Replay [Paperback]

Ken Grimwood (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 22, 1998

Jeff Winston, forty-three, didn't know he was a replayer until he died and woke up twenty-five years younger in his college dorm room; he lived another life. And died again. And lived again and died again -- in a continuous twenty-five-year cycle -- each time starting from scratch at the age of eighteen to reclaim lost loves, remedy past mistakes, or make a fortune in the stock market. A novel of gripping adventure, romance, and fascinating speculation on the nature of time, Replay asks the question: "What if you could live your life over again?"

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this intriguing fantasy adventure, Jeff Winston, a failing 43-year-old radio journalist, dies and wakes up in his 18-year-old body in 1963 with his memories of the next 25 years intact. He views the future from the perspective of naive 1963: "null-eyed punks in leather and chains . . . death-beams in orbit around the polluted, choking earth . . . his world sounded like the most nightmarish of science fiction." But Grimwood has transcended genre with this carefully observed, literate and original story. Jeff's knowledge soon becomes as much a curse as a blessing. After recovering from the shock (is the future a dream, or is it real life?), he plays out missed choices. In one life, for example, he falls in love with Pamela, a housewife who died nine minutes after Jeff; they try to warn the world of the disasters it faces, coming in conflict with the government and history. A third replayer turns out to be a serial killer, murdering the same people over and over. Jeff and Pamela are still searching for some missing part of their lives when they notice they are returning closer and closer to the time of their deaths, and realize that the replays and their times together may be coming to an end. 60,000 first printing; 75,000 ad/promo; film rights to United Artists; Literary Guild selection.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The possibility of traveling back in time to relive one's life has long fascinated science fiction writers. Without a single gesture toward an explanation, this mainstream novel recounts the story of a man and a woman mysteriously given the ability to live their lives over. Each dies in 1988 only to awaken as a teenager in 1963 with adult knowledge and wisdom intact and the ability to make a new set of choices. Different spouses, lovers, children, careers, await them in each go-round of the past 25 years, as well as slightly altered versions of world events. Their deep commitment to one another continues through the centuries of their many lifetimes. This delightful and completely engrossing story will appeal to a wide variety of readers. Literary Guild selection. Marcia R. Hoffman, M.L.S., American Hoechst Corp., Somerville,
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (July 22, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068816112X
• ISBN-13: 978-0688161125
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (496 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,324 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

159 of 166 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyably enlightening read June 1, 2005

By CreepyT VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Let me begin by stating that I'm not a huge fan of the science fiction or fantasy genres, but there are some books whose unique plots immediately draw my attention, and beckon to be read. This is one of those books.

Jeff Winston dies, for the first time, within the first couple pages of the novel, and from there we go with him as he learns of his unique condition, or ability, if you will, to relive life over and over again. Jeff transcends time and space, taking his "aged" and experienced mind with him to his more youthful body, and he uses his wisdom and foreknowledge to exact changes in his life, and therefore the lives of those around him. He is given a second chance...and a third, and a fourth, etc. But what changes will he make, and are they really for the better?

The plot thickens when Jeff learns that he is not the only one with this unique asset. Another person, a woman, is also living her life in "replays." Pamela is an artist and a housewife who wants to use her knowledge of the future to attempt to exact changes for the greater good, whatever that may mean. However, she finds that her intentions, though benevolent, bring with them a complex web of consequences.

Together, the soul mates Pamela and Jeff share lifetimes of love and joy, an opportunity that many would eagerly vie for. They gather wealth and knowledge, they travel to various reaches of the globe, they form meaningful relationships with a wide variety of people, and they seemingly ascertain everything anyone could possibly want. But the lessons learned are still the same at the end of many lifetimes as they would be, it would seem, for one lifetime.

This book will run you through a wide gamut of emotions, making you laugh one moment while you cry the next, and when you turn the last page you'll wish it wasn't over. Ken Grimwood forces his readers to evaluate their lives and ponder their existences. Though we may not all have the opportunity to live several lifetimes, we do have time to exact our own changes here and now. Replay is a novel I will be reading and rereading over again, and one I will be giving to friends and family to read as well. Don't pass up this brilliant, unforgettable work.

96 of 104 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Isn't The Effect Of This Book On Your Personal View, EERIE!? October 14, 1999

By The Action Guy

Format:Paperback

I first read "Replay" when it was new, back in the 1980s. I remember picking it up on a whim at a now-defunct bookstore in the middle of London, and taking it home with me. I'd just suffered a breakup with a girlfriend, and was entrenched for yet another lonely and dull Saturday night in.

I thought.

Well, I kept reading, and reading, and reading. And just couldn't put the damned thing down. It was early the next morning, and I'd finished the thing in one sitting, and...it was WEIRD. It was almost a chemical reaction, like something had gone "clonk" in my brain. I know precisely what people here mean when they liken it to a religious experience (and I'm not even remotely religious.)

I've lent this book to SO many people over the years; purchased copied for others. It's almost a litmus test...you can tell a lot about a person by their reaction to it.

I met someone at a party once, and the title came up in casual conversation. The reaction was like "lighting the blue touch paper"...the room IGNITED. This book is so loved, it's almost eerie.

A friend of mine, a fellow screenwriter, casually dropped it into a conversation with me, and we ALSO went nuts over this. The feeling is evangelical...you just WANT this book to be read by others! (A friend of mine in Scotland just got a copy through Amazon as a referral from me...hi, Lee!)

As a coda, I'd like to add that this book *IS* currently in the early stages of development as a movie at Warner Brothers, but from what I've heard about the script drafts to date, the producers seem to have cut a lot of the guts and heart from the story. I feel myself, and other "Replay" fans, could be very disappointed with the results.

This is *my* favourite book ever, period. (And I'm so picky, I can't even compile a list of my top 100 movies!) Buy it now!!!!

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Make time to read this book May 3, 2001

By Nathan

Format:Paperback

This is an indispensible book for anyone who has ever considered the possibilty of living their life over, and who hasn't? Jeff Winston, the novels middle-aged protagonist, is stuck in an unsatisfied career as a broadcast journalist with a marriage on the brink of collapse. Dying seemingly of a heart attack in 1988 he awakes back in 1963 in his old college dorm, to "replay" his life over again, with the foreknowledge of his previous life, and thus the potential to make amends for past mistakes. Yet when he reaches 1988 for the second time he again dies and has to live his life over and over.... His early replays are characterized by largely hedonistic pursuits; making unimaginable riches gambling on the sports events, sleeping with beautiful women, and driving fast cars etc. Feeling the dissatisfaction at these self serving activities, he takes on an altruistic stance in his later replays; preventing major accidents and wars, with, much to his dissmay, disasterous consequences.

The novels break-neck speed sometimes stretches the credulity of the readers imagination and it's difficult at times, to fully garner the passing of centuries squeezed into it's three hundred pages. Still that alone couldn't prevent this reader from gulping down it's contents in two mesmerized sittings, when I myself, lost all concept of time. More than just a merely satisfying read, Grimwood here explores some profound territory with regard to time and aging, foolishness and wisdom. Themes from the book, even now three weeks ago having read it, reoccur in my daily thoughts. More than any pulpy self help book, or brow-scratching french novel, this book will make the reader sit up and more fully realize the precious sanctity of this life and the precious little time we have in which to live it.