content is also well-executed. Nothing literary about this book, but by far one of the much better entertainment fictions out there.
January 8, 2024
prot is the most likeable character. Everyone likes him in the book and you would too and so do I!
I loved the movie and couldn't depart from Kevin Spacey as the looks of prot but other than that, the book is better in many regards.
The question of whether prot is really from K-PAX or deserves his place in the psych hospital is thrilling. The choice made to write the story as the sessions makes it somehow slow to read and its the only negative point I've to report.
I'm utterly curious to see why there's a second book and why it is actually a series 🤔
I loved the movie and couldn't depart from Kevin Spacey as the looks of prot but other than that, the book is better in many regards.
The question of whether prot is really from K-PAX or deserves his place in the psych hospital is thrilling. The choice made to write the story as the sessions makes it somehow slow to read and its the only negative point I've to report.
I'm utterly curious to see why there's a second book and why it is actually a series 🤔
April 25, 2014
prot (lower case ‘p�) insists that he’s from the planet K-PAX in the constellation of Lyra. As you might expect, prot is locked up in a New York Psychiatric hospital, and it falls to Dr Gene Brewer (the author, in other words) to solve the mystery of prot’s identity.
‘No-one believes I’m an alien� (apart from the fact that it would be a fab title for a Jerry Springer show, and it’s a shame Dr Brewer never worked this into the book) or ‘the alien in human form� is a staple SF device which, although handled competently here breaks very little new ground.
Dr Brewer, of course, considers prot to be a delusional amnesiac, and goes into partnership with a reporter in attempt to discover prot’s true identity before his planned return to K-PAX on August 17 at 3.31 am on a beam of light.
It’s a lightweight easy read, but suffers in that the reader is inevitably convinced throughout that prot is telling the truth. He demonstrates, for instance, knowledge of the area of space from which he comes which the doctor is assured he could not possibly know. In the course of the book he manages to cure several of the hospital’s patients, translates whale-song into English and Hamlet into pax-o (the language of K-PAX), and is proved to be able to see light in the ultra-violet range.
This may not sway the sceptical Dr Brewer, but it convinced me.
It would have been a far better novel if the true nature of prot were ambivalent and less obvious. There’s some decent characterisation here and there, but many people come across as two-dimensional in a severely linear story which holds few surprises.
There was a film starring Kevin Spacey, which didn't set the cinema world alight, and there’s a sequel or two which I’m not, I confess, straining at the leash to buy copies of.
Derivative pap.
‘No-one believes I’m an alien� (apart from the fact that it would be a fab title for a Jerry Springer show, and it’s a shame Dr Brewer never worked this into the book) or ‘the alien in human form� is a staple SF device which, although handled competently here breaks very little new ground.
Dr Brewer, of course, considers prot to be a delusional amnesiac, and goes into partnership with a reporter in attempt to discover prot’s true identity before his planned return to K-PAX on August 17 at 3.31 am on a beam of light.
It’s a lightweight easy read, but suffers in that the reader is inevitably convinced throughout that prot is telling the truth. He demonstrates, for instance, knowledge of the area of space from which he comes which the doctor is assured he could not possibly know. In the course of the book he manages to cure several of the hospital’s patients, translates whale-song into English and Hamlet into pax-o (the language of K-PAX), and is proved to be able to see light in the ultra-violet range.
This may not sway the sceptical Dr Brewer, but it convinced me.
It would have been a far better novel if the true nature of prot were ambivalent and less obvious. There’s some decent characterisation here and there, but many people come across as two-dimensional in a severely linear story which holds few surprises.
There was a film starring Kevin Spacey, which didn't set the cinema world alight, and there’s a sequel or two which I’m not, I confess, straining at the leash to buy copies of.
Derivative pap.
July 24, 2019
As always, the book is much better, more detailed than the movie. If you liked the movie, you have to read the book too!
March 27, 2018
Damn, that ending! Now I'm looking up theories and explanations for it because [don't read the spoiler if you plan to read this book]
RTC.
RTC.
April 15, 2023
I gave this 4 stars, which is an emotional rather than a literary endorsement. I loved the book, shades of Stranger in a Strange Land (etc), loved the idea, loved the magic but� I’m a psychotherapist. Nuff said.
