Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
LIVING LIFE TO THE FULLEST..., 18 Jul 2004
This is a World Fantasy Award winning book that should appeal to those who are interested in alternate realities and time travel themes. This is the second time that I have read this book, and I love it as much the second time as I did the first. Time has not diminished the capacity of this book to entertain the reader.The book has a wonderfully intriguing plot. What would happen if one were to have the opportunity to relive one's life after death? That is exactly what happens to Jeff Winston, a forty- three year old man who is trapped in a stale and loveless marriage with a dead-end job as the icing on his personal cake. In 1988, Jeff has a fatal heart attack and wakes up in 1963 as his younger self, an eighteen year old college student. After his initial shock wears off, he realizes that he remembers what the future holds. Using that knowledge, he goes about trying to improve his life the second time around, only to die again at forty- three and have to replay his life, over and over. Along the way, Jeff tries to correct his mistakes in judgment and develops a new perspective on life. He also discovers that he is not alone in terms of the ability to replay one's life and finds a soul mate who shares a similar fate. Jeff ultimately discovers true love, romance, adventure, and a deep appreciation of life itself. This is a wonderful book that will keep the reader turning the pages. Bravo!
|
|
|
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Return of a classic, 28 Oct 2004
The 'what would you do if you could live your life again?' scenario has been well explored, but this is a good take on it. (The recent film 'butterfly effect' is a recent example of this genre).The central two characters get the chance to relive their lives not once but many times, but each time their 'life-span', and the point in their lives where they re-emerge after death is shorter. This is an exploration of how things could have been different for them, their friends and family, and the world in general. It is the story of their discovery of what is happening to them, but also what it allows them to discover about themselves. With the history of (mainly) the US since the 1960's to play with there is plenty of material. One episode, where an increasingly desperate US attempts to intervene in world affairs based on their 'knowledge' of future events, only to see it spiral our of control as events diverge from previous history with terrorism and increasing attacks on the US has some relevance to recent events. This is a book I have read several times now. Although at times it is in danger of becoming bogged down in the scenario he has created, the next 'replay' is never that far away, so it keeps you hooked to the end. Some of the questions it poses are almost too big for the book. Can a relationship last more than one lifetime? What are the things that really matter in life? Can we really make a difference to other people's lives? I heartily recommend this book.
|
|
|
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My favourite book, I could read it over and over again., 11 Aug 2005
There are many questions people ask themselves about their own lives, probably the most terrible questions we ask ourselves relate to things that we cannot change - what would you do differently if you had the chance of living again. Would you turn left or right? Just how different might your life be if you could go back with the knowledge you now possess?
This book looks at that ultimate question - what if you could go back and do it all over again? Be born into a young body at a point in your life where nearly anything is possible. That is the story of Replay, as the middle-aged Jeff, stuck in a dead-end job and whose marriage is breaking apart, dies of a heart-attack and awakes as his 18 year old self. The book deals superbly with his initial confusion and then the slow realisation that it is a second chance, too that his knowledge of the future can bring him great wealth and even power.
The book I have loved because it is so clearly honest even when showing the darker side to foresight, it looks at what most people would want to do: make money, travel around, not have to work, turn dreams into reality. Jeff is believable as he does not become a superhero nor does he want to run for President, he is just a normal person doing what a normal person would do. That said, the book pointedly shows through Jeff as the protagonist that it is not a mere knowledge of future events that can fulfil him in ways he previously didn't imagine, it is merely to desire to want to reach for something more. Replay serves as a moral tale as through Jeff you learn that perhaps living your life again and again would not be as easy nor as welcome as you would want. Ultimately the story has a profound ending with a statement that has stuck with me, years after having first read it and having since re-read it several times.
I would have to say that this is the best book I have ever read, and though it might be an ironic comment this is the book I would choose to take to a desert island and read over and over again. It is touching, original, sad, funny but most importantly of all you believe it. I honestly cannot recommend the book enough, I sincerely hope you try it and love it as much as I do.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
by Robert J. Sawyer
by David Gerrold
by Cormac McCarthy
by Jack Finney
by Richard Matheson
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). 
Amazon Home