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yash590's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The book is about death - not in the romantic poetic sense. Although parts of it read like poetry, it is visceral in its description. It does not glorify death nor does it undermine death. It provides a description of death in its most physical form.
May be because of this, the tragedy of death does not present itself outright at the beginning of the novel. It only manifests towards the latter half of the novel, once we get to know the lives behind the deaths.
The novel starts off good, but towards the half way point I felt it to be a little boring, when the daughter's character was introduced. However, the discussion on death and the discussion on the effect of death on the daughter were impactful.
In multiple instances, the author mentions that death does not automatically and immediately instill grief. The idea of death readily brings grief but the actuality of death does not. When John and Celice die, Syl looks forward to the attention that she may receive. And when the daughter finds that her parents may be dead, she feels euphoric - "The closest family, the principal mourners are oddly happy with themselves, and stirred. Their hearts – and social niceties – may call for frenzies of despair, an ululating epilepsy, collapse, hysteria, but their brains dispense instead a cocktail of euphoric chemicals to bolster them against the shock and rage. Adrenalin cannot discriminate." "She went again into her mother’s room, pulled back the sheets and stared at the bed, looking for the trigger of some tears. She opened all the cupboards and the drawers, spread a hand across her mother’s underclothes, inspected the unopened packet of cigarettes she found buried underneath, picked up her combs and necklaces, sniffed the cordite smell of hair on her brush, stared at the wedding photograph. But she felt nothing."
A dark book but one that tries to make the concept of death, at once, familiar and final in a much better way than any platitude.
May be because of this, the tragedy of death does not present itself outright at the beginning of the novel. It only manifests towards the latter half of the novel, once we get to know the lives behind the deaths.
The novel starts off good, but towards the half way point I felt it to be a little boring, when the daughter's character was introduced. However, the discussion on death and the discussion on the effect of death on the daughter were impactful.
In multiple instances, the author mentions that death does not automatically and immediately instill grief. The idea of death readily brings grief but the actuality of death does not. When John and Celice die, Syl looks forward to the attention that she may receive. And when the daughter finds that her parents may be dead, she feels euphoric - "The closest family, the principal mourners are oddly happy with themselves, and stirred. Their hearts – and social niceties – may call for frenzies of despair, an ululating epilepsy, collapse, hysteria, but their brains dispense instead a cocktail of euphoric chemicals to bolster them against the shock and rage. Adrenalin cannot discriminate." "She went again into her mother’s room, pulled back the sheets and stared at the bed, looking for the trigger of some tears. She opened all the cupboards and the drawers, spread a hand across her mother’s underclothes, inspected the unopened packet of cigarettes she found buried underneath, picked up her combs and necklaces, sniffed the cordite smell of hair on her brush, stared at the wedding photograph. But she felt nothing."
A dark book but one that tries to make the concept of death, at once, familiar and final in a much better way than any platitude.
sphfane's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Plot is out of order/ skips around, very slow, boring af
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
mairispaceship's review against another edition
3.0
This was a very tricky book to review (and even trickier to sort it onto a shelf ... Does it fit in my "joy of every day life" shelf when it's a book about death?). When all was said and done though, I decided to give it a 3 stars.
Being Dead is a story about, well, death. Celice and Joseph are a late middle-aged couple that meet their untimely demise during a trip to the beach. Baritone Bay - the place they first met, a place of immense love, nature and also (if the theme of the book wasn't a giveaway), a lot of death.
It's a great example of a story where the setting is a main character. Even though Baritone Bay is described as a beautiful, sunny place .. There is such tension and unease in every line. The location is a character unto itself and a very unforgiving character at that.
... But speaking of the characters, that's likely where my review loses a star. All the men in the book are written as weak, meek, and quiet. The women by contrast are all strong - they're all hyper sexualised, and bordering manic pixie dream girl personalities. I really do mean all of them and to me this jarred with the sensitivity of the rest of the book.
However, take this with a pinch of salt. I don't know if this is a huge issue, because the book isn't so much about the characters as it is about a specific, fixed point in time. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that the author is a good one. I really enjoyed "Being Dead", it evokes such strong emotions and questions about life, death, peace. Life, in the end, comes full circle. Jim Crace has nailed it.
Being Dead is a story about, well, death. Celice and Joseph are a late middle-aged couple that meet their untimely demise during a trip to the beach. Baritone Bay - the place they first met, a place of immense love, nature and also (if the theme of the book wasn't a giveaway), a lot of death.
