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The Brief History of the Dead
 
 

The Brief History of the Dead [Kindle Edition]

Kevin Brockmeier
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)

Print List Price: £9.99
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Review

'An unearthly literary tale' -- Bookseller 'A moving and unsettling meditation on memories, how recollections of the seemingly trivial can sustain us' -- Books Quarterly (Waterstone's) 'A story of spellbinding power and imagination which resonates long after the final page' -- Tangled Web 'Sure-to-be-acclaimed fiction mixes with travelogue ... Gripping -- and moving -- stuff.' -- Sunday Times Travel Magazine -- February 2006 'His confident voice, observational brilliance and playful humour dazzle to the end.' -- The Times 'Convincing ... reflects on relationships in a beautiful, delicate manner' -- Publisher's Weekly 'Unique and spellbinding ! Brockmeier is up to something different' -- Minneapolis Star Tribune 'Brockmeier investigates our capacity for wonder ! and the result is exacting and perfectly strange' -- The New Yorker 'A spellbinding novel' -- Amy Worth, lead account manager, books, Amazon; Bookseller/ February Booksellers' choice 'Such a powerful read' -- Time Out 'Interesting and intellectually daring' -- New Statesman 20060327 'The themes!are united with wonderful delicacy ... A prodigy of imagination, insight and overwhelming tenderness' -- Murrough O'Brien, The Independent 20060327 'The Brief History of the Dead is more magic realism than science fiction. Brockmeier brings to his book the inquisitive soul of a child. He is a master of the imaginative ponder. His prose is full of whimsy, word play and metaphysical musing. ... evocative and attentive...truly spellbinding' -- Weekend Australian 20060311 'A genuine page turner' -- Derby Evening Telegraph 20060303 'The inventiveness with which the author links (the worlds of the living and the dead) is highly impressive' -- Financial Times 20060304 'Brockmeier is a lyrical yet subtle writer, interested in perplexing teleological questions ... A powerful read' -- Time Out 20060301 'Imagery like this abounds so that reading Brockmeier's prose is like eating a plate full of tasty titbits. You are bound to be delighted over and over again!it's entertaining and pleasurable to read.' -- Canberra Times 20060301 'Luminous' -- The Age 20060301 'Such is his sensitivity and skill that Brockmeier contrives a mystery that is nonetheless subtle, absorbing and ultimately satisfying.' -- Colin Greenland, Guardian 20060408 'The Brief History of the Dead is altogether remarkable' -- Good Reading 20060408 'An intriguing take on the afterlife and will encourage you to think about what death means to you' -- The Weekly Times 20060408 'Sort of like Lost in a good book ... Comparison with Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones is inevitable' -- USA Today 20060408

Time Out

`Brockmeier is a lyrical yet subtle writer, interested in
perplexing teleological questions . . . A powerful read'

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 361 KB
  • Print Length: 274 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1400095956
  • Publisher: John Murray (21 July 2011)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B00590YJXU
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #79,496 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Kevin Brockmeier
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
You can't fail to be intrigued by a title such as this, and the accompanying publishers blurb on the back cover only adds to the interest; "Imagine a place between heaven and earth. A city where everyone ends up after they die..."

Brockmeier has a very readable, accessable style:elsewhere it is described as lyrical, and there is a simplistic and unfussy beauty to it as he tells the stories of The City inhabited by those who have died and the plight of Laura Byrd, a wildlife specialst employed by the Coca Cola company to investigate the Antarctic ice to check its purety for possible soft drink use.

The idea of a city of the dead, whose inhabitants exist only as long as those still alive remember them, is ingeniously portrayed, with a host of well defined characters. That these characters are aware of how they ended up in the city, and why suddenly some disappear, adds another level to the story.

Other reviewers have mentioned the "But" element of the novel, and they are correct: the end is guessed too quickly, the final third of the novel, however finely expressed and imaginatively written, leaves the reader a little underwhelmed at the end, almost to the point of exclaiming:"Is that it?"

And that is a shame, because this is a book that offers intriguing ideas and throws up many questions, and deserves to be read.

Brockmeier can certainly tell a story, even though he seems not entirely certain in this one how to end it. But that may be exactly how he intended it.