December 28, 2023
I think just about everyone in our family has read this now. It has universal appeal! It was a good book. Easy to read, engaging and keeps you guessing all the way through. I still don't know the answer but maybe vol 2 and 3 will help!
September 23, 2015
K-PAX: Finally, A Science Fiction Masterpiece That “Could Happen�
“He calls himself prot (rhymes with goat). Is he man, alien or savior?�
First of all, let me say what a truly suspenseful and awesome beach read this is! Wow! I saw the movie poster at the theater in 2001 when the film came out. My dad rented it on VHS, and rented Dune—Frank Herbert’s science fiction masterpiece—a little later on, also on VHS. My dad was always a big fan of horror-type sci-fi (called SF for short). He liked movies like the Alien series of horror films � you remember, Sigourney Weaver fighting aliens with acid blood that exploded out of peoples� stomachs.
Ewe.
And he liked Predator—you remember that one, Arnold Schwarzenegger fights a humanoid alien in the jungles of South America, and wins.
Since then they have combined both series having the two creatures fight each other � just like on the hit video games.
Yuck.
But I never did share my dad’s interests wholly—except with K-PAX and Dune. (See my review for Frank Herbert’s book if that’s what you want; this review will focus on Gene Brewer’s wonderful little book). While most sci-fi concentrates on the “hard� sciences like physics or astronomy, K-PAX concentrates on the lighter “softer� sciences like sociology and psychology.
The movie poster shows a man wearing sunglasses and looking thoughtfully upward. The glasses have become a symbol for the story, like the weapon of the lightsaber in the Star Wars art.
Let me say that K-PAX is more than a bestseller � it’s a phenomenon! Able to stand alone in spite of four sequels, the book works in nearly every level. It is a psychological thriller, a love story much like Starman, and a great sci-fi novel. I should say at the outset that I have not read the sequels, but I will be soon checking out On a Beam of Light, also by Brewer. Unlike authors like Ludlum and Clancy, Gene Brewer writes all his own books solely on his own, no collaboration. And what a good book it is!
K-PAX concerns a perfectly reasonable man arrested by Manhattan police after giving “daffy� answers to the station interview questions. So they book him in a psych ward with a dozen other mental cases. Only he maintains his bizarre delusion (a fixed false belief) that he is from the planet K-PAX in the constellation Lyra. And he convinces all his fellow patients that he is really from outer space—and he is taking one of them back with him when he goes “home�!
His doctor, incidentally named Gene Brewer—probably to lend the story an autobiography-realistic-like feel—works diligently with him but finds himself more and more changed by this mysterious man who says he is from another world.
K-PAX is a great deal like the concept of Heaven, except there’s no God there to commune with—only plenty of aliens. No government. No sex. No crying. No pain. No more war. No vice or sin of any kind. And it’s twilight all the time. Sounds nice, right? Well, Brewer makes a detailed thesis that there may really be a K-PAX paradise somewhere out there. He even includes an extensive glossary (!) and prot’s report to K-PAX(!)—this last can be found in the annotated screenplay available online, (I haven’t yet read it).
But I bought the movie starring Jeff Bridges as Gene’s character (remember him in Starman?) and Kevin Spacey (American Beauty) as prot—the mystery man. The movie is very good, though I will say some aspects of prot’s message change from the book. There’s even an allusion to Data from The Next Generation TV show (Star Trek). The soundtrack (see my review) also was very good presenting a very New Age relaxation feel that fit in with the themes of the book. The concepts of human failures, law failures, religion and governmental failures. People still hurt and clutch at straws. People still go to war. Why?
Well, K-PAX proposes a very detailed and plausible answer. Thus this story—a man with a delusional thought that just won’t go away� could conceivably really happen. But reality would have to be stretched a little so stuff like having every possible mental illness manifested all in one hospital. And prot’s keen eyesight ability to see ultraviolet light and have a virtual encyclopedic knowledge of space all in his head.
