Ennui

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

79099

Title

Ennui

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

A mind-bending psychological fantasy where a bored protagonist discovers the power of solipsism. By simply refusing to acknowledge others, he erases his wife, lovers, colleagues, and eventually all of humanity. As he destroys the universe to escape ennui, he confronts the terrifying paradox that his own existence may be equally illusory.

Summary up to 500 words

In Stephen Marlowe's 'Ennui,' the narrative follows Gerald, a man consumed by profound boredom who discovers he possesses the power to alter reality by denying the existence of others. The story begins with a confrontation between Gerald, his wife Gloria, and Gloria's lover, Phil. Overwhelmed by irritation, Gerald simply declares that Phil does not exist, and the man vanishes instantly. This act transforms Gerald from a theoretical solipsist into a practical one, realizing that if he wills something away, it ceases to have 'quididity' or real existence. Empowered by this ability, Gerald systematically erases those who bore him or challenged him. He first eliminates Phil, then his colleague Tom Nugent to secure a job, and eventually his wife Gloria, whom he finds tedious. His egoism expands; unable to tolerate rejection from women who spurn him, he wills all women out of existence, inadvertently causing the extinction of the human race. He then destroys scientists, religious cultists, and eventually the entire solar system, including the sun and planets, finding them equally uninteresting. Gerald's destruction escalates to a cosmic scale. He travels at the speed of thought, destroying star systems like Centauri and Deneb, and eventually wiping out the Andromeda galaxy and hundreds more. He realizes the paradox of his power: he can destroy but cannot create. Even in the infinite void, he attempts to fashion a single hydrogen atom but fails, realizing his inability to recreate matter. Left alone in an empty universe, Gerald faces a metaphysical crisis. He contemplates whether he is merely a 'collocation of ideas' with no real existence. He considers willing himself out of existence to find the final answer to the nature of reality, reasoning that nothingness might be the only true state. However, he acknowledges the fatal flaw in this logic: if he ceases to exist, he cannot know the answer. The story concludes with Gerald floating in eternal emptiness, weary and horribly, terribly, endlessly bored, questioning the nature of the self and the reality he once destroyed.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

Download URL

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/79099.epub.noimages

Local file path

data/epubs/pg79099.epub

Download EPUB

Downloaded at

2026-08-13 13:02 UTC

Categories

• Fiction
• Fantasy