The story begins with Lanark finding himself in a strange city called Unthank that has no sunlight and where people sometimes just randomly disappear without a trace. He is very much a loner, but manages to get involved with a group of his peers that hang out at a cafe called "The Elite". It is in this group that he meets Rima, a sort of love interest. The strangeness continues until the next book, where Lanark's childhood unfolds in the very seemingly normal city of Glasgow. In this world he is called Duncan Thaw, not Lanark. In fact, the two lives don't really seem to have much connection at all. A more appropriate title for the novel might have been, "Two Lives in Four Books". I found myself enjoying the first three books, and then disliking the fourth due to a lack of any apparent connection with Duncan Thaw and Lanark, other than the fact that they are both dysfunctional and unable to connect with other people, especially when it comes to love and romance. An interesting novel in many respects, but utlimately disappointing for this reader.