The Brief History of the Dead

I really liked the concept and was curious to see where it was going to go but by the closing chapters the dreamy/rosy language was just too much for me. I just wanted to finish it up. It was anticlimactic but yet very thought out and good at guiding us to think about our relationships with each other.

As you might suspect it isn't a "laugh a minute" or a "page turning thrill ride" but I found it to be quietly thought provoking. This is not a religious book, although it deals with afterlife. It's not a depiction of heaven - at least it wasn't to me. There is no spiritual psych speak, nor any florid, blowsy prose. Rather, with a spare, beautiful writing style, some finely etched characters, an ill fated mission to Antarctica and a supervirus thrown in, Brockmeier manages to create a captivating read. This is an absolutely solid portrait of the other side (the city of the dead) and this side (the land of the living). The action takes place in chapters that alternate between the two places. A most interesting point is that the city of the dead not only expands, it contracts. There are many arrivals in the city of the dead. However, there are also sudden vanishings of short and long term inhabitants. Unlike the book reviewers, I'd rather not give so much away but will say it becomes apparent that the residents of the city of the dead are connected to those in the land of the living who remember them. This book gave me so much to think about. It made me think about the hope I think we all habor that we will not soon be forgotten but achieve a certain immortality through the generations, even if it's not created by fame and fortune, but by love and family. Don't we all wonder what we'll be remembered for and how many - the fleeting and the long term relationships - will remember us? And for how long? Finally, it made me think of those I'd lost to the next life but whom I well remember. I think this is what Brockmeier is trying to bang out in this book; that whatever you believe, there ARE two worlds, the here and the not here and the bridge between them is memory.

With the publishing industry fixating on the next DaVinci Code, alphabetical mysteries, and serial killers, it's a treat to find a truly original young writer. And Brockmeier is no flash in the pan, either; He's won the O. Henry Award, the Nelson Algren Award, An Italo Calvino Short Fiction Award and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. I would imagine some readers thought Brockmeier was riding on the coattails of the LOVELY BONES, but that's just not the case. Brockmeier doles out equal portions of pessimism and optimism, and just when you think you've got this pitcher figured out he throws you a knuckleball. The novel alternates between the adventures of Laura Byrd, a Coca Cola researcher stranded in the Antarctic, and the City of the Dead. The earth has been decimated by a virus called "The Blinks." Brockmeier's notion of an afterlife is a way station where people must stay until people whom they have known on earth have also died. Over half of them have known Laura Byrd. The people who live in the City of the Dead are not ghosts. They will remind you of your next-door neighbors. They get up, have breakfast, and go to work, just like normal people. They appear to have corporal bodies. One of the characters, the Blind Man, wonders about this. He has a theory about the difference between the spirit and the soul. He believes the spirit connects the body and the soul, and that when the spirit dies, we move on to the next life. Parts of the novel are definitely satirical. There's a Coca Cola executive who's still trying to cover-up Coca Cola's connection to the Blinks for one thing. It can also be funny as when one of the new arrivals, an avowed atheist, is thrilled that he was wrong. But was he? Brockmeier never really lets the reader gain a firm footing. Brockmeier is smart enough to alternate between Laura story and the City of the Dead. Without Laura the novel might lose its credibility. When Laura strikes out on her "sledge" to find her co-researchers, Puckett and Joyce, we're hoping one of them is alive and immune and maybe Laura will start a new civilization. At least I was. But maybe that's the incurable romantic in me. Some will find the ending a bit disappointing. It was metaphysical to say the least. It reminded me a lot of the ending in 2001 Space Odyssey. But I remember watching that movie with my dad, a farmer with his feet planted firmly on the ground, and he was just as transfixed as I was. You will be, too, if you give THE BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEAD a chance.

This book is magnificent. Books with clever premises often worry me, because cleverness never seems to be a satisfying substitute for heart. That is NOT the case with Kevin Brockmeier's The Brief History of the Dead. The premise is odd and wonderful, and then Brockmeier goes and fills the novel with characters who are odd (and normal) and even more wonderful. They populate the City, and he focusses on several key characters while giving us brief glimpses into the lives of many others. Laura Byrd, the last living woman on the planet, is fascinating in her own right, and the chapters told from her perspective heighten the tension of the narrative as it becomes more and more apparent that future of the city -- of life as we know it -- depends on her. By alternating between the two "worlds," Brockmeier gives us a sense of what it really means to be human and to be alive, when past, future, memory, and reality all become blurred. I work in a bookstore, and every day people ask what I can recommend. I just finished this book after two days of carrying it with me wherever I went, reading bits whenever I had a minute, and thinking about it when I wasn't reading, and I know that I will be pressing this book into many people's hands and saying, "Read this. Please."

The dead take up residence in "The City," where they remain as long as a living person remembers them. When there are no people alive with memories of the dead, they pass on to whatever comes next. The city is only mistaken for heaven temporarily by new arrivals, since it is far from perfect (rotten fish scent by the river; gum on the sidewalks). On the other hand, with its bakeries, trees, and often beautiful weather, it's far from any notion of hell. One day, a newly dead virologist appears in the city and announces: "They've finally done it." Someone has released a virus so deadly that it's speedily wiping out Earth's population. The city fills with people who have died in the epidemic, arriving and then vanishing rapidly. And, without living memory to sustain them, the city's other residents begin to disappear as well. Finally, only Luka Sims, the newspaper reporter/editor, remains. At a research station in the Antarctic, scientist Laura Byrd is alone. Her fellow researchers left to get help from another research center after their communications system failed. They never return. Laura is depressed and terrified, all the more so when her heating system and generator begin to break down, but she is oblivious to the worldwide catastrophe. Meanwhile in the city, Luka continues to write his newspaper although he expects no readers. He finally meets another person, a blind man. The two join forces to search the city for other survivors. Back on Earth, Laura packs a sledge and heads off across frozen tundra to find other people, along with food and shelter. She travels through snow and over ice, sleeping in a tent, determined to reach the nearest research center. She has no way of knowing that the world's population has been wiped out, and that her own parents have died and are searching for her in the city. The city itself is filling, and strangely enough, many of the new citizens knew Laura. When Laura finally reaches the research station, she's shocked at what she finds and learns. Her quest is far from over. As she continues, Laura loses herself in memories, including that of her first lover, a journalism professor named Luka. This is a stunningly enjoyable read, with an intriguing concept and a gripping plot, that should find a wide audience of readers who love science fiction, fantasy, philosophy, religion and/or adventure, as well as anyone who simply loves a great story. Alternating chapters effectively weave the perspectives of the living and the dead, full of mystery and romance and terrifying adventure, along with sly bits of humor. The writing style changes subtly with the setting --- more poetic when relating stories of the city and a bit more plainspoken while telling tales of Earth. THE BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEAD is quirky and thought-provoking. Long after the story is finished, it will continue to haunt readers as they ponder themes of survival, connection, annihilation, the power of memories, and the mysteries of life and dea

This novel was riveting. I loved the two story lines and their eventual convergence. The reader roots for Laura, the protagonist, whose chapters tell a fascinating adventure story in the arctic. The setting-- in the not-too-distant future when global warming and terrorism and man-made viruses wreak havoc on our planet-- is pitch-perfect and, needless to say, unsettling. The alternate chapters detailing the "city" of the dead--those kept alive by the people on earth who remember them-- are fascinating and original. The constellation of characters in the city kept my interest and won my heart. This fine novel--literary and suspenseful with winning characters-- is not to be missed. And surely there is a movie of THE BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEAD in the works--if not, there should be.