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A review by michaelapr
The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book was an intriguing one. I was kept interested despite the slow pace and enjoyed it more once the two storylines began to connect and I had fun finding those connections.
I liked the exploration of memory and how memory keeps the remembered "alive" in a sense. It's very much like Norse mythology in a way - how you can never truly die until there's no one left to remember you and your deeds.
What made this book hard to read, however, was "The Blinks." The Blinks is the extremely deadly and contagious virus that spreads worldwide, killing the majority if not all of the population. Now, this book was written in 2006 when there hadn't been a global pandemic in quite some time. I read it in 2024 and I have lived through a global pandemic. While this was obviously an extreme case of a pandemic that was out of control, very much unlike COVID, it was still hard to read at times and a bit triggering if I'm going to be honest. So that's something to keep in mind.
While this book was well written, had meaningful moments, and kept me interesting despite certain parts of disjointedness - it still didn't quite make 4 stars for me. Why? Because it depended on the ending and the ending was dumb. I'm sure there's people who loved the ending but I do not. It felt like the author had written himself in a corner that he couldn't get out of when he ended this book. It was abrupt and felt pointless even knowing that this was more of an exploration of the theme of memory sort of book and not a plot based book. The ending doesn't fit with the rest of the book and therefore the book falls short of a 4 star rating from me. 3.75/5 stars
I liked the exploration of memory and how memory keeps the remembered "alive" in a sense. It's very much like Norse mythology in a way - how you can never truly die until there's no one left to remember you and your deeds.
What made this book hard to read, however, was "The Blinks." The Blinks is the extremely deadly and contagious virus that spreads worldwide, killing the majority if not all of the population. Now, this book was written in 2006 when there hadn't been a global pandemic in quite some time. I read it in 2024 and I have lived through a global pandemic. While this was obviously an extreme case of a pandemic that was out of control, very much unlike COVID, it was still hard to read at times and a bit triggering if I'm going to be honest. So that's something to keep in mind.
While this book was well written, had meaningful moments, and kept me interesting despite certain parts of disjointedness - it still didn't quite make 4 stars for me. Why? Because it depended on the ending and the ending was dumb. I'm sure there's people who loved the ending but I do not. It felt like the author had written himself in a corner that he couldn't get out of when he ended this book. It was abrupt and felt pointless even knowing that this was more of an exploration of the theme of memory sort of book and not a plot based book. The ending doesn't fit with the rest of the book and therefore the book falls short of a 4 star rating from me. 3.75/5 stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic