Beyond Apollo by Barry N. Malzberg
"Beyond Apollo" is a novel that explores the psychological turmoil of Harry M. Evans, the sole survivor of a disastrous two-man mission to Venus. Confined in a government facility near the Kennedy Space Complex in Florida, Evans is interrogated by Dr. Claude Forrest, a neurologist seeking to uncover the truth behind the mission's failure and the mysterious fate of Evans' missing partner. Throughout the novel, Evans provides a series of contradictory narratives regarding the events that transpired, each filled with varying degrees of possible realities that challenge the notion of objective truth. His accounts range from suggestions of murder and suicide to extraordinary claims of telepathic encounters with Venusians, who threaten the astronauts if they proceed with their landing. This stream-of-consciousness style reflects Evans' fragmented psyche, blurring the lines between memory, imagination, and reality. The narrative also delves into his troubled relationship with his wife, Helen, adding layers of complexity to his character and psychological state. Ultimately, "Beyond Apollo" portrays a man grappling with deep trauma and the inability to discern truth amid a web of conflicting stories, leaving readers to ponder the nature of reality itself.
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Beyond Apollo
First published: 1972
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—New Wave
Time of work: 1981
Locale: A space capsule and a federal institution near Cape Canaveral, Florida
The Plot
Beyond Apollo tells the story of Harry M. Evans, the thirty-eight-year-old sole survivor of an ill-fated, two-man mission to Venus. Confined at a government institution near the Kennedy Space Complex in Florida, Evans is interrogated by Dr. Claude Forrest, a neurologist. The government wants to find out why the mission to Venus was aborted by one or two of the astronauts and what happened to the captain, whose body is missing. Evans’ response is to tell a different story of the events every time he is questioned. In the absence of hard evidence, Evans’ changing testimony increasingly frustrates Forrest, who is not able to establish the truth by the end of the novel.
The various explanations of the mission’s failure make up a significant part of Evans’ first-person narrative. Evans offers a rich variety of possible scenarios, always with the same momentary belief in their truth. There are reports in which the captain, whom Evans alternately calls Joseph Jackson or Jack Josephson, may have committed suicide, tried to rape Evans, or tried to murder him. He also may have been murdered by Evans or had an accident that sent him out of the space capsule’s disposal hatch. The ejection of the captain’s corpse into space is a common theme in most of Evans’ versions, though in a few of them the captain became insubstantial and faded through the spaceship’s metal toward the Sun.
The most outlandish of Evans’ stories involves telepathic contact with the Venusians. During these “Great Venus Disturbances,” the aliens tell the two astronauts that they must not land on Venus. If they do not change course, the Venusians threaten to kill one of the crew and send the other back to Earth to warn his government about the futility of further missions. Because a manual override of the programmed course seems impossible, either the aliens kill the captain or Evans performs the murder.
The central idea behind Evans’ stories is that, in the absence of any surviving outside reference to check on his reports, any version has the potential to be true. This confusing outcome is mirrored by the textual complexity of the novel itself. Beyond Apollo reads as Evans’ stream of consciousness. At one point, he even promises that one day he will write a novel about his experiences and call it Beyond Apollo.
Although the core of the novel deals with Evans’ reaction to the failed Venus mission, Beyond Apollo also covers his private life on Earth. In these narrations, it is equally impossible to judge when Evans’ recollections of his dysfunctional relationship with his wife, Helen, are grounded in reality, recount a dream, or come directly from his imagination. Similarly, Evans’ account of his present confinement is riddled with ambiguities and invented episodes, such as his strangulation of Dr. Forrest.
In the end, Beyond Apollo paints the troubled picture of a man who has encountered some terrible horror in space. Evans’ trauma has left him with an inability to find out—even for himself—which of his many stories is the true one.