Customer Reviews

The Brief History of the Dead

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(32)
2 star:		(28)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Like many who have reacted to this novel, the first chapter knocked me out. I had already read two disparate critiques in newspapers of the book that led me to seek the book out, so I knew that after the opening the initial thrill might not sustain itself. This hesitation was, after I read the novel straight through in two sittings, shown to be true. The long polar trek of Laura does borrow from the well-titled "The Worst Journey in the World," but I found these sections, after a while, rather pat and uninvolving most of the time. It's difficult to stay interested in Laura's predicament after a while, with nobody else for her to talk to or to keep us alert. She has not led that exciting a life for her to have a lot of recollections to fall back upon that make her any more than ordinary. And, in a novel, we don't want to be stuck with the mundane girl-next-door as a protagonist, even if she is in dire straits in a terrible place. The scene-setting of the first cabin and her growing peril sets up this phase of the narrative promisingly, but once she's out on the ice the plot holds no surprises. Like her, we get drowsy in this lonely stretch of the novel.

As for the city-in-limbo, it was puzzling if, as seemed to be confirmed in the Coke executive's reverie, the city increasingly was "populated" not only by the people Laura was thinking of, but that Laura "generated" everything else in the city rather than what the inhabitants themselves did in the city. It seems that the people in the city limited what could and could not be done in the city, as their occupations seem to constrain what the city contained--not only the people, but objects. There are no salting trucks to melt the snow because Laura knew no salting truck driver: all of this background needed more clarification. Also, the reciprocation of thinking by those in the city as felt by Laura was too glossed over and marginal in the narrative that indirectly occured from her p-o-v.

Many of those found in the city proved remarkably dull: Minny, for example, considering the time spent on her by the author. The walking preacher character was necessary to show a religious fanatic's reaction to the city, but again, he failed to keep my interest. The whole place seemed more like a Edward Hopper painting of sorry urbanites rather than a place where food was cooked, papers were sold, and business seemed to go on much as before. There's a noirish air to the whole place, but it seemed less appealing than its inhabitants seemed to consider their residence. I guess there's no alternative! However, as the Antarctic marbles signal a climactic phase of the story, Brockmeier recovered his initial control of the novel and it came to a satisfactory and well-written closing.

Like so much SF and speculative literature, this would have worked better as a novella of 100 pages. At 250 pp., there's too much padding, and most of the supporting characters do not motivate the reader to want to pause and ponder their predicament. With these sorts of apocalyptic fables, it often remains a challenge for writers to keep the characterization gripping as the amount of people diminish in the bleak setting, but I still would recommend this book for, as with so much SF again, the fantastic world-view that it shares and elaborates.

With the publishing industry fixating on the next DaVinci Code, alphabetical mysteries, and serial killers, it's a treat to find a truly original young writer. And Brockmeier is no flash in the pan, either; He's won the O. Henry Award, the Nelson Algren Award, An Italo Calvino Short Fiction Award and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship.

I would imagine some readers thought Brockmeier was riding on the coattails of the LOVELY BONES, but that's just not the case. Brockmeier doles out equal portions of pessimism and optimism, and just when you think you've got this pitcher figured out he throws you a knuckleball.

The novel alternates between the adventures of Laura Byrd, a Coca Cola researcher stranded in the Antarctic, and the City of the Dead. The earth has been decimated by a virus called "The Blinks." Brockmeier's notion of an afterlife is a way station where people must stay until people whom they have known on earth have also died. Over half of them have known Laura Byrd.

The people who live in the City of the Dead are not ghosts. They will remind you of your next-door neighbors. They get up, have breakfast, and go to work, just like normal people. They appear to have corporal bodies. One of the characters, the Blind Man, wonders about this. He has a theory about the difference between the spirit and the soul. He believes the spirit connects the body and the soul, and that when the spirit dies, we move on to the next life.

Parts of the novel are definitely satirical. There's a Coca Cola executive who's still trying to cover-up Coca Cola's connection to the Blinks for one thing. It can also be funny as when one of the new arrivals, an avowed atheist, is thrilled that he was wrong. But was he? Brockmeier never really lets the reader gain a firm footing.

