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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Although this is science fiction, it is quite philosophical and some of it is about living life meaningfully. The plot/story is good. Although it sounds ideal to keep reliving your life, it is not without its difficulties, Jeff never has the 'perfect life' and he learns to appreciate life and living. The twist at the end was satisfying. I enjoyed reading it.
What would you do differently if you could live life all over again?
And again? And again? And again?
At first, I was put off by how the POV was so obnoxiously male gazey. I wasn’t too interested in Jeff’s plethora of sexual exploits and superfluous descriptions of women’s bodies. Ken Grimwood’s excessive highlighting of the youthful features on women was borderline obsessive and very perturbing. Despite all this however, I’m glad that I stuck to it.
The plot felt pretty haphazard, going every which way with but a vague path of a beginning and an end. But that seems like a realistic representation of how one would live their lives had they been “replaying”.
The idea of redoing one’s life is an enticing premise for perhaps everyone. We’ve all thought about what we would do different if given a chance– avoiding the mistakes you once made, taking advantage of future knowledge, chasing missed opportunities, living more freely, and perhaps even changing the world. All of these possibilities are explored by Jeff and it was intoxicating to read.
Through Jeff and his situation, the novel makes the reader think about the whole spectrum of life’s greatest questions. Having personally gone through a near-death experience myself, the morals of experiencing one’s life at its fullest truly resonated with me.
While I feel like Ken Grimwood could have taken the novel much further, Replay was still delightful to read in all it’s simplicity and profound insights.
And again? And again? And again?
At first, I was put off by how the POV was so obnoxiously male gazey. I wasn’t too interested in Jeff’s plethora of sexual exploits and superfluous descriptions of women’s bodies. Ken Grimwood’s excessive highlighting of the youthful features on women was borderline obsessive and very perturbing. Despite all this however, I’m glad that I stuck to it.
The plot felt pretty haphazard, going every which way with but a vague path of a beginning and an end. But that seems like a realistic representation of how one would live their lives had they been “replaying”.
The idea of redoing one’s life is an enticing premise for perhaps everyone. We’ve all thought about what we would do different if given a chance– avoiding the mistakes you once made, taking advantage of future knowledge, chasing missed opportunities, living more freely, and perhaps even changing the world. All of these possibilities are explored by Jeff and it was intoxicating to read.
Through Jeff and his situation, the novel makes the reader think about the whole spectrum of life’s greatest questions. Having personally gone through a near-death experience myself, the morals of experiencing one’s life at its fullest truly resonated with me.
While I feel like Ken Grimwood could have taken the novel much further, Replay was still delightful to read in all it’s simplicity and profound insights.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
(my review is excerpted from my blog post)
When Memory is a Prison – Ken Grimwood’s “Replay” (an appreciation) | Over Entertained
When Memory is a Prison – Ken Grimwood’s “Replay” (an appreciation) | Over Entertained
I first discovered Ken Grimwood’s incredible novel, winner of the 1988 World Fantasy Award and named to quite a few “best of the 20th Century” SF/F novels, at a particularly low point in my life. I ran across it in a bookstore and devoured it in a day. It sat with me for weeks afterwards. I wanted to talk to everyone about it…but it was the mid-1990s and I was depressed and didn’t know anyone who read that kind of book. Here was a book that, instead of playing the idea of replaying a day…played with the idea of reliving the better part of your entire life. What if you could go back…change the things you did wrong. Do it right.
And then what happens when you have to do it again.
And again.
And again.
I won’t go through all the plot details that exist in this book – my “reviews” are never that. “Replay” is, at times, a profoundly sad and depressing book. It is also an extremely hopeful and enlightening novel. Grimwood explores themes of exile, loneliness, futility and the epic expanse of the universe. The “why” and “how” are never explained. Because that isn’t important. What is important is our lives. How we live them. How it is important to always look towards the horizon…how memory can be a blessing, but also a curse. That life is full of little things that cannot be prevented or controlled…so focus on the things you CAN control. That we only truly have one life, so we owe it to ourselves to live it to the fullest. That in the end…we can become trapped by our memories…letting them become a sort of prison.
You have to make choices. Perhaps the worst thing you can do in life is fail to make any sort of choices in life. Every day is new. Every day is a fresh chance to begin again…and the worst thing is to be selfish and wallow in our memories of the past.
This time you can do it right.
In the end, there is no explanation for the “replays” or for the human experience. It has to be lived.
None of this is to say that “Replay” is perfect. Far from it. As with any novel written over 35 years ago, it is dated and has a “boomer generation” outlook on how important the 60s and 70s were. I can’t fault it for that. Neither can I fault it for the sexual mores of those decades (and when it was written) or the drugs. Honestly…I’m surprised Grimwood never truly had his characters consider suicide – though that very much would have been a risk and sorta defeat the lessons of the novel. There is a sense of sadness and loneliness that is ever present in this novel – this was the first time I ever heard Michael Collins be referred to as having once been the loneliest human who ever lived (I’ve since heard it plenty).
And yet…there is a sense of hope and possibility at the end. Again…every day is a new day. Wake up and see them for the opportunity they are. We hit “replay” every morning. We don’t have to rewind.
This is one of my favorite books of all time – I own a first edition hardback of it. I’ll admit that this time I was struck by all the loving Atlanta referenes which, while being written almost 40 years ago, still seem valid today. Indeed…for all of it’s datedness (that I mention above) it still resonates. It still hit me very hard.
I don’t believe that there are a lot of books that EVERYONE must read. But man…if you want to have an experience reading that will challenge you to live life better…this is the book for you. If you want to enjoy a unique time travel story – this is the book for you. It is a damn shame that Grimwood never equaled this (and died, somewhat ironically considering what happens in Replay, of a heart attack while working on a sequel). It is not easy…there is a depth of sadness and depression throughout this book. But it is hopeful. So hopeful.
I don’t re-read books much. But boy am I glad I did on this one. 5 unreserved stars. Read this.
A classic in sci-fi/fantasy genre. Replay is like a film with consistently great scenes and some are unforgettable.
4.5 stars, i really really enjoyed this book!! it offered such a unique perspective on life and the possibilities it holds
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book when I read it back in high school. Some of the things in it hasn't aged particularly well. I still love the premise, but there's you know a scene where he's in a different life with the same person and she's quite young for some of the activity that is going on. Also the main character is a little bit like mediocre white guy who thinks he's the ish. But I also felt there was some misogynistic attitude towards the women characters, but this was written back in the '80s so I kind of get it. But overall a decent plot. It's a very interesting experiencing the different lifetimes alongside them. And I did the audiobook and the narration was pretty good. I'm giving it four stars out of nostalgia