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3.1 AVERAGE
3.1 AVERAGE
Very cheesy love story, but I sort of loved the back and forth, even if it m lied into one (which was maybe the point?). The 'chapters' were more signifiers of there life rather than afterlife, which is appropriate in Jane's fight
I HATED this book when it started. I stopped reading it and read something else. But I felt compelled to try and finish it because it is for a book club I am in. When I finally forced myself to start reading again I found that my loathing eventually began to subside. While I still can't say I loved it, or even necessarily liked it, I did began to empathize with the main characters and the grief they struggled with.
This novella reads as an interesting idea for a short story that never got edited down to size. It suffers from never really getting anywhere. Utterly forgettable characters don't help either.
Shy of 3 stars, but rounded up because I liked it better (or maybe I just had a less adverse reaction) than some of the other experimental ToB competitors. The first half of the story was perhaps interesting enough and the second half made me think a bit, but the end was totally unsatisfying.
Ah. I really was with Adrian and Horowitz through the first half of the book and pretty let down by the second. My hope kept dwindling page after page as there was no connection to the conceit of the first half -- through the confusing, unfounded second reality for Jane in Cycle 2 and the total abandonment of the Jim in the future.
I know this began as a digital novel, and it does reek a little of the carelessness with which we tend to allow things to be published digitally. I've noticed a trend in novels and essay collections that really ache for better editing, for someone to push (really very good) writers further than the spot where they, tired in the moment, perhaps, closed their laptops and decided their work was done. It's not! This book has more in it that isn't yet written -- this book is still in draft. A really good draft, but a draft nonetheless.
I know this began as a digital novel, and it does reek a little of the carelessness with which we tend to allow things to be published digitally. I've noticed a trend in novels and essay collections that really ache for better editing, for someone to push (really very good) writers further than the spot where they, tired in the moment, perhaps, closed their laptops and decided their work was done. It's not! This book has more in it that isn't yet written -- this book is still in draft. A really good draft, but a draft nonetheless.
Read this because it is up against A Little Life for the Tournament of Books, and I wanted to be able to predict the result.
The premise of this, and the first section of the book was intriguing, and there was some good writing. Unfortunately, I feel like the second half of the book drove straight off the rails. It became a book about something entirely different than the setup in the first half indicated - like it belonged to a completely different genre or something. I am not sure what the author was trying to accomplish, but I thought it wasn't well done, didn't make sense to me, anyway. I wouldn't think this has much of a chance against A Little Life for TOB, because even the best features of this novel are not particularly groundbreaking or emotionally effective, in my opinion. Anyway, interesting setup, disappointing conclusion.
The premise of this, and the first section of the book was intriguing, and there was some good writing. Unfortunately, I feel like the second half of the book drove straight off the rails. It became a book about something entirely different than the setup in the first half indicated - like it belonged to a completely different genre or something. I am not sure what the author was trying to accomplish, but I thought it wasn't well done, didn't make sense to me, anyway. I wouldn't think this has much of a chance against A Little Life for TOB, because even the best features of this novel are not particularly groundbreaking or emotionally effective, in my opinion. Anyway, interesting setup, disappointing conclusion.
When Jane's husband, Jim, dies suddenly she barely has time to reach the hospital before she discovers that a cryogenics company has already taken his head. What follows is a back and forth between Jane and Jim's' experiences in the following weeks, as well as a look back at their relationship.
The New World: A Novel by Chris Adrian and Eli Gottlieb is a very short novel about the nature of our connectedness with the people who share our lives. Upon arriving in his new world, Jim is informed that in order to move forward, he will need to forget all the relationships and memories that make him who he is. And Jane engages in a desperate and seemingly futile battle to retrieve her husband's head.
This is an inventive novel, but less inventive than it might be, it's brevity requiring that none of the ideas presented be fully developed. Still, it was entertaining enough, even if the relationships that form the centre of the novel were somewhat shallowly drawn.
The New World: A Novel by Chris Adrian and Eli Gottlieb is a very short novel about the nature of our connectedness with the people who share our lives. Upon arriving in his new world, Jim is informed that in order to move forward, he will need to forget all the relationships and memories that make him who he is. And Jane engages in a desperate and seemingly futile battle to retrieve her husband's head.
This is an inventive novel, but less inventive than it might be, it's brevity requiring that none of the ideas presented be fully developed. Still, it was entertaining enough, even if the relationships that form the centre of the novel were somewhat shallowly drawn.
On their 8th wedding anniversary, Jim suddenly dies while his wife Jane is out of town. She is horrified to discover upon her return that Jim had signed up with the company Polaris who promises a way for eternal life. In order for that to happen Jim will have to forget everything from his previous life. What follows is a story of what makes a marriage work and how everybody has their own perspective of events.
Some favorite lines from the book.
"Her mother gave her a hug, which Jane tolerated, though she was getting very tired of people hugging her when she was angry - did people hug Cobras in their flaring hoods, or porcupines in their coats of rigid spines?"
"Always together, never apart" - a theme throughout the book
Some favorite lines from the book.
"Her mother gave her a hug, which Jane tolerated, though she was getting very tired of people hugging her when she was angry - did people hug Cobras in their flaring hoods, or porcupines in their coats of rigid spines?"
"Always together, never apart" - a theme throughout the book
“He told them all not to be sad, because Jim wasn’t really dead: when you thought about it, he had just undertaken a truly remarkable journey.” p.17
I am still thinking about this novel. I know that many would classify it as science fiction and dismiss it as genre fiction. (Some day genre fiction will get its due, but not any time soon.) I don’t think that this quite fits the genre fiction label, but I am not sure how to write about it.
The plot lines start simply. Jim dies and Jane, his beloved wife, discovers that he has decided to have his head frozen for future reviving. The story becomes complicated because we read a chapter about what Jane is going through right now and then a chapter where Jim is in the process of being reborn. So time in this novel is a bit convoluted. So is memory. What people are remembering and what they seem to need to remember was confusing for me.
Every year, I write reviews of books that I only picked up because of the Tournament of Books. When The Morning News team picks their sixteen titles for the TOB, there are always several which I know nothing about. This year, most of the novels are new to me. This was one of those. I found the premises of this book interesting and the authors made me thing about the afterlife in a different way. So, once again I am grateful to the TOB for helping me read out of my comfort zone.
Other thought provoking books that the Tournament of Books introduced to me:
All the Birds, Singing
The Dinner
My Brilliant Friend
The People in the Trees
The Signature of All Things
I am still thinking about this novel. I know that many would classify it as science fiction and dismiss it as genre fiction. (Some day genre fiction will get its due, but not any time soon.) I don’t think that this quite fits the genre fiction label, but I am not sure how to write about it.
The plot lines start simply. Jim dies and Jane, his beloved wife, discovers that he has decided to have his head frozen for future reviving. The story becomes complicated because we read a chapter about what Jane is going through right now and then a chapter where Jim is in the process of being reborn. So time in this novel is a bit convoluted. So is memory. What people are remembering and what they seem to need to remember was confusing for me.
Every year, I write reviews of books that I only picked up because of the Tournament of Books. When The Morning News team picks their sixteen titles for the TOB, there are always several which I know nothing about. This year, most of the novels are new to me. This was one of those. I found the premises of this book interesting and the authors made me thing about the afterlife in a different way. So, once again I am grateful to the TOB for helping me read out of my comfort zone.
Other thought provoking books that the Tournament of Books introduced to me:
All the Birds, Singing
The Dinner
My Brilliant Friend
The People in the Trees
The Signature of All Things