Anyway, the book is a very good beach read and one you’ll definitely not want to miss. I’m not going to spoil the ending but you will probably be either pleased, sad, or even angry. So I wholeheartedly encourage you to get out your Kindle and download this book. Or if you’re like me, go and buy a hard copy to read. You won’t be sorry you did.
So pleasant reading to you and yours. And thanks for stopping by!
(Stay tuned as I track down the whole series and blast my way through).
“He calls himself prot (rhymes with goat). Is he man, alien or savior?�
First of all, let me say what a truly suspenseful and awesome beach read this is! Wow! I saw the movie poster at the theater in 2001 when the film came out. My dad rented it on VHS, and rented Dune—Frank Herbert’s science fiction masterpiece—a little later on, also on VHS. My dad was always a big fan of horror-type sci-fi (called SF for short). He liked movies like the Alien series of horror films � you remember, Sigourney Weaver fighting aliens with acid blood that exploded out of peoples� stomachs.
Ewe.
And he liked Predator—you remember that one, Arnold Schwarzenegger fights a humanoid alien in the jungles of South America, and wins.
Since then they have combined both series having the two creatures fight each other � just like on the hit video games.
Yuck.
But I never did share my dad’s interests wholly—except with K-PAX and Dune. (See my review for Frank Herbert’s book if that’s what you want; this review will focus on Gene Brewer’s wonderful little book). While most sci-fi concentrates on the “hard� sciences like physics or astronomy, K-PAX concentrates on the lighter “softer� sciences like sociology and psychology.
The movie poster shows a man wearing sunglasses and looking thoughtfully upward. The glasses have become a symbol for the story, like the weapon of the lightsaber in the Star Wars art.
Let me say that K-PAX is more than a bestseller � it’s a phenomenon! Able to stand alone in spite of four sequels, the book works in nearly every level. It is a psychological thriller, a love story much like Starman, and a great sci-fi novel. I should say at the outset that I have not read the sequels, but I will be soon checking out On a Beam of Light, also by Brewer. Unlike authors like Ludlum and Clancy, Gene Brewer writes all his own books solely on his own, no collaboration. And what a good book it is!
K-PAX concerns a perfectly reasonable man arrested by Manhattan police after giving “daffy� answers to the station interview questions. So they book him in a psych ward with a dozen other mental cases. Only he maintains his bizarre delusion (a fixed false belief) that he is from the planet K-PAX in the constellation Lyra. And he convinces all his fellow patients that he is really from outer space—and he is taking one of them back with him when he goes “home�!
His doctor, incidentally named Gene Brewer—probably to lend the story an autobiography-realistic-like feel—works diligently with him but finds himself more and more changed by this mysterious man who says he is from another world.
K-PAX is a great deal like the concept of Heaven, except there’s no God there to commune with—only plenty of aliens. No government. No sex. No crying. No pain. No more war. No vice or sin of any kind. And it’s twilight all the time. Sounds nice, right? Well, Brewer makes a detailed thesis that there may really be a K-PAX paradise somewhere out there. He even includes an extensive glossary (!) and prot’s report to K-PAX(!)—this last can be found in the annotated screenplay available online, (I haven’t yet read it).
But I bought the movie starring Jeff Bridges as Gene’s character (remember him in Starman?) and Kevin Spacey (American Beauty) as prot—the mystery man. The movie is very good, though I will say some aspects of prot’s message change from the book. There’s even an allusion to Data from The Next Generation TV show (Star Trek). The soundtrack (see my review) also was very good presenting a very New Age relaxation feel that fit in with the themes of the book. The concepts of human failures, law failures, religion and governmental failures. People still hurt and clutch at straws. People still go to war. Why?
Well, K-PAX proposes a very detailed and plausible answer. Thus this story—a man with a delusional thought that just won’t go away� could conceivably really happen. But reality would have to be stretched a little so stuff like having every possible mental illness manifested all in one hospital. And prot’s keen eyesight ability to see ultraviolet light and have a virtual encyclopedic knowledge of space all in his head.
Anyway, the book is a very good beach read and one you’ll definitely not want to miss. I’m not going to spoil the ending but you will probably be either pleased, sad, or even angry. So I wholeheartedly encourage you to get out your Kindle and download this book. Or if you’re like me, go and buy a hard copy to read. You won’t be sorry you did.
