Sum: Forty Tales from the AfterlivesDavid Eagleman
It's always a pleasure to find that glowing blurbs get it right. Too often in my experience, a surfeit of praise indicates a turd. Not this time. Sum lives up to its praise -- and then some.
Sum is a collection of forty short (some only a page) tales that investigate "entirely new frameworks" (to quote the author in an interview) of the afterlife. You won't find people just hanging out on clouds: instead, you might relive all your experiences of the same type at once (that means sitting on the toilet for five months); you might find yourself with a disappointed God; you might even find yourself with the aliens who created humanity as an experiment. Would you like it if heaven were populated by only those people you knew in life? Perhaps -- perhaps not.
Eagleman's prose is so simple, yet so lovely, he makes it seem like anyone can write like he does. The stories are short, powerful, and intelligent, and I would bet it's nearly impossible to find a reader who didn't like this book.
If you'd like a sample, three excerpts are available online. Click here to read "Expectations," just one of the forty scenarios in which you just might find yourself.
In a nutshell: Why didn't I think of this? Oh, because I'm not that smart. Or that intelligent. Damn you, Eagleman.
Bibliolatry Scale: 6 out of 6 stars
FTCBS: alll miiiiine
Sum is a collection of forty short (some only a page) tales that investigate "entirely new frameworks" (to quote the author in an interview) of the afterlife. You won't find people just hanging out on clouds: instead, you might relive all your experiences of the same type at once (that means sitting on the toilet for five months); you might find yourself with a disappointed God; you might even find yourself with the aliens who created humanity as an experiment. Would you like it if heaven were populated by only those people you knew in life? Perhaps -- perhaps not.
Eagleman's prose is so simple, yet so lovely, he makes it seem like anyone can write like he does. The stories are short, powerful, and intelligent, and I would bet it's nearly impossible to find a reader who didn't like this book.
If you'd like a sample, three excerpts are available online. Click here to read "Expectations," just one of the forty scenarios in which you just might find yourself.
In a nutshell: Why didn't I think of this? Oh, because I'm not that smart. Or that intelligent. Damn you, Eagleman.
Bibliolatry Scale: 6 out of 6 stars
FTCBS: alll miiiiine
5 comments:
This was never in my radar, but your thoughts on the book have urged me to put it in my To-Look-For-And-Read list. Thanks!
I especially love the overtones of gloating in the FTC disclosure, haha.
Sounds awesome! :-) I think my husband woudl like it; I might get it for him.
Hi there,
I had read an intriguing review for this book in the New York Times a while back, but I had completely forgotten about it.
Until now.
Thanks for that. I'm off to Amazon now...
Great blog and great taste in books
hey there....ur review has made me wanna read this book really bad!
du u thnk deres an ebook available??? cuz it aint in the stores here!! lemme know please
Esha - there is a Kindle version for Sum, so hopefully you can get to read it!!! It's definitely worth the trouble.
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