Brockmeier is smart enough to alternate between Laura story and the City of the Dead. Without Laura the novel might lose its credibility. When Laura strikes out on her "sledge" to find her co-researchers, Puckett and Joyce, we're hoping one of them is alive and immune and maybe Laura will start a new civilization. At least I was. But maybe that's the incurable romantic in me.

Some will find the ending a bit disappointing. It was metaphysical to say the least. It reminded me a lot of the ending in 2001 Space Odyssey. But I remember watching that movie with my dad, a farmer with his feet planted firmly on the ground, and he was just as transfixed as I was. You will be, too, if you give THE BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEAD a chance.

"The Brief History of the Dead" is by no means a perfect book, but it IS original, thought-provoking, gorgeously written and, ultimately, very moving. Kevin Brockmeier has taken some huge risks in attempting this very complex novel and, for the most part, they pay off. At first, I thought the first part of the book "telegraphed" too much of what would happen in the second half, but I was wrong. I was riveted, waiting to find out exactly how the two parts of the story would converge, and along the way to a very satisfying conclusion, I laughed, I cried, I was frightened, and I thought a great deal. I recommend it highly.

I'll keep this one short... there are some wonderful moments in this book. Some of the writing is amazing, the ideas are grand, the details are lacking, and the ending is a complete slap in the face to the reader. It's reads like getting the "bum's rush" at closing time at a local bar - you're simply tossed out on your can and left to shake off the dust and wonder if what happened actually happened.

Also - the premise behind the story is drawn too heavily from parts of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, a wedge of THE OUTER LIMITS, THE WORLD, THE FLESH & THE DEVIL, CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS and most heavily of all King's THE STAND. This reads almost like a READER'S DIGEST version of the book (heavily stripped down - but still many ghosts to be found: THE BLINKS = CAPTAIN TRIPS), but it still has its own ideas (and axes to gring too, I guess... Brockmeier seems to not like COKE very much), does make you pause from time to time to think - but most of the time you can't help but thinking that you'd wished he'd taken more time to flesh the book out a bit more and really dive into the mechanics behind the CITY OF THE DEAD (can anyone tell me WHY they needed money?, also everyone we meet there is for the most part a good person - where are all the serial killers and Hitler and dead movie stars? If memory serves as the glue which binds them to the city then where are major players in history?).

Overall - a quick read (I read it in one afternoon), some nice moments and good ideas - it just fails to see them through till the end.

If asked to score this novel at the halfway point, I'd have given it four stars. Every page after that, however, served to lower my score. Finally, what has to be one of the weakest endings of any novel I've ever read, dropped my final mark to two stars.

The premise of the novel, while perhaps not totally original (Riverworld comes to mind), was nonetheless interesting and full of potential. Like one of the other reviewers, the existence of a sort of Purgatory where the dead reside for as long as they are remembered by the living, raised more questions than it answered. The parallel story line of the Antarctic adventures of Laura Byrd, presumably the last person living on the Earth, I found to be captivating. Again, however, it strains belief that only one person survived a killer virus. I suspect that there are at least tens of thousands of people that live extremely isolated existences.

After the first half of the book, I felt that the story line began to drag. The last 30 pages were monumentally bad. The final chapter dealing with the Laura Byrd thread was actually unreadable (almost stream of consciousness). After about five pages, I skipped the remainder of the chapter. The novel finally ends with no resolution whatsoever.

I concur wholeheartedly with reviewers who argue that what began as an enticing and award winning short story, was wholly unsuited for what became almost a novella. Interestingly, I think this is the sort of story that either needs to be very short or very long. Extending it without fleshing out all the issues or reaching a resolution diminishes the final product.

The Brief History of the Dead is a book with potential. It bogs down in the middle, and fizzles out at the end. Author Kevin Brockmeier had an interesting concept, reviewing the "purgatory" or staging area the dead inhabited until... another time. Apparently, that time is when there is no one alive on Earth to remember you. As the Earth's population dwindles to zero because of a viral plague (spread through Coca Cola, apparently), the city of the dead's inhabitants begin to disappear.

Obviously, the diminishing numbers of inhabitants begin to share a common, living person, who just happens to be marooned in Antarctica, and thus escapes the plague. However, she can't escape Antarctica, and that has consequences in the city of the dead.

This is a story about survival in Antarctica (not so great), or a story about that "undead" city (better), but not both. The death of the Antarctic biologist is the worst kept secret in the book, and the only wonder is what happens to the city. Unfortunately, you never find out.