A very, very good read, all the same.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The initial attraction of this novel is its fascinating premise of 'The City of the Dead', inhabited by the recently 'departed' who are not wholly dead for they still 'live' in the memories of the living; only when the last person who knew them in life dies, do they pass to the realm of 'the dead'.

It has to be said that this is a very well-written tale. The author provides an articulate and readily readable style, with well-drawn characterisation and locations. The struggle of Laura Byrd's solitary struggle for survival in the Antarctic, counterpointed by the on-going repurcussions in the city of the dead makes for compelling attention from the reader. The Antarctic's cruel beauty is strongly evoked in the narrative.... or was it just that I was reading this with lots of snow outside my own home at the time?

The unravelling tale (not to be spoilt by more detail here) certainly provokes thought, conjecture and evaluation of our own life, loves and memories. It touches upon a number of philosophical conundrums regarding life, the universe and our position in it. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but only have the one reservation.... the ending. Did the developing plot/narrative back itself into an inevitable cul de sac? Provoked by many thoughts and conjectures throughout the novel (a reason in itself to read it) I did feel rather let down by the resolution or ending, if it can be called that. Is it me, and have I missed some great spiritual meaning and insight at the end, or have I just been conned by a pseudo-esoteric ploy to appear to present a conclusion to a tale that promised (perhaps needed) a more satisfying twist or encapsulating denouement? I notice that Warner Brothers have immediately bought the film rights.... well, the film will have to manufacture a more convincing ending.

But do not be put off reading this book. It does provoke thought and offers a refreshingly original idea to savour.... and you can't say that of a lot of current fiction.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Haunting idea 28 Sep 2011
Format:Paperback
This is one of those books I give to friends as presents. Not just one haunting idea but two - a girl struggling through the Arctic, last survivor of a plague on Earth, and an unearthly limbo city where the dead go until everyone on the planet has forgotten them. It asks profound questions about how we keep people alive in our memories, and this is enacted and dramatised beautifully with the device of the girl's memories which keep the people in the limbo city alive. Stunning. If you like fiction that leaves your soul stirred you'll love this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Another book read by our Group
An interesting and original idea that I found more believable in the realm of the dead, than the intensely suffering world of physical ice and snow, in which the heroine is taken... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Owen Walter
Intriguing, but a little unsatisfying
This has a lovely idea at its heart, that of a city inhabited by those who have died, but who are remembered by the living. Read more
Published 8 months ago by John Hopper
Kevin, up your meds.
Initially an intriguing novel about a city inhabited by the dead who remain 'alive' as long as they are remembered on Earth, this book, like so much fiction - and so many films -... Read more
Published 13 months ago by annwiddecombe
the brief history of the dead
I thought this book was knockout - original idea, well written, haunting. I am surprised it has not been lauded more, and that he is not better known
Published 15 months ago by S. Cannadine
Like most - great premise but left a little frustrated
Like most have said, this is a great premise of a story. I did enjoy the sections based in both Laura's world and the city but on the whole I found the book frustrating. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Lifeiswordsonapage
Bit disappointing
The premise is wonderful and exactly the kind of story I usually love. I thought the beginning few chapters were great and I loved hearing all about the world of the departed... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Me read
Interesting idea not fully explored
There are two related stories here. Firstly, there's the idea that the afterlife consists of a city to which the dead go and are sustained by the memories of those still alive. Read more
Published on 18 April 2010 by Archy
Beautiful, beautiful book; can't decide whether its 'flaws' are really...
I really loved this book, and I think even more than I like the concept (which is interesting enough on its own) I like the way that it unfolded, the pace and the beautiful poetic... Read more
Published on 10 April 2010 by G. Cseh
Fascinating idea
The concept behind this book is a wonderfully interesting one and also a beautifully balanced one. Despite being about death and the afterlife it doesn't really touch much upon... Read more
Published on 7 Nov 2009 by Sulkyblue
Coca Cola owns the Arctic
This is an extraordinary novel. Set in the future the premise is that an unstoppable plague has infected everyone in the world and people are dying off. Read more
Published on 13 Sep 2009 by Eileen Shaw
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