The Body

How often have we said, ourselves, or heard someone else say, "If only I could be twenty again and know what I know now?" That is precisely what happens in Hanif Kureishi's novel THE BODY. Adam, a successful writer on the wrong side of sixty describes himself as a man with hemorrhoids, an ulcer and cataracts, whose bed is his "boat across these final years." Fortunately he's a "cheap drunk" and still has sex occasionally with his wife. His two children are grown and have left home. Then he gets the chance to have his brain removed from his old body and put into a dead but preserved young body of his choice. Although he could even choose the body of a young woman or someone of another race, he selects a young humpy Alain Delon look-alike. This is one of those novels where knowing too much of the plot spoils the story and what a story it is. While you may anticipate some of what happens to Adam, the author in his usual brilliance has a surprise or two for you. In the best science fiction tradition of Kafka's METAMORPHOSIS, Ishiguro's NEVER LET ME GO or even Joyce Carol Oates' recent macabre short story "Wild Nights"-- although like the works of these other world-class writers, Kureishi's fiction is certainly fine literature as well and rises above the genre of science fiction-- he raises questions about our obsession with youth, the dereliction of society of the aged, the loneliness and isolation of being different, the basic human need to be loved and in the circle of friends and finally what he calls the "nightmare of eternal life." THE BODY is at once a horrific and fantastic gem of a novel.

Adam is a sixtyish writer who has achieved sucess, but is now in failing health. He decides to pursue a most unusual offer--the chance to have his brain (his personality, really) transplanted into a young healthy body. Never mind where this body comes from or how it got that way. He is assured that lots of "in" people are doing this now, becoming "newbodies," with a whole new chance at life, youth, sex, and time.Good deal? Maybe not. Maybe not so good if you can't take your status with you, if you can't take your friends with you, or your wife, or your relationships. Maybe not if somebody wants your new young body enough to kill you for it, and there's no way to get back to your own. Yes, the concept is preposterous. It isn't science fiction, as there is no attempt to bring in any science. However it is a concept that has occurred to most of us at one time or another. What if we could live again, be young again, with all the wisdom we've acquired by aging? Would you do it? Would I? Might be fun for a while, but there would be a price to pay. Maybe more than I would be prepared to pay. Author Hanif Kureishi does a wonderful job with the concept, writing in an elegant, literary style that is simply a delight to read. This is not a book you should over analyze, just enjoy it and let it stimulate your thinking. Yes, the premise is absurd, but the book works. I enjoyed it immensely and I recommend it highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

Mr Kureishi's collection of stories opens with "The Body" in which the protagonist, Adam, is an ageing professor of literature and writer. His wife Margot claims that men tend to get "particularly band-tempered, pompous and demanding" when they reach a certain age. Furthermore, one of his students nearly offends Adam when he states that he now looks anything like his picture on the back of his books. All this happens as Adam meets one of his admirers, Ralph, at a party. Ralph explains to Adam that some old - and rich - people are now having their living brains removed and transplanted into the bodies of young dead people. He assures him that the operation has already been performed successfully hundreds of times, as was the case on himself. Finally convinced by the numerous women eyeing Ralph at the party, Adam decides to undergo the operation and selects from a broad variety of dead corpses at the clinic the body of an athletic and very handsome young Italian footballer, settling for a "short term body rental" of six months. The outcome of the operation is successful and so begins for Adam - now Leo - a very surprising new life indeed. Mr Kureishi's short stories are witty, incisive and funny. He is a keen observer of the human condition and he treats subjects like love, parenthood and the problem of happiness very skilfully.

I enjoyed this book, but agree with the review, not long enough to really explore the intricacies of such a ridiculous situation. He doesn't try to go into some sort of sci-fi exploration of how scientifically this could happen, but takes the opportunity to explore the philosophical and emotional battles. Though too be fair, any more gratuitous sex, drugs and rock-n-roll and i would have been totally turned off by it. But I would have loved more exploration into the philosphical pull between intellect and physicality. I think Kureishi's mind is so fancy he could have really explored this topic and done some amazing things. I also didn't find think Adam wanted to return to the 60 something body because of fame or fortune, but because of family, love and intimacy.