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A review by mairispaceship
Being Dead by Jim Crace
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.