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Senseless is a book that does not leave you, whose disturbing images remain with you long after you finish the last page. It is that most shocking of books, one whose gruesome acts resonate in reality. It is terrifying because it could so easily be true. Eliott Gast is a mid-level American economist working in Belgium, not the kind of person you would think would make an attractive hostage. However, while at a business dinner in Brussels, he is kidnapped by a group of terrorists who oppose the European economic union and imprisoned in a totally white apartment with no apparent way in or out. His captors remain elusive, and he lives comfortably for a few weeks. The kidnappers provide him with the necessities, as well as books to occupy his time; but there doesn't seem to be a purpose in his snatching. Little does he know, but Gast's plight is being broadcast on the Internet. He is the first online hostage. The kidnappers are raising funds by running a vote on the site. The results of the vote determine if Gast will be tortured and removed of one of his senses. If the viewers donate enough money and vote for his release, he will be let go. His fate is entirely in the hands of the visitors to the site; and he systematically loses each of his senses, one by one. He is a man who has had a sensual relationship with food and wine and the finer things in life, and the loss of his ability to hear or touch or taste or smell is a blow to everything that he has lived for. After each vote, his captors perform a medical procedure to remove one of his senses. One does not have to read the details to be deeply disturbed by these events. Imagine losing your hearing, and knowing that it is only a matter of time before another sense will be snatched from you. At the mercy of an anonymous group of onlookers, there is nothing to be done, no way out. You are an entertainment commodity, something to watch in horror, a reality show that has no limitations. Senseless is a grim read, with Eliott in a truly hopeless situation. Even the reader feels complicit in what happens to Eliott‹after all, just like those voting to continue the torture, you are continuing to turn the page to see what gruesome event is next. Senseless is the perfect title for the book‹in addition to being rendered truly senseless, the acts of which the books speak have no moral meaning and depict humanity at its worst and possibly most real. This is a deeply disturbing yet oddly thought provoking book, beautifully written but emotionally wrenching. I found it extraordinary.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, November 2002
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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