Mysteries abound, both at the beginning of this story and at its end. It feels like half a story at most, and not well connected. I wish it were better, because the concept has potential.

I despise the sort of review that wraps up with a cautionary "Of course if you're too dim, shallow or poorly educated to *appreciate* work of this caliber..." Well trust me, this is not one of those works whose greatness might be overlooked by us troglodytes. It's a mediocre work at best no matter how pretentious the reader.

The premise of an afterworld suspended by the memories of the still-living is compelling, the writing clumsy. The ending? Was there an ending? Did I learn something? Travel anyplace? Feel anything? Unless the publisher options a sequel (horrors! a trilogy!)I believe the characters are all safely dead. And that's fine by me.

Read anything (anything but especially "All The Names") by José Saramago if you're looking for an artful handling of the power of memory.

Agreeing with previous reviewers, I found the concept of this novel to be irresistible so listened to it on cd-format. Was that a mistake. After becoming intrigued by the storyline and interested in the plot, nothing happens. Nothing. The last 7 cd's take me nowhere the first cd didn't already go. The ending is completely unsatisfying and a cop-out, and the "connections" the characters make throughout do not resonate. I also agree with the reviewer who claimed they know nothing about Laura, who is central to this story. This was a terrible "read" and I am extremely disappointed I listened to this whole book on cd.

It's not a fantasy, but it is. It's not social commentary, maybe. This book is in a class by itself. A very classy class, I might add. If you like odd, thought-provoking books, this one is for you. Otherwise...

Go ahead, try it. It's short. Give yourself a totally different book experience.

According to Kevin Brockmeier, it is not the meek who shall inherit the earth, but Antarctica's Emperor penguins, lots of them. It makes sense, once the whales are extinct -- all that extra krill floating around unclaimed.

In his imaginative, sometimes insightful novel, Brockmeier offers us an extended meditation on the notion of a three-tiered life / afterlife cycle, which apparently derives from the belief system of certain African societies. Within this construct, the recently dead inhabit a sort of limbo-town, which they do not leave as long as there is one person left on Earth who remembers them. The novel alternates chapter by chapter within these two realms.

There is deep pathos and irony aplenty in the struggle of trapped heroine Laura Byrd (named after famed Antarctic explorer Richard Byrd?) to survive and reconnect to other humans in a melting world where all discernible signs of human life have been suddenly lost, yet whose buildings and answering systems remain intact. The central problem with the novel is that its conclusion assumes a sort of inevitability early on, and thus, aside from a plausible yet unlikely Deus ex machina, the remainder of the novel hinges on Brockmeier's ability to keep us engaged in his characters while they wait for eternity or oblivion to arrive.

It's a difficult task, one he mostly succeeds at, though largely due to the novelty of his premise. Laura and her struggle are at once heroic and mundane (in both senses of the latter word), and I found myself alternately empathizing with the heroine and viewing her predicament with a fascinated detachment. This is one eerie book. Brockmeier's skillful handling of Laura's character and his slow disclosure of the absurdity leading up to the abrupt pandemic keep his narrative from lapsing into mere bathos.

On the other hand, Brockmeier's "brief history" is perhaps a bit too brief. I wanted to learn more about the folks on both sides of the divide, in particular the characters in the afterlife city. Several are baldly unpleasant, and the brief timespan of the novel offers them few discernible opportunities for change or growth. This reduces many of Brockmeier's characters to single-chapter vignettes, and there is little meaningful interaction or through line, which gives his novel a stark, nearly static quality at times. More, perhaps, about the history between Laura's parents, who fall in love again once reunited in the city of the dead, would have endowed this novel with a richer humanity. We learn little about their relationship with their daughter, upon whom their own future finally depends.

Thus, while his premise is a thought-provoking and, well, novel meditation on the possible demise of our species, it sometimes lacks emotional depth. In this, he echoes, though perhaps unwittingly, the searing chill of Laura's Antarctic journey in the characters that populate his city.

As an aside, I would have enjoyed seeing Brockmeier's vivid imagination tackle the topic of "immortal life" as per Shakespeare et al. who, while no longer remembered personally by anyone alive, are woven into the warp and woof of our collective consciousness to such an extent that they continue to shape human existence many centuries after their demise.