So pleasant reading to you and yours. And thanks for stopping by!
(Stay tuned as I track down the whole series and blast my way through).
November 2, 2022
Me platicaron mucho sobre la pelÃcula, pero quise adentrarme con el libro antes de verla. Considero que está escrita de una forma muy ligera para su rápida lectura.
Me gusta cómo se desarrolla el personaje de prot, la verdad toda la historia permite adentrarse en el mundo de K-PAX, sin embargo ese giro final me dejó muchas dudas, no todo es lo que parece según se dice, y en este caso me quedó más que claro.
Quiero saber más de la historia, cuando vuelve prot qué sucederá?
Me gusta cómo se desarrolla el personaje de prot, la verdad toda la historia permite adentrarse en el mundo de K-PAX, sin embargo ese giro final me dejó muchas dudas, no todo es lo que parece según se dice, y en este caso me quedó más que claro.
Quiero saber más de la historia, cuando vuelve prot qué sucederá?
October 25, 2015
Este libro puede resumirse en dos lÃneas: ¿y si existiera K-PAX? y aprovecha el momento.
prot es un ser de otro planeta que acude en auxilio de su amigo Robert a lo largo de su vida, pero un dÃa es internado y conoce a un doctor que trata de ayudarle mientras descubre poco a poco cosas sobre K-PAX sobre un mundo diferenteâ€� mejor.
La obra nos narra esas sesiones en las que nos hace dudar si prot es un alienÃgena o un enfermo mentalâ€� En el transcurso que le queda para su partida prot ayudará a los pacientes del centro, y al propio doctor a entender que la vida es demasiado preciosa para desaprovecharla. Siempre nos quedará esa duda de si prot es un kapaxiano...
Un libro MUY recomendable.
prot es un ser de otro planeta que acude en auxilio de su amigo Robert a lo largo de su vida, pero un dÃa es internado y conoce a un doctor que trata de ayudarle mientras descubre poco a poco cosas sobre K-PAX sobre un mundo diferenteâ€� mejor.
La obra nos narra esas sesiones en las que nos hace dudar si prot es un alienÃgena o un enfermo mentalâ€� En el transcurso que le queda para su partida prot ayudará a los pacientes del centro, y al propio doctor a entender que la vida es demasiado preciosa para desaprovecharla. Siempre nos quedará esa duda de si prot es un kapaxiano...
Un libro MUY recomendable.
August 28, 2014
I've wanted to read the book for years, to see what kind of novel (novela, really) could inspire such a magnificent film.
Never got round to it. Until now.
And wow! Beautiful. Poignant. So moving and subtle I wanted to believe!
Not much else I can say, except that I cried when Howie saw the Bluebird of happiness!
Never got round to it. Until now.
And wow! Beautiful. Poignant. So moving and subtle I wanted to believe!
Not much else I can say, except that I cried when Howie saw the Bluebird of happiness!
April 7, 2019
For once I preferred the movie.
October 3, 2019
The story is told from the point of view of a psychiatrist at a hospital who is treating a patient who says he's from another planet. The patient describes a utopian world (of a sort that daily life involves little technology and the inhabitants just kind of wander through their days.) describes the book as science fiction. In this book (the first in a series), that is not clear. There are suggestive bits in the book which could mean the patient isn't merely delusional. However, in this book, the psychiatrist never concludes he's really an alien, there is no climax at which his alien nature is made definite, and the reader never sees another world except in statements made by the patient. At the end, the patient's body remains, but is different.
A synopsis of the second book in the series says the alien(?) returns. But for review readers to understand, I must explain. At the end of K-PAX, it is found that a "friend" the patient has mentioned seems to be the patient (or at least that body.) When the patient disappears (with a number of items) from his room, the body is found in another room - in a catatonic state. The "return" is the body being no longer catatonic and once more saying he's an alien. In so far as we don't attribute this to delusion or multiple personalities, the "science fiction" seems to be a mind traveling between planets and entering someone else's body. But the patient has never suggested he doesn't travel in his own body. I don't find it any more satisfying that we're told that interstellar travel is done by tachyons - and has something to do with a flashlight and mirror.