It's a great example of a story where the setting is a main character. Even though Baritone Bay is described as a beautiful, sunny place .. There is such tension and unease in every line. The location is a character unto itself and a very unforgiving character at that.
... But speaking of the characters, that's likely where my review loses a star. All the men in the book are written as weak, meek, and quiet. The women by contrast are all strong - they're all hyper sexualised, and bordering manic pixie dream girl personalities. I really do mean all of them and to me this jarred with the sensitivity of the rest of the book.
However, take this with a pinch of salt. I don't know if this is a huge issue, because the book isn't so much about the characters as it is about a specific, fixed point in time. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that the author is a good one. I really enjoyed "Being Dead", it evokes such strong emotions and questions about life, death, peace. Life, in the end, comes full circle. Jim Crace has nailed it.
an_enthusiastic_reader's review against another edition
3.0
Well-written. Beautifully captures the physical aspects of life and death. But too clinical for me to care about its characters.
alexctelander's review against another edition
3.0
“‘It’s not as if . . . ,’” she said. And then her scalp hung open like a fish’s mouth. The white roots of her crown were stoplight red.” A couple suffers a horrific fate at the hands of a granite-club-wielding murderer, while they enjoy each other on the beach of Baritone Bay, where they first met. This is the premise of Being Dead, from English novelist Jim Crace, author of Quarantine and Signals of Distress. “Crace is a writer of hallucinatory skill,” says John Updike.
The novel begins with the two bodies lying in the sand, his hand latched on to her shin, a symbol of their unbreakable love passing into eternity. From there the novel takes three directions. One is the incidents that lead up to their deaths; another is how they first met, then fell in love, married, and spent the following thirty years together; the last is the succeeding days of their corpses suffering the wear and teat of nature and the weather, as their bodies remain undiscovered.
Who would have thought it possible that a novel about the death of the main characters would be published? Being Dead cannot be locked into one specific genre, but seems to flitter over them all, one minute taking you to the horrors of their deaths and decay, the next dabbling in the moving love story that kept them together for so long. Crace has a writing style that is truly unlike any other.
Originally published on September 4th 2001 ©Alex C. Telander.
For over 500 book reviews, and over 40 exclusive author interviews (both audio and written), visit BookBanter.
The novel begins with the two bodies lying in the sand, his hand latched on to her shin, a symbol of their unbreakable love passing into eternity. From there the novel takes three directions. One is the incidents that lead up to their deaths; another is how they first met, then fell in love, married, and spent the following thirty years together; the last is the succeeding days of their corpses suffering the wear and teat of nature and the weather, as their bodies remain undiscovered.
Who would have thought it possible that a novel about the death of the main characters would be published? Being Dead cannot be locked into one specific genre, but seems to flitter over them all, one minute taking you to the horrors of their deaths and decay, the next dabbling in the moving love story that kept them together for so long. Crace has a writing style that is truly unlike any other.
Originally published on September 4th 2001 ©Alex C. Telander.
For over 500 book reviews, and over 40 exclusive author interviews (both audio and written), visit BookBanter.
lavina_l's review against another edition
4.0
I absolutely loved this book, beginning to end, flaws and all, but if I wrote a review of it, it'd pretty much reiterate exactly what Dan wrote in his review on 5/25, with emphasis on his last paragraph, and an added note on how gorgeous the prose is when Crace isn't trying too hard.
mslaura's review against another edition
4.0
I'm trying out something new since I haven't been very good about writing full reviews in a while.
Ratings (1 to 5)
Writing: 4.5
Plot: 4
Characters: 3
Emotional impact: 4
Overall rating: 4
Notes
Favorite character(s):
Favorite quotes:
Other notes: I found the technique of telling the sequence of events leading up to and including the murders in reverse order very interesting.
Ratings (1 to 5)
Writing: 4.5
Plot: 4
Characters: 3
Emotional impact: 4
Overall rating: 4
Notes
Favorite character(s):
Favorite quotes:
Other notes: I found the technique of telling the sequence of events leading up to and including the murders in reverse order very interesting.
jeffreyp's review against another edition
5.0
What a lovely little book, a bit of a treatise on (a few kinds of) love and (a few kinds of) death. This is a keeper, one to read every few years.
ericbutler555's review against another edition
5.0
Truly stunning novel recounting the last days and tracing back to the beginnings of love for two middle-aged biologists who get murdered on a deserted beach and are left to decompose. It's the most poetic, delicate, lovely story about death I've ever read, and gives such life to death that you leave the story in love with the cycle. For sober readers, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.