This was one of my ancient paperbacks that I bought at 'BOOKS ON BELMONT' a Chicago bookstore that I don't remember. I finished the novel on Tu 2/9/93. This time I finished on Fr 5/1/26.
It's kind of a cautionary tale about 'global governments'. 'The Aliens' {The Shing} have created small isolated settlements of humans all over the planet. They do this to 'keep us separate and without power', {like redrawing the voting lines within states}.
The hero is left naked and discovered without a clue as to his identity. His eyes are like the eyes of a cat.
From techietonics.com:
"The story is set on Earth in the future, after a big disaster that has destroyed much of civilization, because of which, knowledge and information are hard to find, and people live separated in small groups. The story builds up slowly, and as it progresses, the plot thickens. It begins with a man named Falk who is found in the woods without remembering who he is. He also has strange eyes that don’t look fully human. Initially, the forest people teach him how to speak and how to survive in their environment. One of these people, Parth, becomes very close to Falk, forming a strong relationship. Their connection is deep, but it’s not a typical romantic relationship. As the story goes on, Falk begins to experience small flashes of memories from his past, especially about a distant mountain. It hints that there is an important, possibly hidden, part of Falk’s history that is waiting to be uncovered.
His journey from the forest to the mysterious city of Es Toch is one of the most interesting parts. He runs into all kinds of groups, such as an old telepathic Listener who lives alone in a cabin, a weirdly charming despot who calls himself the Prince of Kansas, and a nomadic tribe who blind him during a ritual. None of these people feel like filler. They each show a different way humanity has adapted or broken down. The Listener in particular stuck with me. He can’t read thoughts, only emotions, which ends up telling Falk more than words ever could, like he says,
“I know the compass of your mind, outlandish as it is, whether I will or no. North and south are dim; far back in the east is a lost brightness; to the west there lies darkness, a heavy darkness. I know that darkness.”"
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