Readers who want logical consistency may find issues. For instance, the patient tells the doctor he arrived on Earth in Africa because Africa happened to be the part of Earth facing his planet at the time of arrival. While the patient was in the hospital, his body belonged to a man from Montana who had not been in Africa. So, are we to believe an alien arrived as a bodiless mind capable of wandering the Earth in that form - and then later somehow inhabited this body? And then using a flashlight and mirror helps the mind leave that body and travel to another planet?
A synopsis of the second book in the series says the alien(?) returns. But for review readers to understand, I must explain. At the end of K-PAX, it is found that a "friend" the patient has mentioned seems to be the patient (or at least that body.) When the patient disappears (with a number of items) from his room, the body is found in another room - in a catatonic state. The "return" is the body being no longer catatonic and once more saying he's an alien. In so far as we don't attribute this to delusion or multiple personalities, the "science fiction" seems to be a mind traveling between planets and entering someone else's body. But the patient has never suggested he doesn't travel in his own body. I don't find it any more satisfying that we're told that interstellar travel is done by tachyons - and has something to do with a flashlight and mirror.
Readers who want logical consistency may find issues. For instance, the patient tells the doctor he arrived on Earth in Africa because Africa happened to be the part of Earth facing his planet at the time of arrival. While the patient was in the hospital, his body belonged to a man from Montana who had not been in Africa. So, are we to believe an alien arrived as a bodiless mind capable of wandering the Earth in that form - and then later somehow inhabited this body? And then using a flashlight and mirror helps the mind leave that body and travel to another planet?
March 7, 2020
I really enjoyed the movie K-PAX, and have rewatched it many times since it came out in 2001. I knew it was based on a book, but never had much interest in checking it out until now. I was afraid I wouldn't like it.
But it turns out, the book is pretty good, too! And the movie is a surprisingly faithful adaptation. Even the movie's minor characters are mostly all found in the book.
My only complaint is that Kevin Spacey's interpretation of Prot is far better than the audiobook narrator's in the audio production.
All in all, a compelling a thought-provoking exploration of possible extraterrestrials, and probably schizophrenia, with great social commentary and philosophy along the way.
But it turns out, the book is pretty good, too! And the movie is a surprisingly faithful adaptation. Even the movie's minor characters are mostly all found in the book.
My only complaint is that Kevin Spacey's interpretation of Prot is far better than the audiobook narrator's in the audio production.
All in all, a compelling a thought-provoking exploration of possible extraterrestrials, and probably schizophrenia, with great social commentary and philosophy along the way.
February 16, 2025
Me ha sorprendido para bien este libro. La historia es muy interesante y me gustó ver la evolución de las sesiones e ir conociendo mejor a Prot.
~Spoiler~
Sigo sin estar segura de si me quedo con la explicación de Gene o con la de Prot, por una parte pienso que al final todo se puede explicar con las conclusiones del psicólogo peto por otra hay ciertas cosas que no me terminan de cuadrar y me gusta pensar que Prot decÃa la verdad.
~Spoiler~
Sigo sin estar segura de si me quedo con la explicación de Gene o con la de Prot, por una parte pienso que al final todo se puede explicar con las conclusiones del psicólogo peto por otra hay ciertas cosas que no me terminan de cuadrar y me gusta pensar que Prot decÃa la verdad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 25, 2020
Una historia maravillosa, un libro que resume lo que es la vida y el amor por los demás, que te hará reflexionar y analizar sobre el mundo y el valor que le damos a las cosas.
Un libro que ofrece mil relecturas, que te reirás e incluso lloraras con un final demoledor.
Es uno de eso libros que hay que leer.
Solo merece un calificativo, genial!
Un libro que ofrece mil relecturas, que te reirás e incluso lloraras con un final demoledor.
Es uno de eso libros que hay que leer.
Solo merece un calificativo, genial!
June 3, 2019
Weirdly took a long time for me to read it. At first I was hooked and then I didn't care. Strong resemblance to the movie, which I really enjoyed. While I want to know how it all ends, I don't want to read 4 more books, so I'll be giving the rest of them a pass.
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