Replay [Paperback]

Ken Grimwood (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Quill / William Morrow & Co. (1986)
• ASIN: B001FPAG94
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (421 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,194,134 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

127 of 131 people found the following review helpful:

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

By 

CreepyT "CreepyTendencies" (Colorado, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Replay (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.

74 of 79 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 (London, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Replay (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!!!!

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

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

By 

Nathan (North Hollywood, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Replay (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.